Yoto
Yoto is a 2009 Dean 441 catamaran. ~44 feet. We're a family of four, cruising the Caribbean full-time. She's our home, our test platform, and the reason most of what's written here exists.
The previous owners were French and named her Yoto. We have no idea what it means. We never could find them. We kept the name.
This page is the canonical reference for what's installed on Yoto. When a post says "on Yoto we run the…" — this is what they mean. Everything here is what we actually live with.
The Boat
| Make/Model | Dean 441 catamaran |
| Year | 2009 |
| Length | ~44 feet |
| Engines | 2x Vetus 42hp diesels |
| Sail | Neil Pryde mainsail (new) |
| Cabins | 3 |
| Showers | 3 |
| Tender | 10ft AB aluminum inflatable, 20hp Honda outboard |
Power System
This is the part we obsess about most.
Solar: ~2,600W of panels across the bimini. Enough to fully replenish the bank on most days at anchor and run high-draw appliances (induction cooktop, watermaker) during the day.
Battery bank: Lithium house bank.
Charge controllers: Multiple Victron SmartSolar MPPTs sized for the panel layout.
Inverter/charger: Victron Quattro II handling shore power, generator input, and AC distribution.
Battery monitoring: Victron SmartShunt 500A as primary monitor, feeding into Cerbo GX → VRM portal for remote monitoring.
Shore power: 30A inlet with Marinco connector, surge-protected at the panel.
→ Posts referencing this system: SmartShunt review, Cerbo GX setup guide, Wiring the SmartShunt
Monitoring & Automation
The reason GoodKit exists at all. We've layered three monitoring stacks:
Victron VRM — manufacturer's cloud dashboard for the entire Victron ecosystem. Solar input, battery state, AC loads, all visible from anywhere.
Signal K + Raspberry Pi — open-source marine data hub. Pulls in NMEA 2000, NMEA 0183, and AIS data and republishes it in a standard format. Runs on a Pi 4 at the nav station.
Home Assistant + Shelly — smart 12V control. We use Shelly relays to control lights, fans, and pumps from anywhere on the boat (or remotely). Home Assistant ties everything together — Victron data, Signal K data, tank levels, weather.
Tank monitoring: Mopeka Pro Check sensors on water and propane tanks, BLE-broadcast to Home Assistant.
→ Posts: Shelly on a boat, Home Assistant + Shelly on 12V, Best RV tank sensors
Connectivity
Starlink: One original High Performance dish on the boat (we have a separate dish for our RV). Combined with cellular failover for harbor areas where Starlink obstruction is bad.
Cellular: Multi-carrier failover via dedicated marine router.
Network: Boat-wide WiFi, hardwired backbone where it matters (nav station, salon).
Galley & Living
Refrigeration: Built-in fridge/freezer + Dometic CFX5 75DZ portable as supplemental.
Cooking: Induction cooktop, electric counter-top oven, microwave/grill combo, bread machine, instant pot, hot water kettle.
Watermaker: Dessalator D100, DC-powered, ~30 gallons/hour.
Washer/dryer: Combo unit.
→ Posts: Dometic CFX5 review, Best 12V fridge
Comfort
Fans: Caframo Sirocco II hardwired in main locations, plus Koonie rechargeable clip-ons for everywhere else.
A/C: Yes, when on shore power or running the generator.
→ Posts: Sirocco II vs Elite, Koonie portable fan
Navigation & Comms
We've upgraded the boat's electronics slowly rather than all at once. The current state:
MFD: Furuno TZT12F at the helm — replaced the original 2009 Raymarine MFD.
Radar: Furuno DRSDL+ — replaced the original Raymarine radar. Vendor lock and the lack of a Raymarine upgrade path drove us to Furuno.
Instruments and autopilot: Still original Raymarine. The autopilot works fine and replacing it isn't a priority.
Software: TimeZero on the laptop as the primary chart/route planner, integrating with the Furuno MFD.
VHF: Standard Horizon HX210 handhelds (we keep two — one in the cockpit, one on the dinghy).
→ Posts: TimeZero review, Standard Horizon HX210 review
What's Next
Eventually we'll replace the remaining Raymarine instruments and autopilot — but the autopilot is reliable and the instruments work, so we're in no hurry.
If you're working on something similar and want to compare notes, get in touch.
Want to follow our cruising adventures (less technical, more family/destination)? That happens at bradenanderin.com.