Commodore's Column - May 2007

by Tom Sokoloski
Catalina 36 International Association

So what’s on the mind of the average person reading Mainsheet? Have you just bought your first boat, full of starry-eyed amazement and wondering what’s this all about? Are you an accomplished veteran with thousands of ocean miles under your belt, having owned many boats in the past? Are you somewhere in-between? Over the past several months there have been numerous questions on the email list server (C36list@Catalina36.org) from new owners of new boats and not-so-new boats. Some of our boats are well into their third decade, but even so, from the tone of the emails, you can literally feel the excitement. I wonder what it is about “new” boat ownership that brings out the excitement? I can still vividly remember first setting eyes on Julandra. I had driven three hours one day in December, after talking to the broker several times. The broker had been honest in everything he had told me, but he had not told me everything. Was he was afraid I’d be scared off with all of the details? Looking back, maybe I would have been. He told me she had been lightly used by one owner. Engine hours were low. This had been his first (?!?!?) boat and he had lost interest in sailing. When I got there, she was sitting at the end of a long sand spit in a boatyard in Massachusetts. Not too many other boats nearby. In the morning sun, the white hull with blue and red accent stripes glistened. So far, so good. As I walked closer, sitting up in her cradle, she looked HUGE! I had owned a C30 for the previous ten years, so I was accustomed to the shape, but the 36 seemed so much bigger. As I climbed up the boarding ladder and stood behind the wheel, I instinctively looked towards the bow. It seemed like it was a hundred feet away. Calm down. Start breathing again. You can do this. You can handle this boat. It might take a little practice, but you can do it. I looked around the cockpit, and at first I was confused. What was wrong? Something doesn’t seem right... winches! Where are they? They’re gone! What’s going on here? What else is missing? As it turned out, the boat had been sitting in that very spot for over a year, and someone had decided they needed a few items (winches, radio, CNG regulator, and who knows what else) more than the original owner did. Cosmetically she was a mess down below, but structurally she was in great shape. I was in love. It would take a lot of elbow grease, and a fair amount of money, but I wanted this boat. A few meetings, a few phone calls, a survey, a few more phone calls, and a few negotiations later, she was mine… excuse me, she was ‘ours’. My family was almost as excited as I was. We now owned a bigger, newer boat that seemed perfect for us.
That winter I would leave the house well before dawn on most Saturdays, drive three hours to the boatyard, freeze my butt off, and return home well after dark. List after list was compiled and items slowly checked off. The messy interior was gradually transformed into a clean one. Stolen items were replaced. New items were added. Winter faded into spring. Warmer weather and longer days replaced the numbing cold and darkness. The last time I drove into that boatyard, my heart swelled with pride. The yard had launched her and stepped the mast during the previous week. The newly waxed hull sparkled in the fading sun. She floated cleanly on her lines. The new name on the transom looked just right. My buddy and I unloaded the car, and found a place for all of the “stuff” one needs on a boat. Early the next morning we left with a fair tide on the 70 mile trip to Julandra’s new home in Mystic, CT. Thinking back, the hours of driving and work and cold don’t seem as bad now. Would I do it over again? Probably. Was it worth it? Absolutely! I understand the questions new owners have, and I can certainly understand the excitement.
For those of us north of the Mason/Dixon line, another kind of excitement is here again. Springtime excitement. Boats are getting launched. New toys are being installed. Cruising plans are being made. Hopefully by the time you read this, Alex Lynch will have unveiled the new C36IA website. He’s been working on it for a few months, and it’s tremendous. It has many new features and has generated a lot of excitement on its own. If you like what you see, drop him a note and thank him for the many hours of work he’s put into it. I’m sure he would appreciate it. While you are at it, please drop a note (email) to Chuck Reed, our membership chair, to confirm/update your email address. As an association, we are using email more and more for communications to our members. If we don’t have a valid email address for you, it makes things difficult, if not impossible. When you change your email address, please notify us. It only takes a moment. Fair winds and happy sailing.

Tom Soko