Hello from Vancouver

[Buddy_Y]

Hello All:


Apart from a little experience sailing dinghies on Lake Ontario, I’m new to the sailing game, but I’ve been dreaming about a boat for about eighteen years. Recently, the job/education game has finally brought me to Vancouver after a lot of time spent far from any water, so I decided to seize on the chance to finally do some sailing.

I just completed a real newbie boat search – four months ago, I started by searching for a $50k liveaboard, but as I learned and searched and learned some more, I sobered and simplified my plans. Finally, a week ago, I settled upon a nice, basic outboard-only 27’ Catalina with a moorage at Reed Point Marina, which I’ll use as a weekender (and as an occasional day-office).

My cat isn’t a project boat, but the previous owner bought it and then ignored it completely for a year. When it was hauled out for the survey, there was a jungle on its hull – one of the employees of the marina said it was the second-worst he’d ever seen. (When we scraped down the hull and power-washed it, it left a heap the length of the boat and about eight inches deep – about eight wheelbarrows full.)

But, I bought my poor neglected baby, and now I’m in the middle of cleaning it up, doing repairs, and updating its equipment (as well as taking a CYA sailing course, to learn the basics of keelboats). It’s not a resurrection job, but certainly a rehabilitation project – and a great learning experience.

Naturally, I’m in the process of asking stupid questions and trying to sort through a whole heap of written advice, as well as the typically-good-but-often-mercenary advice of marine part suppliers, repairmen, etc. So, I’m looking forward to sopping up advice from the forums!

Buddy