I have long had a dream of sailing around the world and exploring its various cultures, cuisines, and vistas. However, such grand dreams usually fail to launch unless you actually start. I've been thinking about buying a boat for nearly 20 years - watching YouTube videos, reading articles and magazines, all while longing over what I saw. Over the past year and a half I looked at dozens of boats in various price ranges and conditions, but kept finding reasons that they wouldn't work for me. Then I realized that I will likely never find "the perfect one", and I really need to just get something and start moving on my dreams, or they would never happen. So that's what I did.
The Boat
I came across an ad on Facebook Marketplace for a 1988 Catalina Capri 22 sailboat with a wing keel, roller-furler, and gps/fish finder, and some other extras. Catalina makes solid boats, and the capri is one of them. This particular boat was about a half hour away right next to Lake Nockamixon, which was where I have a dry slip waiting, and needed a little bit of love. Her mast step got bent in an unfortunate accident, but everything else seemed to be in good condition... aside from that "classic" boat smell of course. So after a brief inspection, we agreed on a price and I bought her and brought her home. Her name is Cykada (for now), and she's now dry-docked on my RV pad.
All great dreams start with a plan, so here is mine.
Get everything out of the boat that isn't bolted down ✅
Clean the ever-loving daylights out of it
Address airflow & moisture to prevent new mold issues
Replace the mast step
Figure out what other things she needs to be ready for actual sailing
That's it! At least, for now. I spent the evening yesterday getting all the generic stuff inside the boat out and sorted. She's spending today open with a fan trying to dry her out as much as possible. All the soft goods are out in the sun to see if there is any hope of saving some of them. This evening I'll be bringing the wet/dry shop vac up to get rid of any remaining standing water.
Mid-range Plans
The immediate goal is to get her into good enough condition to get on the lake this season. Once I actually start sailing, I'm sure I'll find countless things I want to add and tweak. On my radar, in no particular order, are the following:
Solar Fan - This is probably part of the short term plan, but it's important enough to list twice. Airflow prevents mold. I want airflow. Interestingly, in order for air to flow, it needs an inlet... and the boat doesn't currently have one that I can tell. So part of this will be adding some kind of inlet.
Remote Monitoring - I love to tinker, and this is a great excuse to mix my Home Automation and Embedded Controls hobbies with water. I think remote temp/humidity and location tracking are immediate goals for this little side project, but with Open Source projects like OpenPlotter, the sky is the limit.
Electrical Upgrade - The boat has a new battery, but the panel and most of the wiring is original. I think I want to add a quick disconnect on the battery (Anderson style connector), as well as add a solar charger / battery maintainer. After that, replacing the panel (modern chargers instead of cigarette style ones), lights (LEDs please), and maybe even adding more charge ports around.
New Cushions - I know next to nothing about sewing, so this would likely involve a lot of bribes to my lovely wife. The existing cushions are quite literally falling apart, and are full of mold. We could try to salvage them, but replacement is probably the way.
Bottom Paint - This is more like general maintenance, but the bottom could definitely use a new coat of paint. When I do this, I'll likely increase the scope to include any repairs needed for the gelcoat and fiberglass.
Long-range Plans
Cruising Vacations - If this lifestyle suits me and the family, there will be many trips to tropical locals to do more sailing on larger boats. My dream is to sail the world, but it takes baby steps to get there when you've got a family that you love.
Get a Bigger Boat - This is a great boat for Lake Nockamixon, but it's not a great boat for multi-day cruises or vacations. Getting a bigger boat would unlock more aspects of sailing, and might even add a "beach house" to the vacation options. Only time will tell
Closing Thoughts
Though I sailed a bit as a kid, I'm very much new to the boating lifestyle. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or comments, please reach out and let me know. Going forward, I'm going to document the work on the boat here in the hopes of helping others who are interested see that this is a somewhat accessible hobby as long as you are willing to work at it.
