1981 U.S. Yachts 33 - Goin My Way

Since purchasing this boat on 2008-May-17, it has remained a source of frequent frustration, but more so of unparelleled joy for me and for the many crew and guests who have graced its decks.

Suffice it so say for the moment that my to-do list seems to grow faster than it shrinks. But as a wise boater said to me early on, it's important to go boating. So I have had periods of intense work on the boat, but also, during the Summer, longer periods when I just use the boat to go boating - a lot. And that doesn't include my weekly boating as crew on Bruce's boat in the BYC races, which I have been doing for many years.

The main thing has been replacing the engine! In the process, a few stringers and ribs were beefed up, other items upgraded as per the surveyor's recommendations, and there are innumberable other items on the go.

However, starting with the delivery trip, with my friends Don and Bob, in 2008 May, from Etobicoke to Brockville (three days of wonderfully exhausting motor-sailng), I have put quite a bit of water under the keel.

I moved to sail, by the way, because I was either going to have a major upgrade done on my previous boat, or sell it. It hadn't sold after a few months when up popped a buyer, and over the next few months, I woke up every morning dreaming of owning a sailboat. It seemed a persistent enough theme that I thought I had better listen to it, and I am very glad that I did.

Learning to sail was something which I thought I didn't need to do, but i) it's not Bruce's boat and ii) it's more different than I thought, to be skippering as opposed to crewing, plus I knew that I was in for maintenance, but could not have predicted how much. Having been involved in boat-ownership since 1990, albeit in power-boats up until now, has surely helped.

If you're an expert sailboater and want to come out and teach me for an hour or a day, please let me know. I will feed you and give you libation! I'm reading books about sail depth, chord position, twist, etc., and am at the stage where I need on-water tutelage. Apparently the following photograph illustrates that I don't know what I'm doing (although we did have a most enjoyable sail that day!).

whitecap sailing

I have moved lots of other picture to the Photos page, and there are more on the Purchasing page.