I have bought a cabin boat. I am just not cut out for cruising in an open boat. At any rate, much as I liked sailing the Marshhawk, the accomodations were for me, uncomfortable. I like to get done sailing, go below, and close the sliding hatch. Crouching under a boom tent seemed so unappealing that I never even tried it. After much considering, having studied hundreds of plans of trailerable and other small yachts, I settled on the Catalina 22. Plenty of room, all the boat I can possibly trailer, and I just plain like her looks. I have modest expectations of her sailing ability. She won't be a witch in light airs like Lefty was; nor the solid ocean-going cruiser Sarah Belle; certainly not as fast as the Marshhawk. However, I should be able to dry-sail her, so I won't have to keep a mooring, and the accomodations are awesome.

 

Yankee's previous owner was an older gentleman who passed away over the winter, and I bought the boat from his grandson. The old man had owned her fifteen years, and taken good care of her, as the ad said. Beyond maintaining her, he had upgraded a bunch of hardware, including: oversize chainplates with backing plates and stainless straps tying the upper shrouds into the bulkheads; stainless spreader bases; stainless mast step with turning blocks and halyards led aft to winches on the coach roof; and a nice A- frame out of steel conduit for stepping the mast. He had a stern pulpit with lifelines and stanchions, but these I took off as well as the outboard bracket. The sails are in great shape, main and 110% jib. The cushion covers were shot, so I tossed them and used a lot of Mexican blankets I saved from my previous boats. I also tossed the fiberglass galley module, replaced it with an old mahogany box I had for a chart table on Lefty. Standing rigging all looks good; I'll change the sheets and halyards to three strand come spring. No other gear was included, no anchors, no radio or electronics, not even dock lines. I think she was sailed in a fresh water lake in New Hampshire her whole life up till now; I can't wait to take her to sea.