"How are we going to get this thing home?"

Thankfully we have a wonderful friend, named Jen, who has a wonderful truck.  A week after we purchased the boat, John borrowed her truck and drove back to Phoenix to pick it up.  When I heard the loud grumble of a diesel coming down the street I ran out the front door.  And then I stopped dead in my tracks.  I was confronted with a ridiculously tall sailboat that towered over, not only me, but our house!  Not for the last time, I wondered what we had gotten ourselves into...

Where Have I been?

Hello All!

It has been quite a while since I've posted to this blog.  "Where have I been?"  Well, I'm still right here in New Mexico, actually.  John and I had a blast on our Catalina 25 last summer.  We kept her up on Elephant Butte, since we didn't have a vehicle that could tow her, and spent almost every weekend up there until the weather turned cold.  Perhaps that was one reason I wasn't keeping up with posting here... We were too busy sailing!  I guess I should backtrack a little and fill you in on some of our adventures....

Looking For A Boat

When John and I decided that we would like to cruise and maybe liveaboard someday, we knew it would be a while before we would be able to leave New Mexico and make that dream a reality.  But we also knew that it might be a good idea to try sailing together on a small scale first anyways!  I grew up living aboard, but John has lived his entire life in New Mexico.  He had never been on a sailboat when I met him.

Over the past couple of years we have spent some time sailing with my parents aboard their boat, but we've never had to fix our own engine, repair our own sails,  or set our own anchor.  These all seem like things that might be a good idea to practice, so why not get a boat here in New Mexico and give it a try.

We began our boat search by looking at MacGregors.  Their water ballast and swing keels make them easy to trailer, and they are touted as being very easy to rig.  They are also fairly inexpensive, which is a huge plus.  There aren't too many boats for sail in New Mexico, but there is (surprisingly to me) a big market for 15'-30' sailboats in Phoenix.  So, off we went to Pheonix a few weekends ago to take a look at some MacGregors.  

We saw one MacGregor that we liked.  I was a little worried about the sails, and John was a little worried about the outboard.  But we put in an offer that seemed fair.  The seller wouldn't take it, and after quite a bit of haggling we walked away from the deal.  I'm so glad that we did.  

After we left that boat behind we were pretty down.  We had to be getting home that day and didn't really have any more prospects.  It was also incredibly and unbearable hot, which didn't help brighten our attitudes. We decided that we would go back up to the Sailboat Shop where we had looked at a couple of boats the day before, and go aboard as many boats as we could.  My mom had suggested going aboard as many boats as possible, regardless of whether we thought that they were the right size or price for us, just so that we could see what features we like and dislike and what was available   If you are looking for a boat, take this advice to heart.  You never know what you'll find.

The first boat that we went aboard when we got to the Sailboat Shop was a 1985 Catalina 25.  We hadn't looked at her previously because we knew we wouldn't be able to tow a boat that heavy.  It was also listed out of our price range.  As soon as we went aboard we knew that she was the boat that we wanted.  She was roomy, had a great little galley, looked tough and reliable.  We knew that Catalinas are good boats with great support from other owners.  We had to make an offer.  Thankfully we had come with cash.  The seller was willing to take a lower price for the boat as long as it was paid in cash.  Within an hour of seeing our boat for the first time we had bought her. 

This left us extremely excited, but also a bit nervous.  We had just bought a boat that we hadn't sea-trialed and that we couldn't pull with our vehicle.  What had we done!?

Note:  The Sailboat Shop on Lake Pleasant is just north of Phoenix.  Tom is the owner and is a great guy to work with.  If you're ever looking for a boat in the Southwest you should go check it out.