I love sailing. I started as a kid on my parents’ Watkins 25 and fell in love with the idea of moving over the water solely by the power of the wind in the sails. I love the frequent steering, sail trimming, tinkering, strategizing, communicating, and relaxing. I also love navigating on the water.
Once my “real job” stabilized after college, I joined the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center and sailed as often as I could in my free time. It almost became an addiction, requiring a “fix.”
After a few years of club sailing, I took the plunge and bought a boat. The learning curve was steep. I started with a 1984 Hunter 34. I soon upgraded to a 1996 Catalina 400, and after many seasons have had many adventures over three of the Great Lakes with her.
Like many of us who have been bitten by the sailing bug, I spend lots of time dreaming, planning, repairing, improving, and actually sailing my sailboat. Perhaps too much time. Probably too much time. Like many complicated mechanical things that are subject to wear, tear, and improvement, a sailboat needs to be “fixed,” too.
This blog is about both “fixes:”
- Cruising and daysailing, mostly on the Great Lakes, my home waters.
- Upgrades and repairs I’ve done to my 1996 Catalina 400 Mk I, Priorities.
I’ve learned a lot about boat ownership through online forums and bloggers, and putting much of what I’ve learned back into internet content once again is one of my goals of writing My Sailing Fix.
A disclaimer: I am not a marine professional. Though I intend to comply with Rules of the Road, USCG Regulations, ABYC Standards, and general prudence, I make mistakes. If you wish to emulate some of what I’ve done on Priorities while working and sailing on your own boat, please be careful.
The adventure continues…