I’ve often heard it said of boat owners that the two greatest days of boat ownership are the day you buy it, then the day you sell it. ๐Ÿ˜€

If that’s true, then hopefully I’ll be experiencing those days within relative close proximity to one another. But it won’t be with the same boat. I currently find myself in the interesting position of owning two boats at the same time. Just last week I bought a Catalina 25 docked at Joe Pool Lake and I’ve listed the Hunter 25 for sale at Eagle Mountain lake.

For those of you that have followed this blog for a while, you know the Hunter 25 has been an excellent learning boat for me. I was able to learn more about single-handed sailing, how to not be afraid to just “tear things apart” and put it back together when repairing something. Really, the only issues I had was that after I got married and moved, I was farther away from the boat and didn’t get to spend as much time as I wanted due to the drive time. I talked about some of this in this post several months ago.

I had given up looking for a new boat and resigned myself to infrequent visits to the Hunter to sail and work on it. In the meantime I found a good group of guys who sail on Joe Pool Lake [only 5 minutes from home] and began sailing with them on their boats. As a result of this, I discovered a very nice Catalina 25 recently listed for sale. I went to look at the boat and take her for a test sail. I was very impressed. Clean boat, well-maintained and cared for. No major refits necessary, it was ready to sail and anchor overnight in. And the BIG plus….did I mention it’s only 5 minutes away from home!? ๐Ÿ™‚

The owner only had to sell because he was moving out of state. The guys on the dock told me stories about how much he cared for the boat and that he was constantly sailing it and spending the weekend anchored out on the lake.

We negotiated and a deal was made for purchase. A couple days later, we signed all the paperwork. Sitting in the marina restaurant, he counted out the money I had just handed over. When he finished, his friend commented, “Now that you bought the Catalina, are you going to sell the Hunter, or just start up your own fleet of sailboats?” As attractive as that sounds, unfortunately I have to sell the Hunter now. I’ve got it listed on Craigslist, SailingTexas, Offer Up, and the Eagle Mountain Lake newsletter, so hopefully I’ll soon be experiencing that second greatest day….the day I sell her.

Moving on….I’ll be posting up some photos in the near future of the Catalina 25. I already took her out sailing a couple days ago and won an informal race against a Catalina Capri 26. Granted, he only had his 135 rolling furler flying and I had my 165 hank-on headsail. Maybe it made a difference? Maybe not. ๐Ÿ™‚

Mike