Sailing in the Bay

We kept our first boat, a Catalina 22, on the Delaware River across from Philadelphia. We used her as a day sailer, for short getaways and quick after work sails. That boat, our original Island Time, was the first step towards our dream of one day sailing off into the sunset.

Though we loved our C-22 the plan was always to move up to a larger boat. After a lot of research and some prodding from my wife I found our second boat, a Catalina 30, down in Norfolk, VA in the summer of 2008. I enlisted my sailing buddy and partner in crime Paul and we sailed her from Norfolk to her new home on Long Beach Island, NJ. Paul liked her so much he found and purchased her twin. For two summers his boat Free Ride was berthed behind us (you can see her in the background on the opening page). We kept both boats for a season but owning two boats just wasn't practical and Island Time found a new home in 2009.

So far we are thrilled with our Catalina 30. If you've ever been to the Caribbean you understand the idea of "Mañana we're on island time". On Island Time life just moves a little slower. My blood pressure drops ten points the moment I step aboard.

Hookie, our shipboard mascot was found in Costa Rica

We were originally going to call her Goin' Coastal (we were keeping the 22 and didn't want two boats with the same name), but after a year long battle of lost paperwork and paperwork errors between the boat broker and the Coast Guard we decided a different name was in order. By then we'd sold the 22 and decided to go back to Island Time.

She was kept on Long Beach Island just north of Atlantic City, for two summers and we've recently moved her to a marina in Barnegat at the south end of Barnegat Bay. 

She does double duty as our shore house and we cruise the Great Egg and Barnagate Bays. This summer we'll be going further afield with weekend trips up and down the coast, and work permitting, some longer trips to explore the upper Chesapeake Bay.

The long range plan is to upgrade to a larger boat when it's time to retire and spend part of each year sailing in the Carribean. We'll see how it goes.

Why This Boat?
The short answer is she met our needs. But what struck me most about this boat is how much Catalina packed into a 30 foot package. The third generation C30's have all the features of the new boats we checked out in Annapolis and I've already added just about anything she was lacking. We feel she is laid out better than her replacement, the new Catalina 309. 

The Mark III has a roomy comfortable cockpit with a walk through transom and stern perch seats. She can be single handed or easily managed by a couple. She really shines is down below. Catalina figured out how to get the interior of a 34 footer into their 30 and that interior is more comfortable than some 34's I've been aboard. The galley is a good size and the salon is liveable. Engine access to the reliable Universal 25hp is above average. My only real complaint is the berths could be a little larger since I'm a big guy.

She is neither a tender race boat or heavy, slow bluewater boat. Instead she is a near perfect coastal cruiser, which is how we intend to sail her and we're well into the process of making her a "better than new" boat as you can tell from the projects page.