I was just logging in to do the same thing Mike. I too would like to wish my fellow C36 owners and their families Happy Holidays. I hope 2010 finds you and yours in good health and happy times.

Wishing you the best.

Same here to all!

Nice winds for a sail today and the air temps are back into the 70s, but we have other obligations.

Happy Holidays to all and Merry Christmas/AKA National Credit Card Month.

Well my B'day (12/8) and Christmas were great. But the kicker was I took title to my new boat and am on my own fast track to single handing her by the spring season. For weeks now every time I go to the marina to tinker, learn where things are, and plan for my first sail.... the one word that keeps popping up is simply "wow".
Yes, I'm a wee bit intimidated by the size.

Hopefully soon I'll actually be able to "contribute" in these forums, but for now I'm just overwhelmed with what is in front of me. I jumped from a C22 to a C36 and have never sailed anything over 30'. This is my dream for the next 15+ years until I retire and get a new boat on the coast. But until then, this is my girl and my "dream" became a reality this Christmas.

So yes, it was a great Christmas for us and I hope and wish the same for all of you.
Sorry to sound like such a star-struck nubie, but this is something I've wanted since I started sailing in my teens. Now it is real.

Yes, Virgina, there is a Santa Claus.

Peace,
MZr7

Maze, I was the same way when I got my boat. I still sometimes sit below and think about how lucky I am to have such a beautiful boat. If you are ever down around Canyon Lake Marina, stop in and come aboard.

Maze:
I moved up two years ago from a 24 footer to our C36. WOW indeed, was how I felt at first.

You will soon get very comfortable and confident, as the C36 is a great, sturdy, sailing boat! She will help you, if you let her!

Fair Winds and Merry Christmas AND Merry New Year!!

Laura Olsen

Hello Mazerat7 (that must be a foreign name) can I be less formal and address you as Maze? :rolleyes: If the truth were known, we ALL felt that way when we first purchased our 36's. I too had been a Catalina sailor. My wife and I owned a Catalina 25 for 20 years and making the move up to a 36 was, at least it was in our minds, a quantum leap. There is a lot to learn and you have a wonderful source at your finger tips right here online with the 36 Org. In addition, don't be timid to talk to other 36 owners there in Texas; I'm sure they will be helpful Have a safe an joyous New Year Maze.

Mzr7 -- Merry Christmas and welcome aboard.

Glad to see you here as the C36IA is the best source of model specific information you are going to find and I'm glad you decided to buy your boat and that it surveyed well. If you are who I think you are, I responded to, and followed your purchase process over at Sailnet. If so, I'm sorry I didn't connect the dots earlier. I'm midlifesailor over at Sailnet and Catalina36 on Anarchy.

[QUOTE=bboggs;3688]Mzr7 -- Merry Christmas and welcome aboard.

Glad to see you here as the C36IA is the best source of model specific information you are going to find and I'm glad you decided to buy your boat and that it surveyed well. If you are who I think you are, I responded to, and followed your purchase process over at Sailnet. If so, I'm sorry I didn't connect the dots earlier. I'm midlifesailor over at Sailnet and Catalina36 on Anarchy.[/QUOTE]

Yes you are correct. I recognized Palmetto Moon from Sailnet here in the forums and figured our paths would cross here as they did on Sailnet. I did take yours (and others) advice and got the 3 year C36IA membership. Fiigured the Tech CD would be an great resource.

I plan to take her out today for the first time under motor. I need to take on water, diesel, and empty the holding tank. There is not a lot of navigation room in my marina so the first challenge will be making the 3 point turn to get her port lined up to the pump out station. Then I have to motor to another marina and literally "thread a needle" to get all the way back to the fuel pumps. Then finally back to the slip to celebrate the New Year.

Eveything should go smoothly, but I plan to go extra slow and careful until I get a feel for the momentum I expect her to develop.

Peace and Happy New Year,
Maze.

Maze, indeed Welcome.

Yes, 19,000 lbs is a lot of momentum, and yet you'll find your new boat a dream to handle in close quarters. It's great in forward; and equally predictable in reverse (prop walk to port). You will find that propwalk is always reliable, and will become a true friend. But you will learn to amaze your marina neighbors by often backing to starboard, wind permitting, using an easy trick.

My recommendations for getting used to the boat in close quarters: (1) SIX fenders, always four on the docking side, and two up high on the off-dock side; (2) Practice on windless days first; (3) Learn to master the turn about a point...pivoting the boat (dead in the water) in its own length, smoothly all the way around, always to starboard; and (4) Practice backing out of the marina (it looks odd, but sometimes that's the only way to have control).

It's also good to have someone on board who can use one of the fenders to fend off if needed...we call him/her the "roving fender"...and never use a body part to prevent a contact (19,000 lbs, remember?)

And don't forget the two immutable laws of docking: 1. Never approach a dock any faster than you want to hit it; and, 2. Aim for something cheap.

Happy New Year!

[QUOTE=LCBrandt;3690]Maze, indeed Welcome.
But you will learn to amaze your marina neighbors by often backing to starboard, wind permitting, using an easy trick.
[/QUOTE]
What is this easy trick ? You left me hanging. :)

[QUOTE](3) Learn to master the turn about a point...pivoting the boat (dead in the water) in its own length, smoothly all the way around, always to starboard; and (4) Practice backing out of the marina (it looks odd, but sometimes that's the only way to have control).
[/QUOTE]
I'm going to need to learn how to pivot in place. What is the basic technique for this? It became apparent yesterday as there are just about 2 boat lengths from the end of my slip to the one across from me. I had to back out of my slip and turn 180 to go forward once I cleared all the docs. Lucky for me, the propwalk was a blessing as my backward turn out of the slip was to port. The problem I found is when backing I need to have some momentum to get the rudder to work well and I did not feel comfortable having that much speed to make a starboard turn so I could have headed out by going forward.

[QUOTE]
And don't forget the two immutable laws of docking: 1. Never approach a dock any faster than you want to hit it; and, 2. Aim for something cheap.
[/QUOTE]

Guess those just came as a matter of common sense. Too slow to backup to starboard and I pointed for a pontoon barge rather than the 44' SeaBridge that was directly behind me. :)

Thanks for your help. All the tanks are topped off and we had a great New Years Eve aboard.

Maze

Pivot point using propwalk: [url]http://www.cruising.sailingcourse.com/docking.htm[/url]

Also learn about midships springline here on this 'site: see Reply #5 here: [url]http://www.c36ia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=443&highlight=midships[/url]

Nice way to start the year, eh?

additional search key: docking

Happy New Year MazeRat,
And to add to Larry and Stu's sugesstions, there is one more tool in the shiphandling toolbox that work for our 36' boats as well as the Destroyers and Cruisers that I drove a few decades ago in the Navy; it's called "warping."
No, not the Star Trek warp drive engine...

To move your bow out from a pier for a forward departure, pull in your after breast line while letting out your forward breast line. This will get your bow pointed out from the pier. Just be sure to keep the fenders between your hull and the pier.

You can move your stern out using the opposite (forward breast line in - after breast line out), but use added care when reversing out from a port-side-to mooring due to the aforementioned prop walk to port.

Another nice tool is a extendable boathook. You can further breast out using muscle power on the stick (We've saved Tara's hull many times with a fully extended boathook to counter the prop walk). I had to use a tugboat for the same effect with an 11,000 ton cruiser.