We have been sailing as a family ( 5 of us) for the last 4 years to adjust for a tragic loss to our family. We used to spend every Sunday visiting with my wife's dad (Lou) and had lots of family fun. Unfortunately he passed much sooner than any of us expected and when that happened a great void in our family activities appeared. We live on Long Island Sound and sailing was calling as a family activity to help fill this void. When we selected our first true family cruiser, a Catalina 30, the quest for finding a name was on. We considered many options but one item that was clear was that we wanted to name the boat in memory of "Grampie Lou". I don't recall for sure how we got to looking at Hawaiian words, but I believe it was driven by the beauty of the Hawaiian language. Low and behold we found just the word to say what we felt....Mahalo....which in Hawaiian means "Sincere Thanks". With little thought "Mahalo Lou" became the name of the boat. In 2006, when we bought our beautiful Catalina 36 there was no question but that "our" boat name was coming with us.

Sean and Sue McGuckin

s/v Mahalo Lou

C36 #1748 Mystic, CT