“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
– H. Jackson Brown Jr.
A year into the pandemic, we realized it was the perfect time to do just that. With both of us working full remote, we moved ourselves and our cat aboard our Catalina 36 mkII, Silent Sky, and spent the summer stress-testing our set up. Then we cast off the lines to explore the east coast of the US via the Intracoastal Waterway and the Bahamas. We loved our first year of cruising so much that we decided to make it permanent and upgraded to a bigger boat: J/46 Windara.
Meet the Crew
About Windara
After a season of cruising and working full time, we realized that as much as we loved Silent Sky, we needed more space. We put together our list of “must haves” and “nice to haves” and started looking at listings. Someone suggested we look at the J/46, and we found one for sale in Deltaville, VA. I was hesitant to buy a J/ – we’ve raced on several (J/30, J/33, J/88, J/109) and they’re really fun race boats, but I couldn’t imagine living on one. But as I dug through the listing, she looked really comfortable and ticked pretty much all the boxes on both lists. The only drawback? Her ~65′ air draft, which meant the ICW would no longer be an option. We spent hours poring over used boat listings in our price range and even looked at the possibility of a brand-new boat. Nothing else checked as many boxes, nor was anything else as pretty. It was love at first sight, and the sea trial only cemented the feeling.
Even with her size, she handles beautifully (then again, she does have a 5′ diameter wheel), and she’s an absolute blast to sail. While she was built to cruise, racing is in her DNA and it shows in her performance. We sail her conservatively (this is, after all, our home); even so it’s not unusual for us to see speeds upwards of 8kts. The distances we’re able to cover make the trip worlds easier. Windara was the right choice, and I’m so glad to call her home.
We planned to rename her Elegant Chaos, but I didn’t get a new decal designed before departure the season we bought her. As we cruised and started meeting people that year, we ran into people who knew her previous owner, and people got to know us with her name. After cruising her for a year as Windara, it felt right to keep the name. It’s based on the Aboriginal word ‘windarra’ meaning “a place by the sea where I can rest my soul,” and that couldn’t be more fitting.
About Silent Sky
This adventure wouldn’t be possible without the eight years we spent with our beloved Catalina 36 mkII, Silent Sky. She was a fantastic boat for us – easy to sail, forgiving, comfortable, and capable – and she allowed me (Melissa) to grow into a more competent, confident sailor. Selling Silent Sky was one of the hardest decisions we’ve had to make, and we won’t pretend that no tears were shed.
In the spring of 2014, we started “just looking” at boats to see what was on the market. We had only been going to see boats for a couple of weeks when we found Silent Sky, then named Juliana. Previously, all the boats we’d seen had been on the same lot, and we assumed that was the case when we drove up to New London, CT, to tour three boats we liked. We skipped breakfast, figuring we’d have a late lunch when we were done. The boats turned out to all be in different locations – different towns even – and it was late afternoon by the time we got to Juliana, a 2002 Catalina 36 mkII. Chris was immediately smitten, and I couldn’t have cared less. I was beyond hangry and the only thing I was interested in was food. The poor broker was certain he had a sale on his hands and asked what I’d name the boat. He got a surly, “I don’t name boats I don’t own,” shutting down conversation pretty quick. I wasn’t ready for another boat, but I also knew we’d just toured a gem – well maintained, well stored, and not heavily used. We put in an offer the next day, low-balling a bit to allow room for negotiation. Fifteen minutes later, we got the call that the boat was ours. This time when the broker asked about a name, I was ready with Silent Sky.
I’ve never been a fan of punny boat names, nor did I want something that was common, and it needed to be easy to say/understand over VHF. We’re both big into music, so I looked to song lyrics for my inspiration. Silent Sky comes from Dream Theater’s “Another Day” – “…if you’re searching for a silent sky, you won’t find it here”. To me, it calls to mind the peace of a perfect, cloudless day and it felt like a perfect fit.
