This adventure wouldn’t have been 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.
