Courageous Cat Catalina 22 Sailboat

Courageous Cat A Catalina 22 from Long Island NY

This is the story of our Catalina 22

named

Courageous Cat

After selling my 1967 Pontiac G.T.O., we decided to invest the profits into that hole in the water called a sailboat. This is what we purchased. It was a little rough and a little ragged, but a sound and solid boat. I really knew nothing about sailing when I purchased this vessel, but my wife's family has a lot of experience

with sailing, sail making and sail boats.

We had their help in deciding what might be the best boat to choose for our family.

With this site I hope to encourage other newbies to take the plunge into sailing. Buying this boat has been a very positive experience for our family so far...

but I will keep you posted.

Courageous Cat is a 1979 Catalina 22’ Pop-Top Retractable Keel Sailboat

(Basically a Trailer Sailor)

Here are some pictures of the Catalina 22 when we found it.

Courageous was going to need some fixing and sprucing up before I could sail her.

The correct sail number is 9076, but at this time I’m using a sail numbered 163117.

The original sail had more tape and dry-rotted stitches than sailcloth.

I purchased sail number 163117 from someone on craigslist

who was parting out their Catalina 22.

Her original name was THE IMPULSE.

This being a well thought-out purchase (yeah right),

we racked our brains to come up with fitting name.

A couple of weeks later I heard the

Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse theme music (New York Dolls version).

It was like a sign from above. There were lights, and the angels sang...

and so the boat was named

Courageous Cat.

This boat has a lot of nice extras, like cockpit cushions, a pop top, kick-up rudder,

a full galley with an electric water pump for the sink (which is now working),

an ice box and a gas stove. It has a large sleeping area for its size.

It also came with 130 and 150 rolling furler jibs. I had to fix the drum. It had been broken a few times, and the previous owner had made a new surface with plywood,

but moisture and time caused it to warp. I discovered another broken one in a box of spare parts, took the best of the 2 sides, lots of fiberglass, and made it work.

I finished repairing that furling drum the day before we launched the boat.

So far it is working out. The plywood base can be seen in the picture below.

It became a great father and son project. The kid was happy to come out

and work with the old man, learning basics in repair. Here we are sealing and replacing the refinished wood that holds and guides the top slider.

On this day we also resealed the life lines and the areas where the

stay plates go through the hull. It has worked out very well.

We used to get water in the boat all the time before it was completely resealed.

(Now that she has been on a mooring for a while without any leaks,

I think we were successful, thank God.)

This is the launch date. The boat had been thoroughly cleaned and bottom painted. I was lucky I talked B.A and my son into doing the bottom paint.

Notice that the furler looks normal again (no plywood anymore).

Oh, and a few words of advice... don't leave your sailboat under a large oak tree for the winter. You will be cleaning constantly, and it will clog your cockpit drains.

No Courageous Cat logo yet, but...

She now has a good bow pulpit, a functioning electrical system, working bilge pump, running lights, sink water pump, cabin lights, and a rebuilt rudder (which must have met with a motor prop more than a few times). I did not understand the strange gouges in the rudder until I purchased the outboard and put it on the boat. Then it made complete sense. I also replaced cockpit drain hoses and clamps with a heavy-duty clear hose.

She is numbered and loaded, hooked up, and ready to launch.