A Sailor’s Obsession During the Endless Winter Months – Part 1

November 30, 2022

By Marc Robic

Like most CY readers, I spend many winter days daydreaming about spring and summer, when we can get our boats back in the water. Even though the summer days are supposed to be longer, time seems to run much slower in the winter. One can only read so many books, watch so much TV and take so many walks.

A few years ago an idea came to me while in the beautiful Thousand Islands and docked at the fabulous Clayton Classic Boat Museum in New York State. Besides classic boats, there were a number of beautifully made scale models of various boats of all shapes and sizes. And from that, was born the desire to make a model of my own boat.

After much thought on how to go about it, I decided to give it a try by making a model of our own previous boat, Aquaholic 2, an O’Day 25. Using leftover MDF wood and tools I had on hand, this was a first attempt.

SinC Oday Model 400SinC Catalina Capri Model 400

Although very rudimentary, I was proud of this first attempt but also identified many things I could subsequently improve upon, from materials to technique.

The following year, friends of ours purchased Morning Light, a Catalina Capri 26. She is a beautiful boat and became my next winter project. For this project, I took more time to actually carve out the cockpit, rear swim deck and build a functional swim ladder. I also used aluminum extrusion instead of wood for the mast and boom. In order to give it to them, we invited them for dinner one evening and had the boat as a centerpiece on the dining table.

Now with much more confidence, I decided it was time to make a model of our boat, Aquaholic 3, a Catalina 270 LE.

I endeavoured to give her the full treatment; bimini, dodger, davits, zodiac, outboard, BBQ, safety ring, anchor, pedestal steering with instrument pods, boomkicker, articulated swim ladder, etc. And yes, the zodiac, davits, bimini and dodger are all removable.

SinC Catalina Model 400SinC Catalina 270 400

Next issue: Marc’s models go even further

SinC Marc Robel 400Marc Robic

Marc Robic and his wife, Claude Couture sail their Catalina 270, Aquaholic 3, out of the Ile-Perrot Yacht Club in Montreal, where Marc spent 16 years as Harbour Master and as a member of the Canadian Power & Sail Squadron. They are regular Caribbean bareboat yacht charterers. With over 40-years of experience, Marc is also an avid onboard do-it-yourselfer. mrobic@aol.com

 

 

 

Related Articles

Video Gallery

ENVGO NV1: Back to the Future

By Andy Adams

Up to this point, I feel that most electric boats have not been very exciting. The motors have been mainly small portable models for dinghies. There are some high-horsepower motors available, but they look like regular outboard motors to be used on conventional boats. Until now, there hasn’t been an electric boat that really makes a statement. Enter the ENVGO NV1.

Read More

Destinations

Canada’s Superior: the North Shore

Story and photos by Jennifer M. Smith

We’d been north before on a short two-week cruise. At the time, we were unprepared for the isolation, the lack of cell phone coverage, and the spotty VHF reception. Since then we’ve repowered, installed Starlink, and retired from work. Now, with confidence in our engine and our connectivity and more time to sail, we were Superior-ready.


Read More

Lifestyle