Before leaving Australia we shortlisted ten
boats we thought would be suitable for cruising
the islands and lined up tentative meetings
brokers. Perhaps encouraged by our sense of
purpose in f lying halfway around the world, we
found the brokers to be extremely helpful lining
up inspections and guiding us away from ‘dock
darlings’ towards more tested cruising vessels.
We found Life Is Good stored on the hardstand
in a small town in northern Florida. Her previous
owners were a cruising family who had returned
from the Bahamas four months earlier, leaving
the boat well-equipped for our adventure.
Our preference was inf luenced by both
Catalina’s solid reputation as a US production
boat and the many useful extras onboard
including solar panels, Garmin chartplotter,
Simrad autopilot, EPIRB and a great sound
system to keep us dancing at the helm.
Following survey and closing the sale,
registering Life Is Good was our next hurdle to
overcome. In order to transit US waters as foreign
citizens you must have valid vessel registration
and a Cruising License, issued free from U.S.
Customs and Border Protection.
Unfortunately registering a boat with the
Australia Maritime Safety Authority, while
overseas, proved to be a very bureaucratic and
expensive process at AU$1,785. It would also take
up to three weeks couriering original documents
back and forth.
Life Is Good had been previously registered in
New Zealand and, after enquiring, we found that
Australian citizens can register boats in NZ with
one simple form and fee of only NZ$830. This
was enough to make us swallow our pride and
raise the Kiwi f lag.
I am still at a loss why our Australian system
needs to be so complicated and expensive in this
modern age.CLASSIC RACING DESIGN
Life Is Good often attracts questions about
her unusual curvy shape, which is a feature of
Catalina 38’s made during the 1980s. The broad
beam, 11'10", tapers into a narrow wineglass-
shaped transom originating from a Sparkman
and Stephens racing design originally produced
as the Yankee 38’ before Catalina Yachts
purchased the design.
Even as novice sailors we have been extremely
impressed with her speed. When using a 135 per
cent genoa we have been able to outpace several
larger and much younger cruising yachts during
ocean passages.
The shallow draft of 4'9" also makes her a great
boat for exploring islands in the Bahamas.58
Cruising Helmsman July 2018MY
BOAT
“HAVING NOT LIVED ABOARD BEFORE WE WERE
DETERMINED TO FIND A BOAT WHERE WE WOULD
NOT BE CONSTANTLY TRIPPING OVER EACH OTHER.”