Introduction and The Beginning of a New Adventure

Hello and welcome to S/V Catharsis and to my blog.  I've decided to keep this blog as a log and to share my journeys upon my sailing vessel.  First a little about me.

My Name is Aaron Thompson.  I was born February 12th, 1986 and reside in Richmond, VA.  At the age of 17 I joined the United States Army and served 10 years.  Unfortunately on a deployment to Iraq in 2008/2009 I was slightly injured with a traumatic brain injury and have since been medically retired through the Veteran's Affairs Administration.  My urge to sail I think has always been there.  When I was a boy scout I did a little sailing for the sailing merit badge, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I do not really remember my experience.  I have always thought purchasing a sailboat was way to expensive, and only for the extremely rich.  I didn't learn that this goal could be obtainable until I ran into my second cousin Donald (unplanned) who I hadn't seen in about 6 years on a cruise ship with my family.

The Quest for a Vessel, Failed

After spending the week with my cousin, I'm sure that I asked tons of questions, and he happily answered them.  He was twice my age, but we had a strong bond I believe that week.  He explained to me that older
sailboats are well built boats and can be obtained pretty inexpensively.  After that trip I knew this is what I wanted to do.  That winter around November/December, I purchased a sailboat....well I thought I did.  I found a 1980 O'day 28 on the internet that was close by.  It was on the hard (first mistake) and they only wanted $3000 for it.  I took a look at it, didn't get it surveyed and talked with the owners.  They said the only thing it needed was a new self adjustable idler (the part underneath the helm that controls the rudder) it had been corroded (second mistake).  I thought it was an easy fix, gave them the $3000 and signed the title.

I ordered the self adjustable idler and that's where the trouble began.  I tried to get the bolts off, I could not.  I had a friend who is well versed in installing these things, he said that we would have to cut the cockpit out and replace it.  This was beginning to be such a hassle and to be quite costly.  To top that off, I didn't even know if the boat would float and after replacing the batteries, it seemed there was an electrical issue as well.  I decided to cut my losses and try to find a new vessel, a year after the purchasing of the O'day.

Finally, Mission Accomplished

I searched the internet once again and found some vessel's that looked good.  These of course were priced much higher than the initial $3000 purchase I made before.  I had a goal of no more than $12,000.  I found a 30 foot Catalina down in Hampton for sale, they were asking $12,000, I was going to talk them down.  Ironically I got a call from my cousin Donald telling me he was down at his boat and if I wanted to come on down.  I thought this would be the perfect opportunity and he agreed to come with me to look at the Catalina.  We spent some time on his boat, working on a few things, him showing me around and then I called the owners of the Catalina.  They were located right across the channel from my cousin and we drove over to look at it.  I thought it was amazing, a lot of space compared to the O'Day I had, and I was asking all sorts of questions.  My cousin remained silent the entire time.  We left and the gentleman told us that the price was negotiable.  I then turned to my cousin and asked what he thought.  He laid it all out, telling me it wasn't well kept, needed new sails, was dirty on the inside, and required a lot of work.  It was definitely not worth the $12,000 they were asking.  I spent the next hour with him and tried to convince myself of why it would be a good boat.  I even stated I could offer them $6000 and still come out ahead.  My cousin assured me it would be a mistake and I wouldn't be happy.  I jokingly said that "You should just sell me your boat".

That's when the unexpected happened, he didn't say anything.  "You're joking right?"  I asked, and at that moment he told me how he lives 4 hours from the boat and water, he doesn't have time to sail and hasn't been on the boat in over a year.  So at that moment we shook hands, and I was the proud owner of a 1975 Dufour 31 in excellent shape.  This is a true blue water cruising vessel, and I purchased her for $12,000

Why Catharsis?

A boat name is always something that is hard to decide on, not the case with Catharsis.  My cousin had her named Catharsis, and part of the deal of him selling me the vessel, was I had to keep the name.  But what does Catharsis mean?  

ca·thar·sis

kəˈTHärsis/

noun

1. 1.

   the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions.

I thought that this was also appropriate for my vessel's name (not that I had a choice) after the emotions I have felt after returning home from combat.  So there you have it, how I obtained Catharsis and a little bit about me.  I am definitely looking forward to the adventures that await!