 SUNRISE
is a Hallberg Rassy 38 owned by John & Antoinette
Stockenberg. She sails out of Newport, and we
often play with them in various ports around southern
New England. She sports a lovely new awlgrip job
on her hull and decks, and lots of upgrades throughout.
Her crew, in addition
to John & Antoinette, includes two Korat cats, one of
which has developed a favorite passtime of finding
loose caulking to pull out of the teak decks and deliver
proudly to his humans.
As
we're always in the search for "the perfect boat" and
thus curious about how other folks find theirs, I asked
how John and Antoinette chose "Sunrise" and what it is
they like (and don't like) about her after a few years
of cruising and care. I'll let Antoinette, ever
eloquent, say it in her own words:
 "HR's
are obviously designed for world cruising. The
manufacturer says so and I believe them.
"We
bought the boat because we're attracted to boats that
are bulletproof, comfortable, and yet still handsome.
That's what we like most about her, and it implies what
we like least: she's not going to win any races, though
she's not going to disgrace us, either. Or wouldn't, if
we weren't so lazy and made an effort to really sail.
"Oddly,
what we like least about the boat is that it's not as
bright below as our last boat, a Hood 38. I just read
that 60 year olds need twice the light to read as 40
year olds. Probably that means we need twice as many
ports as we have.
"In the
minor pet-peeve category I have two items: I wish the
table were two inches shorter so that I could swing my
leg more easily around the forward end, and I hate that
we have to move the companionway ladder to lift one of
the floorboards beneath it. Again, a matter of a couple
of inches...
"But
all in all, the boat passes the pitter-pat test with
flying colors as we approach her. That's what we like
most.
"Oh,
and why we bought her: because twenty years ago John
took one look at a new one and said, "Someday."
So to
all of you who say "Someday...", take note!
Antoinette is
a writer, and you can visit her web site at
www.antoinettestockenberg.com.
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s/v
Esmeralde
