About the Catalina 315

So after a bit of searching, we ended up going with the Catalina 315.  This is the modern day successor to the famous Catalina 30 (the most produced yacht in history... something like 6500+ hulls).  It is Catalina's smallest "cruiser" type boat, so it has a wheel rather than a tiller, a sloop rig and seems large enough for us to bring some friends out without being cramped, but still small enough for two newbies to handle.

(Note that all the photos are from Catalina Yacht's sales material - taken from the web.)

The 315 is designed by Gerry Douglas and is one of their "5 series" of ships.  You can read about the design on their website, www.catalinayachts.com if you wish.  It is a sloop rig, meaning it has a mainsail and a genoa (a larger type of jib - which is the front sail).  It has 2 staterooms (actually sleeps 7 but you have to be very cozy with each other), a galley (kitchen), a salon (living room) and a small navigation station.  The outside cockpit can handle 6 to 8 plus the helmsman.  

Ours is set up for sailing and being away from the dock.  We have a mooring ball at the yacht club so this ship will only see "shore power" (regular electricity) on occasional overnight trips where we stay at a marina.  Accordingly, we didn't get the heavy duty electrical items (no TV, Radio, Microwave, or air conditioning).  We did get it outfitted with items to enhance the sailing aspect.  So it has the spinnaker (the colorful balloon type sail - ours will be orange and white), it has marine electronics (navigation, wind instruments, etc.), and an electric anchor windlass.

Photo below is of the cockpit... which doesn't show the 2 stern rail seats (visible in some of the other photos).  Our boat won't have the teak flooring, since we tried to make it as "low maintenance" as possible.

Rear cabin, can be used for guests or extra storage...

Forward cabin has a nice hatch for ventilation...

The salon...

The galley...

And of course it a "head" (sailor speak for toilet).  This is a combination toilet and shower space (there is also a deck shower on the swim platform...

So... "our ship will come in" sometime later this month.  It's going to be a wild spring!