Owners Database: 1989

My wife, Margaret, and I sailed Wyvern on the Cheseapeake for over 5 years. The longest trip we made was from Swan Creek to Jamestown and back. Margaret died in Jan 1997.

I then moved from the NorthEast to Austin where I now keep Wyvern. After I moved but before I transported the boat I made one last trip. I had 3 inexperienced people with me as crew. We sailed from the Middle River thru the C&D canal, up the Atlantic and into NY Harbor in late May of this year (1997). This was quite an experience. Despite weather reports of 10-15 knot winds we ran into a gale during the night while sailing up the Jersey coast. This happened just after we found out that we had gotten bad fuel at Cape May. (I think we were the first boat of the "season" to get fuel and there was water in it.) Anyway first the engine quit working in a calm. Then, the calm changed to a gale. I had to tack into it all night. Reached Lower Bay by noon the next day with wind still blowing hard. So I anchored in the Lower Bay until wind got better. Then tried to get engine fixed over Memorial Day week-end.

Now I am once again a lake sailor. But the good news is that I am still sailing at Thanksgiving -- rather than having put boat on land in late Oct as was normal at Swan Creek.

Extremely pleased with the purchase.  Very trouble free boat with reasonable sailing abilities and plenty of room for a family of three and friends. The Family Affair 876 is a typical Cat34 with most of the normal "extra" equipment included for comfort and sailing enjoyment.  She came with three Kenyon instruments a depth sounder, wind machine, and knot meter.  Creature comforts include a 16,00btu air conditioner, microwave, and Adler Barbour Cold Machine for the icebox. Upgrades include a Statpower 1500 watt inverter and a battery box conversion to four Dunlop (Sam's Wholesale Club) golf cart batteries.  I've installed a double pulley arrangement on the Universal 25XP to handle the Balmar 24-200 200amp alternator.  This will drive a Statpower Pro-Watt 2500 inverter to operate the air conditioner at anchor during the hot St. Louis summer nights.  The Main problem with this arrangement is isolation of the XP25 to cut down on noise at the 1750rpm setting necessary to get a continuous 175amps of power out of the alternator. The big V berth is our favorite spot fter dark.  You can usually find the three of watching a movie on the TV-VCR combo .  Four Bose 101s provide "Boat Theatre" sound. Many times we will drop by the harbor and pick up the runabout in the late afternoon and use it to scoot up or down the river to visit one of the many eating places.

Sailing in the Mississippi is not really comparable to sailing in most other locations unless they are also 500 miles long and about half a mile wide.   Ya do a lot of tacking in the river except on the rare day that the wind is blowing across it rather than directly down stream (the usual picture).  Most times the boat is used for several pleasant hours sailing, and then anchored with friends in a local favorite spot for snacks, a swim, and some relaxation.  We put the creature comforts of the Cat 34 ahead of it's sailing abilities, although it is quite quick once everything gets back up to speed after it tacks.  Drifters and cruising spinnakers are quite popular in this area and are really necessary in the predominately light winds. There are probably about 200 cruising sailboats in the St. Louis area.  Many of them are in the 25 to 35 foot range simply because a larger boat is hard to  deal with in such a narrow sailing area.

Looking forward to hearing from any of you that like your Cats as much as we like the Family Affair. I would also like to hear from anyone that has tried any of the mods that we've installed.  Especially about isolating the engine noise. 

Tony McMahon (tony.mcmahon*spam-no-more*boc.com)