Suncat Trader Cruises: A Little History - Getting started and Trader's cruises 1979-2004

This book is a summary of our boating experiences together. It is primarily 2 boats which appear below. It does not include delivery trips of which we have done several.

Symbol 41 Sun Cat

C and C 35 Trader

We started our cruising vacations in the fall of 1974 when we acquired a 1974 C and C 27 which we renamed Ecstasy. We joined Centerboard Yacht Club in South Portland in 1975 and sailed out of there for many years until we bought Sun Cat and in 2006. We cruised the 27 to Mount Desert Island in Maine and Cape Cod and Martha's Vinyard. As the family grew, we decided to get a larger boat and so we acquired Trader.

Trader is a 1973 C and C 35 MK I acquired by us in 1979. She has been continually upgraded and improved with almost all of the work being done by Steve with some help from sons Stephen and Bill. Her present engine (#3) is a 27HP Yanmar and she is presently on her fourth suit of sails. We have logged thousands of miles on her during this time sailing out of Centerboard Yacht Club in Portland Maine.

Trader on her mooring - CYC - Portland Harbor

We have cruised extensively throughout Maine waters. Nearly every weekend was spent cruising Casco Bay and for vacation we would travel "down east", spending time almost every year on Mt Desert Island and venturing further several times to Roque Island and Grand Mannan and Passamaquoddy Bay. The longest cruise (before 2005) was the fall of 1996 when we took her to Norfolk where she spent the winter at Waterside Marina. While there, we represented Centerboard Yacht Club in the lighted boat parade.

In 2003, we took a 5 or 6 week trip to St John New Brunswick, cruising up the St John River and the various lakes and bays off of it. The St John is a fantastic fresh water cruising ground with lots of places to explore, neat towns to visit and warm, fresh water. The following pictures are from some of our Maine Cruises.