Thataway sighting!!!

[johnr]

I'm a big fan of Bob Austin and his former boat, Thataway. His advice, either directly to me, or indirectly through others, has been immensely helpful to me.

Anyway, I'm up here in Bellingham, WA, about as far away from from Pensacoloa as you can get in the lower 48. This afternoon, I was walking to the grocery store and, one block away from my house, I see a 25 foot C-Dory, on a trailer, in front of a neighbors house. Imagine my surprise when I discover that it's Thataway! C-Brat royalty, right in my neighborhood! A picture is in my galley, but I can't figure out how to post it here.

Anyway, the new owners are currently off on another adventure, sans boat, and won't be back for a couple of days. I'll stop and say hi when they return.

[Pacificcoast101]

[thataway]

Randy Erwin is the new owner. He has been a c brat for a long time. He had another 25, and sold that recently after he purchased Thataway.

Randy had put a bid on that C Dory 25, as I was on my way to do the survey and Sea Trial. His bid was more than mine, but I upped the bid, and we had the pleasure of being caregivers of this boat for a few years. Initially when Randy called me after I had purchased the 25, he told me if I ever sell it, he wants first choice.

He called me within hours of my putting the boat for sale. He left the boat in our yard, and would come back and forth to explore parts of Florida and near by waters. He ran from New Orleans to Destin in several months trips. Then he did the lower Florida, and up into the Carolinas, before taking her to Calif.

The boat is in excellent hands of some one who loves her and will take care of her.

Thanks for the shout. I wish we could have continued to cruise, but life gets in the way as we age. We still have the RV and are keeping up with our C Brat friends at gatherings. For Hontoon this last year we towed our 18' Caracal Cat and had a slip at the marine camp ground by Ed Stone park. Peter and Becky Clay also camped in the same space, and helped us with getting the boat ready each day. They had recently bought a C Dory 25 also.

[Randy2515]

Hi All,
Thank you for the kind words Bob! Yes I towed the boat back to California from Oak Island, NC where my good friends Jerry and Patricia Ferguson let me store it in their driveway. The boat was there for about a month and a half and I was going to return and continue on to Maine. I was tired of traveling solo so I decided to tow it back to California. I towed it up to Washington mid August and spent a month cruising the Gulf Islands and the San Juan’s. Now the boat is back in Northern California and I need a place to store it as I can’t store it on my property in Occidental.(Any help would be appreciated) The previous owners and Bob and Marie set the boat up nicely. It’s well equipped and I haven’t had any problems I didn’t cause myself. Bob had repaired the transom (due to manufacturer flaw) after I had purchased it and repaired it better than new. He also had repaired the trailer brakes prior to me purchasing it and I’ve never had an issue in all the miles of towing since. I will take good care of Thataway until the time comes to sell, but plan on a few more adventures. I would like to spend a few winter months in Baja after reading about Micah’s travels on Sierra. Take care,
Randy