Boats and Their People: Chris Jahn and his Dolphin 24

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For 9 years, Chris Jahn put down some critical cruising miles crusing a Hans Christian from California throughout the Pacific. One factor at all times puzzled him in his travels—how so many individuals with completely good boats spent all their time engaged on them, moderately than going crusing.

“Whereas cruising I met so many individuals doing infinite refits,” he says. “Generally the boats had been immaculate, able to go. Why don’t they simply depart the dock? I’d suppose.”

Which explains just a little bit about his reply when requested concerning the boat truest to his coronary heart now, a Yankee Dolphin 24. “Properly, particularly,” he says, “nothing sucks about it.”

Chris grew up in Southern California. From 2011-2020, he cruised from California to Hawaii, New Zealand, French Polynesia, and past on a Hans Christian 33. Issues had been swell till the Covid pandemic hit. With a kiddo in tow, Chris and his then-wife left the Hans Christian in New Zealand, flew house to Santa Monica, and finally bought their cruising boat.

Chris’ son, Probability, tries the tiller on the Dolphin.

Photograph courtesy of Chris Jahn

“After that, I spent two years with no boat,” he says. Then sooner or later, Chris was scrolling Craigslist, on the lookout for one thing to scratch the itch, when a good-looking 24-footer caught his eye.

“Easy. Small. Nice strains. I knew instantly it was a Sparkman & Stephens design.”

The boat was referred to as Robin Lee. A 1969 Yankee Dolphin 24, it had a pleasant sheer, refined overhangs, and an extended checklist of apparent wants.

“No motor, a bunch of holes coated in duct tape, leaky home windows,” Chris says, laughing, rattling off a few of the points. Legend had it the boat had as soon as sunk in its slip, and the inside’s shoe-like scent appeared to show it. However Chris wasn’t deterred. In truth, he kind of beloved the boat’s imperfections, preferring to reside with them moderately than decelerate his time doing what the boat did greatest—sail.

Chris enjoys some downtime onboard.

Photograph courtesy of Chris Jahn

Chris snapped up the Dolphin for just a few grand, sailed it for the following yr, and loved the hell out of it.

“It has the worst PHRF ranking you would presumably consider,” Chris says, smiling. “However it sailed effectively, was secure, and moved in mild wind. Plus, the boat is horny.”

Good instances. Nice crusing. However, the seasons finally modified. After a yr, Chris bought the Dolphin in hopes of discovering a ship with an even bigger inside for his kiddos. He purchased an previous Catalina 27, and life went on.

In the meantime, one other man named Chris took the tiller of the Dolphin. It was an ideal match and precisely what the Dolphin wanted—Chris King had simply spent three years in a crusing membership and acquired the boat to be taught extra about marine upkeep.

“I didn’t have a giant funds for fixes,” Chris No. 2 explains. “So, the perfect I might do was turn into associates with individuals who knew greater than me and ask for assist.”

With these associates, Chris No. 2 stuffed holes on deck, changed deadlights with portlights, right-sized the increase, and added a pleasant Garhauer vang. A gifted native craftsman eliminated the boat’s antiquated galley and put in a sofa. Lastly, he sanded the teak handrails and toerail and brushed on varnish. Then, with the boat wanting sensible, he put the Dolphin 24 up on the market.

“I’LL BUY IT!” Chris No. 1 texted Chris No. 2. By that point, he was knee-deep in a keel bolt substitute challenge on the Catalina 27 and on the lookout for a means out.

One week, just a few texts, and a handshake later, the deal was finished.

“I used to be pumped,” Chris says. “I bought the Dolphin again in higher form than I’d left it. And, that very same week, someone gave me an previous outboard.”

At simply 24 toes, the Dolphin has a cheeky profile and wonderful strains.

Illustrations courtesy sailboatdata&interval;com

This winter, Chris is again out on Santa Monica Bay, having fun with all of the “options” that make his Dolphin 24 so particular. “No battery. No electrical bilge pump. No lights. No depth sounder. No knot meter. No GPS. No fastened mount VHF,” he says, to call just a few.

That stated, every now and then he admits he does take into consideration making upgrades. “However then I get right down to the boat, and as an alternative I simply go crusing,” he says. “So, yeah, I’ve a ‘things-I’ll-never-do’ checklist and that’s OK. For me, much less is extra as a result of the attract of crusing is the crusing half, proper?”

Completely.