Tayana 37 A class that owes much to an energetic owners’ group by Karen Larson HE TAYANA OWNERS’ GROUP (TOG) sail at a YMCA camp in is a diverse, energetic, and pas- Iowa. Before long she was T sionate group of sailors of Tay- a camp sailing instructor. ana, CT, and Vancouver sailboats and Many years went by before motorsailers. For more than 10 years, she met Bill in church, a Bill and Rockie Truxall have been the church with three Kathys. default leaders of this loyal clan due Nicknames were assigned to to their joint role as publishers of the keep the identities straight. member publication, TOG News. Kathie Rocknee became Until recently, this 24-page newslet- Rockie, and so she remains ter has appeared quarterly in the mail- today, although she’s also boxes of up to 500 dues-paying mem- known as Grandma Rockie bers when many other sailboat owners’ to a select few. group newsletters were struggling to Bill’s course through life get members, to get news and article led through a 27-year career contributions from members, and to in the U.S. Navy: aircraft break even on the printing-and-post- carriers, the battleship New age-versus-dues-paid balance sheet. Jersey, submarines, and Long before she became Rockie destroyers. He saw service Truxall, Kathie Rocknee learned to in Vietnam on a destroyer One of many active Tayana owners, and on a sub. He ended his career as a commander and was captain of the Dayton Eckerson sails Mistress destroyers USS Robert L. Wilson and on the Chesapeake with his wife, USS Vesole. ChrisKnauss Darlene Como, and their 8-year-old Upon retirement from the Navy, he daughter, Maggie. Like Bill and bought a Tanzer 28. The Tanzer served Rockie Truxall’s Seaquestor II, well, but Bill says, “It’s really just a weekend boat.” Mistress has been in the Ecker- son family from the beginning. Wanted a plane She was commissioned by Peter Of his sailing passion, Bill says, “I re- Eckerson in 1979 and outfi tted as ally wanted to buy an airplane, but a a fl oating dental offi ce, serving sailboat is less expensive to run.” That patients from Rhode Island and comment puts a new light on the old saw about a boat being nothing more New York to the Caribbean. than a hole in the water into which one pours money. An airplane, by extension then, would be a black hole that sucks money. To pay for his sailing habit, Bill worked as a consulting engineer (as many other retired military personnel do in the Washington, D.C., beltway) until his second retirement in 1995. Bill and a mutual sailing friend, who owned a Cheoy Lee 33, began looking for their next boats. They both settled on the Bob Perry-designed Tayana 37 as the boat for them. “It was, at the 10 Good Old Boat March/April 2005 Bill and Rockie Truxall, below, were the Tayana Owners’ Group newsletter editors for more than a decade. Sea- questor II, at left, is docked at their home in Reedville, Virginia. time, considered to be the high end of and attending owners’ rendezvous. Much to resolve what a couple could manage together,” When Bill retired from his engineer- “Norm would write to the factory,” Bill says. The time was 1985. “You ing career, they moved to a waterfront Bill says. “He’d tell them, ‘You’ve got could get a Tayana 37,” Bill recalls home in Reedville, Virginia, where to resolve this,’ and they would. There with a smile, “for $39,995 . sailaway Seaquestor is docked a few footsteps was much to be resolved in the early FOB Taiwan.” And some new owners from the door. days. While the Taiwanese were expert did take ownership of their boats in Bringing their baby home from a craftsmen, they were not necessarily Taiwan, saving an additional $5,000 Maryland marina may have been a mis- sailors.” charge for shipping and $5,000 more take. “When your boat is somewhere He smiles and continues, “The first for insurance. else, you make a point of packing and boats were built in 1975. People need- The interiors of the Tayanas were going to the boat,” Rockie points out. ed support and information in those infinitely customizable. You’ll scarcely “When it’s in your backyard, it seems days. The builder was so unsophisti- see two the same. With the help of almost everything else comes before cated.” The story told most frequently another Tayana 37 owner who was an the boat.” concerns the company’s decision architect, the Truxalls got their plans to move a 90-gallon fuel tank from together and got their boat into produc- beneath a saloon settee to beneath tion. They deliberated for 18 months on “There was much the V-berth in order to create more their interior layout. By the time they useable storage space in the cabin. A placed their order, the local dealer was to be resolved in the good idea in theory. The problem is in litigation with another dealer, and early days. While the that, when full, this iron tank adds an their boat was not delivered until 1988. extra 700 pounds to the bow, caus- Seaquestor II was shipped to Bal- Taiwanese were expert ing trim problems and hobby-horsing. timore Harbor. Bill remembers the Many owners have since relocated day well. Moving from a Tanzer 28 to a craftsmen, they were not this awkward tank. Tayana 37, his perspective of this new, necessarily sailors.” After 12 years, Norm Demain grew heftier, and much longer boat was that tired of the publishing job he’d cre- it was going to be huge. He expected ated for himself. About that time the to see his new boat the moment he ar- The largest “everything else” that Truxalls were sitting in the cockpit rived on the pier. In truth, he couldn’t comes before their boat is that the with John Kraft, another Tayana 37 find her. Seaquestor was lost among the Truxalls now spend their summers owner, looking at the TOG News which offloaded cargo of the delivering ship. in Iowa supervising Rockie’s family proclaimed in the headline: “This is farms. She sails a 12-foot dinghy there your last newsletter.” There was much Beautiful interior on Spirit Lake. The Shell Lake dinghy is discussion that day and at a later ren- Now 15 years later, Bill says with fond- easily rigged and sailed by one. It brings dezvous about who would take over ness, “You can’t buy a U.S. boat with back fond memories of teaching sailing the job. The Truxalls allowed them- a more beautiful interior,” and Rockie to campers. In fact, Rockie is teaching selves to be persuaded. There were 190 nods in agreement. The two haven’t sailing again during her summers there. members at the time. done a great number of modifications How did a couple of Chesapeake Membership more than doubled to to their good old boat, as so many Bay sailors become the guardians of 500 on their watch. But now 12 more boatowners do. They’re the first own- the TOG News and the entire owners’ years have gone by, and Bill and Rockie ers, after all, and they got her the way group? The founder of the newsletter still hope to find the next publishers they wanted her to begin with. was Norm Demain who was in touch after giving up the job themselves They’ve kept Seaquestor shipshape with 20 or so fellow Tayana owners recently. “This is a labor of love,” Bill and pristine, although their plans for willing to share tips and frustrations. notes. “Two have called to offer their bluewater passages have faded a bit. He started a small newsletter in order services, but the first question each Now they enjoy sailing the Chesapeake to better pass the information along. time was, ‘What’s your annual profit?’ www.goodoldboat.com 11 There is no annual profit.” And so the ers who varied widely in both ability cally: “One of the offshoots and great so-called “volunteers” melted away. and their desire to help their custom- strengths of the T-37 is the existence of ers after the sale. a thriving owners’ association. Formed Strong organization “She is atypical in that many of in 1979, it has faithfully recorded own- For the good of all, it behooves some- these problems have been solved over ers’ views, voyages, problems, and the one within the group to pick up the six years of production, in that a good alleviation of those problems. It has mantle of responsibility. In 1982, when owners’ association and the domina- campaigned on behalf of owners and Tayanas were relatively new, Practical tion of one dealer . have resulted in has been instrumental in achieving Sailor recognized the value of a strong real improvements in the boat. Anyone gradual improvement in the boat and owners’ organization. considering a Tayana 37 should join its gear . This group must surely rank The reviewer said, “The Tayana 37 the owners’ association and read all as one of the most effective owners’ is both typical and atypical of Taiwan- the back newsletters before buying groups dedicated to the products of a ese boats. She is typical in the prob- the boat. If your dealer either fails to single company.” lems that existed due to the builder’s mention the owners’ association or Since active owners’ associations, inexperience with seagoing yachts, denigrates it, find another dealer.” ongoing publicity, reviews, and docu- typical with communication and lan- Another review, by British sailor Da- mentation increase the value of any guage problems, typical in having deal- vid Phillips, stated even more emphati- sailboat, the incentive to maintain the group is strong.