New Owners Kevin and Debby Sottak Share Their Unique Experience Owning and Running Their Hunt 32 CC on the Chesapeake
During the holiday season, we enjoy catching up with owners and hearing about great times being had on the water. We recently connected with the Sottaks who took delivery of their new Hunt 32 CC in August. They have truly soaked up every bit of their summer and fall season on the Chesapeake aboard their new boat, Callaloo.
Having lived in the Virgin Islands and spending time on friends’ boats in rough waters, the Sottaks had a good sense of what a hull designed for running fast in rough waters should feel like. Now residents of St. Michaels, MD they enjoy cruising the Chesapeake with their family and friends. They wanted a well-appointed boat for day trip adventures and overnight destinations exploring the Mid-Atlantic that could also handle rough seas with ease when the weather turned sporty.
In the fall of 2021, Kevin and Debby attended the U.S. Powerboat Show in Annapolis, MD as they considered their options for a new boat that suited their boating lifestyle. “We had a Cobalt at the time and we were honestly leaning toward another Cobalt because it’s what we had and knew. But then we walked over and sat on the Hunt 32 CC and just immediately everything about that boat spoke to us. The exquisite appointments and level of comfort aligned well with our boating style running from the shore to Kent Island or Annapolis with our friends. We’re social boaters and the space and the level of comfort onboard were really nice features. But you could also just tell by looking at the boat that it was built to run,” said Kevin.
Then, last winter, the Hunt and Hinckley team in the Chesapeake invited Kevin and Debby to the Winter Open House at Hinckley Yacht Services in Easton, MD where they had another chance to step aboard and imagine a day on the water on the Hunt 32 CC. Not long after, they received a call from their Sales Director, Jon, letting them know a production slot for summer delivery had become available for the Hunt 32 CC. Kevin recalls the decision with great admiration for the human experience working with the Hunt team “this was a significant investment for us and Jon was immensely respectful and educated us on the Hunt line throughout the process, but never applied pressure. At that point, we had decided we were going to do it, but we’d only ever sat on the boat at the dock. You have to understand, we never sea-trialed a Hunt let alone the Hunt 32CC. We were fully relying on our faith in Jon and our faith in the brand. I’m not going to lie to you, by the time we were going to pick it up in Annapolis in August I was thinking something is going to be disappointing. There is no way this is going to live up to my increasingly high expectations and dreams of what this boat is going to be like… I’m just going to tell you, from the moment we walked on our boat for the first time, I just could not be happier with the experience and the quality onboard. It feels so solid, it feels safe, and it is comfortable. The performance is every bit as good as promised. It’s really fun—it’s a joy to drive. It’s beautiful. And, not that this is a significant reason for buying it, but every time we’ve taken the boat and docked it anywhere someone walks up and says ‘that’s a beautiful boat.’ In every way, we feel justified in the investment we have made in our Hunt 32 CC.”
I’m just going to tell you, from the moment we walked on our boat for the first time, I just could not be happier with the experience and the quality onboard. It feels so solid, it feels safe, and it is comfortable. The performance is every bit as good as promised. It’s really fun—it’s a joy to drive.
– Kevin Sottak
One of the Sottak’s favorite adventures from this season was a day trip to Solomon Island from St. Michaels for lunch then tooling around the Patuxet River then back up the Western Shore by Chesapeake City. Kevin recalled, “on the way back across the bay the wind picked up against us and it was our first real chance to see how the boat handles choppy seas. We kicked it up to about 35 knots and at first, my wife was a little nervous then she ended up so comfortable on the aft settee that she fell asleep as the sun was setting on the ride home—and we were running in a pretty good chop at a pretty good pace.”
While Kevin and Debby enjoy adventurous trips around the Mid-Atlantic, Kevin also underscored the ease of use of the Hunt 32 CC as being one of their favorite things about choosing this particular boat. “Callaloo sits on a lift behind our house. It’s great being able to head off the dock and cruise down the river with a glass of wine and watch the sunset. When we head back to the dock, we get the boat on the lift, hit three buttons and we’re done for the day. We have no hesitation about taking the boat out for a short run or a cocktail cruise.”
When we chatted with Kevin, the Sottaks were preparing for their grownup kids to visit over Thanksgiving and they were planning to bundle up with the family for a festive Thanksgiving Day cruise. We look forward to hearing about that day and future memories made aboard Callaloo with grand plans of trips to destinations like Tangier Island, D.C., and even to visit their daughter at college in Salsbury.
Curious about the name Callaloo? Us too.
The name was inspired by one of the Sottak’s favorite dishes from their time in the Virgin Islands. Callaloo is a popular Caribbean vegetable stew. There are many variations across the Caribbean, depending on the availability of local vegetables. The main ingredient is an indigenous leaf vegetable, traditionally either taro leaves, amaranth or Xanthosoma leaves.