2002 Catalina 40 mk ii thoughts

[Tim francis]

I’m about to buy a Catalina 40. I live on Maui and the boat is for sale by owner. The haulout is coming soon with a full survey. I’m excited to hear firsthand information on the Catalina 40, general discussion, and pros and cons. My plan is to put a good amount of money in the kitty, cruise to the South Pacific in about five years, and see where I’m at after that. I plan on living and or cruising the boat for years. Possibly my forever boat.

The boat has some great upgrades already. I think the only big items I’d add at the moment to the next haulout in five or so years would be a Bimini, small inboard genset, and watermaker. I’m sure that can all change drastically.
Thanks for any discussion.
And wish me luck


https://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/...959557627.html

[Zzmeyer]

Love the 40. Had the 42. After years of cruising a big mistake I made was to have a generator. It is another complex piece of equipment that takes up valuable space and its position often interferes with main engine maintenance. I have air conditioning, but almost never need it at anchor and it is the only thing I have on board that needs the generator (hot water comes from the main engine). In the marina I have shore power. Solar is so efficient and cheap I'd use the money for a generator for solar and lithium batteries. (and lots of big fans).

[psk125]

Surprised that a boat in Hawaii doesn’t already have a bimini. It would be what I’d want for Christmas - if not for Thanksgiving, if I got the boat before Christmas.

[Tim francis]

Well, I delivered the boat to my mooring on Maui last weekend. No wind up too the last mile. The wind was blowing through the valley. I decided to go north and around the north side of Molokai. I stayed a ways offshore due to some fuel issues. Bad fuel algae. I figured out the gremlins with the solar and electrodacus setup. Electrodacus was causing me anger issues till I just unplugged it and now it’s acting right. Somewhat. I had issues understanding the xantrex 3000 freedom. It wasn’t giving me freedom. The two ways to turn on the charger/ inverter don’t work. You have to go in the panel and turn on stuff in there. The po sold the boat to me without being present so I had to figure out all the steps myself. And his help via texts. 400 ah of lithium is awesome. I’m only getting 8 to 10 amps an hour on solar. 590 watts. So I think I’m getting a blockage somewhere. I’m waiting till this afternoon to see for sure. First real sunny day since I got back. It’s 11:00 am and only putting in 8 amps. I have an electrical engineer coming next Friday to look over the systems. He’ll hook up a 100 amp alternator and a electric winch for the mainsail. The owner bought all this expensive nice stuff and never finished hooking things up. The boat is great and I think she’s a keeper for the next 20 plus years. I hope to go to a Pacific in the next few years.