We are a "Catalina Family" and have owned three different boats. A 1977 C-27, a 1984 C-36 and are currently fulltime cruisers on a 2006 C-470.
We sailed our Catalina 36 on the
San Francisco Bay and the Northern
California coast. She was 20 years young when we purchased her. You will find many of the earlier boats have original
rigging and
electronics, which will require upgrades. We upgraded or replaced the
sails, traveler, running
rigging and
electronics.
Purchasing a newer C-36 (Less than 10 years old) would probably be a better way to go to avoid doing all the upgrades.
The boat sailed well in all types of
wind and seas. It was comfortable for trips of a couple of weeks for two persons and daysailed great with six people. It was very easy to
single hand, once we ran all rigging to the
cockpit.
The boat had a forward facing NAV Station and a port side
galley, which we favored. The universal
diesel ran well, but was a little hard to access for routine
maintenance. The
refrigerator will need more
insulation in the older models. The head/shower combo is adequate and we used the
shower frequently. We used the Forward V-Berth for sleeping, but there is also a large aft bunk. We found both bunks hard to get out of, without waking your partner.
We also lived on the boat for about 9 months while waiting for our
current one to be built. In my opinion, it was a little tight for fulltime cruising, but everyone has their own comfort level.
A great way to find out more about the Catalina 36 is go to the Catalina 36 Association site at:
www.catalina36.org . Catalina owners tend to be very honest about there boats and will give you lots of information.
Hope that helps... Fair Winds
Tom Jeremiason
SV Camelot
Home Port:
San Francisco, CA
www.SailingCamelot.us