Looking at getting into sailing...Catalina 30

[986mkoh]

Hi all, my names Mike and I'm from NE OH. I do all my boating on Lake Erie and currently have a 1995 Bayliner 2859. Recently I've been looking at getting into sailing and put my boat on craigslist for sale or trade for a sailboat, and got one offer that got my attention. It is for a 1982 Catalina 30 tall rig w/ diesel inboard and some extra stuff. Guy claims it is in great shape, and mine is excellent as well with a trailer.

I don't know much about sailboats or sailing, but am willing to learn from locals with sailboats. Any info about this boat would be great, or if it would be a good choice for travelling Lake Erie. That's a big reason for getting away from the boat I have, is I can't afford to travel at ~1.2 mpg. It serves me great for short travelling and fishing, but can't cut it for distance. I normally will go out in anything 6 ft or less, and would like to be able to do the same with a sailboat. If this wouldn't be a great boat, steer me somewhere in the right direction I should be looking for one please!


Thanks,
Mike

[Kennyge]

Hi Mike, I am not an expert on Catalina 30's but I do have a Catalina 25 and love it. I would suggest you ask the same question at:
CatalinaOwners.com - Home
as there are 1000's of 30's out there with many owners who love them.
One thing that I can say is that the Catalina Community is very strong and very helpful and any part you would ever need is always available at:
Catalina Direct:

Kenny

[Kevin84]

Hey Mike! The C30 is a great boat. Perfect for what you're looking for. The tall rig is actually the better option IMO. Some friends of mine own one and they love it. Plenty of space on board, good sailing characteristics. Do s google search for the C30 and you'll get a wealth of info. The C30 owners group will be especially helpful.

[The Garbone]

Mike ,

Welcome to aboard.

A C30 is a pretty nice boat. You definately will not be able to trailer it like your bayliner so you may wish to get a ball or a slip which kinda defeats the cost savings if your don't have a slip already. For a trailer boat a C25 or C22 would be good but then you have the portapotty and small cabin space.

The C30 being a tall rig I see as a push, neither good or bad. It will move a little better in light air but you will have to reef earlier as not to overpower the boat when the wind starts to pick up. Does the boat have a furling jib? Always a nice feature to have.

I recently spent a week out on the water with my wife in our C27 and only used about 9 gallons of gas with our outboard and a diesel would burn less, so sailing can save you fuel costs as long as you are not in a hurry.

[pbiJim]

Hi Mike,

There are a couple of different versions of the Catalina 30 & I'm not sure what the "tall rig" variant is, but I'll start you off with a few general comments.

A good place to start looking for spec's on any sail boat that you are considering buying is sailboatdata.com. It's not a perfect reference, but it's a good place to start for general information. The straight C-30 variant can be found here - CATALINA 30 sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com

What you are looking at there is a solid keel boat that draws a little over 5 feet of water & weighs a little over 10,000 pounds. I don't know Bayliners very well, but judging by the NADA stats, I'm going to guess that your current boat weighs no more than 3/4 of what a C-30 weighs. You are not going to want to take that thing into shallow water due to the keel & you are not going to want to trailer it with your typical 3/4 ton pick up truck due to the weight. If it's in good condition, it should be a fairly seaworthy vessel & should easily take a 6-foot chop if the captain does his part correctly.

This was a popular boat, with over 6,000 built. There were later mark 2 & mark 3 variants also built. The mark 2 was said to be first built in 1986, so a 1982 would likely be an original version.

A diesel motor is generally a good thing to have on a boat that size, but condition means a lot. You need an opinion from a qualified mechanic to judge the motor.

The condition of the standing rigging means a lot, as does the quantity, quality & condition of the sails.

A sail boat is going to be much slower than your current power boat. If your fishing grounds are 15 miles out, it's going to take you a few hours to get there & a few hours to get back.

If you want something that you can trailer, then you probably want to look at a 20-24' sailboat. If I knew the towing capacity of your truck, then I could give you a more accurate size range to consider.

If you want something that can go into water a foot deep or be beachable, then look at something with a swing keel or a retractable centerboard.

If I were you, I would probably start by buying a smaller sailboat that you can learn on & see if you like it. After that, if you like it, then you can trade your "stink pot" for a bigger "box full of rags".

[986mkoh]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I'm actually already docked in Ashtabula, so dock fees will be roughly the same. And as far as getting a smaller boat to learn on, I'd like to but the market is pretty soft for power boats right now and I might want to take advantage of this trade offer if I can. I'm going to look at a 12 foot 3-4 person sailboat this week, just to mess around with in the bay and at local lakes so maybe I can learn some with that, whatever little that may be.

Yeah I usually fish 3-5 miles out, and am hardly ever in a hurry, so I could do it on the motor if necessary. What's the typical speed achieved with something like the 18 hp diesel? And normal under sail in a favorable 10-15 kt wind? Just curious on those, as that's the normal wind I would say we have.

And as far as shallow water is concerned, I don't think I'll be beaching it and generally try to stay away from any shallow water. The only time I'm in shallow water is my current marina, which I'd have to move.

Mike

[ibsurfun]

Hi Mike I have owned a few Catalina's 3 c27's, 1 c22 and a 30.
these really are a lot of bang for the buck and in some cases very underrated boats. As for an 82 c30 this is a really good model and if I were you a visit and hopefully a sail would be the way to go this will let you know if you would like to move forward or not.
as for your question on speed it depends mostly on conditions since this is a fairly large boat with a lot of freeboard, most times you will be able to expect around 6 kts as a rule of thumb.
the big difference between the tall rig and standard is the height of the mast and most tall rigs will have a bowsprit. The added sail creates more drive and changes the righting angle since they have same keel as the standard this means more heel (lean) with less wind and the need to reef (reduce) sail earlier.
this boat is actually very easy to sail and many a beginner has learned on one that said I would not sail alone until confident of my abilities since the larger the boat the quicker you can get into trouble.
you may want to consider taking some sailing classes from an ASA or US Sailing affiliated school basic keel boat would be good beginning costal cruising would be better.
what you will find is that this model is a good sailing boat and one of the most suggested for beginning cruisers for their comfort, good sailing characteristics, Support community and is considered one of the best in it's design class.
what it all boils down to it what are you looking for? What is best for you and what you are comfortable with. Catalina 30 - SailboatOwners.com , Jack Horner Review

No dream was ever fulfilled by listening to nay sayers!
Fair winds Mike

[S/V Alchemy]

The Catalina is the Honda Civic of sailboats. It's not great at any one thing, but it's pretty good at a wider number of things than most of its competitors. The tall rig is a bonus for Erie, but if you are going from a powerboat to sail and it's all new to you (and I say this as a guy who went from "never sailed" to a 33 footer), you definitely want to get Power Squadron (don't let the name fool you) training, and to crew on other peoples' boats to maximize your learning.

For one, pick a light-air day, put out all your fenders and try to run alongside a nav aid, like a buoy. See if you can stop and hover. The mechanics are different than those of a powerboat. Now try it on a sea wall. Dock, undock and repeat. Back down and learn about the prop walk. Don't expect bursts of speed. A sailboat's motor is called "auxiliary" because you are firstly meant to sail. The motor is geared and propped for torque and thrust, not speed. You may barely break six knots, and five is a lot easier (and economical) on that little diesel. It's a displacement hull: the last knot of speed is the most expensive. Better to sail if you can.

I would still get a survey. Even as a trade, you'll need to learn those problems, inevitable on a 31 year old boat, that could sink you if you don't attend to them.

No, you won't be beaching a keelboat in non-tidal Lake Erie. Well, once, maybe.

[Kevin84]

Mike, you're looking at anywhere from 2-6 kts under sail depending on wind and sea conditions. And 4-6 kts under power. But you're buying a sailboat, not a powerboat. Sail her!