Refitting a 10 Year-Old Cat

[peter.bomberg]

I am looking for recomendations at companies that are good at upgrading and retrofitting an older Cat.

I am looking for a company that can do both cosmetic work such as applying new veneers and painting the interior, to more complex work like possibly changing engines, rewiring the electrical, swamping the nav system and so on.

Any and all recomendatons are welcome as I am still in the research phase and am still trying to figure out my plans

[captjohn360]

wheres the boat....jt

[peter.bomberg]

Hi Captain John,

Alas no boat yet, but the home port will be Bonaire (I live in Canada but am ok with any recomendation at this time)

Peter

[Boracay]

I would not be surprised to find the cost of a 10 year old cat plus a professional refit to be greater than the price of a new boat.

Some of the Mahe 36's look to be going for a great price new now.

Some of the more creative financing into charter packages might work for you.

Caveat Emptor

[Abaco]

I recommend Fort Lauderdale. It may have the highest concentration of yacht service providers in the world.

[peter.bomberg]

I hear you about the potential cost, which is why I want to get estimates on the cost and feasibility as I am really leaning towards a 10+ year old Cat and a upgrade, my thinking is 350K for the cat 150K for the upgrades and refits

[Sunspot Baby]

I don't know what size cat your looking at but for $350k you should be able to buy at 10 year old cat that doesn't need a lot of refit.

We bought a 7 year old cat 8 years ago and spend about $10 t0 $20k a year in maintenance and upgrades as things break or go wrong.

George

[peter.bomberg]

Thanks George, the refits are not to bring the Cat back to shape but to modify it for my needs, I am looking to remove the aft cabins, replace the electrical, replace the engines, and so on, but I am still at the planning stage and may just relax and sail the Cat as it is for a while (my advice to others try it for 1-2 years before making changes)

[Southern Star]

Peter, I'm not sure what particular boats you are considering, but in many cases the best and most comfortable accomodation is in the aft cabins (too much motion forward for use when underway). It also sounds as if ex-Charter cats are pretty far removed from what you want as they all have aft cabins and most have additional head compartments connected to them (over 40 feet, typically 4 cabins and 4 heads). Ultimately, if you have 500K to spend, why not look at a new custom boat that meets your design parameters?

Brad

[peter.bomberg]

Hi Brad, the only reason I am not looking at a new custom cat is that by the time I added it all up to get the same features as a 10 year old used Cat I was into 650-750K for a new custom, but I may review and revisit as it would solve many issues for me, I hear you on the aft cabins being the quietest, but the issue is loading heavy tec dive equipment and hauling it around on deck is not fun either and as most of the time we will be at anchor (assuming a ratio of 2 week at anchor for every week sailing) I suspect it's not a bad compromise.

Peter