New boat - Catalina 36 MK II!

[AiniA]

So we did it after not having a boat for a year we have an accepted offer on a Catalina 36 MK II. It is a 1995 model, we were hoping to buy something built in this millennium but could not resist this one. It has only been in freshwater and has only 400 hours on the engine. The sails have not come out of storage for 13 years. The owners lived on the boat in the summer while he worked as a marine electronic/electrical guy at a marina. Overall it is in fabulous shape for its age and needs relatively few upgrades - a new plotter radar, Tides mainsail track, new batteries come to mind.

It will be a big change for us coming from a Bristol 45.5 and spending years living onboard and crossing oceans. The displacement of the Cat is less than 40% that of the Bristol so loads will be a lot less. Our plans are the Great Lakes, Newfoundland, and possibly the Bahamas. Did I say the Catalina has no exterior teak? A rainforest died to fit out the Bristol. BTW, if anyone wants to do extensive offshore sailing a Bristol (decimal series) is a great choice. Ainia did wonders for us and looked after us well.

[fernandosmooth]

I didn't know that somehow you could track how many hours an engine worked. My guess is that somehow the engine warns that oil needs to be changed and people calculate the hours by how many bottles..


Anyway, nice that you hace a new boat!

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by fernandosmooth

I didn't know that somehow you could track how many hours an engine worked. My guess is that somehow the engine warns that oil needs to be changed and people calculate the hours by how many bottles..


Anyway, nice that you hace a new boat!

I track how many hours I run my engine, both for maintenance intervals and to calculate fuel consumption.

Many engine panels have an hour meter. Mine does not.

[Training Wheels]

Very easy to add an hour meter.

[Dooglas]

I owned a 1993 Catalina 36 mark 2 for 7 years. It made several passages up the Coast of Washington State and through the inside waters of the Salish Sea. A solid and reliable boat with an excellent interior layout. My understanding is that there have been more Catalina 36 hulls built than any other boat over 30 feet. Some have even done circumnavigations, though that might be overdoing it.

[Dooglas]

Originally Posted by Training Wheels

Very easy to add an hour meter.

Yes, surprising that there is some unfamiliarity with engine hour meters. All of the many inboard powered boats I have owned have had an hour meter. A simple device, and a simple installation, as it is nothing more than an electric clock which runs whenever the ignition is turned on.

[AiniA]

The interior on these boats is very interesting. The table easily demounts for storage on the bulkhead which gives you a very wide open area entertaining or even storing sail bags underway. You still have the small table to starboard for a couple to eat at. It also goes away and you can use this area for a sea berth. The only thing missing are better handholds. There are two on the ceiling centreline but then it is too far from there forward unless you are fairly tall. My wife does not qualify (5' 3"). We saw a 380 and it had a sturdy handrail below the ports on the starboard side. I think you would need to steam bend the handrail to fit here. We will be adding something.