Catalina 30' - Whatcha Think?

[saltyspringer]

Hello everybody!

We are three young guys in Miami looking to purchase a sailboat to cruise the Caribbean on. Today we went to a marina and looked at a few boats. One that stood out is a 1979 Catalina 30' with a 2001 Yanmar diesel.

1979 Catalina Aft Cockpit Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

We would love to hear back from people who know this boat, or really anyone who knows anything about boats and can tell us the pros and cons of this one. Please be brutally honest, we are possibly about to invest a big chunk of money into this boat and would like to know as much about it as possible.

This site has been so helpful in the past. Gotta love sailors.

[Sailmonkey]

that boat would be perfect for what you want, so long as you understand that it will never be where you want to be when the weather gets really nasty. other than that inspect or change the standing rig and have the sails looked at.

[saltyspringer]

What do you mean by "never be where you want to be when the weather gets really nasty"?
thanks

[Sailmonkey]

Consider this boat to be a big dinghy. light weight, flat bottomed. It will take more than you can, but....
Others have done the same trip you want to do on the same model boat, just watch the weather.

[Boracay]

I'm only going on second hand info, but the descriptions of cruisers who have headed west south west from Florida have suggested that it's a rough old passage, hard on the boat and hard on the crew.

An old, small, cheap boat is not going to have a good time of it.

Would it be possible to start from the western end of the Caribbean and sail back to Florida, maybe even drifting all the way up to Canada if the weather Gods are willing.

To me the question that you need to ask is can I find a suitable boat in the Western Caribbean?

[bstreep]

If you want this boat, I'd buy it already in the islands. This boat is a coastal cruiser - and a small one at that. I wouldn't take that boat from Florida to the islands for any amount of money. Others will, however.

[Inkwell]

There is nothing wrong with a Catalina 30 for sailing to the islands. You see them all over the Bahamas and BVI, USVI. Go for it. You do not need a " blue water" sailboat to enjoy sailing in the caribbean. Miami is an easy sail to the Bahamas. Sail the Bahamas first, get some experience, see some awful sites and then it time allows, work your way to the BVI.