Catalina Morgan 45 Owners

[Cherp]

Hello. We are in Hobart Australia and have a Catalina Morgan 45, which we bought in Melbourne a couple of years ago. She is a 1998 model, built in the USA and shipped to Australia at some stage. I would like to hear from other owners of these boats. I believe some 150 were produced, some with winged keels and some with straight. We have the winged version, which of course is good for shallower water. She only draws 5'6".

[clongcor59]

I saw no response to this post but we purchased a 95 CM 45CC earlier this year. I would like to connect with any other owners on this site.

[Glenncariib]

Greetings. We own Goin' Coastal, a 1993 Catalina Morgan 45 CC, Hull # 25. We are based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA and have sailed her on Lake Michigan since buying her in May 2017. I am always interested in sharing info with other owners as these boats are rather rare. I was told by the factory that only 57 of them were built. Our dream is to sail the Caribbean and perhaps beyond so we will soon start outfitting for long passages and extended stays on the hook. Feel free to ask me about our boat or repairs/mods we have done although it doesn't seem like we have done much. Best regards.
Glenn & Wendy

[clongcor59]

Thanks for the reply. We are in Galveston, Texas and preparing to head for the Caribbean hopefully in 2022. Like you state there is a lot to do to prep 25+ year old boat. We are very happy with the purchase so far.

[Faith2Sail]

Hi all Morgan 45 cc owners. It's good to see a recent post from current owners who love their boats.

My wife and I are currently looking for a CM 44 CC and can't seem to find much info regarding their build online. Can anyone advise if the hull is solid FG or cored? Also what the deck has been cored with. Any assistance would be incredibly appreciated.
Cheers,
Mike

[clongcor59]

Hello Faith2Sail,

I don’t have an answer to your question yet I would suggest calling Catalina Yachts directly. We have called them a few times with technical questions this past year and the have been terrific with their customer support regarding our 1995 model.

[SailorGirlFl]

Hull on 1990's Morgan Catalina 45 center cockpits are solid glass, thick too.. Deck is cored.. watch the deck, repair portlight leaks and deck cracks quickly. Great boat, we love ours!

[clongcor59]

We got to enjoy some deck hatch and core repairs on ours. We did not find the leaks during the survey but after a few rain storms they became obvious. We had to repair the topside glass surrounding the hatch cutout. We accessed the core for tear out and replacement from the inside. It was a big job for a newbie but it turn out well.

[Glenncariib]

We have recently relocated to Naples, Florida area and are looking for a deep enough marina to keep our boat, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. A week or so ago I had the privilege of touring the Catalina facility in Largo where our boat was built. It was really interesting and informative but unfortunately Catalina has no electronic records for my boat. I'm assuming all the Morgan 45's are alike in that regard. The gentleman who lead my tour is Warren Pandy and he is a walking encyclopedia of all things Catalina. The tours are currently being offered every Wednesday at 3:00 PM, I suggest calling to confirm before showing up at their door. I was told that 57 Morgan 45 CC hulls were built with the last one made in 2000. Sadly, the molds for our boats were disposed of a few months ago. Due to the comparatively low number of our boats that were built and their age, the knowledge base now resides more with us owners than Catalina. I welcome any questions from other owners and hope that we can help each other as things arise. Fair winds.

[clongcor59]

Thanks for the information. I also hope the Catalina Morgan 45 owner can stay connected here because I like knowing there are others I can reach out to if needed.

It's nice to know you are now in Florida. We plan to leave Galveston soon and headed over to Florida. Our plans are to spend hurricane season there so I will be looking for a DYI boatyard to haul out for some modifications we want to make. Please let me know if you run onto a good one.

[JKondziela]

My wife Sandy and I own Catalina Morgan 45 CC hull number 38. We bought her in February of 2019 in Annapolis and trucked her to our home port of Buffalo, NY.
Over the past 3 years we have been continually fixing and upgrading her and plan to head south this fall.
We are always interested in seeing upgrades that other owners have done and would welcome any input regarding a couple of things:
Installing an inner forestay that we can use for a staysail
Any information regarding either removing the engine for rebuild or replacement
Any feedback would be welcomed.

[Glenncariib]

It's good to hear from fellow Catalina Morgan 45 owners, I apologize for the delay in replying. The yacht transport company we are using to bring our boat to Charlotte Harbor from Wisconsin (Great Lakes Boat Transport) recommended Charlotte Harbor Boat Storage as a place to unload their transport, step the mast, and launch. We checked it out this weekend and found it to appear clean and well run. It is definitely a place where DIY is OK but it's a bit removed from Charlotte Harbor. By water you must traverse a canal system and a manually operated lift lock to reach the yard. We were warned that the canal system water level was currently low and our 6' draft may be too deep until June when the summer rains begin. However, I spoke with the owner of a Gulfstar 50 docked in the well who said he was able to transit the canals with only one incident of bottoming out on the muck. We haven't actually used their yard yet but I feel comfortable entrusting them with our boat.
As regards mods, we still have the original rig so I can't offer any thoughts on the inner forestay other than I have considered it myself. As of last fall, our Yanmar 4JH2E diesel was in fine running condition so I haven't researched that at all either. I do know that when we had our Catalina 36 MK2 I looked at Beta Marine engines and felt that was the way to go should I decide to pull the trigger.
Our biggest concerns right now are selecting good bottom paint, and the water that runs along the aft starboard interior soaking the contents of the storage area next to the aft sink. Of course it's my side of the bed that gets wet! I would love to remove the white plastic paneling next to the bed to locate the source of the leak, but it appears it was installed prior to the cabinetry over the sink being installed. I think I would have to remove the upper cabinet piece by piece in order to get the plastic panel out. Any suggestions on that would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Glenn & Wendy

[NZMorgan45]

We are in the process of buying a Morgan 45 and the port windows are leaking. It appears to be the gaskets, has anyone replaced these before?

[clongcor59]

Originally Posted by NZMorgan45

We are in the process of buying a Morgan 45 and the port windows are leaking. It appears to be the gaskets, has anyone replaced these before?

We just ordered some replacement gaskets but we have not yet installed them. Once we greased ours, the leaking stopped. Seems that many don’t know that all gaskets need periodic lubrication so yours may recover a bit with some attention. We have used Danco Waterproof Grease (it’s silicone). Home Depot typically stocks it in their plumbing section. This should buy you some time.

[Discovery 15797]

Originally Posted by NZMorgan45

We are in the process of buying a Morgan 45 and the port windows are leaking. It appears to be the gaskets, has anyone replaced these before?

Hi NZMorgan, you can try CatalinaDirect.com for gaskets. They don't have a CM 45 CC listed on their site, but Catalina has done an excellent job of standardizing equipment across their lines. Just look for a Lewmar port of the same size.

BTW...I own a 1991 Catalina Morgan 45 CC Hull #6. There is a mostly complete list of upgrades and repairs on my website. (I wish I would have taken before and after photos). Today I am replacing the ridiculously small aluminum cleats with 12" heavy duty SS open base cleats.

A inner forestay was added in 2017 as was a Targa.

My only 2 complaints are: 1) having to re-bed the SS stanchions that were mounted over the aluminum toerail resulting in some rather severe corrosion in some places, and 2) the inaccessibility of wire/hose runs throughout the boat. Other than that, she is built like a Sherman tank and is easy to sail.