Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 42 by Dan

Year built	1993
Location of boat	Anacortes Washington
The boat is sailed on	Bays, sounds, or protected salt water
How the boat is used	Multi-week coastal cruising
Normal wind strength	10-15 knots
Average size of crew	5-6
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	1993
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Absolutely! I have owned a Catalina 22;27;30;34 and now my favorite 42. The first 4 were "toys", but the 42 is a real boat. I like the improvements and changes in the MKII, however I would not change for the price difference.
Gear that's been added	Autohelm 6000 auto pilot with a 7000 data head. Raytheon XX radar, Autohelm ST-50 units of speed, depth and wind speed / direction. Raytheon GPS/Loran (Loran is now disconnected) Ardic diesel hot water furnace tied into the engine so I have heat when the engine is running. (very nice set up) Heart Freedom 10 Inverter / charger. (it is a bit small for running the microwave, but adequate) I tied the three batteries together as the house bank and added a group 27 for emergency starting. Changed the alternator to high output of 110-125 amps with an ALPHA external charger. I have never had to resort to using the emergency starting battery...even after 3 days on the anchor. I added an acculmator tank to the water system so the water pump doesn't cycle each time the water fawcet is turned on. This is expecially appreciated by the sleeping guest in the aft cabins. I am getting too old to crank someone up the mast by hand so I created an electric hoist system by using the windless. It works great the few times it was needed. I added a hard dodger when the first canvas one deteriated after 8 years of faithful service. The Hard dodger is great and looks good since I maintained a lower profile.
Structural or complex improvements	No
The boat's best features	Space in the cabins for our grandchildren and space in the cockpit for a nice day sail and evening dining.I also like the motoring speed of 7.5 - 8.0 knots. Long motoring trips are greatly reduced in time compared to our previous 5.5 knot sailboats.This Catalina is the the driest of all the boats I have owned. The PNW weather can be quite rainybut I have no fear. I am comfortable and dry all the time.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	I added a small Par filter screen in each shower sump line. With out this protecton the pump will fail quickly.There are a few voids in the deck. I assume I will have to "drill and fill" whenever I sell the boat. I don't see this as a serious problem.The windless design has been improved on later models, but I have to watch the chain so it doesn't pile as it comes off the gypsy. I did add a SS plate to the slanting shelf under the gypsy. If I keep it clean and waxed, the chain will more easily slide down into the chain locker better.
Sailing characterisitcs	Sails great in 20 knots of wind. My wife just loves it because we are not "on our ears". We have the wing keel and I have heard that performance is less than that of the fin keel model, but we don't really care. We love the boat and enjoy being out there. We have a great 50 HP Yanmar in resrve if we want to go faster and more direct!
Motoring characterisitcs	See above
Liveability	Great for our kids and grand kids. They all get their week on the boat each summer. We all enjoy the space and convenience.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Frank Butler is a busy guy but has always taken the time to talk to me. I think Butler and Douglas and the entire Catalina Team try their very best to creat a great boat at a great value.They are always improving to make good even better.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Great experience. We are still friends and enjoy seeing each other at the boat shows.
Other comments	Love it, Love it, Love it! My boat is shared by many because it is in a very fine charter fleet. The people who use the boat are most appreciative of "Hospitality's" features and I am appreciative that the boat performs faithfully year after year.

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