Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 36mkII by Th.C. Lof

Year built	1999
Location of boat	Paleiros, Greece
The boat is sailed on	Open ocean
How the boat is used	Multi-week coastal cruising
Normal wind strength	16-22 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	1999
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes, definitely and I would consider acquiring a brand-new one, the moment I fear that Catalina Yachts might end the production line.In fact we are active now in purchasing one or two more "recent second hand one" for our bare boat charter and time share activities in Greece.
Gear that's been added	Just navigation equipment like:Sailor ST2048 MariphoneNavtex weather forecast report receiverRaytheon/Autohelm ST60 Tridata and WindRaytheon/Autohelm ST400 AutopilotRaytheon/Autohelm ST50Plus GPSWebasto central heating and ventilation50 Wp Solar panel (+another to be added soon)Bimini, Dodger, Winter/Rain-tent
Structural or complex improvements	No, why should I
The boat's best features	StabilityRelative speed under force 6-7 BftEase of handling furling genoa and main sailRoomy cockpitSwimming platform
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	The original "self thinking" battery loader,which assumes 110 V, when 220 V drops below the 10% negative margin !
Sailing characterisitcs	Sturdy, rugged, easy going, stable, non-pitching,slow rolling
Motoring characterisitcs	Cruising revolutions of the Universal M35 is set at 2000 rpm, which is far too high. An optimum is 1500 revs.Spares are very difficult to acquire. So have to go to an agricultural or earth moving equipment distributor to get some...From Kubota no-one has ever heard.
Liveability	The large berth aft looks great, but it is not.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	Not responsive, not interested in business abroad
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	The Dutch dealer refuses to give support to licence built Catalina's or parallel imports, which is against EC Law
Other comments	Available for bare boat charter and time share ownershop. See http://home.planet.nl/~lofboat for details.

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