Catalina Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Catalina 38 by Jim

Year built	1979
Location of boat	New Orleans
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?	Yes
Owner bought the boat in	Flor
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	This is a fine yacht and much overlooked I think because they did not mass produce them. The Sparkman Stephens design is sea worthy and very fast. After leaving on the day after hurricane Charley passed just south of us while we sat it out in Clearwater Florida we were hit by squals and high winds big seas. The Catalina 38 took it in stride and hunkered down for the ride.We never felt like the boat was having any problem.
Gear that's been added	We have replaced almost all wireing,a new smart Xantrex 40+ smart charger charger and AMG batteries. We also wired the boat for phones and cable/sat TV.All the pumps have been upgraded to new pumps and hose. For the age of this boat it has held up amazingly well.
Structural or complex improvements	You do need to look at some of the structural points of the liner to hull and the back stay knee. I have added a bulkhead where the batteries sit under the bench in the salon and another one between the engine and fuel tank.I extended the galley counter and dog leged the counter top which makes the galley so much easier to use and gives us allot of storage.where the sinks use to sit that counter top lifts up and I have built a shelf and closed the ends up where we keep big pots and things we do not use everyday. The dog leg created a small space that is about ten inches wide at the front a triangle. the door is on a piano henge when you ouen it you can get to the valve for the galley sink and it is a place for soap cleaners and other things. The drawer is out on the end of the counter so we still have that.The little bit of walk way you loose is nothing compaired to how much easier the galley becomes to use.
The boat's best features	Best thing about this yacht is people have not discovered them and driven the price over the top. That will happen I am sure. The boat is easy to handle my wife and I have sailed her 3000 miles when we first bought her and had little problems.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Nothing has really happened to stop us from heading out you learn to deal with the draft issue. We never had any major problems with anyof the systems or materials. The boats were built strong a little lax on detailing but a good skipper will take care of that in a couple of seasons. Remember they were built in the seventies and eighties and allot of the labor was from Mexico some things were placed slightly skewed. I have fixed most of the issues.
Sailing characterisitcs	the Yacht points well and is fast in the right wind. The wheel gets heavy (weather Helm)and requires that you attend to it to hold a coarse.does take some muscle in a big following sea.If the wind gets on the bow while your trying to dock she is coming around. Remember it was designed to turn fast in competition IOR.
Motoring characterisitcs	your lucky if you can make hull speed if the bottom is fouled you might as well forget it.
Liveability	We find it is good not great for two you will find ways to store more stuff than you need. Short on water tankage.
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	They went out of thier way to help out and provided me with some spec sheets and plans the factory had.Parts for the Catalina 38 are kind of hard to come by you have to look at other models to find hardware ect.
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Mr Rich Riddle at Ross Yacht in Clearwater was a stand up guy they don't make enough Rich Riddles to spread his good will around. Ross has been sold and Rich and most of the crew have mover on. They are building a condo wher the Marina now stands. UUUUGGGGG!
Other comments	Love this boat they grow on you I would buy another one in a heart beat. If you want a great deal on allot of boat you had better grab one while you can.

Contact
About
Terms of Use