Alan, I can only say I need to sell my boat in your area when I sell it! I can chime in about the outboard, it's what I have and I sail my boat any chance I get and I have motors for hours and been in bad weather. My little '98 9.9 has gotten me through everything without any worries, well the first time I was in some serious chop and hear the motor go in and out of the water made . The only thing I have done to it in the last 4 years is put gas in it, change the water pump impeller and adjust the low idle needle. She purrs like a kitten and I'd take her anywhere!
Good luck with whatever boat you decide on though! -Ivan s/v Blow Me II Sent Using my Blackberry 8350i -----Original Message----- From: "Alan Rothenbush" <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:28:12 To: <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Subject: [IC27A] Which Catalina - followup. Many thanks to all who responded to my question about the 25 and the 27s! Here's kind of a blanket followup on a few things, and another question at the end. 1. I must live in the wrong part of the world, based upon what Catalina 27s sell for here and what it's been suggested I pay for one. I have done my homework and the very cheapest Catalina 27 available anywhere in the area is $8,000, and that's for a right out of the factory boat with nothing extra and nothing but routine maintenance over the years. Perhaps it's local price point thing, but "recreational" 27s from the 70s or early 80s sell for 10k to 12k or so .. all of them. 2. I take the point about sails, and never really thought about it before. Yeah, just because they're not torn doesn't necessarily mean they're good for anything, and replacing them is a significant cost. Sadly, the 25 comes with a brand new spinnaker, never used, a brand new Dacron genoa cut for a furling setup never installed!, and a new multi-reef main with 6 hours on it. I say "sadly", because I'm really trying to find reasons to talk myself out of the 25 and buy a 27, but it's proving difficult. I got a bit more of the story on the 25. The current owner is the second owner, who bought it in 2003 from a fellow who almost never sailed it. He then did a complete refit, money apparently not being an object. (We'll leave aside the question of why he would do so to a 25) There's all new running rigging, all new standing rigging. Since he was going to this expense, he brought all lines back to the cockpit. He had the upholstery done. He had custom carpets done. He put in a new toilet with holding tank and a macerator pump. He added darn near every electronic gizmo of the day. The hull was stripped and repainted with two coats of epoxy paint. The list goes one and on. What he didn't do was sail it. He claims the boat has 6 hours on it since the refit and I have no reason to doubt him. It is SO clean it looks new. But it's still a 25 with an outboard. And that leads to the questions about motors, really the point of my original post. 1. Are outboards really that bad for extended motoring periods ? 2. Are outboards really that bad in rough weather? 3. Inboard or outboard, is 10 HP enough if you "get into trouble", or is the big bad gas engine really what you need? Thanks again for any thoughts. Alan -- Alan Rothenbush Client and Research Services IT Services Simon Fraser University
