Please be patient with my stupid questions.
Years ago, I sailed our club's Catalina 27 many times. Now I have moved to a home near a marina and am in the market for a cheap old sailboat of my own. I have come across a 1976 Catalina 27 and have some questions.
1) The boat has a gasoline sail drive engine. I have no experience with these The owner claims there is no way for it to charge the batteries; they simply drain. You always have to charge your batteries with a battery charger of some sort. He said this is true for all Catalinas with saildrive engines. Seems odd to me. Is this true?
2) The outside teakwood is weathered a grayish silver color. I've seen this on other boats too. But it all has long cracks. Is there a way to treat the teakwood that will perhaps cause the wood to swell and eliminate these cracks? Or, is the wood trashed? I imagine replacing all the wood would cost a fortune.
3) The boat is on a cradle for which it was designed . I'm scared of heights and walking around on the boat gave me the willies! There's no chance of tipping the boat from walking around the outside shrouds etc is there? Is that safe or should one stay toward the center?
4) The cradle is metal. I would have to move it 70 miles. I know someone with a flatbed trailer. Any idea how much these weigh? Would I have to pay the marina to hoist it up or could two people lift and slide it on?
5) There is some cosmetic fiberglass work that needs to be done on the starboard cockpit area. There are holes where several instruments had once been. The owner jury rigged a white sheet of something (forgot to ask what) to cover the entire area rather than filling in the holes. How DO you fill in holes where instruments had been? I imagine fiberglass work costs a fortune too.
6) The rudder has lots of largish spiderweb cracks. Owner said they were there when he bought boat 8 years ago and he never worried about it. Is this cosmetic or a problem?
The hull looks good, the deck seemed solid everywhere I walked, the interior looks very nice with recent upgrades and the saildrive had a complete overhaul 4 years ago. The boat is dirt cheap. I do plan on getting a marine survey.
I'd appreciate any helpful advice.
Years ago, I sailed our club's Catalina 27 many times. Now I have moved to a home near a marina and am in the market for a cheap old sailboat of my own. I have come across a 1976 Catalina 27 and have some questions.
1) The boat has a gasoline sail drive engine. I have no experience with these The owner claims there is no way for it to charge the batteries; they simply drain. You always have to charge your batteries with a battery charger of some sort. He said this is true for all Catalinas with saildrive engines. Seems odd to me. Is this true?
2) The outside teakwood is weathered a grayish silver color. I've seen this on other boats too. But it all has long cracks. Is there a way to treat the teakwood that will perhaps cause the wood to swell and eliminate these cracks? Or, is the wood trashed? I imagine replacing all the wood would cost a fortune.
3) The boat is on a cradle for which it was designed . I'm scared of heights and walking around on the boat gave me the willies! There's no chance of tipping the boat from walking around the outside shrouds etc is there? Is that safe or should one stay toward the center?
4) The cradle is metal. I would have to move it 70 miles. I know someone with a flatbed trailer. Any idea how much these weigh? Would I have to pay the marina to hoist it up or could two people lift and slide it on?
5) There is some cosmetic fiberglass work that needs to be done on the starboard cockpit area. There are holes where several instruments had once been. The owner jury rigged a white sheet of something (forgot to ask what) to cover the entire area rather than filling in the holes. How DO you fill in holes where instruments had been? I imagine fiberglass work costs a fortune too.
6) The rudder has lots of largish spiderweb cracks. Owner said they were there when he bought boat 8 years ago and he never worried about it. Is this cosmetic or a problem?
The hull looks good, the deck seemed solid everywhere I walked, the interior looks very nice with recent upgrades and the saildrive had a complete overhaul 4 years ago. The boat is dirt cheap. I do plan on getting a marine survey.
I'd appreciate any helpful advice.