Have Catalina 36 mkII circumnavigated the world?

Jul 20, 2005
2,422
Whitby 55 Kemah, Tx
...Sounds like you have found these gaps and modified the boat to resolve the issue.
No. When I say I fixed my creaks, I did not strengthen the boat per say, just fixed the factory defects. The cause of the creaking were due to these defects: deck liner having defective overlapping excess glass touching bulkheads, no caulking between liner and bulkheads in many places, ineffective joinery work on settee, settee rubbing on bulkhead due to improper mounting, no caulking between bulkhead and deck with the two touching. A lot of fixes were just adding caulking. Some I had to cut into the liner to get to the defect to fix. Some I had to add material to strengthen the joinery. Some I had to actually join because it wasn't joined at all. Every single one of my creaks could have been prevented with proper supervision during the construction of the boat.

I did not stop the boat from flexing, I stopped the boat from rubbing two peaces that should not be directly touching each other. If a boat is built properly, it will not creak while it flexes. The problem is boats are built by humans and we humans rarely get things perfect.

I do not see my boat flexing or oilcanning as you guys like to call it when I am offshore, but I know it is.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
boats are built by humans and we humans rarely get things perfect.
So true. I’ve seen the issue on a Cal40. I also had the chance to see it addressed on a Cal40 when Fred Cooks “Sequoia “ was in the Berkeley Marine yard. They did a lot of internal bracing and structural improvement to the boat. Took the oilcan right out of the boat (so to speak). Their first TransPac had them in the hunt on their maiden voyage.
 
Jul 27, 2011
4,990
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
The January issue of Sail magazine in an article by Cunliffe redirects this discussion toward the performance aspects of the various models, especially in heavy weather conditions. It's not so much a matter of whether or not a hull is as strong in one model versus another, but how the boats are rigged and equipped. For example, is it a cutter? Will it heave to w/o coming beam to the seas? Can it carry sufficient stores, water, and fuel for long passages? Is it comfortable? This last point is made in the context of crew fatigue. Can the boat be trusted to "perform" in bad conditions when the crew needs rest and cannot attend to it? Certain designs can do all of those things well; others not so well. The Catalina 36 is a coastal cruiser by design; that's it. Take it offshore and go around the world in it if you can--that does not change the fact that that is not what it was designed to do. A blue-water cruiser is a boat with specific design criteria. And as Franklin pointed out, sometimes it is a matter of fast versus slow in making choices, and "simply" avoiding bad weather. But there's also the recognition that a boat designed to sail well in heavy conditions will not be "threatened" in moderate to light ones. The converse is not true, etc. Also, the author is not impressed with the observation that some of these coastal cruiser designs can sail well downwind in steady trade winds across the Atlantic (or the eastern Pacific), etc., as an argument for their "blue water" capability.
 
Last edited:
Jul 20, 2005
2,422
Whitby 55 Kemah, Tx
All I gotta say is I am doing it as well as others on Catalinas, Hunters, Bennys, Dufor, and many other production boats as well as production built cats as well. It is about 50% blue water boats and 50% production boats out here. Many read and others do.
 
Jun 2, 2004
45
Catalina 400 Muskegon, Michigan
First of all, I agree with others who have stated that the Catalina line in general are coastal cruisers, not bluewater boats. That being said, I know of several Catalina's that have circumnavigated, and I currently own a Catalina 400. I also am aware of people who have used 1000's of toy balloons tied to a lawn chair to simulate hot air ballooning on the cheap!!! I would suggest that you check out this site.... http://www.yayablues.com/ On the left column find "bluewater boats." The author has extensive experience in bluewater cruising along with being a delivery captain who has sailed about every boat imaginable. The boats listed are from his personal experience, and as far as I know he has no reason to be biased. In addition to the right boat that is outfitted correctly you should have a sextant onboard and "Know How To Use It." Many people will tell you that a sextant is not necessary with all of the modern electronics. As long as everything works properly, that is true.....Electronics fail, electrical systems fail, lightning destroys electronics etc. It's your choice!
 
  • Like
Likes: Will Gilmore
Feb 26, 2004
22,760
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
In addition to the right boat that is outfitted correctly you should have a sextant onboard and "Know How To Use It."
That's one approach.
Another is to get these books and carry 'em with you: https://www.amazon.ca/We-Navigators...F8&qid=1513006591&sr=1-7&keywords=david+lewis, or this one: "Emergency Navigation," https://www.amazon.ca/Emergency-Nav...13006738&sr=1-1&keywords=emergency+navigation

Unlike Captain Ron and Kitty, ya can't just stop and ask directions. But you sure could use some situational awareness, and running down a latitude isn't all that hard.

Thanks for the link to John's website; haven't been there in a while.
 
Jun 2, 2004
45
Catalina 400 Muskegon, Michigan
I'm not familiar with David Lewis, but I am familiar with David Burch, the author of "Emergency Navigation." I had one of his books that explained how to use the 2102-D Starfinder. That book was the pits!! It had more mistakes in it than I have ever seen in any "how to" type book I've ever read. I don't know if it was a case of bad proofreading or just wrong information. I found that I needed the time to REALLY study the book so that I could compensate for all the errors to understand the Starfinder.
 
Jan 8, 2013
10
Catalina 36 mkII Preveza, Greece
We keep our Catalina 36 Mk II, built 1996 in the Ionian Greece, in which we have experienced strong winds and short steep seas. We have a 2500 kg lead wing keel, which keeps the boat very stiff in a blow, giving a smooth motion, even with our 150 Genoa, which we do not put in a few turn, until over 18 knots of wind. We also carry a full set of Hunk-on sails, via a attachable baby Stay, including Storm Jib. In fact her Sail to Ballast ratio is better the a Hallberg Rassy 36

The deck equipment is of a good quality and structurally very sound, as is the rig and mast, which is keel stepped, giving addition stiffness. Having owned 36' Moody's and Westerly's, which we sailed from the UK to Greece across Biscay and down the Portuguese Atlantic coast into the Med, I would say the Catalina compares very favourably. Our Catalina 'Ocean Grace' was also sailed from the UK to Turkey, where we purchased her six years ago. So I do not believe you would describe her as a coastal cruiser!

The annual ARC rally is made up of many standard production boats, some being only 28ft long, which fair quite well and sometimes better then the big boys, in which several have suffered from equipment failure. Having said all that, if I intended to circumnavigate the world, I would definitely look for a purpose built heavy displacement long keeled steel yacht!
 
  • Like
Likes: Kings Gambit