Catalina 30 Survey

[jofro]

I have an offer accepted on an 1985 30' Catalina pending Survey and Inspection in 2 weeks. After too much time spent on you-tube looking at how a survey is done I thought I'd ask other Catalina owners what they would look out for. The boat has one owner who seems to have taken pretty good care of it so on preliminary inspection it looked good and my partner loved it so that was the first hurtle we passed. Will remain in the same slip on the Puget Sound.
- Anything I should make sure not to overlook that is particular to that year and model?
- Anything from a mostly stock boat that you think may need to be replaced right away?

Super stoked to sail the San Juans next summer! .... but that leaves me a few months to get to know the boat and make repairs/upgrades.

Cheers!

- Jon

 

[Straycat22296]

In my opinion the major issues could be with Bottom blisters / bottom paint, sail age and condition, rigging age (standing and running), engine condition, mast step deterioration and batteries. These can all account for major costs to repair or replace.
It’s a boat so there are most likely many other issues that I have left out.
A good Marine surveyor should look into these things plus many more in order to give you a good idea of the condition of the boat.

 

[jofro]

Thanks Straycat. Sage advice. Last time I sailed out of Alameda was on a Hobie Cat, raced around treasure island and back. The swell and wind shadow made it a crazy ride. Excited to be on a boat without having to wear a wet suit.
Cheers!

 

[RitSim]

Had an '89 C30 TRBSWK model. Also look at door margins to the head. If the margins indicate that the frame is sinking, look to the mast support block deterioration. The block is located just forward of the cabin bilge front wall under the cabin sole. Also there have been reported issues with the deck at the mast step position. Rotting wood interior to deck surface. Look in the engine compartment aft side to see if the "gummy" wiring plug has been removed (there is another plug just behind the cockpit engine compartment) these can melt as corrosion increases the heat from the wiring amp load. Certainly, the "Catalina smile" can be an issue. On haul-out, look at the shaft support. Cracks around the support plate on the hull can indicate an issue with shaft or alignment. All of these can be repaired. You can get yard pricing on them and then use the estimate to negotiate. The mast/deck issue is, to me, the most work and takes a fair amount of skill since the deck skin has to be cut.

 

[dmax]

A 1985 will have a plywood core in the keel stub, where the keel boats are - this is not a problem unless water gets to the plywood. Look at the nuts and washers carefully and make sure they haven't sunk into the fiberglass. On the outside, look at the seam where the lead keel meets the fiberglass - if it has opened up all around, the keel is moving around some, at the least the keel nuts need to be re-torqued. If there are brown stains emanating from the seam then the plywood has been exposed to water - fix is to tear out the plywood and re-glass. If the crack in the keel seam is just in the forward part of the keel (the smile RitSim talks about), then that is usually the result of improper blocking when stored on the hard. The smile is no big deal and can be filled. If the seam isn't cracked, you got a good one. Also, look carefully at the prop shaft log from the inside and outside (the tube in the hull the prop shaft goes through) - there have been some problems.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Lots of info on the C30 in this recent thread from a potential new owner
Absolute Newbie looking for a 30

 

[Ward H]

Mayhem, you just beat me to it.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Mayhem, you just beat me to it.