catalina27 transfer to salt water

[rblack27]

My '85 Catalina 27 (TallRig), with diesel inboard, has been berthed on a deep, rocky freshwater lake in Texas since it was first purchased. I've owned it for the past 17 years. I'm now seriously considering moving it to the coast (about 140 miles away). I'm pretty familiar with the coastal area, but have never kept a keelboat permanently in the water there.

I'm hoping for advice on the following:
1. What should I expect as the range of typical trucking / moving cost for 140 mi?
2. On a lake we are able to go 10 years at a time without hauling for a bottom job (unless you are a serious racer). What should I plan for at the coast? Every two years? Note there is no seasonal reason for haul-out down here-
3. What Cat 27 boat prep is recommended for the move to saltwater? The obvious is zincs and a good anti-foul bottom job, but what else?

Thanks much in advance for any feedback-

rb

 

[The Garbone]

My '85 Catalina 27 (TallRig), with diesel inboard, has been berthed on a deep, rocky freshwater lake in Texas since it was first purchased. I've owned it for the past 17 years. I'm now seriously considering moving it to the coast (about 140 miles away). I'm pretty familiar with the coastal area, but have never kept a keelboat permanently in the water there.

I'm hoping for advice on the following:
1. What should I expect as the range of typical trucking / moving cost for 140 mi?
2. On a lake we are able to go 10 years at a time without hauling for a bottom job (unless you are a serious racer). What should I plan for at the coast? Every two years? Note there is no seasonal reason for haul-out down here-
3. What Cat 27 boat prep is recommended for the move to saltwater? The obvious is zincs and a good anti-foul bottom job, but what else?

Thanks much in advance for any feedback-

rb

I have ablative paint on mine. We pulled it in February and had it cleaned and painted with 2 coats. It had been sitting in a silted up slip for over a year before we bought it and had a few clams on the keel and some growth that all scraped off the previous coat of ablative paint with ease. I was told not to scrape for at least a year and after that scrape as needed dependent on how much I sail, more sailing, less scraping.

My neighbors boat gets scraped every 2 months or so but he has not had it pulled for painting in years. You can see bare fiberglass now. Every time I visit I hope to see fresh paint but nope, just fiberglass.

My other neighboring boat has never been cleaned as far as I can tell, he has a small forest. I don't think he sails much.

I take mine out every week or two and although I have some slime under the bow I can still see the rudder is nice and clean. I am thinking a 3 year cycle on our bottom with scraping after the first 18 months or so.

 

[Joe]

Zincs and bottom paint are pretty much it..... you may want to pay more attention to your engine cooling system.... but a visit to your local marine engine dealer will answer a lot of questions in that area.

Out here in San Diego, the water is somewhat cooler...and sailboats larger than 22 feet are customarily left in the water year round. For that reason the hard shell (modified epoxy) type paint is the preferred bottom treatment. Using a monthly dive service to wipe down (not scrape) the bottom is a good way to get an extra year or two between haul outs for new paint. It's also nice to know your boat will be performing with a clean bottom. The monthly service also includes zinc and prop maintenance. My service has recently begun sending me bi annual underwater pictures of my boat's bottom condition. I'll probably haul out early next near making it 3 1/2 years between.

I will say this..... moving the boat to the coast will be a great experience... open water sailing is different from lake sailing, for sure.... but the transition will be enlightening.

 

[rblack27]

Joe thanks. Actually I've done a bit of saltwater sailing, but its been decades since I had to worry about maintaining a boat sitting in a saltwater slip. I'm hoping that there are no Catalina 27 "gotchas" like the odd stainless steel fittings that is not so stainless after all.

By the way, saw a nice C27 TR on San Diego bay this afternoon... that wasn't you was it?

 

[caguy]

I assume you already have a barrier coat on your boat.

 

[rblack27]

Hi frank, and no, don't have a barrier coat. Last time the boat was hauled I had the yard sand down the bottom, dry it out, and fill and repair any blisters. The guys doing the work advised against a barrier coat.. I think (?) they said something like, given the condition and age of the hull, new blistering was unlikely to be a bad problem in the future, with or without a barrier coat; and they did not think it was worth the $$. That was several years ago, and for what little it's worth, right now I can't feel or see any blisters by just running my hands along the bottom of the boat snorkeling.

I agree that I need to reconsider this when hauled out for the move to the coast. But I seem to recall that boats are a bit less susceptible to blistering in salt water than in fresh water - no?

 

[caguy]

When I redid the bottom on the Luger barrier paint was recommended. I had the bottom sanded down to the original barrier coat and it wa worn through to the gel coat in some places so I applied a coat of barrier paint before the copper bottom paint. It was not expensive and went on quickly. It is the silver paint in the pictures.
Moving it from fresh to salt water may not be an issue. I understand the opposite is true in moving from salt to fresh.
The C27 I picked up in PA has the dubious honor of having blisters above the water line. The boat was partially sunk for what looks about a year. There are bisters on the freeboard but the bottom is fine.

 

[BioAndy]

I don't know what bottom paint you are using in fresh water, but there are no saltwater bottom paints compatible with the popular interlux vc17. All require complete removal of the vc17 before applying new bottom paint. It would be an opportune time to barrier coat, if that's the case.