I am considering buying an older CAtalina 30. I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share their experience on annual costs for maintaining a late 70's CAtalina. I would want to maintain it in good shape not defering maintenance. It will be a saltwater boat in the northwest. Thanks for any insights.
In addition to the very useful lists of costs and comments about the condition of the boat, ALOT of the costs will depend on what you can do yourself.
If you are a DIYer and can do much of the work yourself, it will save you a lot of money and you will learn a lot in the proces.
I have changed my own cutlass bearing, replaced my prop shaft and coupling, overhauled my stuffing box and hose, changed my own engine and transmission oil, pulled a water tank to fix a leaky fitting, replaced all of my above-the-water line thru hulls, replaced most of my running rigging, installed a Mack Pack, installed a Tides Marine Strong Track, replumbed my outside grill, rebuilt my toilet pump, replaced the toilet discharge lines…and more.
If I had to pay a yard to do all that, I don’t think the Admiral would let me keep the boat!
And I learned a ton about my boat in the process.
The 2 big ones to go are replacing the standing rigging and dropping the keel to rebed it.
So, good luck!
Oh, and I budget around $5,000-6,000 per year for normal expenses. I replaced the mainsail last year and that was not in the budget. I don’t owe any money on my good old boat, so no boat payment.
Greg