New here new Catalina 40 owner.

Sep 11, 2019
29
Catalina 40 mk ii Maui
I’m actually not the official new owner yet. The check is written. I’m waiting for the survey in a couple weeks from now.
I’m interested in any thoughts, comments etc...
I received financing already.
Is this the right forum to post this?
I’m sure I’ll be on this owners forum quite a bit now. I’ve owned one 40 ted brewer cruiser before this Catalina. I am a full time captain on Maui. 40 yoa. No wife no children. Just me and my boat ready to cruise south and then west in about five years. There’s been recent awesome upgrades on kanaloa. There’s just a couple big money items I’d consider upgrading in the future.
1
Watermaker
2
Genset in the lazaret
3
Bimini coming off the dodger

Any thoughts?
Thanks for any discussion.
Aloha and mahalo

 
Jan 11, 2014
11,321
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Tim, welcome to SBO.

Nicely equipped boat. To answer your questions.

Definitely a water maker if you are going to do long distance cruising. There are commercial units and some DIY units. One company in Florida caters to DIY sailors, forget the name, but google never forgets.

Since you are in the tropics you know that there is never enough shade. A Bimini would be a nice addition. One issue with biminis that connect to the dodger is maintaining good sight lines. A solution is to have a Bimini that is separate from the dodger with a connector piece. This allows the dodger and Bimini to be connected in foul weather or when a lot of shade is wanted in the cockpit and removed when sailing to improve the sight lines forward.

The boat has a 100 amp alternator. Is it an externally regulated alternator or the stock automotive style? Unless the electrical needs are high for something like air conditioning, I'd opt for a larger capacity externally regulated alternator before adding a genset.
 
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leo310

.
Dec 15, 2006
635
Catalina 310 44 Campbell River BC
you may want to look at solar and or wind gen 400-500 watts panels will keep your battery charged even under normal sailing loads during the day. Also check your batteries (house/starter) by doing a load check or if 5 years old change out as there cheaper in the US than overseas.
 
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Jul 12, 2011
1,165
Leopard 40 Jupiter, Florida
Welcome to the party, @Tim francis - Did you bring beer?

Pretty boat! Those Catalinas are a great price for a quality (production) boat, and this one looks well-loved.

I'm with the previous two captains - get a good handle on your power requirements and sources. Nothing will drain you faster than refrigeration and autopilots. The previous owners (PO) looks like they considered this by adding serious solar (590 W) and upgrading batteries (lithium!). Hopefully it was all professionally installed and has a good battery monitor. It says LED interiors, but I'd make sure that all the exterior lights are also LED - not for power consumption, but reliability. Who wants to go up a mast to replace the anchor light.

There's a good community of owners, if you are not familiar with them: Catalina Associations – Catalina Yachts
I know the C34 and C36 owners have a thriving community, but don't know much about the others. There is great information in the previous issues of Catalina's Mainsheet magazine.
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,759
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Welcome.

Congratulations on your new Catalina 400, which happens to be 40 feet. ;)

This is one of many forums you can use, great helpful people.

But almost all Catalinas have their own associations. Like this one: Catalina 400/445 International Association

Parson's right about the C34 and C36 sites, too. Some things, like electrical, aren't boat specific.

Like this: Electrical Systems 101 Electrical Systems 101

Have fun, we can see your big grin from here!!!:beer::beer::beer:
 
Sep 11, 2019
29
Catalina 40 mk ii Maui
Thanks guys. I have a newish beefed up mooring. There’s no slips available and there’s a 15 year waiting list for slips on Maui. It’s also illegal to liveaboard here. It’s way easier to get away with living on a mooring than at the shitty marinas here. I have about a five to 8 minute kayak ride to get to my mooring. I am in a very windy anchorage and I may get a wind generator but I doubt I’ll need it ever with the lithium and 100 amp alternator. I believe it’s an externally regulated alternator. I’ll know for sure tomorrow as that’s one question I have for the owner in n Carolina. Being on the mooring, I do want to run the 18k btu air conditioner from time to time. I say why not in the summer. I haven’t had nice things my entire life and it’s time to spoil myself a bit. I may go with a 110 rainmaker portable unit in the future. I am hoping to get a temporary slip when possible. It’s like 600 a month for a temporary slip here. I can also go with two Honda 2200s one for each 120 shorepower hookups. I like the Bimini idea with a connector piece for removal. All that stuff can wait a while except possibly two portable generators. I know with a little modification on the port side lazaret, one owner put a 4.2 panda in. I figure it wouldn’t be hard to t off the fuel tank. I’m really not going to get ahead of myself but of course the excitement is taking over. I’d love to figure out a self steering hydrovane for the future or find out if the oversized b n g autopilot can make it through a crossing. Still way future question. I’m really excited about the size of the cockpit and aft stateroom. I also love the salon conversion from the table to bed. I will have the table down permanently and that will probly be where I sleep. I’ve lived in my van for almost three years to help save money for my next boat. What I think will be awkward is the engine room. There seems to be great access forward and aft but seems weird not having an actual engine room. Big or small area. I can’t wait to get her here on my mooring. I have a long story of how I got to this point and am going to appreciate and respect this new girl so much. I’m seriously happy. I went through a nightmare escrow on an awesome 43 Bruce Roberts before changing directions with getting financing for a more expensive boat. The broker was absolutely horrible. Extremely horrible. I got used car salesmanned by him and ripped off. He knew there were problems and kept putting off the haulout date 2.5 months. I believe he wanted me to just skip the haulout part of the survey and get impatient and just buy the boat. Well the boats bottom was infested with termites, wet and coming delaminated. My surveyor was a coo inspector for years. Told me that boat needed to be cut up in pieces so no one buys it.
Thanks guys.
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,759
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Tim, sounds good, very good. :)

One important thing I learned and have heard repeatedly is:

When one purchases a new boat, suppress the itch to "do" things. Make a list, put them off, 'cuz you'll have plenty of other things to learn. A year later, look at the list and see if there are any things you'd still do. Other than adding or improving things, in general, the answer is very few.

Good luck, be safe out there via kayak.
 

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
you may want to look at solar and or wind gen 400-500 watts panels will keep your battery charged even under normal sailing loads during the day. Also check your batteries (house/starter) by doing a load check or if 5 years old change out as there cheaper in the US than overseas.
I guess you didn't read the listing: 590W solar installation; 400 Amp Hour Lithium Battery House bank - Separate Starting Battery.
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
Welcome aboard Tim.

I saw your post on Facebook. I am jealous of your soon to be 400. That is one of the boats I would consider upgrading to from our beloved 310.

Good luck and fair winds,

Jesse
 
Sep 11, 2019
29
Catalina 40 mk ii Maui
Me and the owner negotiated on 98000. I feel that’s a fair price for the boat. I’m trying to set up a quick two hour haulout in the sling. 575 dollars for the bottom survey. Then the money transfer and cod and Registration transfer. I should have kanaloa by three or four weeks at home on Maui.

I’ll have quite a few questions in the future regarding specifics on this 400. The boat seems pretty simple minus having to figure out the remaining electrical projects not finished. The boat could use a good detailing and buffing and waxing. The interior is nice minus a couple items.
 
Apr 5, 2009
2,774
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
The posting list the house bank as 400AH lith. From the photo it appears that you have the makings for a 5P4S bank with 20 80 AH prismatic cells. I say "makings" because they are not connected other then by the 3 bus straps that are lying on top of the contacts but not bolted down. Has this bank ever been installed with top-balancing and a proper BMS (battery management system)? This can be a fantastic house bank but it needs to be set up correctly. one very good place to start is the "LiFePO4 Lithium Technical Discussions for Yachts" facebook group. There are a bunch of good guys that are very knowledgeable in setting these systems up.
 
Sep 11, 2019
29
Catalina 40 mk ii Maui
You’re speaking Chinese for the most part to me. I can follow regular solar stuff that’s non lithium. I know little about lithium except they’re more expensive and in my opinion, better overall than a regular fla bank. The owner did the work and he’s just a normal guy like myself. I’ll check into the above mentioned lithium site.
Thanks, you probly saved me multiple issues.
Aloha
 
Sep 11, 2019
29
Catalina 40 mk ii Maui
I just went back and looked at the pic you saw. I believe that’s before installation. I’ll see if I can post a pic I took of the bank installed under the galley aft countertop.
 
Apr 5, 2009
2,774
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
That is a bank. The photo in the posting was just a bunch of cells. It appears that this bank has 4 fewer cells than what was shown in the listing. I only can see 16 in the installed bank but there were 4 rows of 5 cells in the listing. For easy math lets say each cell is 100AH with a nominal voltage of 3.2V. There are two ways to wire (16) cells to create a 12v battery. In your installation, you have four 100AH, 3.2V cells in parallel which adds the capacity of each individual cell but the voltage remains the same, ie, 100x4= 400AH @ 3.2v. Then those groups of four were connected in series to add the voltage of each group but the capacity remains the same, ie, 3.2v x 4 = 12.8V at 400AH. You can also go the other why and make the series connection first to get 100 AH @ 12.6v then parallel to get 400AH @ 12.6v. The small wires connected to each group of 4 cells is most likely the BMS which is a critical component. The biggest thing that I see missing is any form of clamping. this is needed to prevent the cells from expanding or swelling under large current loads or charging. The Facebook group can give you much more detailed info.
 
Sep 11, 2019
29
Catalina 40 mk ii Maui
Thanks for catching that. I’m assuming maybe the other four are somewhere else. I took that pic last Friday.
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
it appears the bank is not secured. if you were to get knocked down this could be a major problem. Also, best practice with prismatic cells is to have them held against expansion. Typically this is done with aluminum plates and threaded rod. It does not appear to be the case with your cells.

My advice is to read the article on lithium batteries on Marine How To.

good luck and fair winds.