New to forum excited about our new (to us) purchase

[mytime]

Hello all... I am about to refurbish our new to us ...Catalina 30 (6242) with 750 hrs on a Univesal 25. I hope to get a lot of advise and what to do or not to do from this forum
So far our dream boat will be getting the following:
Auto pilot
AC (I intend to locate where hot water heater is in stern in front of fuel tank)
NavPod and electronics
New Lines
New Lighting
Stereo
Stern seats
all new Canvas
Thanks in advance for any help or recomendations
Matt

 

[Stu Jackson]

Congratulations and welcome.

There is a ton of C30 info here, as well as their association website and their Yahoo group.

Here's a ton of info on your engine, we have the same one, and many of our systems are identical.

Engines 101 - The BIGGEST & BEST collection of M25 Series Universal Engine Information on the Internet

http://www.c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=Diesel_Engine

This might help, too

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,6437.msg41914.html#msg41914

 

[Bob S]

Matt,

Congrats and good luck. Like Stu said, there is tons of info here and on the C30 Yahoo group. Although i really enjoy working on my boat I sometimes get consumed with it. I've realized after a half dozen seasons to slow down and enjoy the boat. The electronics I installed 7 years ago are now obsolete.
I still have a good size to do list his off season. I suggest you check out Maine Sail's how to pages for great pictorials.

 

[Stu Jackson]

I suggest you check out Maine Sail's how to pages for great pictorials.

That would be here:

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/boat_projects

Also, he has a separate section on this forum:

http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/forumdisplay.php?f=135

 

[Coriolisbc]

Congratulations Matt, Coriolis is # 5236, has all new LED lighting in the Cabin, new Nav instruments, 2007, now obsolete, but still working, Auto Pilot, and new sails.
Keep us informed about your progress.

 

[jrowan]

Enjoy your new to you C-30.
My advice would be to sail your boat for a while, & decide what you really
need on your boat vs. what you want. For instance, I know a lot of sailors who have
problems keeping autopilots working properly, & if you don't think you will be using it a lot, then you may want to hold off purchasing, as they cost a lot & are not very reliable.

As far as electronics, we have had good reliability with our Garmin 440 s GPS unit, which gives us a very affordable chart plotter & depth sounder in one unit. They retail under $500, so the price & reliability are hard to beat. But you can always down load NavX & other apps on any smart phone as a temporary, or backup measure for GPS navigation. I always like to have backups, for the backups, as navigation instruments are a must. But no substitute for paper charts. Cheers.