VERY disappointed with Catalina!

[Tim McCarty]

By way of an update...

And Scott from NJ...I am totally with you. I just stopped by the boat today, and it looks great! The barrier coat is on, and the VC17 is just about done. I do believe that Freeman-Eckley does an outstanding job at customer service. I'd recomend them to anyone buying a Catalina, Beneteau, or Edgewater(power). Terry Freeman always told me that sailboat buying should be FUN, and not a chore, and he is doing his best to keep it that way. Tomorrow, we drive to the yard and spend the night. Saturday, it's eight hours back across Lake Erie to our home base. Fair winds to all...

 

[Scott]

Say Hi

Tim,Good Luck with her and have a great trip back.Also, If you see Alan at F-E please tell him Scott from NJ said Hi....Enjoy!!

 

[Tim McCarty]

Spoke too soon...

The good news is the boat is still on the hard...the bad news is the weekend is shot due to all of the rain in north central Ohio. The Vermillion river is running at 9 knots and is close to flood stage. There is no way to launch in those conditions...a real bummer! I guess they are having lots of problems on the Vermillion river (where the dealer is located) with boats coming loose from the docks. Would sure like to hear from some boaters who dock over there...

 

[Will]

I have the same problem

Tim,You are not alone in your problem. I have a 2004 Catalina 250. My bottom was covered in blisters last fall after my second season of sailing. After soda blasting the bottom (at the dealer's recommnedation) the bottom is now covered with potmarks/dimples below the waterline. I have asked Catalina for root cause and corrective action prior to initiating repair. If you want to compare notes I would be happy to visit offline.

 

[Tim McCarty]

Well, long story short...

The dealer fixed the problem, and we are (finally) taking the boat back across the Lake to our home port. Frank B. did contact the dealer and has agreed to cover a small part of the cost. The dealer agreed that much of the problem was due to bad initial prep work, however, again, they came to the table and fixed the issues. In the end, I would say that I am satisfied with the response from Catalina, and I am still very happy with the support from Freeman-Eckley. I would definitely buy another boat from these guys.

 

[rsn48]

Movie ends, cut to credits

And so the movie, "Tim slays the Catalina Giant" ends, we cut to the credits. And Tim lived happily ever after...... until the next problem!

 

[Tim McCarty]

Yes, Rick...until the next problem, but...

I'm still satisfied...at least until we haul out in the fall. We took the boat 9.5 hours across Lake Erie on Saturday (lucked out with the weather), and she is resting comfortably back at our home port. We actually sailed about half of the time (at about 7 knots the whole way), so that made it nice. Going from where we were and where we needed to get to, typically, is a motoring situation, but the wind was blosing from the southwest, and I sailed, close hauled the whole way...it was nice. I guess we can move this post to the archives now. Thanks to all for your input!

 

[Tim McCarty]

sorry the wind was actually "blowing", not blosing

I'm not sure I'd like it if the wind were blosing...