Association Forum - Need advice on C25 buying

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Need advice on C25 buying

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

Member Avatar

USA
1916 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/27/2002 : 20:56:56

Hi Folks,

I currently own a C22 and would like to purchase a C25. Since I like to take my boat on vacations to the Keys and Fla coast a Swing Keel is my choice. I do have further questions

I have heard that later models have a lead swing keel rather than a cast iron keel. Is this true. If so, what year?

Which year did the seperate gas tank locker appear?

What other years did important changes occur.

Any other words of advice.

I notice that trailers are hard to come by so I'll be looking for a package deal.

Thanks and I hope to be a real part of this community soon

Frank Gloss
fgloss@knology.net

Frank

Edited by - on

Buzz Maring
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1772 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2002 : 21:07:17

Hi Frank,

Here is a link to the tech tips that I've seen passed on several times before ... it is full of tips for appraising a C-25:

http://c25c250.best.vwh.net/restricted/summert2.html

I can't really help much on your specific questions ... I'm sure there will be others who will step up to the plate.

Good luck!

Buzz Maring, C-25 SK/SR #68, "Freya"

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2002 : 22:39:43

Frank: You're right about later models having lead keels--but not the swingers (which are all cast iron). Somewhere around 1984 (I think) the fin keel was changed from cast iron to glass-encapsulated lead. A little later, Catalina discontinued the swing and offered just the wing and fin keels. The wing turns out to draw just a couple of inches more than the fully raised swing keel, so it became the best solution for trailering and shoal draft (unless you're a racer).

The swing keel had fostered some concerns over the possibility of the cable or attachment breaking and allowing a 1500 lb. piece of cast iron to fall and crack the trunk--sinking the boat. A few people on this board have had it happen, and a few have had their boats retrofitted to wing keels. In fairness, many swing keel owners seem to be pleased with their boats, but they understand the importance of inspection and maintenance of the cable system--especially if they're in salt water. Wings appear to be the highest-priced models, but that's partly because most of them are newer (late '80s).

Another age-related issue is the approach to thru-hulls. Up until the middle-80s (I'm not sure of the year, but probably before 1984), Catalina used a rather shakey "to-hull" for sink and icebox drains that amounted to a threaded bronze pipe in a dome of epoxy on the inside of the hull, with no surface area outside of the hull. All objective observers agree that these should be replaced by true through-hulls with a "mushroom" outside and a collar inside. Our '85 has flush-mounted thru-hulls with a disk outside the hull that is countersunk slighly into the fiberglass. If you see a disk around the through-hull (from the outside), you shouldn't have a problem. If you only see a hole in the fiberglass, you may want to do a retrofit with true through-hulls.

Our '85 has the molded fuel locker--I believe it appeared a year or two earlier. If you see a chrome vent on the aft end of each coaming, the fuel tank will go on a shelf in the port-side sail locker (or "dumpster"). The vents went away when the external fuel locker appeared.

Bill Holcomb once wrote a detailed history of the year-to-year changes, but that may be in the archives of the Trailer Sailor site where this forum used to be. Those archives may be gone now, but Bill may be able to give you some better answers than I could--he once sold Catalinas, and is still the definitive C-25 guru on this board.

Good luck in your quest...

Dave Bristle - 1985 C-25 #5032 SR-FK-Dinette "Passage" in SW CT

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 05/27/2002 23:04:50

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2002 : 03:00:04

Frank,

My C-25 is a 1981 and has the separate gas locker.

I prefer the trailer made by Trail-Rite over the EZ-Loader.

Older models can be retrofitted with many of the hardware upgrades that became standard equipment on the later C-25s.

Good luck.

Steve Madsen
#2428
OJ (Ode to Joy)

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.