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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 250 Specific Forum

So impressed with Catalina...

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Al
Captain

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USA
269 Posts

Initially Posted - 02/22/2003 : 18:45:08

I needed to get a measurement in the battery compartment of my soon to be delivered C250WK. I called David Graas (customer service) at the Catalina CA factory, and he told me to come out and help myself.

For whatever reason (probably because I pulled too hard...) one of the wooden blocks on the back of the battery compartment cover came off when I removed the cover. I didn't think anything about it and set it aside, but David asked for it and began to scrutinize it as I took my measurements.

I finished and had stepped off the boat, and was expecting David to be behind me. But no, he was still in the cabin, with the wood block in one hand and his Nextel in the other, rounding up the people he needed to fix the problem.

I was still standing there feeling guilty about breaking a part on my still unpaid for boat, as a engineer/designer-type arrived, along with a finisher. They huddled in the cabin for a while, then David called me in to "OK" the fix-replacing the wood screws with countersunk throughbolts with plastic plugs on the cabin side. "Umm...sure! whatever you guys think..." I think I mumbled as we all left the boat; problem solved, case closed.

I knew I was getting a good boat when I decided on Catalina, but had no idea that the customer service was on the same par. What a pleasant surprise.

BTW, I work for Raytheon, where we would first have had a Failure Analysis, then a Design Review, then....

Al Maniccia
SeaWolf C250WK #698
Marina Del Rey, CA

Edited by - Al on 02/22/2003 20:52:27

Edited by - on

Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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2980 Posts

Response Posted - 02/22/2003 : 22:00:48

Al, congrats on the soon to be owner of a new boat. Gosh, she is named all ready.

Yes, Catalina are good folks who run the busniness in a unique and obviously successfull way.

Enjoy the boat and btw, curiosity was raised when you said you were measuring something about the aft compartment. I am a junky for upgrades and mods on the c250 and enjoy greatly seeing and hearing what others are doing to theirs. Let us know when you take posession.

Arlyn C-250 W/B #224
R&R N/E Texas and Great Lakes

[url="http://www.cox-internet.com/arlynstewart/"]Arlyn's C250 Mods n Cruisin Stories[/url]

Edited by - on

bren737
Captain

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291 Posts

Response Posted - 02/22/2003 : 22:28:38

Al,

Welcome to the group! Ditto the Catalina service. Though I haven't had the good fortune (yet) of being able to visit the factory, much less while my boat was still 'in the delivery room', what few problems/questions I've had since taking delivery of my boat have been answered promptly and adequately. David is a huge asset to Catalina (and us as owners). Any time I've talked to him, if he didn't know the answer in a matter of hours he had talked to the person who did have the answer and called me back.

You'll love your 250! Only real problem with mine is that I still have to work to pay for it. . . can't just go sail every day!

Bren Peterson
C250WB, #642, "Ruah"
San Antonio, TX

Edited by - on

Al
Captain

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USA
269 Posts

Response Posted - 02/23/2003 : 13:03:25

Arlyn,

<i>...curiosity was raised when you said you were measuring something about the aft compartment...</i>

I'm trying to estimate the remote cable length for the 9.9 motor.

Honda (and the dealer I'm buying from, who is not local) are nervous about me voiding the warranty if either I or the Catalina dealer install the motor/remote, instead of an authorized Honda dealer (@ $55/hr). They'll let me mount the motor/cables/remote (all connected together) externally, but I want to detach the remote, fish the cables up through the pedestal, and reattach them to the remote, which I will mount to the pedestal or guard. I also don't want the cables any longer than necessary, so I needed to make the measurements.

Anyway, I don't expect any problems with them. I just need to get my ducks lined up and convince them that I know what I'm doing. I do need to make a trip to the dealer Monday (about an hour drive) to actually see the remote and what's actually involved.

Al Maniccia
SeaWolf C250WK #698
Marina Del Rey, CA

Edited by - Al on 02/23/2003 13:10:20

Edited by - Al on 02/23/2003 17:24:30

Edited by - on

Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 02/23/2003 : 19:38:53

Thanks Al, others have really enjoyed the remote controls.

If you haven't cut the deal for the 9.9 yet... then the 8 is the identical motor with a 500-1000 rpm throttle limiter and as full RPMs on the 8 are never needed, you could save about 300 bucks.

If your slip is tight, consider also linking the motor and the rudder during tight manuvering times. This is easily accomplished with a soft link.

http://www.cox-internet.com/arlynstewart/c250mods/softlink.html

Arlyn C-250 W/B #224
R&R N/E Texas and Great Lakes

[url="http://www.cox-internet.com/arlynstewart/"]Arlyn's C250 Mods n Cruisin Stories[/url]

Edited by - on

Ben - FL
Admiral

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880 Posts

Response Posted - 02/23/2003 : 19:39:24

Roll out the<font color=red> Offical Red Carpet</font id=red> and welcome aboard Al.
I'm not real suave when it comes to sailboats, but I know I like Catalina. They have a great design and great people. I just ordered my 3rd generation balanced rudder and they had it to me in one week.

BTW: if anyone needs a beaching rudder I've got one extra.

Safe voyages,
Ben, FL s/v Chick-a-pea C250wk
<img src="http://www.members.aol.com:/benraye/pictures/fullsail.jpg" border=0>

Edited by - ben - fl on 02/23/2003 19:41:13

Edited by - ben - fl on 02/23/2003 19:42:38

Edited by - on

Al
Captain

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USA
269 Posts

Response Posted - 02/24/2003 : 00:22:25

Well, thanx for the red carpet treatment, Ben <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

I was aware that the 8hp was just a detuned 9.9 (the specs are the same, except for the RPMs and $$....). My dealer suggested the 8hp, plus I had seen your website, Arlyn. But in spite of that, I decided on the 9.9 for a couple of reasons, among them, resale, reserve capacity for some unforeseen event (a powerboat load of young ladies needing a tow...?"<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>), but mostly because I usually like to err on the safe side. But yeah, I probably could have put the $300 to better use somewhere else...

Al Maniccia
SeaWolf C250WK #698
Marina Del Rey, CA

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dannyhain
Deckhand

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USA
24 Posts

Response Posted - 02/25/2003 : 16:05:51

Welcome Al,
I added a remote for my Suzuki 8.8. It was fairly simple. I ordered an add on control from Edson that attaches to the side of the pedastal.It is an aluminum casting where the cables exit approx 2ft from the cockpit floor.From that point they give you a stainless steel tube that adjusts to the floor. I chose not to use the tube and ran the cables over the floor.I dont think it looks bad at all.
Welcome aboard Danny

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Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 03/10/2003 : 21:51:45

Hi there,

I'm a C25 owner and was just checking our the 250 stuff to see what I could learn from you guys.

When I was at the Atlanta Boat show in January I met a Honda rep. He recommended highly the 8 hp over the 9.9 for our 25 foot boats. He said that the motors aren't just detuned and dethrottled 9.9's. He said it was carbaurated differently, and a few other technical things which I forget what they were, possibly different cam. He told me the torque curves are different, and for lower speeds like we need the 8 hp has better torque. Even though Honda would make less bucks off the 8 hp he said to go ahead and get it. My Honda dealer, which specializes in high performance race boats also recommended the 8 over the 9.9 too.

Frank Gloss
89WK/TR

Edited by - on

Dragonfly
1st Mate

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USA
64 Posts

Response Posted - 03/12/2003 : 14:24:02

Congrats on the new boat
I was looking at rest of the site, and was really impressed with the aft berth portholes and the ease of adding them on. Has anyone had any problems doing this? warranty or otherwise? It sounds great, and a really smart idea. That was one (about the only one)thing that I liked about the Hunter 26.

C-250 WK #641
Flywater@sbcglobal.net
Lake Texoma, Texas

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