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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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A few Basic C-25 Questions

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aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 10/01/2004 : 08:07:50

Frank,

Well said.

By the way, when I made my C25 purchase decision, I did a side-by-side comparison of a 1988 C25 and a 1988 Hunter 26. The Catalina won hands down primarily because of interior roominess - the wifes first priority, and because the hull deck seam had glue spilling out of it with large cavities where the wasn't any at all. I've found a couple of maufacturing flaws in my C25 over the years but nothing as potentially dangerous. We have a good boat well supported by a good company, with parts readilly avaiable (Catalina Direct and others), and a great forum for advise and assistance. AS my mom always said "you can't beat those apples"

Al
GALLIVANT #5801

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 10/01/2004 : 10:12:05

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Brooke Willson
 No offense intended, Frank.

Brooke
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I know, I was just playing the pity card!

One of the most wonderful things about this forum is the diversity of its members. That diversity creates different perspectives and those perspectives are related by the personal touch of the individual. I am an inland lake sailor. I can afford to appreciate nuances because so many of the controlling issues for other sailors are irrelevant here. As much as I like the Mark IV floor, the genoa track placement is horrible and I would add one on the toe rail like the earlier boats. Those things matter to me. You have never seen me comment on VHF, binoculars, differences in Auto-pilots, anchors, or many other things that just don't matter on my lake. It makes my opinions different from other people's but just as valid. For instance, we have two free pumpout stations at my club, but the added weight and loss of storage that a marine head and holding tank represent makes no sense for me on a boat the size of a 25. I often mention that I am a lake sailor and also use my sig with replies to new people. I hope that my perspective adds value, just like the rest of you, I think this forum is amazing and I am lucky to be able to use it.

PS I did not pick Newbie! I would not mind if Spike reworked the poster classifications. Maybe there should just be two classes, Member and Non-Member. (If only there were a way to track the Lurkers!)

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 10/01/2004 : 13:05:46

Spike and I will discuss the classifications ... perhaps we can come up with something new.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 10/01/2004 : 21:33:22

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by JimB517
 Spike and I will discuss the classifications ... perhaps we can come up with something new.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Mine should be Curmudgeon. Or maybe Blowhard... (That's for over 2000 public brain-farts.

)

On the subject of covering cushions, we had ours done by an auto/boat upholstery shop, using a soft, linen-like Sunbrella upholstery fabric (quite different from Sunbrella canvas) for just under $2K for 12 cushions. That's a lotta boat units, but it "made" the boat for the Admiral (especially given the mildewed, plaid Herculon mess we bought). And I have to admit I like them, too. New foam (1" thicker on the seats/berths with fiber mat on top of the foam) was a small component of the price, but made the interior that much nicer for sitting and sleeping.

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 10/01/2004 22:02:28

Aldo
Deckhand

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USA
15 Posts

Response Posted - 10/02/2004 : 19:28:20

Thank you everyone for your replies. I can't believe how many I received, and how quickly many of you responded. It's like you were just waiting to answer my questions. I'm sorry I couldn't reply sooner, but I'm going to have to go out of the country soon on business, and it's messing-up my sailboat plans.

Clambeach, thanks for your comments about the power of the keel winch. I'm very familar with Catalina Direct. They can be helpful, but a little expensive, but when you need them, you need them. I have machined many parts for our boat myself, from stainless steel, aluminum, and delrin. The boat that we are considering making an offer on has an Autohelm 1000, just like the one on our C-22. I have to review the "survey guide" that you mentioned, but I haven't had time to do so yet. We will probably get the boat that we are preparing to make the offer on professionally surveyed, but the broker suggested that we make an offer first, contingent on us being satisfied with the survey, more on this later. We will only trailer our C-25 once each spring to the Chesapeake Bay, and back home for the fall for the winter.

Fhopper: Our C-22 centerboard can bang when up, but our marina is very protected, so it doesn't bang very often. When we are cruising on it, the centerboard is usually down almost the whole time. The C-25 that I mentioned above has a Yamaha 9.9 four stroke engine. I will be really glad not to have a 2 stroke. Even though our current 1979 Johnson 6 HP is very light and reliable, I'm getting tired of mixing the oil in with the gas, and tired of the smell and pollution associated with the 2 stroke engine. Thanks for your comment of "deduct a grand" to have the cushions recovered. More about this later too. What are your concerns about the built-in fuel tank? What is the failure mode that concerns you? We plan on offering only about $5K for the boat I mentioned above. Some of your responses helped us come up with this offering price. We don't really need another boat right now. One of my sons is in junior college, and the other one will join him next year, so we really can't spend too much right now. Our 1980 C-22 looks right to us, and the 1980 C-25 we are looking at looks right to us too.

Brooke: Thanks for your comment about replacing the keel hanging hardware. I did that on our C-22 many years ago. There was a kit, and I had to have the brass castings milled to the correct width at one of the shops where I work. This greatly reduced the banging. We will be able to pick-up the C-25 the same way we pick up the C-22 in one of my wife's dad's truck garages. Don't worry, I wouldn't even consider towing the boat every week, just once in the spring, and once in the fall. We did, however, tow our C-22 from Pennsylvania to the Florida Keys twice, but that was over 20 years ago. I don't think that we will ever tow a C-25 that far, at least not while I'm still working.

Icharlot: It does take us several hours to set-up even our C-22, but when we trailer it, we carry as little in the boat as possible, to keep everything from wearing holes into the fiberglass, and to keep the load on the trailer as light as possible.

MattL: Thanks, especially for your comments about my son. We sail with Catalina 22, Fleet 10, out of Annapolis, Maryland. Actually the number of C-22s is rapidly declining, and on our recent cruise this summer, Catalinas and other boats ranged from 22 to 36 feet. We have sailed as far north as Havre de Grace, and as far south as the Patuxent River on the Chesapeake. I think that's pretty good for a C-22. On the cruise to the Patuxent, the 4 of us were on our boat for 11 days. It was fun and exciting.

Fhopper: I didn't actually see the fuel tank in the 1980 C-25 that we looked at. I would like to be able to carry 12 gallons of fuel. We carry that much on our C-22 when we are cruising, but our 2 stroke motor really goes through the fuel. If I get the boat that we are looking at at the right price, I won't be too worried about resale value.

JimB517: Thanks for the mast height info., and all of the rest of your comments too. I do plan on lowering the keel and checking or replacing the hanger parts and pin, and keel cable, right from the start.

Bill: Thanks for your comment about the compatability of the C-25 and C-22. I'm sure that whenever we have both boats out together it will be a race.

RichardG: The head on the C-25 that we looked at that had the onion smell was very clean. Maybe a seal or hose needed to be replaced. Also, the boat was probably sealed-up all summer.

Fhopper again: I don't really understand "Larry's Mark system" that you are referring to. The C-25 that we may make the offer on has many goodies, that would be tough for me to replace on a stripped boat. Our 1980 C-22 was rather lightly equipped when we bought it, and it still not too loaded in my opinion. The C-25 that I mentioned, has an roller furling jib (2), an autopilot, spinnaker, Bimini top, and a 4 stroke motor with cockpit controls. Also, it has a trailer so that I can bring it home, instead of driving 2 hours just to get to the boat to work on it. These things and the anchor compartment look pretty nice to me. I'm not a big fan of winged keels. Having the weight as deep as possible is really a big advantage both in pointing and in the pitching of a boat. I have seen this when several C-22s sail together. But, I do realize that once you get any bigger than a C-25, you almost have to go to a wing keel to sail on the Chesapeake. I don't think that it would be any fun trying to sail on the bay with a draft much over 5 feet.

Dlucier: I'm hoping that I also get the C-25 mentioned above at a good price due to circumstances. I've seen it happen before. We really like the wood inside the older Catalinas, compared to the modern ones that are all fiberglass and SS inside. It is nice where they have located the head on the current 250s. We sleep and stay on our boat a lot, and the wood just makes it feel warm and inviting to us. The newer boat just don't give us this feeling.

Jheard, Thanks for your comments about the correct motor size and head repair.

At Ease: I wasn't offended by the "newbie" title. I know that I am new to this forum, and there are many things that I don't understand about it.

Dave Bristle: As I mentioned above, I can already picture my sons trying to beat the C-25 if we get it. It's just how we are.

Dlucier: Is the current price for a C-25 around $10K? I know that if you take a nice clean boat with a white deck and tie it up in a slip out in the weather with the spiders and birds for a few weeks, it won't look too good with out some regular care and plenty of scrubbing.

Oldsalt, Aeckhart, and RichardG: Thanks for your comments too.

Icharlot: Where are the descriptions of the "marks". I am interested in what Catalina thought needed changing over the years.

Gloss: Your message meant a lot to me. I'm glad that you remembered my autopilot photos. Do you put the mast up yourself, or do you have a yard help you do it? We don't have any problem with our C-22 mast at all, but the C-25 mast looked considerably bigger and heavier. I remember when we had our C-22 in the Keys. It sure is nice seeing that clear blue water surounding your boat, especially compared to the water in the Chesapeake. Don't worry for a second about me buying a Hunter. I didn't think much about the balanced rudder of a C-25, but thanks for mentioning it. I guess that makes the job of the autopilot easier that much easier. Since we cruise our boat, we do use the autopilot quite a bit. Once I motored from St. Michaels to Middle River, a distance of about 35 miles if I remember correctly, on a day with no wind at all. I said that I would never do that again without an autopilot. Thanks again for all your comments, they mean a lot to me.

Dave Bristle again: What color did you choose for you cushions. Our C-22's are brown plaid, but they are still in fine condition. We have always taken our cushions out every winter, and never slept on them without sheets on them, so they are still in very good condition. I think most of the cushions now are covered with solid color fabrics.

Thanks again to all of you.

Now moving on, the boat that I mentioned above previously failed a survey. The broker said that water was found in the port deck around the windows. I didn't feel any sponginess when I walked on the boat, execept for the anchor compartment hatch. The water in the deck was found with a meter. What do you know about this issue? I think that windows need to be removed and rebedded. The gray elastomer that goes between the glass and the aluminum frame should also be replaced. I know that Catalina Direct sells this material.

Relative to the anchor compartment hatch cover, if I can't find a replacement at a resonable price, I would probably just put an aluminum plate on the underside and run screws through from the top, to stiffen it.

I don't need a perfect boat at this time, but I think my family could enjoy a little more room, and also having the 2 boats.

Aldo

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 10/03/2004 : 00:32:46

Hi Aldo... I wouldn't think of recommending a color for the cushions--there are many to choose from...

Regarding water in the side deck, it could be coming from a stanchion as easily as from a window. Check around the stanchion bolts inside for stains.

Edited by - on

sweetcraft
Admiral

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USA
816 Posts

Response Posted - 10/04/2004 : 00:05:50

Great information while comparing. Since I have a 79 SK TR the experiences are almost the same. Concerns over the storage of fuel has led me to use only steel 6 gal tanks with hose fittings at the tank with fire resistant fuel lines and hose clamps, the fuel lines long enough to go out through rubber fitting so snap on fittings are used only outside of transom then to motor. You fuel tanks only on dock and only open vent when using motor. Good sailing on a C-25.

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