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 Catalina Tour Pt II		  New Topic  Topic Locked
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bren737
Captain

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291 Posts
Initially Posted - 11/03/2004 :  21:46:18  Show Profile
Last Friday I had a few hours to kill during an overnight in Burbank, CA. Decided to rent a car for the afternoon and drive over to the Catalina factory to pick up a part or two I needed 'straight from the horse's mouth', as it were. The people at the 'parts dept' were extremely friendly and helpful. Within ten minutes I had the parts in hand (all of which Catalina Direct had said were no longer available).

My coworker with me had never seen Catalina's operation (or any other) before. I went to the office and asked if Ed Arango (sales manager) was around. Last year Ed had given my family and I a great tour during a visit to CA. He was in. I refreshed his memory as to my being a 250 owner that we had met a year ago. Right away he remembered basically who I was, from Texas, that I was a pilot for Southwest and asked how my kids and wife were. Without my asking he offered to give us a tour of the plant. We took him up on it and spent the next hour walking the plant with Ed explaining all of it's details to my copilot.

Upon leaving the 'final assembly' area I saw a GORGEOUS C-280 sitting on a three-axle trailer just like the 250's. I had no idea the 280 was considered 'trailerable.' Ed conceded that it was 'technically' trailerable, though you could not launch it without a lift or raise the mast without a LOT of help. Too, you'd have to have a heck of a tow vehicle. Man, it sure looked sweet sitting on that trailer, though.

Most of the boats on the line sported a gold stripe just below the thin blue stripe just below the hull/deck joint. Ed said it was in celebration of Catalina's 30th anniversary. There were a lot of boats on the line; everything from 42's to the 22 Sport. They are running three shifts a day; basically 24/7 except for periods of clean-up.

I guess the point of this is to say that I am still impressed with Catalina and their 'family' atmosphere. I am amazed that Ed remembered me (a lowly 250 owner) and would drop everything in the middle of the day just to show us around. It doesn't matter if you own a 22 or a 42+, they treat you like a celebrity owner. It reaffirms that my next boat (kids out of college, etc.) will most likely also be a Catalina. . . a 350, maybe?!

If you're ever in the LA/Burbank area, make sure you get a chance to stop by and say hello to the people who bring such happiness to our lives!

(Okay, that last part IS a little sappy. . .)

PS: Sorry, no photos of the 280. Didn't have a camera with me. . .


Bren Peterson
C250WB, #642, "Ruah" (former)
Passport 40, "Fiato"
Kemah, TX
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JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts
Response Posted - 11/04/2004 :  12:23:20  Show Profile  Visit JimB517's Homepage
C 350, yeah! I love that boat. Seems the perfect size. Price is also very nice, even new.
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Oscar
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2030 Posts
Response Posted - 11/04/2004 :  18:48:26  Show Profile  Visit Oscar's Homepage
Did the same thing....long layover, rent-a-mobile, visit the factory. Kent Nelson hosted me. Remembers me when I call with a question, gets me an answer.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I saw a GORGEOUS C-280 sitting on a three-axle trailer just like the 250's.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

whoop-whoop-pull up!

(inside joke.....)

Oscar
C42 # 76 "Lady Kay" (Ex. C250 WB #618)
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bren737
Captain

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291 Posts
Response Posted - 11/04/2004 :  20:51:05  Show Profile
Oscar,

Yeah, my wife said sort of the same thing, but it was more to the point. . ."Don't you even THINK about it!"
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atgep
Master Marine Consultant

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1009 Posts
Response Posted - 11/04/2004 :  22:45:45  Show Profile
whoop-whoop-pull up!

(inside joke.....)

Oscar, Not that inside. Even us lowly Navy guys have been blessed with the wonder that TCAS/EGPWS is. At least the P-3 in Iceland that I flew had the Tcas 2 with EGPWS integrated. Pretty geeky and cool unless you are on approach to an un-published field in Poland and the Damn thing does not shut up while in the flare!

I am heading to Cali next week and look fwd to sailing the Pacific and TIME PERMITTING(Plane broken) I will tour the cat plant.

LOL, Tom.
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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.