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Kesper North posted:....Is.... is there not a smaller option than a full-sized pickup? Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon can be bought with a 4 cylinder 2.8l diesel rated to tow 7,700lbs and get 34mpg when not towing. I drive a Canyon and it's the perfect size truck. Having said that, if you have the room, you could just buy a used pickup for a thousand bucks and not use it as your daily driver.
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Dec 18, 2019 12:52
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Are sailboat trailers built specific to a boat, or are they adjustable? We've been thinking about buying a trailerable boat, leaning towards Catalina 25 for the space and parts availability, but the majority of the Catalina 25s we find for sale don't come with a trailer. I'm wondering if we need to find a Catalina 25-specific trailer, or just a trailer with the right weight capacity.
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Jun 23, 2020 22:42
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monsterzero posted:Everything is adjustable with a grinder and welder. There's a reason most of those boats aren't coming on-trailer... I have a Catalina 22 and have gotten the stepping/dropping down but it's still an affair, and would be even worse if there was 5' of spar off beyond my masthead. I'd say that the 25 is trailer-able in a 'pull out at the end of the season' sense and not a 'launch, sail and drive it home at the end of the day' sense. We're about an hour from the upper Chesapeake, so it could eventually live in the water, but if it needs work we want the option to park it in the driveway instead of hauling tools to the marina only to forget something. We're looking for swing keels. Needing to weld isn't what I was hoping - if we decide to buy a boat that doesn't have a trailer, I don't think we'd have a ton of time between closing the deal and sourcing a trailer unless we can take over payment on a slip, but I've never bought a boat so I'm not sure what to expect.
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Jun 24, 2020 02:37
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Heck yes, just had a Zoom to work out the details of buying an 83 Catalina 25, our first boat! Doing paperwork Saturday and then sinking it and drowning in the Chesapeake sometime next week while moving it a few hours North.
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Jul 15, 2020 17:33
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Crunchy Black posted:Someone please hit the MOB button I'm dying from laughter. We just bought a sailboat and are new to boating, and from what we've seen there's a strong correlation between idiots with Trump 2020 flags on their obnoxious boats and grown-rear end toddlers that feel the need to seek out other boats in the middle of the wide open Chesapeake and throw wake within 50 feet of them even though there's no one else around. What I'm saying is that this news story is very unsurprising.
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Sep 7, 2020 02:32
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For what it’s worth, when we bought our Catalina 25 recently, insurance just wanted to see pictures and didn’t require a survey under $10,000. Though if you’re choosing to pay for a survey for your own peace of mind, I don’t know why the seller would care unless they know there’s a problem to be found.
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Sep 11, 2020 22:00
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Safety Dance posted:This idiot sailed from LA to Hawaii on a $10k-ish boat, sold that, bought another $10k-ish boat, and sailed from Florida to Maine and back, mostly solo. He's got some good videos of finding and hiking on uninhabited islands up in Maine. I don't know how to judge him as a sailor, but he seems to be able to get by. As a real adult in your thirties/forties, you could probably afford to get a bigger/nicer boat without straying into quarter million dollar territories. Sam Holmes is my favorite youtube sailing channel. He's always so happy. He's planning an Atlantic crossing for next year so I imagine we'll get a look into his passage-making skills. He seems like a good sailor and definitely has good repair skills.
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Dec 8, 2020 18:04
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Got a trailer for our Catalina 25 and we now have the boat in the driveway ready for winter project work. What's everyone's favorite teak treatment? I think I want to avoid future scraping so I don't want to use varnish. I don't mind applying oil every few weeks but there might be times where we don't make it to the boat when it's not at home to re-apply, and the main thing I want to avoid is having to "start over" any time we miss a maintenance window. Cetol seems to be a popular middle-of-the-road recommendation.
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Feb 12, 2021 14:23
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Anyone have experience or opinions on polishing/waxing older hulls that haven't been done in a while? We have a 1983 Catalina 25 that doesn't have much shine at the moment. Based on guides like this, the minimum investment is around $500 and several days of work, and there's no sample size of each of the polishes/waxes/creams to see if it would even be worth it. I'd be bummed if I went through the process and it didn't make much of a difference, not only because of the sunk cost but then I'd also have a bunch of polish and wax laying around that didn't work.
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Apr 13, 2021 17:48
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monsterzero posted:Yeah, skip the sanding unless you have defects to correct... or an aggressive compound doesn't work... Thanks for this! All of the guides I found when googling insisted on buff, polish, and wax steps all with products in the $50 range, and that it can’t possibly be done without the $200 Dewalt polisher or equivalent and nice spendy wool pads. Of course they’re also guides for 40 foot cruisers. Those two products are cheap enough we could try a spot by hand and see if it’s worth doing the whole boat. The other option is to just clean off the stains at the bow from the dirty Chesapeake and let it ride until next year.
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Apr 15, 2021 03:22
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dialhforhero posted:TL;DR: How do you 'graduate' to a bigger boat? Aka: how do you get into a cruiser/pocket cruiser? Most things actually get easier as the boat gets bigger (to a point, and the big exception is docking). I've never been on a Harbor 20, but a 40-foot sloop still has a halyard to raise each sail and a main sheet and jib sheets, and that's all you need to get it moving. Additional sail trim lines are just for maximizing performance and you can learn what they are in half a day (and spend years mastering them - I assume, I haven't mastered sail trim). I've sailed Sunfish and other little boats on and off, then took ASA-101 on a 40-foot Pearson with my girlfriend. It was two days and we slept on the boat at night, and we ended up with the same reaction as you - we loving loved it and went all in. We now have a Catalina 25 on the Chesapeake. I'd feel more comfortable single-handing the 40-foot Pearson than the Catalina (and with some adjustments I do plan to single-hand the Catalina). Things just happen more slowly and controlled as the boat gets bigger. Obviously you need to know what to do if foul weather and high winds, but even then the bigger boats end up handling those conditions better. Little boats are better for learning the physics of sailing because they react much more and you can feel the different forces. If you can sail a Harbor 20, then you can sail a cabin cruiser and the Chesapeake is awesome and you should just do it. Just take a little time to learn the additional safety stuff and what to do in weather and you'll have a blast. Depending on where on the Chesapeake you are we'd totally take you out and give you an idea of how easy a 25-foot cabin cruiser is to sail.
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Apr 26, 2021 13:50
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For what it's worth I insured my Catalina 25 with the same company as my home and auto, and they didn't require a survey if the purchase price is under $10,000. I just had to send the Craigslist pictures to their underwriter. I read through Inspecting the Aging Sailboat by Don Casey and made sure the boats I looked at weren't going to immediately sink, but otherwise we decided we probably wanted a Catalina 25 for our first boat for a variety of reasons, before even looking at boats. If I was buying anything bigger or with an inboard motor, I would have gotten a survey. We were also open to selling the boat and losing a little money if it wasn't a great fit, but so far it works for us.
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Apr 26, 2021 15:26
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boxen posted:Hrngg. This is a thing?!
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Apr 29, 2021 04:06
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Hadlock posted:Delftship is the #1 Thanks! I have a 3d printer and have wanted a desktop model of our boat, so maybe this will help me make that happen. Karma Comedian posted:Just saw my boat written about in a book by Bruce Roberts
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Apr 29, 2021 13:32
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Hadlock posted:When you put a spare bolt in the gooseneck to Jerry rig it This is the Nautical Insanity thread. I’m quite sure you mean Jury rig 
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May 15, 2021 02:47
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dialhforhero posted:What is this thread’s opinion of Catalinas, specifically the 30’ series? We bought our Catalina 25 from a couple that moved up to a Catalina 30. When they were showing us the boat they described Catalinas as the Toyotas of sailboats, and that seems accurate. We’ve ordered quite a bit from Catalina Direct, however the stuff they sell is in two categories: things they manufacture specifically for the boats which makes sense to get from them, and generic hardware that you can get from Harken or McMaster-Carr or whatever for cheaper.
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Jun 5, 2021 02:18
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sharkytm posted:More times than not, your VHF and bilge pump(s) will be wired directly to the batteries, but maybe only to one of them. Is there a good reason to have the VHF radio wired directly to the batteries? We recently got a Catalina 25 and the VHF has its own panel switch and is behind the battery selector, so it's off when the selector is off, and that seems fine to me. The bilge pump is wired directly to the battery (there is currently only one battery, however the boat is set up for two if we want to get new batteries in the future). Our outboard is an electric start and is wired directly to the battery, but that seems like it should go through the selector switch instead? I added two little bus bars to make it easier to connect and disconnect the motor when we take it off for trailering, and I have to be slightly careful to avoid sparks since the other side is always live.
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Aug 30, 2021 12:58
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I like 3:2:1 tequila:Cointreau:lime, but yeah Cointreau is all the sugar you need.
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Oct 17, 2021 14:26
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Hadlock posted:
We have a Catalina 25 and I’m 6’2”. It drives me insane but we trailer it sometimes so it’s about as big as we could go while being trailerable. It would be untenable if not for the pop top. Definitely 27 minimum if it stays in the water. quote:Sam Holmes has something like a cape dory 27 I think that's a really stellar boat and the correct size for what you want to do etc Yeah he has a Cape Dory 28 and it seems perfect.
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Dec 21, 2021 05:20
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Cut a hole in the hull and just dump it in the ocean along with the old batteries I assume you're replacing. It's perfectly legal.
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Jan 27, 2022 19:30
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Last winter we had functional work to do (rewiring nav lights, replace running rigging, work to make the boat more trailerable), but this winter we were able to do some cosmetic work. Our teak was pretty gray and dried out:  Pulled it all off the boat to make it easier to work on. Cleaned it up with scotch-brite pads and Bar Keepers Friend, and then 3 coats of Cetol Marine Natural Teak on all of it and 2 coats of Cetol Gloss on the pieces we don't stand on. Refinishing it was easy and a great return on time invested. However, putting it back on and re-caulking it makes me want to get covers for all of the teak so I don't have to do that again. Pretty happy with the results though:  
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Apr 13, 2022 00:59
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Catalina 25. Anything beamier would need a permit for trailering in the several states I move it through.
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Apr 13, 2022 01:02
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occluded posted:Hi yes, I was on a boat with a commercial skipper with 20 years experience, notified him at 20 minutes TCPA (we had AIS and I had checked their stats, and was watching e.g. their rotation speed to see if they had initiated a turn), and his response was 'hold course and see what they do', ending with that outcome. But you said this, as if the ship is the rear end in a top hat in the situation: occluded posted:their helpful response was a hard turn to starboard, in front of us. Pretty unecessary tbh. "asked them if their behaviour was consistent with the colregs" is the most passive-aggressive poo poo and they probably didn't respond because they were too busy rolling their eyes.
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Apr 17, 2022 15:03
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They freed the Ever Forward (has been stuck in the Chesapeake outside of Baltimore for over a month) and moved it to Norfolk today. I was hoping to get the boat in the water before they moved it because we’d be able to see it from where we sail. Bummer.
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Apr 18, 2022 01:02
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Crunchy Black posted:I mean technically a J24 is too beamy at the hips to trailer unpermitted...are states other than the southeast quite a bit more strict than our trick of, "measure it at the axles, doughnut--face" ? Max width without a permit in PA, MD, DE, NJ, and NY are all 102", plus a few inches on either side for lights and mirrors and whatnot depending on the state's language. Chances are no cop would care, however I'd be concerned if we got into an accident. Even if it's not our fault, if some idiot pulls out in front of us and has a good lawyer, they'd probably latch onto the width of the boat being slightly over the limit. They probably wouldn't win the case, but it would be a pain. From my understanding, it's not that hard to get some paperwork on file to allow you to drive any time when you're slightly over, without a sign, and if we found the right boat we may have done that. We looked at a bunch of boats online and a few different boats in person, but narrowed down on Catalina for our first boat because of catalinadirect.com and the sheer number of boats and owners that exist. The PO told us Catalinas are the Toyota Corollas of boats and that seems apt. We wanted a boat big enough to handle the Chesapeake (and frankly as big as possible since I'm 6'2"), but trailerable because we wanted to try both. Everyone (including this thread) said the Catalina 22 was more trailerable, and they were right, however we don't regret the Catalina 25 since we've only trailered it elsewhere to sail a few times so far and it's worlds better for cruising the Chesapeake. A Catalina 27 would get us into the previously mentioned width problems, plus boat + trailer would exceed our tow vehicle's capacity. The other benefit to having the boat on a trailer, even if it's not quick to launch, is that we can park it in the driveway and work on it all winter. We're an hour and a half from our slip, and there's no way we'd get as much work done on the boat if we had to drive there and back to do it. We've streamlined our mast stepping process and it's about 90 minutes on each end to launch or recover the boat with two people. We did week long trip up to a lake in upstate NY and being on your own boat on a quiet lake is unbelievable. We'll be back to that lake this year, and are hoping to also hit up one of the finger lakes. I think in a few years after we've gotten our fill of lake sailing, we'll upgrade to something over 30' for cruising, and who knows, maybe keep this one or move to something smaller for trailering, because both styles of sailing are great.
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Apr 18, 2022 13:38
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bigdookie posted:Where do you sail out of? Middle River. Our boat was on the Magothy when we bought it. We're mostly weekend sailors and haven't been around during the week to even see a race, let alone participate. One of these days.
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Apr 19, 2022 00:24
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Spent the last two nights docked at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels with full access to the grounds, and it was rad as hell. Highly suggested if you’re on the Chesapeake. Annoyingly we haven’t had a lick of wind this whole trip, but it’s supposed to be 10-15 for our 4 hour sail home in the morning.
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Jul 1, 2022 00:19
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I'm not sure what happened but on our last trip something hit the screen of our B&G Vulcan chart plotter and now there's a round spot on the screen that doesn't work about an inch in diameter. Is it possible to get replacement screens anywhere? I don't mind attempting to swap it myself as I imagine B&G would charge close to what the thing is worth to repair it, if they're even willing to do so. Their last firmware for it is from 2019 and it's listed at end-of-life.
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Jul 29, 2022 13:55
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Ambassadorofsodomy posted:So uhh, yeah, anybody know what type of brakes they might be? I would guess surge brakes based on weight and how common they are. Are there pictures of the trailers? Electric over hydraulic have a big pedestal in the front with the reservoir and pump at the top to keep them out of the water.
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Sep 29, 2022 03:00
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Ambassadorofsodomy posted:I just checked the Lund website but there was only one picture of the boat on a trailer and it was more to show the travel cover than the trailer, so I couldn't see the tongue. Is the "towing weight" the dry weight of the boat, or boat + trailer? If the total weight of boat + trailer is under 3500lbs, I'd be surprised if there were brakes at all. Generally boat trailer GVWR is 3500lb/axle, and single axle trailers generally don't need brakes (I think?). At least in PA, a single axle brakeless trailer is desirable if you don't need the higher capacity, because it doesn't need annual inspections. At less than 3500lbs surge brakes are just fine. Were you hoping for electric over hydraulic, or are you concerned that your brake controller wouldn't support them? edit: I sprung for electric over hydraulic on my custom sailboat trailer, but that's because the total weight is close to 6800lbs. Surge brakes were the default and would have been fine, but my tow vehicle is on the lighter side and I wanted to maximize safety. My brake controller was not happy with them simply because it expects a certain amount of resistance from in-line magnets that would normally be there for regular electric brakes. The trailer manufacturer put a spare magnet in-line for me just to pass the controller "handshake" and they work perfectly. Erwin fucked around with this message at 12:45 on Sep 29, 2022 |
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Sep 29, 2022 12:40
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I highly doubt you'd get electric over hydraulic on a trailer that light unless you specifically pay extra for it. Also, if your truck has a tow package and a seven pin trailer plug already, then there's probably a plug under the dash for a controller and you just plug it in.
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Sep 29, 2022 13:20
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Ambassadorofsodomy posted:That's good to know, thanks. I'll check my owners manual and see if it says anything about it. In other news, surprisingly enough I heard from the dealer. This is the ideal choice if it's going to have brakes at all. Cheaper, less maintenance, and plenty for <3000lbs.
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Sep 29, 2022 23:13
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monsterzero posted:I’m fully of the belief that outside of a few exotics, most 25’ and longer trailerable boats are trailerable so you can pull the boat and keep it on the hard for the off season. Maybe worth the effort if you’re keeping it in the water for along weekend but not something that you’ll want to do it often. Have a Catalina 25 and a trailer and can confirm. It comes home over the winter which is great for working on things, and it goes to a mountain lake once per year for a week, but otherwise it's in a slip on the Chesapeake. It's 2 hours each to put it in the water or take it out, so it's a pain to trailer it somewhere even for a weekend.
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Jan 14, 2023 00:13
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These things are great if 5 gallons is enough: https://a.co/d/iBIGqBu Whether or not a fuel dock is a lot more expensive than a regular gas station depends on how captive the audience is. The one fuel dock on a small lake in upstate New York yeah, but the fuel docks on the Chesapeake for instance are fairly close in price to gas stations from what I’ve seen (though we still fill up off-site).
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Mar 13, 2023 01:46
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CmdrSmirnoff posted:Trailering isn't a thing for me since I don't have a driveway, but saving some ducats on mooring and wintering is always welcome. I don’t know how tall you are but I’m 6’2” and more miserable than I thought I would be not being able to stand up straight in my cabin with the pop top down (Catalina 25). I put up with it for the ability to trailer it once in a while, but if you’re not trailering it, go stand in whatever you’re interested in and make sure you can stand comfortably. Or maybe standing up straight isn’t as important to other people but I’m old.
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Jun 10, 2023 13:14
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Do you have cars for the jib sheets? You can adjust twist with them.
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Oct 31, 2023 00:15
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We sailed to Annapolis this past weekend and man I’ve got three-foot-itis real bad. We’ve had our Catalina 25 for 4 seasons now and not being able to stand up straight really wears on me. As an impulsive person I’ve promised myself (and my less impulsive partner) one more season before moving up, but I definitely ogled the other boats in the mooring field the whole weekend. I believe I more accurately have 11-15 foot-itis.
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Nov 1, 2023 03:33
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ET_375 posted:If the headroom thing is your main frustration but you like the size of the boat otherwise, the Dana 24 is pretty good in that regard. I'm 73", and while I'll brush my head if I stand dead straight up, I'll stay clear if I'm just walking around. Headroom is the main thing, but there are some other gripes. I'm also 6'2" when I'm not goon-slouching but it seems like there are plenty of boats with that type of headroom. We went with the Catalina 25 as our first boat because we wanted to try both trailering to cool places and tooling around on the Chesapeake. We knew going in that the 25 is not a trailer sailor so much as it is a boat that can be moved by trailer from time to time, but it's also big enough to be comfortable on the bay. We figured we'd learn which of the two options we preferred, and we definitely spend more time cruising out of our marina than we do hauling it elsewhere to sail. We've had it up to a lake in upstate NY a few times, and I do want to get at least one other lake trip in while we have it. The best part about the trailer is being able to park it at home over the winter for winter projects instead of driving an hour and a half each way to work on it. Since we use it more as a bay cruiser, my list of gripes come from its shortcomings in that role: - lack of headroom - porta-potty instead of a marine head (though it used to have one) - camp stove and awful sink - small cockpit (I have to climb over the dog to do anything if he's with us) - no bimini - quick to heel - not a ton of reefing options (though that could be fixed for $$$) - no privacy if we want to bring guests overnight - short motoring range (though I love having the outboard for lots of reasons) Don't get me wrong, as a lake cruiser it is fantastic. I think what I'm hoping for in our next boat is just more RV and less camping. One or two private berths, a head with a door so guests don't need to pee within ear-shot, a comfortable cabin I can walk around in and cook a decent meal in, and a shaded cockpit I can move around in standing up instead of climbing over people and dogs. I took my ASA classes on a Pearson 39, and from what I've seen of Pearson 36s, they seem like a great size. Since I finished ASA104 maybe our next step should be to look at chartering something and seeing what we think about the bigger boat.
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Nov 3, 2023 18:14
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 23:16 |
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Hadlock posted:I think dyneema for boats under 30' is a slam dunk as long as you're staying coastal. At that size, especially with the pre stretch heat set stuff, the stretch is imperceptible. But more importantly, you can do all your own standing rigging with basic tools Our Catalina 25 is currently in the driveway and the mast is down on waste-high sawhorses. I have a must-do list, but on the bonus list is replacing at least the lower shrouds with dyneema, especially since one of the deck-end swage fittings is a little bent. The boat mostly lives on the Chesapeake, but we trailer it home for the winter, to the marina in the spring, and 1-2 trips during the summer, so the mast is stepped and unstepped a handful of times per year by the two of us. We've managed to shave at least an hour off the process on both sides with small changes here and there, but a large chunk of time is still spent trying to wrangle wire rigging and keeping it from getting tangled. Being able to wrap dyneema up into neat bundles would make the process much less painful.
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Feb 17, 2024 17:33
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