Went to Strictly Sail in Oakland on Saturday for a little "hull kickin" w/Leon. We went aboard only a dozen or so boats, but the Catalina 350 was the nicest within the "range." It has two generous staterooms, giant head with separate shower, enormous U-shaped galley, garage-sized lazerette - it's amazing how big that boat is. Of course, the 13-ft beam adds a goodly portion of that volume. The 35 was nicer than either of her sister ships, the 34 or the 36 - more costly too, @ ~ $180 BBs. About the same price as my other cruising choice - the Gemini 34 catamaran.
I like the Hunters' arch & traveler, but I'm not fond of their rig design. I've pretty much concluded that my replacement trailerable would be the Telstar 28, for the dual speed potential, motoring or sailing @ 15 kn. But if I was going to abandon trailering for a cruising monohull ... that Catalina 350 is quite a boat!
( Decisions, decisions! )
Last edited by Frank C on Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Cats are great boat...as are the new Hunters. What I would and did do was do lots of research on what type of boat design will work for you. Lots of this has to do with what you want to do with your boat, how you want to use it, and what water conditions do you expect to see. Ever notice that you rarely if ever read any Cruising story about someone out cruising the world (or a big part of it) in a Cat or Hunter. They are Great boats, but considered coastal Cruising boats, which if that is what you need, then great, that is where the planning and research comes in.
I find the Gemini 34 catamaran inboard diesel, full head/shower and 3 double staterooms one of the most liveable designs I've ever seen. (The Catalina 350 is a very close second).
Actually, you'd be surprised at how far afield they are taking the Gemini. Tony Smith, the builder, and his son actually delivered one across the North Atlantic from Annapolis to Gt.Britain. The recent Gemini ads show cruisers taking them everywhere from the Arctic to South America, and that's surely true of the Catalina too.
Maybe that's mostly coastal, but I'm sure either the G-cat, or a new Catalina monohull could easily cover my vista. The South Seas surely aren't even on my horizon. And yes, your horizon is critical to the choice of vessel. I think there's a great deal right here at home that I'd like to see, so a trailerable seems my best target (either 26X or Telstar).
Frank C wrote:Yep ... a bluewater boat's especially important if you're planning to cross an ocean.
Who's planning that?
Who knows we were all just giving our advice on things to consider Blue Water....Coastal Cruising......etc.....we are not sure what use our thread starter is looking for...only he knows...as only I knew with my purchase.
The 35 was nicer than either of her sister ships, the 34 or the 36 - more costly too, @ ~ $180 BBs. About the same price as my other cruising choice - the Gemini 34 catamaran.
Frank, if you have that much disposable cash and need to be separated from it, come on over, bring it, we'll hang out on my porch and get drunk. You'll wake up in a farm field somewhere in Illinois and you wont have to worry about that pile of cash.
Oh yeah, and Ill have a new corsair 31. (Also trailerable)
P.S. We saw the same boat at the OP boat show. It was the only sailboat so we didnt have much to compare it to.
Hate to turn this into ad space, but theres a beautiful 98 Catalina 400(huge aft bunk, two separate baths, beautiful wood etc etc) sitting at the repo dock at shoreline village in Long Beach, Ca. for $149($250,000 new). With this soft market, should be able to get it for $125,000. It also has a mast that can be electrically stepped (not sure of details), an expensive feature, plus dodger, blahblahblah.
Rolf
Frank C- Well I just thought that I might put it in. Another quality about the blue water boats is they usuall have bigger tanks and more storage and less sleeping space. Are usually heaver displacement, thus rides better in weather and at anchor. Easier to cruise in.
