Hi everyone...

I ran across a 2001 Catalina 36 MKii for sale that I am seriously considering. It's being offered by the original owner who told me all about it. This is the short rig with in-mast furling. I don't know which keel. The owner seems to be a very nice and honest older gentleman who, and I say this without disrespect, does not really seem to know much about boats or sailing.

What's interesting is that the boat is almost entirely original. Original standing rigging, life lines and steering cables.  Original instruments including an auto-pilot. Original galley. Original sails.

The cushions, batteries and water heater have been replaced. There are no cushions for the aft sleeping birth. The running rigging was replaced 5 years ago. That’s it.

The engine started tight up, sounded good. It has 850 hours. He says he has serviced annually by a local company I am familiar with, and they would have records.

The wind transducer is damaged and does not work. I was unable to inspect the speed/log and depth transducers because I could not get the bottom drawer below the vee birth out. On the other boat these transducers were in that spot so I assume they are there on this one as well.  

The owner reports that when he unfurls the main, it gets most of the way and then puts up a fight. I’m thinking that the sail is blown out and the belly is very deep, making that part of the sail hang up in the mast. Does that make sense? The head sail is a 135% that does not see to have that UV cover when roller furled.

The dodger and biminy show some age and there is a crack in the plastic window on the dodger.

The boat shows signs of age although not really neglect. The cabin light fixtures have some corrosion. There is a crack in one of the doors to the head. The keel bolts have a few spots of rust but nothing serious and the turnbuckle that connects the mast to the underside of the deck looks good. The bilge is fairly wet, with a good 4 or more inches of water. There is a slight odor which I think is caused by the toilet being flushed with sea water (it’s not plumbed to the fresh water tank).

The worst is damage where the chainplate leaked and the wood wall between the salon and the head (this is the wall that the main table mounts to) has some of its veneer separating on the port most edge. There is another piece of wood further to the left that also has this happening. I’m wondering if the channels through the deck that the chain plates pass through are isolated from the deck core? If so there is probably not a wet core issue and I could not detect a soft spot by pressing with my foot.

Another concern is that for the past 10+ years he has not covered it in the winter, so it has been snowed on. He didn't seem to understand that water can seep under things and then freeze (and I didn't have the heart to tell him). I checked the deck hardware and for the most part it seemed well bedded, but the bedding may well be original as well.

If I’m right that there is no core damage, it seems I would want to get cushions for the aft birth, replumb the toilet to fresh water, replace the damaged walls and probably upgrade the electronics. I would also replace the interior light fixtures and convert it all to LED bulbs. I have some pics of the damage if that helps. What might be a fair price for a boat like this, roughly? The owner seems like a nice older gentleman and I don’t want either of us to be taken advantage of. Any comments are appreciated, thank you!