Bill,

I must confess I never considered the C36 when my better half gave me the go for a coastal cruising boat. I had owned an old Chris Craft 32 foot sloop, a Santana 20, was in a partnership on an Ericson 32 and crewed regularly on a Islander 44. My first thoughts were of Cal's or maybe a Pearson 36. I think many opinions of consturction were based on smaller Catalinas and the assumption all Catalinas built the same. The C36 I too had believed was a lightly constructed production boat and I had not set foot on one. Once I did I was sold, the build quality was on par or above of any other boat I looked at. Much of the talk of the light construction of our boats was started in the early seventies, people were still in the excape and cruise around the world mentality, boats like a Westsail were still viewed as a popular cruiser. Having a full keel and a hull about a yard thick was seen as a plus.
People said the companion way was too wide and could be dangerous in a boarding sea, I guess if you rounding the horn this could be an issue.

When you compare a early C36 to the current crop of racer cruisers, even some of the high end models it comes out looking pretty sound. It is not a Valiant, or Hans Chrisian and not ment to be, I do think it is equal to most new J Boats, C&C's Tartan's, Hunters and the likeI can not think of a better boat for the buck. It has tons of room below and I am trying to think of a bad habit in sailing quality and am coming up short. Another considiration is this fantastic owners group and ongoing support from the manufacturer.

Bill, we share a connection I believe I puchased a used mainsail from the previous owner of your boat before they sold it to you. It was in pretty fair shape and I had a loft go over it before installing it though, in hindsight I should have just bought a new sail. Hindsight is great stuff, it gives you humility, as all my judgements are briliant when I first think of them.

I recall making spreadsheets of all sorts of boats in the 36-42 ft LOA racer/cruiser classes back in 2002-2004 when fantasizing about our first-ever boat purchase. As we started to meld the fantasy with financial reality, we concentrated more on the 34-38 ft LOA class.

The group included Beneteau, Tartan, Jeanneau, Hanse, Bavaria, Dehler, (a few others I forget), along with the Catalina 34, 36, and 387. After spending lots of time on most of the candidates at boat shows, we decided we liked the C36 layout best. We had not sailed any candidate boats, but what put the C36 in the top spot was the hard to beat (unbeatable?) combination of good design and construction, great value for money, long-running success with the boat, and numerous enthusiastic owners, plus the ability to tap the collective knowledge of so many owners via the C36IA.

Once we bought our 1999 model in 2004, we were thrilled with the choice. As we use (and I work) on the boat, I am pleased to see good thought put into so many things. She is a good sailer in many respects, but I have to say as a cruiser I am more interested in the overall picture than beating boats to the anchorage.

If ever there was a story about buying a boat the wrong way, my wife and I lived it. We looked at dozens of boats like Beneteaus, Sabers, Bristols, Pearson, C&C and yes Catalinas. Our story is below

When it came to picking our current boat, I confess, we lucked out in getting the 36. We had only been sailing for less than two years when we decided to get another boat. We were growing out of our Seaward 25’ and felt we needed something bigger for our Chesapeake excursions. So, we started looking for something larger. However, our knowledge of boats was, as we soon discovered, very limited. All we did know was that we wanted to buy from someone who really loved their boat and had records of that commitment. Luckily, we found the person and he sold us his baby.

After we had the boat inspected and bought the boat we began to get a full appreciation of what we didn’t know. Conversations about electronics, engine, plumbing, ridging and other topics were all over our heads. I quickly began to ask “What did we just do?”

Fortunately my wife and I dug in and started learning. She handled the galley, plumbing and leaks, I got electronics and diesel engine and we split the rest. I went to classes in Annapolis on electronic and diesel engines. We also began reading all the sailing books and magazines. They have become the bibles/torahs to us. We also joined groups like this association, got three levels of certification from ASA and have found all very worthwhile. Our friends think we’re obsessing too much and should seek psychiatric help. We ignore them and find someone else to discuss stepping the mast and inverters with. So much for the last 18 months.

The joy of sailing and the anxiety over our ignorance have driven us to become knowledgeable sailors and proud owners of our 36. The boat is everything we hoped for and more. Each time we set sail we encounter something new which makes us look forward to our next trip.

In retrospect I couldn’t recommend to anyone our method of buying a boat. Fire! Ready! Aim! That just the wrong way to do it. But, I don’t think I would change anything we did. Like sailing it’s been all about the journey and it’s been a great one.

We didn't consider anything but a Catalina, and just the 34. We'd had a C22 and a C25 for years before. We knew the differences (and in many good cases the lack thereof) between the C34 and C36, but had seen the C34 at a boat show in 1987 when they first came out. We liked the midships head (subject separately discussed already!). We spent a year looking, but we did our research and homework, coming across both our C34 website and yours. What a great boost. So even if you did fire shoot and aim, at least you have all the information you'll ever need. I'm surprised people still have questions after reading what's available...

Our wish list was the Catalina 470, 400, then the 42 and we almost bought a 380.

We did look at a few Hunters, but they seemed lightly built, smaller winches, no rear back stay but lots of port lights and good ventalation, and we looked hard at the center cockpit 42. But alast, the Catalina won out, faster, better built, stronger equipment, and a great association.

We are still interested in the Benetoues!

Bob

I'm sure there are sailors who can tell a true story like: "Got this boat as a project back in 2000. She's a 1975 model and they only made 12. Real hard to get any parts. One time I had to [insert difficult, time-consuming, expensive side-story here]. Yep, I been broke down in all sorts of places, but that's jus' part of the adventure."

Well, those can be fun stories to listen to, but not to live. I bought a 5-year old (now 10) popular Catalina model so that I can spend more time enjoying the boat and less time wondering how I am going to maintain her.

Not to 'dis' a Bristol, but a couple we are friends with just took off cruising after over 7 years of lots of money and time recommissioning their 1980s Bristol 40 sloop. They have already had more boat problems in 3 months than we have had in 5 years (except for the hurricane damage). I am not that impressed with the design or layout of the propulsion fuel, and other systems on that Bristol.

Once the husband lamented that they should have done what we did, buy a boat they could use right away. Their boat wound up costing them almost as much as ours and they lost 7 years of use and still don't have a great boat.