Buying a boat to liveaboard

[sk8rboy]

Hi
We -two adults and one 12yr old child - are looking at boats with the potential to liveaboard. We are going to look at two catalac 9's next week which we have read are good, solid and safe. We only expect to bum about the med for a year or two. However we also have elderly parents and feel that we need to head towards the French canals eventually and settle there.

I would appreciate any advice opinions as to the suitability etc. The other option is to get a 40ft motorsailer but it is proving difficult to get one with shallow enough draught and reasonable sized engines ie we don't need twin 125hp for example.

Sorry to go on but what should we be looking out for when we go to view the catalacs. One is 1975 and the other is 1984.

Thanks again.

Skate

 

[Talbot]

I had a 9m Catalac for over 20 years.

There are two variants - the Mk 1 and Mk 2 The Mk 1 had a round porthole for the heads and port aft cabin.
The mk 2 is much easier to keep clean and nicer inside due to the increased use of GRP fitments.
Engines - most now have 2 x 1GM. I reckon that this is underpowered, but the 2 GM is too heavy. There is a beta engine inbetween in weight and power which is a better bet.
The Mk 1 mast and spreaders are suspect.
The Mk2 had Proctor masts and boom.
There should be a kit onboard designed to allow lowering the masts singlehanded, and crutches to take the weight of the mast behind the cockpit.
Both the Mk1 and Mk2 were produced with either a lifting rudder, or with a solid rudder and skegs. The lifting rudder is better if you plan to dry out frequently, otherwise, the added strength of the skegs and solid rudder is better.
The headlinings should have been replaced.
The rudder quadrant (on port rudder) and steering arms + connecting rod between the rudders was made of galvanised steel. These rust through and most good owners have replaced with stainless.
Ask when the steering cable was last replaced.
One or two catalacs have had a bit of osmosis, but nothing bad, just the odd spot.
Some 9m (and 8m) were produced from new with a single outboard rather than inboards. There will be a big V shaped extrusion between the hulls if this was the fit. Twin engines are easier to control!
Sails should have been replaced by now from the originals. The Mk2 had rotostay reefing genoa and 3 slabs in the main. The boats were sold with a jib and a genoa. Beating to windward really demands the jib as the genoa in normal configuration does not allow you to get close to the wind.

These are great family boats with good living accomodation. Off the wind despite their short waterline, they can surprise a lot of boats. They really dont do windward very well especially if you overload, and if you pinch too much.

There was quite a good article on them in PBO about 3 months ago (my old boat)

If you have specific queries - ask away

 

[25931]

I like the Snowgoose-has more room BUT only one engine so a bit of a pig in tight manoeuvres-I wouldn't try the canals in her.Catalac 9 is a good option.
Jim

 

[sk8rboy]

Thanks Talbot and Jim,

I think we have set our hearts on a Catalac and are looking forward to viewing them next week. Hopefully we will look like we know what we are talking about when we ask those questions. Its heartening to hear people say they have had them for years. For us safety and space and shallow draft are priorities and the catalac seems to tick the boxes.

We looked at Prouts too but prices seem higher. I will let you know how we get on.

Thanks again,

Skate

 

[bendyone]

We had one for 11 years, twin volvos with saildrives, 9hp each. A bit underpowered when going into a sea.
Dont expect to sail well unless the wind is on the beam or behind and blowing a good 4.
Apart from that very good boats with few problems.

 

[Anonymous]

It's a buyer's market at the moment so you might be amazed how far your cash will go. Cheeky offers.

The huge drawback with catamarans in the western Med is that you will be forced into marinas a lot of the time, and almost certainly in the winter, when you might be charged up to double for a berth. Lifting keel yachts such as Southerlies might be worth looking at, if the canals are important to you? Or sell and buy another when you change from sea to canals? I think that cats are less of a problem in the eastern Med? We have no experience but someone will jump in.

Have a look at some quite young HR, Najad, Nauticat, Contest, Island Packet, Oyster, .... you might be surprised how far your money will go. Monohulls are more rolly, don't have the wide living accommodation, but there are many other advantages.

Most people we have met who chose a cat to liveaboard 365/365 in the western Med would choose a monohull next time.

 

[sk8rboy]

Hi All

I found the article Talbot very interesting read.

Lemain, strangely we had come to the same conclusion. A catamaran bimbling about the Eastern med looks very attractive but when we think about French coast and/or canals we think of solid, traditional monohull ie motor sailers. The knub of the problem is that I think we want to be over in Turkey, eastern med but because of family and health issues we feel the need to stay closer to home and be able to access EU healthcare. We had also thought about whether we should go and to learn to sail in Turkey live ashore enjoy the heat and then come back and buy a boat that will do the Western Med/canals.

We are off to France for a few days to look at two catalacs and a dutch steel hulled motorsailer with a permanent mooring on the canal/entry to Med. Very different crafts. Hopefully the will get a better idea once we see what is available.

Now cost. Obviously we have taken a drop in what we hoped to get for our house. We would expect boat prices to be taking a drop too. Someone has said we should make offers of 10-15% off. We hope to have cash in 10 days time if house buyer doesnt pull out at last minute. It's happened twice already this year! Just can't wait to have a year or two off from the 9-5.

Thanks again everybody, this is such a great resource.

Skate

 

[Anonymous]

I'd make offers well under 10% to 15% off. Believe me, some of them are going half price /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif