Boats are not like cars that are normally problem-free from day one. As production is mostly hand work, involving many people, there is usually a list of smaller and bigger things they forgot, or could have done better or.....

Apart from that, boats always need attention, as some things will break, or leak or get worn out .. Normally when you buy a boat there is a dealer or agent who commissions the boat and then hands it over. Things are tested already when you get her, and anything that seems not right when you sail her, you just let the dealer know and next weekend it is fixed. Unfortunately no dealer or agent was around in Singapore, so all 'problems' had to be resolved by myself, sometimes after consulting the dealer in Sydney, Catalina in US or locally Johnny Lim. My year-long experience and hands-on approach paid off. It must be said that the dealer in Sydney replied to most inquiries the next day and and also Warren Pandy, the manager of Catalina Yachts, was very helpful.

The list below is meant to help new owners find possible problems and fix them before they can get more serious.

• Although the electricity cables (shore power) for the SB sockets were connected to the main panel, somehow there was no power at the sockets. As it was hardly possible to find where the disconnection was, I finally installed new cables after disconnecting the existing ones from the distribution panel

• The electricity cables for the aircon unit in the fore peak had the same problem and I did run new cables from distribution panel to aircon location

• The reverse polarity light on the 220V aircon panel was wrongly connected, indicating reverse polarity while all was right

• The cables (12 V) for steaming light and deck flood light were somewhere reversed. I changed the connection at the instrument panel

• Batteries were NOT tied down by any means. I installed 316 bars across the batteries to hold them down in reverse conditions

• No graphic repeater installed despite ordering and paying for it. Although the unit was reimbursed, the additional work to install one was annoying

• I had the boat prepared for the aircon installation in the factory and paid a quite hefty sum for that. The aircon system I ordered (on advice of Ray Martinez, from Dometic USA who discussed it with Catalina) required one seawater pump hose from fore to aft, which was not installed. The pre-installation as done by Catalina assumed two seawater inlets and two pumps instead of one pump and a pump relays). As I bought the units already (based on Ray Martinez’ advice), I had to run a hose from fore to aft, not an easy job and quite time consuming if you do not know all in and outs of the boat yet and you have to lift all floor boards

• Aircon unit did not fit into aft cabin cabinet. A hole for the motor of the blower had to be sawed in the hull liner

• The aircon in the fore cabin did not fit. The bottom of the berth had to be cut wider

• The keel did not fit well. The installation took about a day because the boat had to be lifted twice to slightly widen some holes where the keel bolts had to go in the keel box

• Inside the keel box some adaptation had to be done to be able to tighten all nuts

• The connection between hull and keel needed quite some patching up with putty as it was not smooth.

• The boltrope of the headsail ripped when the sail was hoisted. Reason was a too narrow stitching along the rope, causing the sail to be perforated. The sail had to get a new boltrope over the whole length of the luff and sailing was delayed for a few weeks

• The main sail had no Dutchman flaking system (despite being this item advertised as 'standard'. No hardware and no preparations in the sail. After complaining to the highest level (Frank Butler him self) we got a system and a cheque to have the sail altered

• The (second) reefing line was some 5 inches too short, so the main sail could not he hoisted fully with the line attached to the reefing eyes. An additional shackle had to be attached to overcome this

• The main sheet was not packed and had to be bought (30 meter (100 ft), 12 mm) separately

• The V-berth extension was not on the boat (according to the packing list it never was). It came 3 months later by post

• Damage on the lid to secure stove (minor repair, but obviously a machine screw does not hold in thin fiber glass)

• There was no Sikaflex sealant between steel deck plate and mast step and water leaked between these two metal plates after every deck wash or rain shower, ending up in the bilge. It took some ingenuity to fix this leak without removing the mast (as it was already stepped)

• We had on two occasions (rain) water in the aft cabin. It appeared that the engine instrument panel was not sealed on the pedestal. The water hose of the drain pain was blocked, causing the water to find its way into the aft cabin. The hose is now lead to the drain pan of the aircon system

• A slight leak occurred at the inspection cover for the fore stay mounts in the anchor locker. We sealed the cover with some silicon (was not sealed)

• Our first sea trial ended up with being towed back in the marina. The engine did not want to start after it suddenly stopped (obviously no fuel despite full tank) and once back in the marina I discovered that the primary fuel filter had been installed reversed, the ‘in’ at the engine side

• A sea water leak near the propeller shaft caused quite some water intake. It took some time to find the origin as the hose runs under the aft berth to the cockpit locker. It appeared to be a pin hole in the exhaust hose between the engine and the muffler. The hose was replaced

• The hot water hoses from the engine to the boiler leaked on both the engine and the boiler side. On the engine the sealant at one fitting had to be renewed

• Some hose connections for the (cold) water system were slightly leaking when we filled the water tanks and after checking all connection we found several other loose hose clamps

• The drain hose of the dry (ice) box was not connected to anything and was just loose in the bilge. Good thing I changed the existing drain pump to an electric in-line pump to safe space (see upgrading) . otherwise all the melt water (if we would ever use the box for that) would end up in the bilge. A small T was all what was needed to have both ice box drain and fridge drain connected to the pump

• The drain in the floor of heads also ends 'nowhere' instead of leading it directly to the bilge

• The 'seal' between hose and drain pan of the shower leaked, resulting in some water ending up in the bilge instead of been pumped out. Sikaflex solved the problem.

• the water heater has an overflow and the water just drips out when the heater gets hotter. The amount is not much but the 0.5 liter after a few hours engine run can be solved by attaching a water hose to the overflow leading to a bottle. After some weeks I made a permanent connection to the aircon drain.

• Some of the compartments created by the floor grid) do not drain into the bilge. What happens is that after some leaks it might take a few sails under heel before you really have a dry bilge again as water stays behind the grid. Unfortunately nothing can be done about it without cutting holes. Quite irritating

• The tachometer got erratic after two weeks and had to be replaced. It took a few weeks emailing to convince the company who delivered the tacho, that it was indeed not working

• The Voltmeter at the pedestal shows 0.5 volt to little, which is quite irritating

• The fuel indicator shows only 3/4 full tank even if the tank is completely filled up

• Vent lopes for shower pump and toilet are to close to the waterline (see upgrading)

• The connection of the fore stay with the hull (stem head) was not adequately sealed. On our first longer trip we had quite some rough weather with lost of water coming over the bow. Seawater ended up in the bilge (each day some 1.5 - 2 liters) and it took some time to discover where the water came from (just by chance after the trip when we washed down the boat and all of a sudden the water in the bilge was fresh...). The solution was simple and cheap: some silicon did wonders

Despite what might seem a long list, We are happy with the boat. She sails really well and the overall construction is very solid. Most points mentioned above can be blamed on work attitude of some workers and not on structural shortcomings of the boat.
 

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