Catalina 25 or Oday 22?

sailguy40 · #1 (**permalink**) 04-01-2010

Ok to get to the point, I am buying a boat tomorrow. It is down to two of them and its tough. Basically its a very clean oday 22 or a catalina 25 that needs just a bit of cleaning mainly. Here is the deal, the oday was well taken care of, looks nearly new and has a nice nissan 9.9 outboard. Sails are in great shape and bottom was painted recently. Rigging, mast, all of it in top shape. Beautiful boat and it stands out at the marina big time. The catalina, main problem I have is the guy told me it was submerged before. He said it had water all in it, another boat was against it at the marina and caused the back end and cockpit to go into the water and the boat filled up and was completely submerged. He has a mercury 6hp on it that he claims will run if new gas is put in and carbs are cleaned. Being on the inside of the boat, its hard to tell it had water in it. He has 4 sails in nearly new condition. From looking in the boat, I seen most of it was fiberglass or plastic, I did not notice much wood other then cabinets and a room divider and table. They appeared to be ok. I wonder what is the worse thing that could happen if it was submerged in the water? Even if I had to eventually replace some wood or wiring I am not so worried or should I be?

At last the Oday is only $200 more then the catalina because they are more open on the price. The guy selling the catalina is firm on his price. I am on the fence at the moment on this. Maybe someone can give me some suggestions especially about the catalina being previously submerged. I am not sure when it happened, I will need to ask him how long ago it was and how long it actually was submerged before they took care of it. I really like the 25 size but the oday is just a beautiful boat.

CliffRuckstuhl · #2 (**permalink**) 04-01-2010

I have raced against both boats with my H 25.5 and they both sail well. Catalina 25 is faster stiffer and lots more room. Chances are you will want something bigger sooner then you think if you buy the Oday. Tought to commment on the submerged part, but I had a buddy who had a Chrysler 22 and at anchor with the keel up he got rolled by a freak storm. Boat just rolled over and sank. He pulled the boat cleaned it all up and you would never have known it sank.
Both are nice boats if you plan to do allot of weekending on it you will wish you had the bigger boat. Hold out for a better 25 foot boat, also take a look at the Hunter 25.5 more roon thna the Catalina and faster.

Cliff J 29

sailingdog · #3 (**permalink**) 04-01-2010

Did you read the Boat Inspection Trip Tips thread I wrote? Did you inspect both boats using the information there??

If you haven't....you should, but if you can't... I would highly recommend that you escrow enough to refurb the 6HP on the catalina, just in case it doesn't run. Be aware that the bulkheads in the Catalina AFAIK are plywood, and if the boat was submersed for any period of time, could be an issue.

LakePirate · #4 (**permalink**) 04-02-2010

The Oday's are great boats. The Catalina will deffinatley have more room if you plan on overnighting. I would be worried about the sinking part and the engine not running at the peresent time. I think you will eventually spend a lot more money on the Catalina than you think. Are you up against a dead line to buy? If not why not keep looking? Good boats go up for sale almost every day. Good luck.