[findrichard]

Well that is good to hear Killarney, I just may reconsider them again in my boat search. Have you ever had any maintenance issues with your centerboard?

 

[killarney_sailor]

We are going to replace the cable (probably with line) and two sheaves that lead the cable to the winch on deck. The latter requires cutting apart the fiberglass housings around the sheaves. I guess it is once every 35 year maintenance.

 

[TakeFive]

Take 5, I stand corrected - are you a Catalina salesman?

No, not at all. My challenge to you to find me a 30-60% depreciated Catalina wasn't rhetorical flourish. I really want you to find one so I can buy it.

Back on-topic, I think I saw that Oyster boat at the Annapolis boat show. Man it was gorgeous, but way too much exterior brightwork to maintain!

 

[HeartsContent]

Hold on just one minute there! That Oyster appears to have a roller furling main and unsuitable to even leave the dock.

Geez, all these high boats with roller furling mains are simply going to jam, broach and sink to the bottom of the sea. Get a 27' double-ender with a full batten main and banked on jib. $40,000 will get you a sweet one!

On a serious note, no one actually mentioned draft. It's an issue in many places you'll want to go.

 

[guitarguy56]

Hold on just one minute there! That Oyster appears to have a roller furling main and unsuitable to even leave the dock.

Geez, all these high boats with roller furling mains are simply going to jam, broach and sink to the bottom of the sea. Get a 27' double-ender with a full batten main and banked on jib. $40,000 will get you a sweet one!

On a serious note, no one actually mentioned draft. It's an issue in many places you'll want to go.

Looking at the Southerly line of boats which have small drafts perfect for Florida, Bahamas, and the Caribbean... I really do not like double enders.

No Oysters for me... :laugher

 

[Donna_F]

...

Back on-topic, I think I saw that Oyster boat at the Annapolis boat show. Man it was gorgeous, but way too much exterior brightwork to maintain!

Probably, most Oyster owners pay someone do to those jobs.

 

[findrichard]

"No, not at all. My challenge to you to find me a 30-60% depreciated Catalina wasn't rhetorical flourish. I really want you to find one so I can buy it."

Thanks for the offer take5, do I get a finders fee? Never mind, if I find it I am sure you would't want to own it.

 

[guitarguy56]

Probably, most Oyster owners pay someone do to those jobs.

I mow my own lawn when I can (when not travelling) therefore boats for me need to be something I can work on myself.

Oyster owners do not mow their own lawns, they have lawn maintenance people or better yet they have hired gardeners that do this work... so yes I agree they pay someone else to do work on their boats... they are upper echelon types and they probably don't frequent these boards.

 

[welshwind]

"No, not at all. My challenge to you to find me a 30-60% depreciated Catalina wasn't rhetorical flourish. I really want you to find one so I can buy it."

Thanks for the offer take5, do I get a finders fee? Never mind, if I find it I am sure you would't want to own it.

I will say that when we were looking for our 445, we did consider used 445s. However, what we were finding (at least for freshwater boats) was that even the 2010 models had not depreciated anywhere near the 30-60% that has been mentioned. We bought our new 445 configured as we wanted it for below the asking price of the used 2010 445s we saw on-line ... and it wasn't that our boat was stripped and theirs was amazingly outfitted. Now, I'm sure through negotiations we probably could have picked up one of the used boats for less ... but not enough less to make it worth our while... certainly no where near the 30% less, much less the 60%.

 

[mstern]

Well that is good to hear Killarney, I just may reconsider them again in my boat search. Have you ever had any maintenance issues with your centerboard?

Catalina isn't the only manufacturer of centerboard coastal cruisers. If older boats don't scare you, the Oday line of trailer sailers (22, 23, 25) all have centerboards of a completely different design. The Catalina boats are really swing keels, with the boat's ballast in the swinging centerboard. This design requires a cable and winch to hoist the keel up and down; it needs maintenance and can fail, and as someone has noted, the taughtness of the cable can make it "sing" when moving through the water. The Oday design is much simpler: the board is mostly unweighted and is controlled by a single line lead into the cockpit. Much less prone to break, and much easier to maintain and service than the Catalina winch and cable. And the cable doesn't "sing". And because the Oday centerboard is housed in a stub keel, the "clunk, clunk" of the board moving laterally is also much less prevalent than in the Catalina.

 

[findrichard]

If I had a new Catalina 445 - once aboard I might never go back home! I will feel fortunate enough if I can swing a 30 year old 35' blue water boat and even then once aboard I may never go back home.

 

[Nostrodamus]

If it does help and you need some information we have been living aboard and sailing our Oyster 45 for the last three years.

 

[neilsty]

i own an oyster 49 and cut my own grass. I previously owned a saber 386 on the Chesapeake and was looking to move up to a larger offshore capable boat with storage and tankage for at least week long cruises. we looked at a lot of boats, what made my wife love the Oyster was the salon layout and the opening front hatches. for me it was the build quality, the storage and tankage. Our boat is 11 years old and has had a few minor issues such as miscellaneous pumps to be replaced - but these are all off the shelf items and wear out on any boat. my biggest expenses were to replace the chart plotters and radar with Furuno but kept the original ray marine sensors. Also put on a new genoa, other add ons were really personal preference items.

the really great thing about the Oyster is that the more you get into the systems the better you realize the build quality. The other big thing i noticed is that out in heavy weather 40+ knots the boat just keeps going without any creaks or groans. The performance is also good even though it is heavy boat. i keep it in the caribbean so i am sailing in the trades where there is enough wind to get going - it is then outsailing the lighter production boats that just cant handle the winds. Coming from a performance cruiser the saber 386 to the oyster i have not been disappointed. before i bought the oyster i chartered island packets and a hulas - there is no comparison - the Oyster is a great boat, and the company is very responsive to any questions i have. Go with the oyster you won't be disappointed

 

[guitarguy56]

i own an oyster 49 and cut my own grass. I previously owned a saber 386 on the Chesapeake and was looking to move up to a larger offshore capable boat with storage and tankage for at least week long cruises. we looked at a lot of boats, what made my wife love the Oyster was the salon layout and the opening front hatches. for me it was the build quality, the storage and tankage. Our boat is 11 years old and has had a few minor issues such as miscellaneous pumps to be replaced - but these are all off the shelf items and wear out on any boat. my biggest expenses were to replace the chart plotters and radar with Furuno but kept the original ray marine sensors. Also put on a new genoa, other add ons were really personal preference items.

the really great thing about the Oyster is that the more you get into the systems the better you realize the build quality. The other big thing i noticed is that out in heavy weather 40+ knots the boat just keeps going without any creaks or groans. The performance is also good even though it is heavy boat. i keep it in the caribbean so i am sailing in the trades where there is enough wind to get going - it is then outsailing the lighter production boats that just cant handle the winds. Coming from a performance cruiser the saber 386 to the oyster i have not been disappointed. before i bought the oyster i chartered island packets and a hulas - there is no comparison - the Oyster is a great boat, and the company is very responsive to any questions i have. Go with the oyster you won't be disappointed

No doubt the Oysters are a beautiful well built boat and I apologize if I came across rude... I really meant most owners of these boats are very well to do at least compared to me... I imagine a Palm Beach home with huge expanse of green grass around a veranda with the Oyster on it's fancy slip awaiting the captain with champagne glass pointing up to the sky saying 'Let's Sail'... that is what I see with the Oysters, Swans, Hinckleys, etc. It's what I was used to seeing in Palm Beach/Lake Worth... I definitely do not want to associate with that anymore.

Maybe I'll come across an Oyster in my search for the right boat, maybe get an opportunity to see first hand the quality and durability of these yachts and come off with a different interpretation than what is built up in my mind... surely the photos show me less than I see, I need to see more?

 

[tdw]

Maybe I've something to contribute to this debate. Three years ago we went Malo. I guess they could be legitimately bundled in with Oysters in terms of build quality, seaworthiness etc. Our alternatives were probably things like Catalina , Beneteau, Juneau and the like. We went Malo cos we had thought by now we would be well and truly out there. Facts of life got in the way and here I am still running my business. Less than gruntled about that but there you go, its a pretty common tale.

Now lets for the moment presume we don't ever make it then quite frankly something like a e.g. Beneteau 425 Oceanis would have made a hell of a lot more sense than our Malo and would have saved us around AUD$100.000. Reality is we have more boat than we really need. Nonetheless we use the Malo almost weekly, get away for a couple of mini cruises each year and her build quality still astounds me.

Translate that to the Catalina v Oyster argument, if all you are after is a weekend cruiser and maybe a bit of club racing, with a month or two liveaboard each year then the Cat makes better sense particularly I'd have thought if you are just two crewing. Even if you went long term cruising but were satisfied with the Caribbean or in our case the Great Barrier Reef then the Catalina still makes sense. Want to cruise around the planet ? The Oyster is your world. Its horses for course mate, horses for courses.

One other point however ..... in the real world you are going to pick up the Oyster for well shy of USD320.000. At worst I'd have thought around USD280/290K. You'll not be getting 10-20% off the asking price of the Catalina. so the cost comparison may not be all that valid.

 

[TakeFive]

No doubt the Oysters are a beautiful well built boat and I apologize if I came across rude... I really meant most owners of these boats are very well to do at least compared to me...

It might help at this point if you specify what price range you are looking for. Not just purchase cost, but budget for slip, storage, ongoing maintenance. You seem to be kind of all over the place with boat possibilities, and some budgetary limitations would help narrow it down a lot. Plus, a brand new C445 is not a cheap boat either, and will cost you a lot in ongoing maintenance, like any other large boat.

 

[guitarguy56]

Maybe I've something to contribute to this debate. Three years ago we went Malo. I guess they could be legitimately bundled in with Oysters in terms of build quality, seaworthiness etc. Our alternatives were probably things like Catalina , Beneteau, Juneau and the like. We went Malo cos we had thought by now we would be well and truly out there. Facts of life got in the way and here I am still running my business. Less than gruntled about that but there you go, its a pretty common tale.

Now lets for the moment presume we don't ever make it then quite frankly something like a e.g. Beneteau 425 Oceanis would have made a hell of a lot more sense than our Malo and would have saved us around AUD$100.000. Reality is we have more boat than we really need. Nonetheless we use the Malo almost weekly, get away for a couple of mini cruises each year and her build quality still astounds me.

Translate that to the Catalina v Oyster argument, if all you are after is a weekend cruiser and maybe a bit of club racing, with a month or two liveaboard each year then the Cat makes better sense particularly I'd have thought if you are just two crewing. Even if you went long term cruising but were satisfied with the Caribbean or in our case the Great Barrier Reef then the Catalina still makes sense. Want to cruise around the planet ? The Oyster is your world. Its horses for course mate, horses for courses.

One other point however ..... in the real world you are going to pick up the Oyster for well shy of USD320.000. At worst I'd have thought around USD280/290K. You'll not be getting 10-20% off the asking price of the Catalina. so the cost comparison may not be all that valid.

Our plan is to cruise 9 months of the year and come back to the house for two to three months and back on the boat... maybe not in that format but somewhere in between... we do know we have to come back to the states for my wife's medication and testing once a year... she also needs a certain number of weeks for monitoring, etc., but once done we can cruise again... our other maintenance time is our many gardens and fruit trees... who maintains them? We at one point need to downsize a good bit! :laugher

That said... the Oyster would be a great buy if it was in the U.S. (110V and not 220V) but we believe we want to buy new at this point... we've been tallying it up and feel do it now rather than later... none of us of course is getting younger.

Crewing will be us two besides the occasional crewing with my son, daughter and husband... so five of us plus our 2 yr old grandson... so we would need room for five plus on this ship... we at least need two heads.

If I were to buy a new Oyster in the size we're looking at what are we talking about in terms of cost? We wouldn't even look at it... but the Cat 445 or boats similar in price range to us is a frugal use of our money (for new boats not used).

 

[sailpower]

I wonder how many who bring up the Rolls Royce, Bentley or high end Mercedes/BMW comparison have ever owned these cars?

If they have then they realize how ridiculously expensive they are to maintain and the question is always; why are these “quality” vehicles not as reliable as the “lesser” brands that they look down their noses at?

Any car will last 500k miles if you rebuild it every 150k-200k miles which is what the repair/maintenance bills for these ultra cars can equate to. Sure they are awesome when they are right but why does a Honda go way longer for less hassle?

I wonder how many of those who sneer,”buy the Catalina if you can’t tell the difference”, own a $350,000 boat themselves?

I got fed up with buying new Mercedes “quality” and now drive a Honda Accord EX-L V6. Wish I had done it sooner!

Buy what makes sense for you and congratulations for being able to.

 

[guitarguy56]

It might help at this point if you specify what price range you are looking for. Not just purchase cost, but budget for slip, storage, ongoing maintenance. You seem to be kind of all over the place with boat possibilities, and some budgetary limitations would help narrow it down a lot. Plus, a brand new C445 is not a cheap boat either, and will cost you a lot in ongoing maintenance, like any other large boat.

Not all over the place just not sure what I (we) want... tough to do while I'm here in Montreal and the wifey is in Savannah... trading emails and photos... it would help if the two of us went to the Catalina sales office, the Southerly sales office, etc. and see up close these boats in and out.

We have the budget, we have the slip located and the costs, maintenance should be at a minimum if it's a new boat right? Sure they'll be costs whether new or used.

I really feel uncomfortable laying out my finances but suffice to say we have a West Palm Beach home to sell, property in Savannah to sell, investments we could dispose of and the sale of my business to a partner (this would be our cruising kitty till retirement kicks in). We've been very frugal savers over twenty years (we're both professionals), along with one inheritance after my wife's grandmothers death. We want to keep our current home as our home base and pass on to the kids, but we could sell it as well and pick up a townhouse/condo and downsize leaving us more time for cruising and keep our keepsakes and memories in storage... in that case we could really go big and perhaps go with something larger rather than the 445 or the Southerly 42.

I think we are in a position and always were in but procrastinated due to my wife's health condition and traffic accident back in 2010, both have done a toll on her (us) doing anything until I had the opportunity to pick up a contract in the Puget Sound area that allowed me to purchase a simple sailboat to get my sea legs again... after a couple of sails to the San Juan's, my wife is now ecstatic to go sailing to the Caribbean and other areas so heck who am I to say no?

 

[Group9]

I wonder how many who bring up the Rolls Royce, Bentley or high end Mercedes/BMW comparison have ever owned these cars?

If they have then they realize how ridiculously expensive they are to maintain and the question is always; why are these "quality" vehicles not as reliable as the "lesser" brands that they look down their noses at?

Any car will last 500k miles if you rebuild it every 150k-200k miles which is what the repair/maintenance bills for these ultra cars can equate to. Sure they are awesome when they are right but why does a Honda go way longer for less hassle?

I wonder how many of those who sneer,"buy the Catalina if you can't tell the difference", own a $350,000 boat themselves?

I got fed up with buying new Mercedes "quality" and now drive a Honda Accord EX-L V6. Wish I had done it sooner!

Buy what makes sense for you and congratulations for being able to.

Good point. I've had three Mercedes (two issued to me, and one I bought) and you do not want to be the owner of one of these cars when they go out of warranty. They break a lot, and it's not cheap to fix them. I don't know what correlation that has exactly with boats, but luxury and quality are not always the same thing in my experience.

I bought a used 42 Catalina after looking at a new Catalina 445. It's not that I didn't like the 445, I just wasn't ready to put every dime I had into a boat. If my net worth had been double of what it was, I might have bought the 445 (or an Oyster if it were triple). But, IMHO, any time you buy more of anything than you need, that's money that could have been re-directed to something you did need.