Buying a Weekender in Austin

[wapati8]

Hello guys I am strongly considering building a Weekender or a Vacationer. One of my friends at work owns and races a Catalina 22 in a sailing club here in the Austin Texas area on Lake Travis. He was trying to convince me that it is a fun group to belong to and that the Catalina 22 is a good family sail boat for when you aren

[Dave R1]

It's probably just me but I think I'd rather start from scratch than try to repair that boat. I think repairing the keel would be only the beginning. It depends on how you feel about doing that sort of restoration work. Just suppose you get into the project further and discover rot in the bottom panel. You can't really just replace the bottom of the boat. My $0.02 is to start looking for a source for lumber and start new.

[Charlie Jones]

A couple of points Mike-

First, I built that Weekender in the first link and that was our display at Strictly Sail 2001, in Chicago in the second picture. That's me in the third picture.

That boat was NOT your average weekender by any means. It was custom built for a specific owner, with a Birdsmouth mast and a customized tabernacle with custom made tan bark sails. The sails alone cost over $1000. Tanbark cloth is about twice the cost of regular white sail cloth.

It eventually was sold, but NOT for 10K. Wish it had been.

Secondly- if he has no title, I wouldn't touch the boat. In Texas it can be next to impossible to obtain clear title to a vessel like that, even for a builder/dealer like me. So if there is no title, the boat isn't worth much at all. Without the trailer, I wouldn't pay $50 for it, PARTICULARLY with rot in the keel.

Thirdly- if you want to build a boat to sail and have some ROOM inside, go with the Vacationer- the Weekender is a LITTLE boat- it's really a 16 footer after all and has a small cabin. The Vacationer is the same basic boat, except larger.

fourthly- if you'd like a Catalina 22, email me- there's a used one sitting on the lot in Victoria, on a trailer. Don't have the price right in front of me, but I can find out for you easily.

Finally- howdy from the Texas coast. My boat shop and dealership is in Magnolia Beach, overlooking Matagorda Bay. A good friend of ours lives in Austin and sails an RKS 20.

[Frank Hagan]

Yeah, what Charlie said.

I would also say that you can probably build a brand new Weekender for about $3,000 with "lumber yard" materials as called for in the plans (I built mine several years ago, and with sails, the total came in around $2,500 ... so that $3k might be $4k by now).

The Weekender or the Vacationer will have a hard time keeping up with a flotilla of Catalina 22's. Charlie knows the Catalinas, I think, and he can confirm for you ... compared to the flat bottomed, unballasted, gaff rigged Vacationer, the Catalina will fly. Plus, the wing keel version just seems to hug the swells, without the pounding you will take with a flat bottomed boat. That may not be important to you, but if your sailing is intended to be with the flotilla of C22s, then I would choose a boat of about that length.

If you want to build a boat for day sailing, then the Weekender, Vacationer, or one of the B&B Yachts designs like the Core Sound are very good choices. There are others out there as well.

If you want to build a boat comparable to the Catalina 22 for sailling with your Catalina buddies, but easier to launch, look at the B&B Princess Sharpie 22. Its a great boat, but being more than twice the "real" size in terms of materials and effort to build, will probably run you about $10,000 (Charlie has built one, so he would know).

[Charlie Jones]

about right, depending on who does the sails and what kind of motor you get.

One thing about a boat like the Princess- it IS NOT worth it to go cheap on materials. On a Weekender or Vacationer you can get away with using less than the very best- the boat lends itself to that. Not advocating using junk by any means- it's just that they are simpler boats.

But a boat as large as the Princess is a WHOLE lot more boat and takes a LOT more time to built. Use the best- it's not that much more.

[wapati8]

Howdy Charlie!

I built that Weekender in the first link and that was our display at Strictly Sail 2001' date=' in Chicago in the second picture. That's me in the third picture. [/quote']

Wow! I didn't expect to get a response from the builder of that boat! It is immaculate!

Secondly- if he has no title' date=' I wouldn't touch the boat. In Texas it can be next to impossible to obtain clear title to a vessel like that, even for a builder/dealer like me. So if there is no title, the boat isn't worth much at all. Without the trailer, I wouldn't pay $50 for it, PARTICULARLY with rot in the keel. [/quote']

What would it take to fix the Keel in effort, materials, money?

Thirdly- if you want to build a boat to sail and have some ROOM inside' date=' go with the Vacationer[/quote']

I am about convinced to do just that. I am new to sailing, and was really aiming for something I could trailer and putter around the lake with my family in. Although it would be fun to learn to race her and chase my buddies around the lake. I do enjoy building things... and right now cheap sounds good... perhaps a Vacationer with Polysails?

fourthly- if you'd like a Catalina 22' date=' email me- there's a used one sitting on the lot in Victoria, on a trailer. Don't have the price right in front of me, but I can find out for you easily.[/quote']

I'm interested... maybe I need more than one boat...

So if you could pick up a Catalina 22 (fixed keel) with trailer for $1,900 on lake Travis (and you lived nearby like I do) would you do it?

The owner says it comes with a bimini top for the cockpit, 6 hp outboard that runs well, a full set of sails in good condition. He says the boat is in sailing condition now but the hull needs paint.

Finally- howdy from the Texas coast. My boat shop and dealership is in Magnolia Beach' date=' overlooking Matagorda Bay. A good friend of ours lives in Austin and sails an RKS 20.[/quote']

Thank you kindly!

Thanks to everyone who replied. I really appreciate the advice.

Someday if I like this as much as I think I will I would consider upgrading to something that would do some good coastal sailing and perhaps a little blue water venture once in a while.

---Mike

[Charlie Jones]

Thank you sir. I'm quite proud of my award for Best in Class at a Classic Boat show in Sturgeon bay, Wisc with that boat. That's what I do for a living ya know - build wooden composite boats. I'm also a dealer for Macgregor sailboats.

What would it take to fix the keel?? That is not an easy question to answer without actually examining the boat. Could be a simple job of graving in some new wood, and could be as complecx as cutting off most of the existing keel and rebuilding. Tough to say. But bear in mind that that lack of title will cause you great difficulty in registering the boat. Check with TPWD before you do anything and find out what will be required. Just may not be worth messing with.

On the Catalina- the one on our lot is listed for 2K with sails, trailer and an older 5 HP outboard. Your $1900 is probably a decent price if the boat is in anykind of shape. If you want to sail, a Cat 22 would be hard to go wrong with. Really a decent sailboat and a nice family boat to boot. They are still in business and several aftermarket companies make parts for them. But YOU have to decide whether it's worth it to YOU. The boat would certainly do well on Travis and would also be just fine for the bays down here, from Galveston bay down to Corpus Christi Bay. Can't speak about Laguna Madre- never been down there sailing. Yet

[Craig]

The keel rot that you can see is only the least of the problem. It indicates that the glue joints are not tight in the laminated keel and water intrusion has allowed the wood to become saturated and the rot to establish a foot hold. I think you will find the rot to extend many inches in either direction from what you can see. Fixing the keel is a BIG JOB and is one you will be doing more than once with that boat. Don't ask how I know this with such certainty. Looking at the leaves allowed to pile on the deck ( they will hold fresh water to the wood) I would expect to find a few more