Catalina 25 Tiller Redo

Now that we have had the Catalina for a year, we are on to the wood refinishing projects. I’ve been working for a few weeks on the teak but while we were at the boat last week getting the mast raised, we took a look at the tiller and quickly realized that it needed some work. So we took it off and brought it home to work on.

Tiller Before Sanding and Finishing

I did a bit of reading about the best way to strip the old varnish including some toxic chemicals but in the end just got out my random orbital sander with some 80 grit sandpaper and went to it. To my surprise, the remaining finish as well as the embedded dirt on the tiller came off incredibly easily and in no time at all I had it stripped to bare wood and revealing the beautiful laminated layers. I did a bit more sanding with some 180 grit paper to smooth it out before finishing.

Tiller after sanding

Final Finish

I did some additional reading on what to finish it with and determined that the Interlux Schooner finish we had leftover from Brian’s kayak building project would do the trick. The instructions on the can recommended thinning it with some Interlux 333 brushing liquid however I determined that it wasn’t needed on such a small piece in the nice cool, dry weather. I strung a wire through the holes that attach it to the rudder and hung it from a nail in the basement rafters. I opened the window for some ventilation and over the course of a few days put on 4 coats. I did some quick sanding with some 330 grit paper in between coats and wow, what a difference. It looks great, don’t you think. And each coat only takes about 10 minutes to apply. This is totally a worthwhile project for the small boat owner.

Buying Patience

We finally decided as a family that it was time for a bigger boat. But how big? At first I thought, not too much bigger but big enough that we could all sleep on the boat for a few overnight excursions and a place for the kids to hang out below. The kids number one request was “an inside”. Our Flying Scot was 19 feet, so we began to look at boats around 22 feet including the Catalina 22. We started our search on Craigslist but we had never really been on a Catalina 22 nor did we know much about it. So we decided to take a trip to Brewer Yacht Yards in Westbrook to look at a few boats. There we got an opportunity to see several boats in this size range all up on stands in the yard. They were dark and small and I had trouble imagining all 4 of us sleeping on the boat. We did get to see a privately owned Catalina 22 in immaculate condition but it still seemed too small for the 4 of us. Then the salesman wisely took us to see a Catalina 25 that was in the water and all opened up. We all quickly changed our tune and realized that this was the size for us. It seemed easy to manage from a sailing perspective and dramatically bigger inside the cabin. But was the boat he showed us really the right one? And what about the price? Being the cautious shoppers that we are, we decided to continue looking. If that boat was meant for us, it would still be there when we were ready. Now that we thought the Catalina 25 was the right boat for us, we just had to find the right one. So we continued our search. We looked a bit at the Catalina 250 which is the more modern version of the regular 25 but I honestly did not like the layout. The only positive is the head with a door but beyond that it really isn’t set up to sleep more than 2 people. That was easily ruled out. Then one weekend in September, we were headed to New York to visit our family and came across a boat out on Long Island that was for sale. I spoke to the owner’s wife and she said “All he does is clean it”. That sounded like the right boat for us. We decided to take a drive out to see it and then take the ferry back to Connecticut. We met the owner and his wife at their house and then went down to the water to check out the boat. He kept it mored in a harbor near St. James Long Island. He rowed us 1 or 2 at a time in a small dingy out to the boat and we climbed aboard. The boat was incredibly clean even though it was a 1985 model year. He was the original owner and loved the boat but had not really sailed it much. He never stayed over night on it and never ate more than a can of soup on it. We took lots of photos so we could remember the details when we got home. We knew right away this was the one. The asking price was right for the condition it was in. We discussed it on the ferry back home and called him the next day with an offer. He gladly accepted and it was ours.