Zöe in Mystic, Connecticut
-- Page 1 --

Description

Today Barbara and I drove the 115 miles down to Mystic, Connecticut to take a look at Zöe, a 1981 Catalina 22 fin keel boat for sale.  The owner, Jay, is asking $1,800 for it, having moved up to a C30 a couple of years ago.  It was an all day excursion (2½ hours each way).  We met Jay at Seaport Marine on the Mystic River and I got my first look at his C22.  Afterward, we took Jay out to fine lunch at the nearby S&P Oyster Company restaurant.  (Oct. 8, 2007)

The boat appeared as-advertised and as he and I had discussed on Saturday morning, about what I'd expected.  Structurally it appears in good shape, but needs a lot of work.  It reminds me of Chip Ahoy four years ago -- except that many of the parts it would need, should I decide to buy it, I could swap from Chip Ahoy and wouldn't have to buy new all over again.  On the other hand, there would be an additional cost for buying new parts that are already on Chip Ahoy that I wouldn't want to cannibalize.

The sliding galley is there -- which I'd likely remove anyway.  Jay, an electrical contractor, has done a lot of wiring and electrical work on this boat in the past, including wiring the galley up with an electrical water pump (bottom left in the photo).

All the woodwork needs to be refinished, all of it is very worn and weathered.  It was interesting to see the space both on the "winch panel" that needs no winch, and where the "volcano" is located on a swing keel C22 but doesn't exist on a fin keel.

Beyond that, the layout is exactly the same.  Zöe's cushion from the ones I could see without digging too deeply -- most of them were stowed in the V-berth -- are pretty worn and ragged.

Zöe has a depth finder and a speed indicator -- both of which need work to function reliably, Jay told me.  Both have thru-hull transducers.  The speed indicator needs a new impeller -- he thinks the depth finder needs some cleaning of its switch.

The companionway hatch needs some work to repair the crack along its edge, but otherwise slides smoothly.  The cribboards are solid teak in need of TLC refinishing, but the top one is already vent-slotted for airflow.  It would need a screen inside but otherwise just some refinishing.

If I bought it, the original old winches would have to be swapped, replaced by Chip Ahoy's new Lemars, along with the cleats.

From the earlier photos I saw on a website, I knew that Zöe had a split backstay, thought it was adjustable but not truly.  I'd have to swap out with the one on Chip Ahoy.

The masts on both his and my boats are the same "old-style" ovals, which I'd also swap out, so I wouldn't have to re-create my all-lines-led-aft configuration.  Zöe has only the standard mast step, so I'd need to add the new style and a mast plate for my lines-led-aft system, along with removing Chip Ahoy's deck organizers.  Jay's mast is well setup, but he still has the aluminum spreader brackets.  Swapping masts would be the easiest solution, if I were to buy this boat.

I can't believe it -- it's like a haunting!  Nobody on the C22 discussion group list had ever heard of stanchions that lean inboard when I had them aboard Chip Ahoy -- nobody.  The consensus was that they must have come off some other style boat.  I finally replaced them just last year with straight upright stanchions at last.  Here's the only second example I've ever heard about!  These too can probably be swapped with the new ones aboard Chip Ahoy, along with the new lifelines I installed at the same time.  They don't have the larger backing plates either, which I'd also swap at the same time.

I was glad to see that the shroud chainplate eyebolts were the "improved" ½" diameter.  I wouldn't have to mess with them anyway.  The forward deck seemed solid, no soft spots that I could detect.  The forward hatch needs a little cosmetic work but nothing serious.  If I were to swap masts, I'd need to change the deck connector for the mast wiring harness; and I'm afraid the location of the VHF coax cable thru-deck fitting might be in the way of a new mast-plate and blocks, lines leading to deck organizers I'd need to add.

Just this spring I cut down the end of Chip Ahoy's handrails to fit the new rope clutches on the cabin top.  I'd have to do that all over again on this boat, then remove the rope clutches and move them over.  The cam cleats on Chip Ahoy that I used before I added rope clutches this spring are still there on the bulkhead, so they'd do for an eventual new owner.

The jib sheet tracks are in a different location than aboard Chip Ahoy, but that shouldn't be a problem.  I'd remove the jib cars from Chip Ahoy and swap them over.