2001 Catalina 42 MkII "C'EST LA VIE", Alameda, CA 94501

Confirm by tape measure at the haulout that this is the 4'10" wing keel and not the 6'8" fin. And separately: has the boat ever been grounded, and when were the keel bolts last inspected or torqued?

The entire candidacy of this boat rests on the keel identification — the fin variant fails your 6.5ft gate outright — so it must not rest on a broker's bullet point.

On the sea trial, how does she carry sail upwind in 20 knots of Bay breeze with the wing keel, and how much does she heel before the rail goes down?

The wing keel that saves the draft gate carries the same 8,300lb roughly 22 inches higher than the fin version, and the recomputed capsize screening value of 2.02 sits right on the rule-of-thumb line rather than clearly either side of it.

Can the seller produce any prior survey, insurance condition report, or maintenance file? How many owners, how long has the current owner had her, and has she ever been outside the Bay?

A prior survey is the cheapest information in this process — it tells you what was wrong then and, by comparison, what actually got fixed since.

When was the standing rigging last replaced, and is there an invoice? If it is original 2001 wire, say so plainly. Has the mast ever been unstepped, and when?

The largest single line in the file, and the answer either removes it entirely or confirms a $16k job — plus the unstepping history is what sets how likely a corroded mast heel is when the rig does come out.

Will the seller permit a full moisture-meter survey of the deck with the boat hauled — coachroof, side decks, every stanchion base, genoa track, hatch frame and the mast partners?

The deck is plywood-and-balsa cored and 25 years old with no recorded rebedding; wet core is the largest single financial risk here and the one thing a survey settles outright.

Will an underwriter quote a San Francisco to Brisbane passage on this hull with this crew, and what will they require — rigging age, liferaft, EPIRB, minimum crew experience, a specific survey?

Insurer conditions frequently set the real refit scope and can make rigging replacement non-negotiable regardless of measured condition — worth knowing before the offer, not after.

When was the bottom last painted and last inspected bare, and is there any blister history or repair record?

Practical Sailor found blistering on fewer than 10% of these boats and vinylester barriers in use since 1995, so the base rate is low — but a full peel is a five-figure job and the haulout is where you find out.

Ask the class association whether there are any known service bulletins, structural revisions or common failure patterns specific to 2001-2002 Catalina 42 MkII hulls, and whether anyone in the association has taken one across the Pacific.

This is a live association with a technical library covering exactly this boat, and its members are the only people who can tell you what actually breaks on this hull at 25 years.

Would the seller accept a sea trial that includes reefing and unreefing the in-mast main repeatedly, downwind, in fresh breeze — and does the sail come out and go in by hand at the winch, or does someone have to go to the mast base?

One owner of this exact model reports having to go forward in wind to start the furl and calls it unsafe; another reports it working perfectly after rig tuning — the sea trial is the only way to find out which boat this is.

Is there measurable play at the rudder stock, does the blade sound solid when tapped along its lower third, and have the upper bearing retaining bolts ever been checked or the bearing kit replaced?

The class forum's documented failure on this model is exactly those four bolts coming adrift and the rudder post dropping, and the replacement bearing kit is sold only complete and is expensive.

How do the shrouds land — hull-mounted chainplates or an inboard structural grid — can they be inspected without removing joinery, and are the lifelines coated wire or bare 1x19?

No published source describes this model's chainplate arrangement, and coated lifeline wire hides the corrosion that makes it fail without warning — both are things you only find out by asking.

On the sea trial: what RPM does she reach at wide-open throttle, what is the coolant temperature after twenty minutes at cruise, is there smoke at load, and what is the fuel burn?

The cheapest test of a 25-year-old engine and its cooling system, and it costs nothing beyond the sea trial you were doing anyway.

Can the seller produce the 2019 Quantum invoices, what cloth are the sails, and has either been to a loft since? Is there any other sail aboard at all — gennaker, storm jib, trysail, spinnaker or whisker pole?

The sail pair is this listing's best asset and worth verifying properly; and the answer on downwind and storm sails sets whether $6k of asymmetric belongs on this boat's line or your generic one.

What service history exists for the 4JH3E? Specifically: when were the exhaust mixing elbow, oil cooler, heat exchanger, injectors and flexible mounts last done, and has the hour meter ever been replaced?

At 856 hours over 25 years the wear is calendar-driven, and the elbow and oil cooler are the two documented failure modes on this engine — both are past their calendar interval regardless of hours.

What chemistry are the three 4D batteries fitted in 2024 — flooded, AGM or gel — what is each one's rated capacity, and how are they split between house and start?

It decides whether the 2024 date is worth anything against a 600Ah LiFePO4 plan: three 4D lead-acid gives maybe 250-300Ah usable, so the catalogue line probably still stands in full.

Which autopilot drive unit is actually fitted behind the ST6002 head — type, model, capacity — and where is it mounted relative to the quadrant?

The listing names only the control head; drive capacity is the only thing that determines whether any pilot can hold 20,500lb downwind in a following sea, and it sets how much of your generic autopilot budget applies here.

Does the E120 still power up, hold a GPS fix and drive the radar? What radar scanner is fitted — make, model, magnetron or solid-state? Is the Standard Horizon Quantum DSC-capable and GPS-connected?

Determines whether your generic electronics spend is a plotter swap or a full rewire, and whether the fixed VHF can actually send a distress call with a position.

How many through-hulls does she have, what are the valves made of, are any gate valves rather than seacocks, and has any of them been replaced since 2001?

A complete blind spot in the listing, cheap to resolve at the survey haulout, and the required-offshore cost swings by $7k between servicing what is there and replacing everything.

How many water tanks, what material, what is the true total capacity, and is there any known history of a tank leaking? Has the potable system ever been replaced or sanitised, and how old is the sanitation hose?

There is an unresolved owner-forum thread specifically about a water tank problem on this exact model that I could not open, and tanks on this boat sit under joinery where access is the expensive part.

How old is the 5/16in chain, what grade is it, and does the Maxwell 800 windlass actually work under load — will the broker demonstrate it hauling the full rode?

The chain size matches the plan but 25-year-old galvanised chain is scrap, and the documented Maxwell 800 failure is a corroded cast housing that makes the unit unrepairable rather than serviceable.

Does the Heart Link 2000 inverter/charger still function, and what condition is the original 2001 distribution panel and DC harness in behind it?

A 25-year-old harness is what makes a new lithium, solar and electronics installation misbehave in ways that get blamed on the new gear, and it has to be sound before any of the catalogue goes in.

How many hatches and ports are there, what make, have any been rebedded, and does she leak anywhere in heavy Bay Area winter rain?

The listing never mentions a hatch, and deck leaks are the mechanism by which the balsa core gets wet — so the answer bears on the largest risk line as well as its own repair cost.

Where does the off-watch actually sleep on a twenty-day passage in this two-cabin layout, are the saloon settees long enough for sea berths, and is there anywhere to fit lee cloths? Also: how is engine access in person with the companionway steps out?

Practical Sailor's standing owner complaint about this boat is 'a dearth of stowage', and habitability plus self-serviceability are the two things a refit budget cannot cheaply fix.

Is the refrigeration and freezer working now, what make and model is the unit, how old is it, and what is its daily amp-hour draw in Bay water?

A 2001 12V unit sized for 58F Bay water will run near-continuously in 85F tropical water, which makes it a house-bank sizing question as much as a galley one.

When was the cutless bearing last replaced, the stuffing box last repacked, and the shaft last aligned? Does the gearbox have a service history?

All three need the boat out of the water, so they should be scheduled with the survey haulout rather than discovered later and paid for as a second lift.

How old is the bimini, and what are the hard dodger's dimensions and construction — could it carry 400W or more of rigid solar panels?

A hard dodger top is the best solar mounting surface on a boat this size, so its dimensions change how much of your generic solar-mounting line is even needed.

What is the actual fuel capacity — 34, 38 or 46 gallons — does the tank have an inspection port, what material is it, and when was the fuel last polished?

Three sources give three figures and the spread changes motoring endurance by a third, which sets how much jerry-can capacity the doldrums crossing needs from your generic list.

Is there an emergency tiller aboard, does it physically fit, and can it be shipped and used with the cockpit table and pedestal in place?

Required offshore, never mentioned in the listing, and exactly the kind of thing that turns out not to fit at the worst possible moment.

On the walkthrough: how low is the bridgedeck relative to the cockpit sole, how do the washboards secure, and is there any provision for locking them in from outside?

An owner who cruised this model offshore specifically kept the bottom washboard in at sea because the bridgedeck is low — that is a downflooding path on a boat running before a big following sea.

Where would she be berthed during the fifteen-month refit, and is the 10.75% Alameda district rate the one that applies, or does the use tax follow the county of registration instead?

At 10.75% versus a 9.25% Marin-style rate the difference on a $99,000 boat is about $1,485, and one aggregator publishes 9.25% for Alameda while two others publish 10.75% — worth a deliberate check rather than a default.