Stella Mari, whose name means sea star, is a Catalina 270, hull #274. I purchased her in January, 1997. I had pretty well decided that the 270 was my boat of choice about six months prior to the purchase. Living in the middle of the desert, I wanted a boat that would be comfortable for extended cruises, yet still be trailerable. The 270 had the most spacious interior of any 27 footer I looked at, was well built, had most of the systems I desired, including an inboard diesel and hot water as standard equipment. With a displacement of 6400 pounds (wing keel), she was right at the limit of what I could trailer with my F250.

Trailering

Being able to easily move Stella Mari has been great. I kept her in a local lake (Lake Pleasant) for the first six months in order to break her in, and make a number of modifications. Then I trailered her to San Carlos, Mexico, where she has been since. This is where the real advantage to the trailer has become apparent. Instead of the expensive and wear and tear of keeping her in the water, Stella Mari is kept in dry storage. Because she is on her own trailer, having her launched and retrieved is a quick, inexpensive task. Dry storage runs me $50.00 a month, with launch/retrieval costing $8.00 each way using their tractor. This is a lot more economical than a slip, and her bottom paint should last about four times as long.

Mast raising

Instrumentation

I also have an Autohelm ST 4000+ autopilot. Both it, and the fish finder are linked to the GPS. The Autohelm control head is great because it will display most NMEA information, so I can view my speed over ground, coarse over ground, crosstrack, etc, even though my GPS is mounted down in the cabin.

Both the fish finder and the ST 4000 head are mounted in a custom StarBoard box on the pedestal guard.

Fresh Water

Installing a water tank so far forward is certainly not the ideal location, from a sailing performance point of view. However, there really was no where else to put it. When day sailing or racing, we don't fill the forward tank. When we do fill it, we usually have jerry cans of diesel strapped to the back of the boat, and put many of our stores in the aft cabin in order to balance the weight.

Fuel Tangage

Interior Modifications

Stella Mari has a surprising spacious interior, complete with a roomy aft cabin. Storage space, however, is limited, so I had to be creative. I added pin rails to the shelves and various racks to increase the storage space. I also mounted canvas pockets (from Davis) below the seats for additional space. Storage nets are mounted on both sides of the main cabin.

To the galley I added a couple of storage racks, and installed pin rails on the counter behind the sink. This creates a nice little storage area for misc cooking stuff.

The stock ice box lid simply lifts off and is not hinged. Besides being inconvenient, if the boat were to take a knock down the lid would become airborne. I installed snap-apart hinges and it works great.

Above the electrical panel I installed a small, 500 watt microwave oven. Stella Mari does not yet have an inverter, so the microwave only works when shore power is available. Installation was a pain. I had to cut through a fair amount of fiberglass in order to mount the microwave so that it didn't stick out over the chart table. The end result was worth it though, it looks like it was meant to be there.

To the right of the electrical panel I mounted the VHF, GPS/chart plotter, weather instrument and stereo/CD. Hella Jet mini fans were mounted above the v-birth and in the aft cabin. The stock incandescent light fixtures were replaced with mahogany flanged, halogen fixtures. They look nice, put out more light and use less power.

The dining table of the 270 is a real problem. It is really difficult to get around it, making access to the v-birth difficult at best. The table can be removed and stored under the v-birth cushion, but this is a pain. The solution was to make sides of the table fold down. This wasn't too difficult. I split the table into three peaces with a table saw, and then used stainless piano hinge and Stanley braces to put it back together (I had to flatten the sides of the pedestal socket as well). In November of '97, Stella Mari spent 14 hours in a force 9 storm. The only damage she incurred was to the table. The wood screws that held the pedestal socket to the table where pulled out during the constant pounding. To prevent this from happening again, I put it back together with thru-bolts.

On the starboard side I installed a teak plank in order to create a nice storage compartment. I also installed teak magazine racks on the bulkhead.

In the head I made extensive use of pvc storage racks purchased at Target. They come with suction cup mounts, which I removed in order to mount them permanently. I will be installing a solar exhaust vent in the near future.

Things I like about the 270...

Sailing performance

Although she's not really a light air boat (hey, she's a cruiser, not a racer), when the wind comes up she sails like a dream. She's very well balanced; weather-helm into the wind is minimal. When the sails are trimmed properly I can let the wheel go and she'll track beautifully.

Sail handling

Roller furling, dutchman flaking, single line reefing, halyards led aft, etc. The dutchman flaking system is particularly nice. Dropping the main is a breeze. I added the rigid vang (which is standard on the bigger Catalinas).

The cockpit

It's huge! It's easy to get around the wheel. Because I dive, the walk-through transom and large swim platform where major attractions to me. I particularly like the way the large swim ladder works: It folds up to become part of the stern rail. The lazerrettes are large and easy to access.

Living space

As I've said before, there is more living space in this boat than any other boat it's size (at least that I have looked at). The galley is well arranged. Two people can stand and work side by side near the companion way without getting in each other's way. The aft cabin provides a big sleeping area (if you are not claustrophobic). Engine access is excellent.

I have spent 21 days on board with another adult, and we were never cramped. I have spent 8 days straight with another adult and two children, and it wasn't bad, though 8 days was about the limit.

Hot water and a propane stove

Being able to take a hot shower is wonderful! The two-burner propane stove is gimbled and I really don't miss having an oven.

Overall construction

This is a very solidly built boat and good quality hardware is used throughout. Unlike their older boats, Catalina now thru-bolts the hull/deck joint and bonds the entire seam with a high-tech adhesive.

Things I don't like and problems I've had...

Lack of interior storage space

There just isn't enough, but is there ever? The space under the port and starboard seats are taken up by batteries, water and holding tanks. There is a huge space under the v-birth, but it is difficult to get to, and I installed a water tank there. I've done a lot of work to correct this problem. Besides modifications, I keep the forward settee seat permanently raised in order to create more storage. I guess I should explain this: there is a seat directly adjacent to the v-birth. The v-birth appears quite short (inadequate for adults) until you raise the seat up to make it part of the v-birth. This has the side effect of opening up the area under the seat for storage.

Latches

The rubber latches used to hold the v-birth seat/extension up, the engine box in place, and the helmsman's seat down really suck. They have to be aligned just right to work. The engine box latches do work, but the seat latches do not. This is really a problem with the v-birth, because the seat can fall. I replaced the latches on the v-birth with lockable hold-down clamps. The helmsman's seat I just bungee into place, but I will be replacing the latches.

Plumbing problems

When I first got the boat, the macerator was improperly installed causing a holding tank leak. The tank had to be replaced. This was covered by Catalina, but it was still a messy, unpleasant problem.

Every hose clamp on the boat was only finger tight, causing lots of small leaks. Easily taken care of, but a pain in the rear.

Tankage

I'm sure I would complain about this with just about any boat this size, but the stock tankage is really inadequate. Fortunately this can be remedied, and my tankage is now quite adequate.

The engine instrument panel

The panel needs to be angled up so that it can be seen by the helmsman. It is really difficult to see the engine RPM! One these days I'm going to fix this.

Conclusion