CATALINA PLANT
TOUR

Woodland Hills, CA
July 1999
   

Catalina Yachts facility in Woodland Hills, CA

David spent about an hour with me as we "toured" the manufacturing facility. At the end of the "tour", David gave me the opportunity to speak with Gerry Douglas about specific questions I had regarding the Catalina 250. I want to thank both of these gentlemen for their hospitality.

I have to say that I was surprised by the location of the Catalina facility. It is not in some industrial area; it shares Victory Drive with commercial buildings and retail outlets. Catalina’s facility appears to live in harmony with its non-industrial neighbors and you have to look hard to see that they manufacture yachts at this location. It is a very attractive neighborhood.

The building is of the two story industrial type. Administrative offices are located on the second floor (right side). The sail loft is also located on the second floor (left side). Sails are cut here for all Catalina, Morgan and Capri yachts manufactured both in California and Florida.

The remaining production occurs on the first floor. Catalina has a canvas shop that manufactures sail covers, biminis, dodgers and other items for their new sailboats. They also cut and fabricate all wooden components within their sailboats. Teak is heavily used with ash being a secondary wood on some of the larger boats. David tells me that no stain is used but that two types of varnish are applied depending upon the component (either gloss or matte). My Catalina 250 has the matte finish applied to all teak components except the permanently affixed, small cabin table which has the gloss finish.

As you know, Catalina Yachts is a "production" sailboat manufacturer. This means that very little customization is permitted. Generally, you can only "remove" items from the standard list, not "add" them (except, of course, for the factory options). To aid production, David tells me that the plant’s stockroom prepares "kits" for each boat model. The kit will contain all standard items used to manufacture a certain model. This includes the balsa cores which are precut and scored for each model by a third-party vendor.

I found it interesting that only one set of molds (hull, deck & liners) exist for each model. Considering the volume of boats manufactured by Catalina, I expected multiple molds for each size. Not so. David showed me many boats in different stages of completion. Each boat starts in the mold with a sprayed-in gelcoat. The hull and deck gelcoat is white (even though I was told that longer ago they produced boats with different colored hulls. This must be one more casualty of current economics.) The boot stripe is taped off and sprayed with a blue gelcoat. The non-skid surfaces on the deck are taped off and sprayed with a gray gelcoat. Next comes a sprayed in layer of cut glass and vinylester resin. This is the barrier coat. Then comes multiple layers of hand-applied polyester resin and stiffening/filler materials. [Note: For those with the water-ballasted Catalina 250 model, you might like to know that each ballast tank is tested prior to penetration by applying 3 psi for 30 minutes.]

Catalina embeds aluminum plate (¼", I believe) in their laminations to back all deck hardware (e.g., winches, rope clutches, blocks, etc). These plates are drilled and tapped to accept the hardware. This is something you cannot see from the outside of a finished boat. [Note: while plates for rope clutches are embedded for the C250 wing, they are absent from the C250wb.]

When the hull, deck and liners are separated from their molds, each liner is bonded to either the deck or the hull. I saw first-hand how Catalina uses the "old-fashioned" approach to bond these components: the weight of lead ingots. Steel plates and clamps are used to bring certain areas together (such as at port openings). After seeing this process, I now realize why it can be sometimes difficult to run electrical or VHF cable between the deck and the liner. The bonding material fills the void.

Let me step back just a bit. Before the liners are bonded to the hull/deck, most electrical and plumbing runs are put in place. On the larger boats, Catalina affixes PVC conduit to aid in running these systems after the hull and deck have been joined. Some of the deck hardware is also added at this stage.

Once the hull and deck have been joined, you will see a very ugly looking joint where the hull and deck meet at the transom. This area is routed flush and then filled with resin/glass and topped off with a layer of gelcoat. These guys do a great job at making it impossible to see the joint. 

At this stage, the woodworkers begin their installation. All internal systems (galley, head, etc.) are installed. Keels are attached and faired. Stainless steel tubing (pulpits, swim ladders, etc.) manufactured by a third-party vendor are also attached. All loose items are boxed and placed inside the cabin for commissioning by the dealer.

All standing rigging is manufactured in-house. Fittings are pressed onto stainless wire to form the shrouds and stays. Stainless wire and all running rigging is purchased in bulk and cut to length. Spar extrusions are purchased to "tall-rig" length (where appropriate). Standard rig spars are manually cut down. Employees finish spars by installing mastheads, electrical fixtures, electrical wire, VHF cable and messengers for the running rigging.

Rudders are manufactured with gelcoat & fiberglass using a pair of molds which are eventually mated--after inserting the rudder post--and foam is injected into the core. The Catalina 250’s rudder has no internal metal frame as do the larger rudders with rudder posts.

You cannot doubt from the production floor that Catalina sells a bunch of their larger models. I saw a single C250 and C22 in production. Most of the boats were in the 34’ to 42’ range. I was told that the C470 is manufactured in the Largo, Florida facility. I asked David how many boats go through the plant and which ones were most popular. He artfully dodged my questions by saying that he is in engineering and that only the sales people know about this. Proprietary stuff . . . I suppose.  

While out in the yard I did see a larger Catalina (maybe a 42’) that had a green boot stripe and vinyl striping. I immediately thought "Beneteau". David had to admit that, yes, they will do this . . . but for a price. I take it that the cost is typically prohibitive. But, it does happen.

Here are a few other items of interest. About 20 people work in administration and 400 in production. The day shift must end before 4 p.m. because there were very few employees on the production floor at that time. A small, nondescript storage room contains records on every boat Catalina Yachts has ever sold. I assume this includes Capris and Morgans. David said that even information on subsequent owners is maintained, when available.  If you look closely, you will see a small pontoon-style boat below the lift on the right.  David said that Catalina Yachts manufacturers these hulls for another California company.  They are electrically powered to meet the stringent requirements of some California lakes.

I missed a day on Catalina Island to attend the tour. Was it worth it? Yes! If you find yourself in the Los Angeles area, add this tour to your list of "things to do." It sure was good to see where and how my boat was made.

[MTM - 07/27/99]

© 1998-2003 by Mark T. Melchior  --   All Rights Reserved  -  Revised:  20 Dec 2007 16:28:40 -0500
"In a powerboat, you get there in a hurry . . . in a sailboat, you are already there."