Barry,
It's hard to go wrong with that boat. Here's a photo of the one we used
ot have as we crossed the Mexican border on the '99 Ha Ha
http://rangerbest.home.comcast.net/sc-600-400.JPG

Ours had a tiller, which if you can find one, I would reccommend as it
really opens up the cockpit and auto-steers well with just an
inexpensive tiller pilot.
Ours had end boom sheeting. I would reccommend mid boom sheeting, but it
wasn't important enough to make it to the top of the project list while
we had ours.
It makes a great day sailor and a good coastal cruiser. The longest
trip we ever did entailed living on the boat non-stop for two months
from SF Bay down around the tip of Baja and up into the Sea Of Cortez.
Had a great time, but it was "cozy" with 4-5 people aboard (dropped one
off at Cabo San Lucas) for this long.


Pluses:
- A very successful, well tested design made for 25 years or something
like that.
- An active listserver on sailnet with hundreds of members (a great
resource).
- The A4 has it's own listserver on sailnet.
- Very easy to sail, After running the lines aft, I used to single hand
ours easily.
- Reasonable performance.
- Easy to resell when the time comes.
- Very little exposed wood means easy maintainence.
- A4 is easy to understand and work on (kinda like a 60's era VW engine).
- Can be trimmed so the helm is balanced and very light even in high winds.
- Turns on a dime.
- Great cockpit for entertaining.

Negatives:
- V-berth is kinda narrow at the pointy end when two are sleeping in it.
- Minimal fuel and water tankage for really long trips.
- Minimal storage for really long trips.

Hope this helps - Dan

barry kay wrote:

I am considering purchasing a Catalina 30 1982, atomic 4
I would appreciate any information regarding design or old age problems to
watch out for
The boat has always been in salt water and if purchased will go to fresh and
will be sailing the great lakes

Any and all information is greatly appreciated





--
Dan Best - (707) 431-1662, Healdsburg, CA 95448
B-2/75 1977-1979
Tayana 37 #192, "Tricia Jean" http://rangerbest.home.comcast.net/TriciaJean.JPG