Welcome to my home - Boat Tour of 2006 Catalina 42 MKII

I live aboard my 2006 Catalina 42 MK II fulltime. You could class it as living in a tiny home or even living off grid. The boat is completely self sufficient. I can make 35 gallons of fresh water from sea water per hour. Produce way more than I need in terms of electricity via the 700 watt solar panels which feed into the 480 amp lithium batteries. Produce on demand hot water and boat heating via the Hurricane II combi heater which runs of diesel. Equipped with Starlink, VHF and SSB radios, all my communications needs are catered for . A big 25 KG Rocna anchor and 250 feet of 5/16 anchor chain holds me firm in any conditions I have experienced to date. When motoring the engine uses less than a gallon an hour. A full suite of electronics makes navigation predictable, Radar, AIS, chart plotter and autopilot. Virtually a driverless boat ! A large freezer and decent sized fridge allows me to stay on anchor half the year, before having to completely re provision. From a sailing perspective, the boat is fast, with furling main and headsail. In addition I have a furling Code O light wind sail.

[@edwardmacintosh9476]

Just came ccross your channel . Glad i did. You have a beautiful Cat & the info tour on your vessel is great . Well done. I learned a lot from you & i personally thank you. Great sailing , smoorh seas, and safty for you & guests always sir. Love your boat!😅 I am in Atlantic Canada, on sea north Atlantic village. Around oc3an all the time. It's a special world & I love it. It can be nasty but I would not give it up for anything .

[@sailingmilagro]

Yes the sea has a hold on me from My child hood growing up in a small fishing village

[@GoWithTheFloat]

Beautiful Catalina

[@sailingmilagro]

Thank you

[@Ed-uj4bc]

Watched all your videos, beautiful cruising grounds. And beautiful Catalina. I’m an aging city dweller with a dream to own a boat and cruise like you, but never been on a sailboat yet. I would be single handed too so trying to decide if that’s a pipe dream. Anyways, I enjoy watching so thanks for making! Cheers from Canada

[@sailingmilagro]

Hi Ed , thanks for watching the videos . Hopefully one day you will achieve your dream. We all have to start somewhere . I bought my first boat in australia with a mate , nether of us had sailed before , we even had the broker move the boat from the slip to the fuel dock for us . We drove it around like a car in Sydney harbour . 12 months later we took off for the South Pacific . We were entirely self taught and enjoyed the steep learning curve . I have so many funny stories about our trial and error learning 😂

[@normamiranda7846]

Beautiful boat!

[@sailingmilagro]

Thank you Norma

[@jonunya3128]

very nice boat. it's pretty impressive you can single hand it. Tim from Lady K Sailing wants your make and model, iirc. always good to see a video from you drop.

[@sailingmilagro]

She’s pretty well set up for solo sailing , makes it easier. Still have the odd scary moment . Actually more than one 😂😂😂

[@michaeljones3990]

Enjoyed your videos as like seeing your whole boat thank you

[@sailingmilagro]

Thanks Michael

[@SailingBluePearl]

Great home tour!🙌 Thanks for sharing!

[@sailingmilagro]

Only 99,950 views to go to match yours 😂😂😂😂

[@SailingBluePearl]

@@sailingmilagro I literally just laughed out loud!! You crack me up!😂😂

[@sailingmilagro]

@@SailingBluePearl took your advice, am now in Juncalito

[@SailingBluePearl]

@@sailingmilagro aww awesome! Isn’t it just beautiful!?😍

[@TRCAdventures]

Nice walk through

[@sailingmilagro]

Thank you

[@TRCAdventures]

@@sailingmilagro I just spent the day trying to store 30 day of provisions on my Catalina 34......I wish I had more space, looks like you have much more space for goodies than I do!

[@sailingmilagro]

Im fortunate to have enough space to store stuff, I thought I had enough provisions for 5 months but Im probably a month short.

[@SailingHorizons]

Beautiful ❤

[@edevans5991]

Beautiful boat and a nice tour. Thanks.

[@sailingmilagro]

Thanks Ed

[@johnryan2193]

Lovely boat , seems big for a solo but why not, what a beautiful area for cruising. I did read the Steinbeck book yesrs ago which was a brilliant introduction to that sea . Good sailing mate .

[@sailingmilagro]

Thank you John , 42 feet actually shrinks when you’re out there in the big blue . It’s my home as well so I like to be comfortable and have the space . I recall an old seafarer say to me , if your in rough seas would you rather be in a 34 foot boat or bigger ? Plus the bigger the boat the much faster through the water meaning to can outrun or get to shelter quicker

[@rosco950ss7]

Great tour of your boat, looks well set up. Appreciate the detail.

[@sailingmilagro]

Thank you Rosco, it took many years to get the set up right , mainly due to the previous owner .

[@rcary]

Starlink looks pretty interesting. I suppose you could livestream from your phone anywhere in the world? Can it utilize all the apps and what not that you generally use when on shore? Banking apps, Facebook, Messenger for video chat? If so thats an amazing feature, especially if you had some issues out in the middle of the pacific or somewhere remote.

[@sailingmilagro]

Yes you have the capability of massive downloads and super speeds . You just connect your phone or laptop like you to any wifi system and away you go no matter where you are

[@alberthilberger8565]

Looking at a Catalina 36 in la Paz. New to all of this would love for you to give me some lessons. Sure that is asked a lot of you always enjoy your videos

[@sailingmilagro]

Sure no problem , let me know if you go ahead

[@alberthilberger8565]

Awesome thank you so much

[@jamesb.funkiii5647]

Thank you for the tour! I’m looking at a 42MKII to move onto. I’m 69, singlehander. Is the boat ever to big? Why not a Hydrovane? I just really like the comfort of the boat. Knowing what you know would you sail her home to NZ? Would you cross the Atlantic Thanks again, Jim

[@sailingmilagro]

I’ve had self steering before , Aries and monitor . Back in the days when you were concerned about overnight power consumption . For all of my sailing I only need a decent autopilot . Would I sail her back to NZ , yes without a doubt. I like the keel stepped mast

[@paulhenry5770]

She sure does look good, especially with that NZ flag flying

[@sailingmilagro]

Thanks Paul , NZ flagged vessels are pretty rare here. Mind you the flag has taken a beating from the sun and bits of it are missing 😀

[@maxinetan3160]

U r Popeye The Sailor Man💪

[@GaryTakacs]

Really nice video tour of your boat! Love the detail. I am looking at a Catalina 42 MKII also and I'd appreciate your comments on the motion of the boat under sail. Of course the conditions can vary widely so I know the motion of the boat will be determined by the sea state, wind speed, point of sail, etc.....But I'm curious if your experience much 'rolling' under way. THANKS is advance!

[@sailingmilagro]

Hi Gary, the boat is very stable at sea and has easily handled whatever the sea conditions has thrown at it. I have only had one uncomfortable experience which was covered in a previous video, crossing the sea of Cortez, La Paz to Mazatlan. If you want have any other questions PM me and I will try and help

[@theespjames4114]

Enjoy the tour. Question? Is it true that most live aboard’s don’t use the bathroom at sea or on anchor preferring to shower on deck and direct deposit over the side? Also? Your stand alone freezer , is it efficient on electricity? Thanks Mate

[@sailingmilagro]

Hi James , the stand alone freezer is more efficient than the inbuilt fridge spill over freezer . Use way less power . As far as “toilets and showers , everyone is different and set up differently . I have holding tanks as do all boats but don’t use them . I rinsed them out and treated them with an odour killer . Milagro is plumbed with a direct discharge overboard . I pee off the stern . The toilets are fresh water flush . Showering , some people use solar showers on deck , most have a stern showers for rinsing odd sea water . I use the forward shower as the hydronic water water heats up water for a shower in about 1 minute . Some boats are bucket and chuck it 😃

[@JohnBraman413]

have a link for the hot water heater?

[@sailingmilagro]

Put Hurricane Combi II diesel heater on the internet and it will show a load of places selling them

[@drumsnbass]

What’s the headroom in there? Thanks!

[@sailingmilagro]

I think 7 foot in the main saloon and forward Pullman cabin

[@brucemcnair2]

How do you set up your code zero?

[@sailingmilagro]

Hi Bruce , there’s a complete previous video of mine on how the code zero is set up . I had to make some changes for it to work for a single hander with the furling lines led back to the cockpit

[@sailingsubmariner]

Great boat. Thanks for sharing. How is starlink? Do you live onboard all year? Cheers

[@sailingmilagro]

Hi John, Starlink is great , even in remote anchorages . A real game changer . Would recommend it to everyone . Yes I live aboard full time , sometimes in marinas and other times at anchor .