The Boat - Citla a 1982 Cal 39

The 1982 Cal 39 MRK III, Island Princess was rechristened to Citla (the Aztec or N'ahuatl word for 'star'). It's a Bill Lapworth design that was a follow-up to his legendary Pacific Coast down-wind racing success, the Cal 40. Production of the Cal 39 began in 1978 and approximately 150 boats of the Lapworth design were produced. Displacement is 17,000 pounds, 2000 pounds heavier and one-foot shorter than its' Cal 40 predecessor. Citla has the shallow 5'6" keel with a 12-foot beam.

My wife and I are the fourth owners of this boat. It came outfitted with the standard twin bow rollers with one Danforth and one Lewmar Delta anchor. The ventilation had been upgraded by adding two Nicro solar ventilators (one in the vee-berth and the other. opposite to port, in the head). The cockpit was covered by a Sunbrella dodger and matching bimini with a removable center panel, which provides complete shade coverage of the cockpit. There is a small Danforth 'lunch hook' on the starboard quarter pushput rail; a propane barbecue on the starboard aft rail; a boarding platform with a telescoping ladder mounted on the transom center-line; and, a mounting board for an outboard motor on the port aft-rail.

In addition to the compass mounted on the Edson helm column, the vessel came with a VHF radio, Furuno GPS display and Raymarine 18-mile radar display (both displays mounted at the helm station). The radar dome and GPS antenna are mounted on a stainless steel stern post, along with a cockpit flood light. The remaining two instruments on the boat were a Signet analog wind-speed, direction instrument (non-functioning with a cable problem) and a Signet smart display (depth, speed, and distance log).

The cabin interior showed expected wear for a boat of this vintage. The headliner showed signs of minor port light leaks along with areas of separation from the ceiling along parts of the book shelves, liquor cabinet and quarter berth. There were minor signs of mold on the headliner near the forward port lights in the main saloon. The interior wood work was in excellent condition save for the use of a faux teak laminate back splash above the cabinets in the galley. There was also the presence of the all too ubiquitous holding tank aroma.

Prior to purchase, a full boat, rig and engine survey were conducted in addition to the sea-trial. The hull, deck, rigging and engine were all deemed in excellent shape at the time of purchase. The engine and transmission had been replaced with a 30 hp Yanmar with 400 hours of use on the installation. The rudder had also been replaced, and showed signs of minor delamination along the upper trailing edge.

While the bare-bones vessel is sound, seaworthy and in relatively bristol condition, more work is required to raise the standard necessary for safe coast wise cruising in relatively remote locales. Some of those improvements and additions will be covered in the next post.