26. My Catalina 30 won't start.

Catalina 30 has a very long wiring harness which contains three quick disconnects. I would start by inspecting each of those disconnects for corrosion, etc. There is one disconnect at each end of the harness (at the engine and at the instrument panel), and one under the cabin sole just in front of the galley sink which you can access through the same panel you lift up to service the stuffing box.

The primary circuit goes through this harness, and if any of the quick disconnects are making a poor connection, the engine will shut down as if someone turned off the ignition switch. The nature of this problem is that it can be very intermittent, meaning that you might be able to see a spark at the moment you are checking the plugs while cranking, but not be getting enough of a reliable spark for normal engine operation. - Updated: November 4, 2003