Can't verify what Stewart wrote, but I've always found him and his publications pretty reliable. There is no mention of the Cat fleet as a whole being 'water-bound' - only the conversion of a small number of the later production PBY5A to that configuration.
I have a copy of a couple of images taken in 1944/1945 of RAAF Cats. The first is blazing away (so possibly A24-91, lost June 1945 on Moratai), and another being refueled from a Bowser. Both are on tarmac/Marsden Mat runways and on 'conventional' fold-up undercarriage (not beaching wheels).
Maybe Keith has some more precise info?
Mike C
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