New Catalina 34 Member

[Gulfsailor]

Hello all,

Just purchased a 1998 34 MK II from the original owners who loved her and took great care. We are in the Tampa area in New Port Richey.

After owning a 89 Ericson 32-200 for the past 13 years, I was looking for an online owners group that had the same level of support and information. This group definitely has it!

Some of the items we are needing to address include replacing the standing rigging, a fresh set of sails, sealing those pesky Lewmar port leaks and adding an 16k BTU AC system. 

Happy Holidays!

Rick

[Ron Hill]

Rick : Let me be the first to "Welcome You Aboard" . Our site has a wealth of information on your MKII C34.  If you can't find the answer, just ask and you'll get a number of answers!!

A few thoughts

[Gulfsailor]

Thank you Ron!

[Stu Jackson]

Welcome, Rick.  I'm aware of the Ericson owners group and active website/forum.  You'll find the same kind of helpful folks here.

[Jim Hardesty]

Welcome Rick,
Congratulations, hope you enjoy your 34MKll as much as I do Shamrock. Also, that you find this group to be as helpful as I do.  As for the air-conditioning project, there's a number of them well documented here.   I found them very helpful when I added air-conditioning to Shamrock.
FWIW.  Found that most of the "do this or else" list was not necessary on Shamrock.  Still wouldn't hurt to check them off.  I'm thinking of 2 that apply, reinforcement ring on the camshaft for the raw water pump and an engine bracket that was prone to cracking at a bend.
Happy Sailing,
Jim

PS.  Great quote about powerboats and sailboats.

[Jim Hardesty]

sealing those pesky Lewmar port leaks

Rick,
If you haven't done so yet.  Clean the gaskets, water and paper towels work for me, and apply a very thin layer of Super Lube or equivalent.  That works for me. 
Jim

[Gulfsailor]

Thanks Jim!

I had to replace all the gaskets and o rings our Ericson. I spoke with a nice gentleman (Warren) at Catalina about the leaky ports. The PO told me he narrowed the leak to the horizontal stip of sealant between the upper and lower outside frames. Warren said the fix was to dig out the failed sealant (with a toothpick) and fill the void with Sikaflex.

We installed a new Mermaid 16k on our Ericson in the aft cabin hanging locker. A 88 C34 we looked at had the unit in the hanging locker by the nav station with the duct work running along the port side with vents in all three cabins.

Any info you can share on your installation would be great!

Stu, thank you for welcoming me in!

[Jim Hardesty]

Any info you can share on your installation would be great!

Rick,
I purchased from www.oceanbreezeac.com they were very helpful both with the layout and with some easy issues after.  The kit from them had almost everything needed, the only added purchases were some electrical and plumbing from local big box hardware.  Not much at all.  At their recommendation I didn't add a second shore power supply.  It's safe, the breakers would trip if overloaded.  I do see many installations with a second shore power but I've not had a problem.
My paperwork is on the boat, so from memory.  After a lot of thought I installed under the v-berth, lost only a pretty useless drawer.  Ducts were run behind the settees and the starboard v-berth cabinet with a box I made to vent to the v-berth and salon.   Added some sound insulation and it's no problem to sleep in the v-berth and it's quiet enough to be hardly noticed in the salon. I'm happy with that, although the aft berth doesn't cool well, but it's rarely used.  I think a booster fan would help. If you're one of the aft berth sleepers, may not work for you.  Cools enough for my occasional guest with the door open and a fan. 
One additional thing/cost I would recommend is a set of cockpit doors.  I have Zucor and very much like them.  Using the drop boards let in a lot of hot air every time entered.

Hope that helps,
Jim

[Noah]

IMO- I think bandaid  "patching" your opening port's caulking is not a good solution for the longterm.

[Ron Hill]

Rick : On those "pesty Lewmar leaks". Try spraying the gaskets with silicone - it makes the "rubber" nimble again!!

A thought

[Jim Hardesty]

The PO told me he narrowed the leak to the horizontal stip of sealant between the upper and lower outside frames.

I'd look and see for myself.  Had good luck with "Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure" despite the funny name.     https://captaintolley.com/ 
Easy to use and no harm if it doesn't work.  Think it's sold on Amazon and a lot of other places.
Jim

[waughoo]

Welcome to the forum!! 

As for the lewmars, I ended up rebedding all mine using butyl.  It requires a few "tightenings" to get them fully sealed, but I find when properly compressed, it does quite a great job.

[Gulfsailor]

Thank you all!

I've been using Mainsail's butyl tape for years. Great stuff.

[AndyBC]

Welcome!  Our boats are pretty close in terms of hull number.  I bought mine at the beginning of the 2023 season, currently she's stored for the winter on the hard.  Fixing the pesky lewmar leaks is also on my to-do list prior to spring launch, and potentially new sails plus a number of other things such as new life lines and electronics upgrade.  Thankfully my standing rigging is fine for now (though I did have to do all of the running rigging).  What battery charger do you have on yours?  Is she equipped with a galvanic isolator?