Looking at a 34 this week

[Steve M]

I am going to look at a 1986 34 this week. I would appreciate any input on special things I should look for. It had a new engine put in last year.

Thanks in advance for your help

Steve

[Gene Regan]

Steve,
  Use the site find option and youll find all sorts of info on the 34 and also get a survey before you sign anything.
  Ours is a 1988 and is agreat boat.Be sure to join the assoc..
  Good luck
Gene

Gene Regan

[Gene Regan]

Steve
    Also check the faq section of this site

Gene Regan

[Paul Bousquet]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Steve M:
I am going to look at a 1986 34 this week. I would appreciate any input on special things I should look for. It had a new engine put in last year.

Thanks in advance for your help

Steve<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I just purchased last week a C34 on lake Champlain NY. Take a look at a couple of surveys online to give you an idea :www.nymarinesurveyor.com, Am a surveyor myself and this guy does a really good job. good luck

[SteveLyle]

I bought an '86 a bit over 2 years ago.  The early boats deserve particular attention because 1) they're older (duh!), and 2) they had 'weak spots' either in systems or equipment that Catalina fixed in newer boats.

Unless you get a surveyor with a lot of experience in C34's, he's likely to miss some/all of the (relatively minor) issues in category 2.

I've described what I've learned in a couple of posts that may help you:

First Year Log

Second Year Log

Regards,
Steve

[Stu Jackson]

Steve M

The two important questions are right at the top of the FAQs:

http://www.c34.org/faq-pages/faq.html

Looking at a Catalina 34, and Why We Bought One.

This website is huge, but the main website is structured to give you the most bang for the bucks.  We've found that this message board is definitely NOT a chat site, but IS a technically oriented board for mechanical and electrical and other boat issues, with a great search (FIND) engine.

Read Steve Lyle's recommended posts: he's our Technical Editor also and writes VERY well.

Good luck, a new engine is hard to find!

Stu