THE GUIDE to the C34 Website Technical Resources w/ NEW 2009 wiki

[Stu Jackson]

Updated January 2007 to Include the New KNOWLEDGEBASE

Updated 2009 to Include the New wiki Section

See posts below for information on the new wiki

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Updated November 2009:

The C34 community is indebted to the late Past Commodore Jon Schneider (#1058 - Atlantic Rose) for the tremendous work involved in his contribution of the new KNOWLEDGEBASE, a complete Index of the C34IA Tech Notes, Projects and FAQs.  It is yet another example of the benefits of C34 IA membership.  It also reflects the continued interest of our members to share their information and to "put back" into their community.

The New KNOWLEDGEBASE is a critically important feature to the C34 Website because it fulfills the requests of many members for an easier and more useful vehicle to search for information.  The "Original Website" search engine was poor compared to the powerful search feature on this Message Board.  While Search engines in general act like indexes in books, this new KNOWLEDGEBASE provides BOTH a Table of Contents AND indexing features.  We are sure that it will add immensely to your enjoyment and ease of use to find information about C34 skipper's experiences and helpful hints.

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In a recent post, Ron Hill noted: "As Stu said - most of the information is already out there.
Might be nice if Santa would bring us some "links" on the Message Board to our other C34 IA sites like "Projects" and "FAQs"."

In response to that request, and since some have recently said that "There's TOO MUCH information" on our website, I have modified some recent posts I have made and offer this as your Guide to clarify and explain how the C34 website is arranged.

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Your sources of technical information on C34s are:

--  Original Webpage FAQs:  http://www.c34.org/faq-pages/faq.html

--  Original Webpage Tech Notes:  http://www.c34.org/techindex_top.htm 

--   The Tech Notes Index on this Message Board is: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=3096.0   Please note this list includes some non-C34 tech notes, available ONLY in paper copies of the magazine, NOT on the Tech Notes Online

--  Original Webpage Projects:  http://www.c34.org/projects/projects.html

--  This Message Board on the Forum:  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?board=11.0

--  The NEW JANUARY 2007 KNOWLEDGEBASE Index to the Original Website:  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=3362.0, which links to: http://www.c34.org/tech-notes-index/technotes-excel.xls

--  The NEW 2009 WIKI Section:  http://www.c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page[/b]

These six specific areas have all of the technical information that has been so graciously shared by C34 owners since 1987, right here on your website.

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Here's the history: The Original Home Page at www.c34ia.org and the associated Projects and FAQs were developed over the years to organize and collect the vast amount of information that had been generated by interested C34 owners about their boats.

The Original Homepage FAQs, particularly, were made by a handful of us who took our own personal time and copied questions and answers from the older email "List" that preceded the Message Board, and made "articles" about the subjects.  They were prepared and edited by these individuals and then emailed to the Associate Webmasters, who then posted them on the website.  As noted to me recently by a Mark II owner, those FAQs are primarily concerned with Mark I boats, although some boats systems remain the same (i.e., HX zincs and electrical systems).  I find that the FAQs are almost essential for new owners with older boats.

The Tech Notes Index was prepared and published on the website in early 1999.  The purpose was to list the contents of the Technical Notes that were originally only published in Mainsheet magazine ever since the C34 section started in the magazine in 1987.  Later, in 2001, your C34 Officers agreed to support the effort required to copy each of those voluminous technical articles and post them on the website as an advantage to our C34 IA membership.  They had previously only been available for additional cost in what were considered to be poor xerox copies.  The Tech Notes Index is available to everyone.  The Tech Notes Online are available ONLINE to only C34 IA members.  The Tech Notes from 1987 to 2001 also come on a FREE CD-ROM when you join the Association. 

This Message Board is relatively "new" compared to the long history of the Original C34 website and is an ongoing resource for technical information in addition to the archived and captured boat technical information at www.c34.org, with it's own Projects, FAQs and Tech Notes. 

With the advent of this searchable Message Board relatively recently, there was no longer a need to do that time consuming work for the FAQs, which is why there are fewer new FAQs on the original homepage.  This Message Board has pretty much replaced the old FAQs, primarily because the Message Board is searchable and eliminates the work required for the preparation of those FAQs.  But most importantly all of the old FAQs still remain available for your use and information.

I continue to urge you all to check out the Original C34 Webpage (www.c34ia.org) Projects, FAQs and Tech Notes Index with the links noted above in addition to this Message Board to become familiar with the incredible wealth of information that has been gathered over the years about our boats, both Mark Is and Mark IIs.  Please note that the "FAQs" on the Original Homepage are BOAT related FAQs, and not "how to use the website" FAQs.

The New KNOWLEDGEBASE will facilitate information research on the Original C34 Website.

Also be aware that you no longer have to prepare and submit Projects and FAQs for the original Website.  Just use the wiki. 

To submit Tech Notes to the C34 section of the Mainsheet Magazine, prepare your material and submit it to the Technical Editor of the Association.  It will be published and only later will it appear on the website:  first, Mainsheet won't publish previously published material, so it has to get published in the magazine first; second, we used to scan the published text into PDFs for the Tech Notes Online and now post the original articles in full and living color!

(Jan. 2007 update:  We are working to improve the posts to the Tech Notes Online by using the original, color photo, material and intend to have that operational soon in 2007.)

Update June  2009:  Commodore Bob Kuba has been updating the TNOs with the original color photos and unedited original text material from 2006 to the present in addition to the older PDF files.  Take a look at the updated TNOs.

Of course, we continue to look forward to your new questions on this Message Board, which is "THE" place to exchange daily ideas and questions.

[dave davis]

:clapThis is the best guide ever! Thanks for all your effort and have a wonderful and happy New Year
Dave

[r_bond]

     Great job, Stu !!!!  Thanks always for all your work on all of our behalf.

Rusty
"Trinity"

[Stu Jackson]

It has also occurred to me that

The Original Homepage of your Association is:  www.c34.org

It still exists.  It has a tremendous amount of information, especially for the older boats.  This Message Board part of the Forum is very useful for both newer and older boats and is a daily and searchable source of information in addition to the original homepage.

Please note that there is additional information on this page beyond the technical information noted above, including manuals, brochures, history, etc.  Please review the index at the left side of that C34 homepage.

[Stu Jackson]

Dave Sanner, our webmaster, has updated the manuals section with new information for the Mark II and the engine.

See: http://www.c34.org/manuals/index.htm

[David Sanner]

Thanks to Tom Lanzilli for the c34 Mark II manual and Universal engine manuals.

[Stu Jackson]

First post of this thread has been modified to include Jon Schneider's great new Knowledgebase.

[Jon Arck - Past C34IA Commodore]

The Tech Notes and new Knowledgebase, alone, are worth many times the cost of membership!

Great job, thanks!  I've already saved a lot of time finding what I need because of your dedication!

Jon

[Jon Schneider]

Another way to find these articles (not the Tech Notes; just the Projects and FAQs) is on our new wiki, which can be found at: http://www.c34.org/wiki.  As of today, the first five or six topic sections (e.g., Anchoring) and the last five or six topics have been fully populated with re-freshed content from the old Projects and FAQ site.  And the wiki is growing everyday from both ends of the topics list.  Explore, comment, correct, and add to it!

[Jon Schneider]

An update: ALL of the  content that could be found (well, not easily) in the Projects and FAQ sections of the site is now in the wiki (www.c34.org/wiki).  I think you'll find it much easier to browse the topics, and the wiki search engine (sorry, different from the message board's engine) is truly superior in its focus and results presentation.  And, you can add your own comments to the articles, either to enhance them or to debunk them (but be gentle  ). 

The topics categories include:

• Cockpit
• Dinghies and Tenders
• Anchoring & Docking
• Electrical
• Electronics
• Engine
• Fuel
• Galley
• Head
• Hull
• Interior
• Leaks
• Maintenance
• Miscellaneous
• Paints & Finishes
• Performance and Motoring
• Plumbing
• Port Lights & Hatches
• Prop-shaft
• Refrigeration
• Rigging & Sails
• Rudder & Steering
• Safety
• Storage
• Stuffing box
• Ventilation
• Woodwork-teak

And hundreds of great articles, insights, and tips.  As you browse, please contact me if you find any problems or have any suggestions.  We'd love to hear how we can improve it. 

[Stu Jackson]

Update June  2009:  Commodore Bob Kuba has been updating the TNOs with the original color photos and unedited original text material from 2006 to the present in addition to the older PDF files.  I apologize for taking so long, but we're getting there!  Take a look at the updated TNOs.

[Stu Jackson]

A QUICK START GUIDE FOR GETTING THE MOST OUT OF THIS WEBSITE AND YOUR BOAT
Learning Fast 101

Please see:  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5260.0.html

[horsemel]

Stu,
This is super.  I have this bookmarked so I can always know how to do the knowledgebase.  It can get confusing so this is a big help.
Mark Mueller