Sea Trial and Survey Tomorrow

[waterdog]

Tomorrow is the sea trial and survey.    I suppose the "Gale Warning Continued" notification on the weather website ought to be nothing to worry about on a stout vessel like a C34?    On a big ebb with southeast gale we ought to see some 15 foot standing waves as we come out of the mouth of the river.   What could I possibly learn if the wind was only blowing 10 knots with a 2 foot chop?   

So hatchboards in, we have positive stability through 120 degrees, right?   Is that just theory or has anyone tested it?

Perhaps we'll have another look at the forecast in the morning and maybe leave a little early to catch the end of the flood...

Steve

[Wayne]

From where are you sailing?

[Joe and Carol]

May you weather trials with the best of the hearties
All waves and winds offer answer
No perfect storm tempest seas wild parties
Attend this sailor dancer


Good Luck!
Joe and Carol
#244
 

[waterdog]

From where are you sailing?

We're in Vancouver BC.   The boat is moored up the Fraser River and we have about a 12 mile run to hit the slings for haul out.   The weather forecast has been pretty dynamic this week.   It now looks we might see five to ten knots in the morning sandwiched between gales tonight and tomorrow afternoon.   Should be enough variability for a decent sea trial without getting clobbered!   

[waterdog]

Well I must say that sea trials today went very well.     I'm impressed with a boat that can do 8.5 knots while powering at 2500 RPM!  But then again I suppose it helps when you are going down a river - we didn't sustain that once we hit the ocean.   No gales - no standing waves - we started out on flat sea and light winds.   What a nice stable platform.  We're used to a smaller boat but the C34 does a comfortable six knots in almost nothing.     The boat clearly likes a breeze as the wind increased to over 20 knots.   Would normally thought of reefing in those conditions, but it turns out the reefing lines weren't set up properly, so we furled the genoa a bit and just pressed the rail down.    It's kind of fun sailing somebody else's boat with the intention of pushing it hard and seeing what might break.   Nothing broke.   No creaks or groans.   No mast pumping.  No engine vibrations.   No sloppy steering.   Solid deck.  Solid hull.  I would push this boat hard with confidence.  I would also tighten the lower shrouds.

Then of course there is the survey.   The surveyor's job is to introduce misery into the process for buyer and seller.   He was stunned to find the original bronze shaft was straight and vibration free.  Should I feel good about having a straight shaft or feel bad and run out buy a new stainless one?    There are three spots on the deck with delamination.     Bottom paint is falling off the keel in a big patch.  The smile.  And then of course there is the big missing chunk of lead in the front of the keel.    Looks like somebody whacked it with a 2" pipe.    Owner suddenly remembers "bumping" a rock in the San Juans last summer when two weeks ago they were sure they had never grounded it.   Now there is a little crack in one of the floors in the bilge.    Stress cracks in the gelcoat on the corners at the base of the engine bed.  Nothing alarming but surveyor can't pass judgement on what he can't see.   

Thankfully, a broker who showed me another C34 that we were close to buying suggested that during survey I should run around with a screwdriver and take out all the screws in the floorboards so the surveyor can access the bilge areas.   I thought this was a brilliant idea.   I did just that.   Every damn screw at high speed.   Every screw in every board on the cabin sole with an ordinary screwdriver.   Anyone in this list who has ever layed back their teak and holly knows exactly where this is going.   

Then we lift back the boards.   Surveyor is able to observe a molded hull liner with no access.   He can't comment on what he can't see.   This boat could have major structural problem, but there is no way to know without cuting into the thing.     Surveyor also admits that there is every likelyhood that this boat could be sailed hard for the next 20 years and have no problems at all.   So with about $1000 tied up in engine survey, haul out, and hull survey, I am left with an opinion that is about as good as no opinion at all.

What now oh C34 gurus?   

[Stu Jackson]

Buy the boat.

[Craig Illman]

Buy the boat, but reserve about $5K to address fixing the keel issues. That's about what it cost to fix mine last summer after a charterer parked it on a rock in Blind Bay off Shaw Island. Although, there were two big whacks in the front of my keel, instead of just one.

Craig

[Joe and Carol]

Committee action considered, buy the boat!  It's a Catalina 34!

Joe and Carol
YachtaSea
#244

[Stephen Butler]

Per the group...buy the boat!  Every day dithering is a day lost of sailing.

[waterdog]

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your direct and unambigous opinions!

Craig, what did $5k buy you for repairs?   Was it just fixing, filling, fairing the keel or did also include any fiberglass work inside the hull?  ie was there damage cracks in tabbing, structural floors, that needed to be ground out and investigated/repaired? 

Thanks,

Steve
     

[Craig Illman]

Steve -

There were two, probably 3 inch diameter dents in the front of the keel. The bottom of the keel and rudder were scraped up. A "smile" at the front of the hull/keel joint and a small crack at the rear. No cracking at the stringers or tabbing inside and the keel bolts tightened up ok. A lot of fairing and sanding and yard environmental charges. I thought I had a copy of the quote and some pictures, but they must not have made the migration to the new computer last fall.

Craig

[waterdog]

I actually overlooked the obvious.    Looking at the boat, it appears as though a sea monster whacked the keel with a 3" pipe.    The present owner actually has insurance coverage that extends to sea monsters.   So rather than him taking a big hit on his sell price and me buying a boat with a question mark, he's having the boat hauled again and repaired under an insurance claim.   Seems like a nice solution that reduces risk for everyone.   

Steve  Dolling   

[waterdog]

Oh, and Craig.  I just noticed you're up in Anacortes.   Be careful in the San Juans.   There are sea monsters out there!

Steve

[Craig Illman]

Steve - Yes, that's what the charterer found! It was hiding near one of those light blue areas on the chart!

just waiting my turn to run aground.............. Craig