1989

[Ken Juul]

I'm trying to update the history page, I think in the transition between the Mk I and the Mk 1.5 some 1989/1990 models were built with a sugar scoop swim platform and the non walk thru Mk I transom.  Does anyone have a picture?  Or am I confused 

[Jon Schneider]

Ken, I think you're right about the time frame, though I've always heard it defined as 1990.  I also heard that it wasn't a hard transition, but that buyers had a choice for a while through 1990.  My hull number is 1058, and it's an open transom model.  It was sold to me as a "1990," but truthfully, I have never deciphered the HIN to try to establish the manufacturing month.  (I don't have the documentation with me right now, but I'm curious about my baby's birthday, so I'll check.)  Anybody got a hull after #1058 with a traditional transom?

[Rick Johnson]

As Stu would say:

Here is a link to a previous search (with a picture)....

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,3204.0.html

Cheers,

Rick

[Stu Jackson]

I believe Steve and Nancy Butler have one, too.

[Ken Juul]

Thanks Rick!  I did do a search, just couldn't find the right thread.   Searching has never been one of my strong points

[Rick Johnson]

No worries, I knew it was in my posting and I still had trouble finding it.

Cheers,

Rick

[Stephen Butler]

We have one of the Mk 1.5s....sail number 1023, hull # CTYP10231990.  The boat was completed in late 1989 (no exact date) and sold and commissioned in 1990.  Sorry, but we do not have any pictures showing the transom, but will be at the boat in a month or so and can take some.  Let me know if some are needed.

An opinion and obviously a biased one at that, but we think the "sugar scoop" transom is a fantastic compromise between the closed and open arrangements.  We have all the storage, protection, and hull rigidity of a closed transom, but the easy of boarding that an open transom affords.  I suppose there is the issue of appearance and lines, but like I said, we are admittedly biased. 

[Ron Hill]

Ken : In the 1990 model C34, Catalina changed the standard transom to the the "dimpled"/"sugar scooped" transom.  In addition they also offered the "walk thru" transom as an option for a few more $$.  I've always thought that the dimpled transom was the "best of both worlds". 
At least in the early walk thrus you had two almost unusable storage areas on either side (compared to the large storage of the standard transom). 
Remember that Catalina usually starts to make the next years new model in the September before !!!

[Jon Schneider]

In defense of the early walk-through transom (which I have), I have to say that the port locker works quite well for an LPG cabinet, and I've put eye hooks along the lip of the starboard locker and use it quite successfully to hang/store fenders and extra lines.  For the first year that I had the boat, I kept the "bridge seat" (connecting the two sides of the transom) in until I figured out how useless that was.  I'm not sure where the closed transom pedestal is located -perhaps it's a bit more forward than mine- but I really like the extra notch of space I get on the open-transom as a foot place while standing dead-center behind the wheel when I'm motoring.  And there's nothing like dangling your feet in the water through the transom and smoking a cigar on a light day.  That's the best of one world for me.  To each his own. 

[Fuzzy]

Jon: 



I hope that you have a vented storage locker for your LPG tanks.  It is important that you don't just put a
tank in a normal locker as a leak could get down below and create an explosion hazard.

Larry

[Jim Price]

Larry, Catalina installed propane bottles in the port locker of the Mark 1.5's are enclosed and vented to the stern.  The starboard locker (I also have hooks for lines and fenders and buckets) is really large and deep but the opening is only about 14" square - you can't put too much in there other than what I mentioned.  And you have to be carefull with any lines. etc. because of the steering cable system.

[Ron Hill]

Guys : The problem that I was seeing was that the "little bitty 1 gal propane bottle" can not be expanded/enlarged as I did to a 12 lb. bottle (Projects) because the container is molded in and a larger size will not fit!!  That was 1 gal (4.5lbs) BEFORE the OPD device on the new bottles cut that capacity to 80%.   
Cruisers like to carry more than 3.6lbs of propane!!!!! 

[Jon Schneider]

Yes, Ron, that's definitely a problem for some, although not for me (we mostly use the stove to boil water for coffee or make oatmeal in the morning; at night we're either eating our or grilling).  I wonder how the Mark IIs solve for the LPG storage problem? 

[crieders]

Mine is 1022, sold as a 1990. It has the scoop with swim platform but is not walk thru.

[sailingdream]

Same here with #1019.

But Ive notice some of the pictures seems like some have port lights below the deck. Was that a option?