Mariposa 1408

[Norris Johnson]

The Mariposa has officially been declared " Totaled " by my insurance company. Hurricaine Ike has declared another victim. The good news is the insurance total was more than the value of the boat because I had a " Agreed Value " policy. Good news for you other Catalina owners. This is one well made boat. Mariposa was secured with new top of the line dock lines. 5/8's inch doubled braid line.

The problem was caused by a 36 ft Carver that broke loose, broke my finger pier loose and caused my boat to get into the pole that was between my boat and my slipmate's boat. The piers are 3 year old ShoreMaster Floating piers. Top of the line piers. That pole was like a telephone pole. The Mariposa snapped that pole like a toothpick. The remains of it and another finger pier were floating beside my boat after the storm.

There were 7 other boats that were involved. Two 36ft Carvers, a 38 ft Tayana, two sea rays, and two Bent-a-toes. Two Carvers and a Sea Ray were sunk. The other boats were totaled on the spot.

The Mariposa was floating around like the winner of a boxing match. It had no life lines, no staunchions, two broken shrouds, no stern pulpits, and no bow pulpits. The anchor roller was bent beyond repair and it had a bent port hand rail on the cabin top. As you can imagine, a ton of fiberglass damage, especially on the starboard side where it hit and broke the pole. The cleats were all there with no damage, amazing!
The boat had to have had boats and finger piers all over it.

[Stu Jackson]

Norris, sorry to hear of your loss.  You've been around for a long time and we hope you stick with us.  What are your plans?

[Norris Johnson]

Stu,

I don't think I could beat this forum. My plans are to replace my boat ASAP. There are a couple of 36's and 380's around close. I don't know of any 34's. As you can tell, it WILL be another Catalina.

I have a broker who's a friend. He's looking really hard. He knows what I like and don't like. FYI, He says the 34 is "toast".

Norris

[Stu Jackson]

Norris - Good luck in your search.  When checking a C380, see if there is water in the front portion of the cockpit.  You may have to bring a bucket and try it.  The C380 was notorious for being slightly bow down or cockpit not angled correctly which creates the problem.  We all know how great the C36 is.  Forward head, though...  At least you'll know all the systems.

See this for rumors about C34 production:  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4774.0.html  Toast may be right, but somewhat premature.

[Momentum M]

I was at the strictly sail in Miami last week and ad a discussion with one gentlemen from the sales department of Catalina.
He comfirmed that the 34's & 36's are out.  The reasons are of course the economy but the main reason is that in the past, as we all know, they were manufactures in the west.  Because of the manufacture being there they became quite popular mainly caused of the next to nothing transportation cost.
Now moving the production out east got the dealer quite unhappy and they wanted Catalina to absorb the shipping cost for at least a few years...a transition period.
Catalina's point of view was that all the others dealers out east have been paying for that cost since day one so now it's turned around and customer will be charged the shipping.

Seeing the dealer's attitude and the economy, Catalina just decided to stop production and concentrate on the other existing models and the new one to come

CASE CLOSED

[Jon Schneider]

Sounds fishy to me.  The dealers have to pay freight for all of the other Catalinas.  More importantly, it's not the dealer who pays the freight; it's the buyer.  I wish they would just call a spade a spade.  The C34 was probably not as competitive anymore (in sales), and was therefore becoming problematic in terms of production efficiency.  Plus, they probably can reap a higher margin on the new models.  It's just an understandable business decision.  Why all the subterfuge?  Did they learn nothing from Bill's denial of Monica?  ("I did not raise my main with that woman.")  I also suspect that ever since Waterdog let the secret out about the performance advantage inside our C34s, sales began to sharply increase; thus harming sales of Catalina's other higher-margin (yet worse-performing in a certain regard) models. 

[ozzie]

Hi Norris,

I was looking at the C34 forums and I saw your post about Mariposa. I just bought Mariposa as a insurance salvage boat thru US Auctions and I will be flying down next week to Galveston to do an inspection of the damage. I live in Kelowna BC Canada and I am going to restore Mariposa back to her former self.
Could you tell me if there was any damage to the keel and rudder and besides the broken shroud is the mast and rig OK. Also is it a standard or tall mast rig? And it listed the boat as a fin keel is that right?
We will be renaming the boat. Maybe "Prize Fighter" would be suitable after her bout with the seven contenders.

Thank you in advance,

Dave Hayes. 

[Jon Schneider]

Speaking on behalf of the C34 International Association, and most likely Norris as well, congrats on your savvy purchase and welcome to our brotherhood (and sisterhood).  Dave, we're all so glad that you're going to restore Mariposa, cum Prize Fighter, to her former beauty.  I hope you know we all are here to help.  Best of luck to you.  This board is a wonderful place to ask questions and seek advice.  As well, there are many wonderful articles about C34 systems and upgrades on the knowledgewiki (www.c34.org/wiki).  And, of course, not that you won't have quite enough to invest in, but you can support all of the support you'll get from us by joining the C34IA by following the link at the top of this page.

Again, congratulations and best of luck.  We all can't wait to hear of your progress, and hope we can help you.

[Norris Johnson]

Congrats Dave,

I love the new name.

Do you have any experience with Catalinas? They are great boats and the owner is a hands-on guy. All of the parts damaged were shelf items. They will continue to carry parts for a while.

The Mariposa is a wing keel. As far as damage below the water line, I have no idea. It was totaled based on the damage above the water line. A lot of the cost of repair was hauling out, loading on a truck, and shipped to a private yard for the work to be performed. After repairs, it was to be loaded up on a truck, and hauled back to the water. This yard is probably a mile from the yard where it was to be hauled and splashed. I would replaced all of the standing rigging. It was all stressed. About half of the turnbuckle bolts were bent. That had to stress all of the rigging.

After the storm, there was so much sea grass from the wetlands next to our marine that filled up our marina and got into the boat from the starboard side damage that it plugged up the bilge pump. So about 2 to 3 inches of water was in the boat until the grass was removed and the bilge pump removed the water. The water damaged the shower pump so it was removed. This wasn't mentioned in the salvage writeup. The teak and holly was stained some after the water was removed, but I put a heater in the boat for the last 5 months and the stains went away.

Some of the opening ports leaked after the storm. I rebedded them and they quit leaking. They seem to leak the most in the joint of the frames on both sides. I have seen some moisture on the nav table and the top of the hanging closet. I think it may be coming from the damaged port side handrail.

It is a standard rig.

The A/C and heater do not work. Don't think you'll need the A/C in Canada. Removing the A/C will give you a bunch more storage.

I highly recommend joining the C34IA. I have bought a C36, but I will stay with this form. Jon is right. You will not find any better help and you're input will always be welcomed. If I can be of any help, let me know. Glad you bought the boat. I was worried it would be trashed. It is too good of a boat for that.
As I have said before, if I was 20 yrs younger, I would have bought it back.

Good Luck,
Norris