C34 Maintenance Schedule

[Mark Sutherland]

I just bought a 1986 C34.  Can anyone tell me where to find a good, thorough maintenance schedule before I spend the time to create one myself?  The manual seems a bit weak.  Thanks everyone. 

[Stephen Butler]

We keep every tech sheet/manual and contact number/email for everything that goes into our 1990, and then make a note on a calendar to do the maintenance checks.  We also have a checklist for annual launch and storage on the hard.  The original manual that came with the boat is a good start, but after 20 years, each boat is a semi-unique craft.  Also, this site is a great help.

[Kevin Henderson]

The link provided has what appears to be a pretty thorough checklist.  It is tailored specific to the 380 but still very usefull.  I'm currently taking this checklist and modifying it to use specifically for my newly purchased C34 "Pau Hana".  If I have anything worthwile from the result I'll post it here for use.   


http://www.catalina380.org/check_lists/check_list_page.htm

[Ted Pounds]

Nigel Calder wrote a very good "Boat Owner's Electrical and Mechanical Manual".  A lot of great stuff in there and you can use it to set up a maintenance checklist and schedule.  Also the C34 owner's manual ( which is available here, if you didn't get one) has some good stuff.

[scotty]

I tried to open the spreadsheet Maintenance Schedule from the Catalina 380 site.  I downloaded an empty spreadsheet which had two paragraphs, but no list.  Have other people been successful in opening this list?  Thanks.

[Wayne]

At the bottom of the spreadsheet page are tabs for individual workbooks labeled with topics like 'mechanical', 'rigging', etc.  Click on one of these tabs and for each category; they are excel worksheets.
Wow!  Doing all those checks is a full time job . . . lucky to ever get to go sailing!

[Ralph Masters]

The 380 spread sheet looks very good, some items not needed as we don't have to winterize here in socal but it would make a great starting place for your own log.  One thing you can count on is what ever system you come up with to track/schedule maintenance is better then sail it and fix things as they happen.  In the Navy we called it PMS, Planned Maintenance System.  I've found that some items I checked everytime I walked onboard have become one a month items and others have become every time items.  And this site is a good venue for knowledge and ideas.  Welcome to the wolrd of boat ownership.

Ralph
Ciao Bella

[scotty]

Thanks Wayne and Ralph.  This is exactly what I was looking for.  I just had foot surgery today, so I plan to take some time to think about boat maintenance.  The Catalina manual is a good starting point, but doesn't go into a lot of detail.  This list does that and more.  Stu, could this spreadsheet be posted on the tech wiki, maintenance section?  It seems appropriate to me.  It would be good to add an introduction which summarizes some of the basic yearly maintenance tasks.  I'd be glad to assist in that (or to do it).  Perhaps such a document exists already, although I didn't see it in my searches.  

By the way, I just changed the oil and the transmission fluid.  The turkey baster method worked great.  I had to laugh at the story by the fellow who lost the tube inside his transmission, and was really impressed with how he got it out.    I also just took out the plug in the wiring harness, and soldered the wires as per Ron's suggestion.  Prior to doing that my oil pressure alarm didn't always work (when the key was first turned on), and the tachometer needle wobbled.  Now both work properly.  The plug was not just cracked, but parts of the electrodes were exposed!  This was, of course, hidden under the electricians tape.  That looked so dangerous - I was really shocked! (get it -shocked, wiring, electricity). Very much a fire hazard.  I should have had that Critical Upgrade higher on my to-do list.  Later I'll post a picture of the connector just to remind folks, especially new(er) owners like myself.  There's a lot of work to do when one gets a new boat - not to mention going sailing!

We, Lisa and I, have had our boat almost one year now.  We love it.  The amount of information on this forum (and the other pages of the site) have given us a huge jump on maintenance, upgrades, and just cool stuff. I've enjoyed getting to know you people.   We had expected to come to the July rendezvous in the SF Bay, but we'll have to see how my foot heals (heels) before making plans.

[Stu Jackson]

Scotty, good luck with the foot - I know exactly how you feel with my skiing accident in January 2009 and second surgery in August when the darned titanium plate in my leg broke!

As far as the wiki is concerned, since you'll be out of it for awhile, why not make one yourself?  That's what the wikis are there for.

Why not post your wiring harness nonsense right on the Critical Upgrades topic, let's hope you're the last one...

Happy Recovery.  If there's anything I can do for you, please let me know.  Hope you can make it up here for the Rendezvous.