Anyone looking for a C34 Project boat?

[pablosgirl]

All,

There is a hurrican Sandy damaged 1988 C34 "Loka" up for auction in Atlantic Highlands, NJ.  Anyone looking for a project boat?  The current bid price is $10,900. Here is the link  http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/pl_boat_detail.jsp?slim=broker&boat_id=2560279&checked_boats=2560279&hosturl=certifiedsales&&ywo=certifiedsales&&ybw=&units=Feet&access=Public&listing_id=13304&url=

Paul

[Kevin Henderson]

UGH!!   
It's painful to see such a wonderful boat in such a terrible condition!
Looks to be a LOT of work to be done for sure. 
My question would be... where to begin?  and would it be worth the expense by the time you're done?
I can easily see at least $20,000 worth of work just to begin. 

[pablosgirl]

Yes Kevin it would be a lot of work and I know that from our own experience.  The upside is if you have the know how and time you can save a lot of money.  Pablo's Girl was a hurricane Ike salvage boat and we repaired it ourselves.  Six weeks in a marine yard and $7000 dollars later we had a great new to us boat.  We spent $3000 of that just on the yard rental fee and transportation to the yard fee.  The rest of the cost was for the material to do the repair. 

We also did our home work before hand to see what we were getting ourselves into.  I cannot stress this point enough!!  I would not have attempted our project if the finished cost was greater than 50% of the market value of the boat before the damage was inccured.  You need that kind of margin for error to cover any unforseen repairs to get her seaworthy and overcome the salvage boat stigma price hit you will encounter if you have to sell her down the road.

I will be willing to share more details with anyone considering such a project.

There was also a MK II boat damaged in Ike that went up for auction that ended up in Canada.  I beleive that he did most of its repair himself and he may be another source of information if you are about to enbark on this sort of adventure.

Paul

[tonywright]

I can put you in touch with the ownwer of that boat in Canada. He is in our club and a fellow sailor. Very happy with his boat and his bottom line cost. One of 7 Catalina 34's in our club now.

Tony

[Ron Hill]

Guys : There were about 1000 C34 produced between 1986 thru 1989. 
Think I'd start with "Less of a fixer-upper". 

My thought

[cmainprize]

I enjoy a good project as much as the next guy, but I think this mess would suck the joy out of sailing.

[Stephen Butler]

Having had our boat go over on its side on the hard, during Hurricain Wilma, and surviving with only minor damage and no hull holes, not considering a broken rudder, and some bent stantions, I would still be wary of taking on that "project" boat.  Just getting the oil and other spilled liquids out of the bilge, and inspecting every system, nut, and wire took a great deal of time, work, and money (we upgraded many things).  Whomever takes on the "project" had better have lots of spare time, and even more cash.  Just one guys opinion.

[Les Luzar]

Unless someone got that boat for free, it would not be worth it. Eighties vintage C-34's have asking prices in the $35K range all day long here in Southern California. You can easily spend $20K to $30K to rehab a badly damaged boat, and then you still have a salvage boat! Spend the money and go sailing now! Life is short, enjoy it!