Getting a 'New' 27yr old C34 and the projects that accompany

[ghersche12]

Hi Folks,

I'm really glad to be here! My wife recently approved selling our 1980 Pearson 28 for 'the bosses boat'. The result is the purchase of 1988 C34 MKI Gypsea. While she was the cleanest C34 we looked at, she needed some serious attention. I thought I'd let you in on my short list. We've owned her for five weeks and have spent nearly $4000 in repairs. We haven't gone sailing yet. Not even sure how she handles. Here's the list:
Survey of rigging (original) reported crack in swage of the port upper and the forestay at the head showed the wires untwisted. This told me the rigging needed to be replaced. Roughly $1100 later, I installed all new upper stays. Then there was the obvious head counter that showed some water damage....but where did it come from. My wife was slightly shocked when I started ripping out the counter, cut out a section of the bulkhead, and then ripped out the counter above the nav. Yep the fixed port leaked above the nav and proceeded to run. It was really a labor of love getting rid of rotten plywood counters (and the smell) <$165 with replacement Formica >. The rest are basic findings as I have crawled from bow to stern now....
$500 Hood Seafurl rebuild from factory
$175 continuous line for furling
$700 bottom job (did myself at my sailing club)
$50  replaced cutlass & greased the maxi prop
$700 Jib sacrificial replaced and new head, tack, clew webbing & jib sheet
$250 New port side fixed ports (thanks Len at Catalina)
$35  Replaced a dozen broken hose clamps
$50  Replaced strbd scupper hose which was attached but ripped in half at the scupper
$25 Replaced pvc A/C thru hull that was deteriorated
$25 Filled propane tank and had valve repaired

Then there's those things that just come with discovery:
Water appearing behind shaft not from PSS dripless but I think it was from the rudder stuffing whose bolts were loose.
Wife made new drapes (sewing on 300 little slider tabs made this a chore)
On my previous boat, we had four interior cushions, so the wife thought it would be no big deal to pull all cushions and clean them. We had no idea we now own 20 cushions!
Routed new wiring for the Raymarine speed, depth, wind while removing a bunch of old wiring.
Thanks for this wonder resource. I've been browsing and reading all the projects.
We are very excited about owning such a beautiful boat.
Engine maintenance comes next, but hopefully a sail is in order before too long.

[Noah]

Welcome! Congrats on new boat! Sounds like you are on the right trajectory! Be sure to read and check off the critical upgrades first. Hopefully some previous owner has done some or all of these already. Also, leaks over the nav station notoriously come from the stanchions, so confirm this is also not contributor to you problems.

[Rick Allen]

Congratulations and welcome good sir, you'll find many friendly experts here that can help guide you through you refitting process!
Do you happen to know your sail number? It will determine which upgrades or fixes might need to be looked at.

Good Luck!

Rick

[Ron Hill]

gher : Welcome Aboard!!

There are two vented stanchions on a C34 - that are prone to leaking (because they are at the widest portion of the hull and are pushed on from the top - breaking the caulking seal).  
You have found the one on the port side (holding tank vent) and the other one is on the starboard side (starboard water tank vent). You might want to check the starboard one.

The C34 started production in 1986 and there are Technical Notes from 1987 that are written in the quarterly Mainsheet magazine written sinse then.  I'll guess that 99% of all of the problems and most all upgrades have been covered in those past 28 years.  A bunch of reading, but well worth your while - the answers are out there between those tech notes, WiKi and this message board.

Again Welcome and I've mentioned a few things to think about!  

[ghersche12]

Thank you for the warm welcome and things to look after!
Sail number is 739.
Previous owner did most of those critical upgrades.
Finally replaced all upper standing rigging this weekend. The wife and I went out for our first sail on Tampa Bay. Wind was 11-15 SSE clocking to SW. Jib and (bagged out old main) we did 5.8 stead running and reaching. Dropped the main and didn't loose a tic. Time to replace the main! Also there was no water in the back of the boat behind the shaft. I guess tightening the rudder stuffing bolts a couple turns made all the difference. Great to be part of the group and have such a resource! Thank you all!

[Footloose]

I know the boat is new to you, but when I replaced my sails it was like getting a new boat!