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Same here.  Sanded with 220 and then used Minwax x 3 coats, 4 coats on the boards in the high-traffic area.  It is much improved.  I looked into replacing one of the boards right in front of the engine compartment (Catalina wisely went to a rubber covered board here on the Mk II) and was astonished at the high cost of teak & holly plywood.  I ended up fixing the dings with teak filler and am going to use a nice oriental rug for distraction.  It is not perfect but perfection is for those who stay on land. 

Congratulations on a very wise purchase.  We own a 1989 C34 (hull #873).  We regularly charter in the Carribean and always come away from those experiences very happy to return to our Catalina (although we always have a couple of ideas for improvements. . .). 

As others have mentioned, your biggest variable cost is going to be what you choose to improve.  Our broker sold the boat to us as ready to sail with little need for immediate remedial work.  That certainly was true and I am convinced that our boats well stand the test of time.  But the list of things I have chosen to improve is very long.  I can go from stern to bow and identify improvements every step of the way.  It is a labor of love to me and something I feel I owe to our boat.  Fortunately, I have a wife who feels the same way. 

The one thing you absolutely should do right away is check to see if the prior owner has replaced the terrifying black plug engine harness that Catalina unwisely installed on this boat.  If so, immediately get the replacement from Seaward and take care of that problem waiting to happen.  There are probably more posts on this site about that issue than any other technical question. 

Best of luck and happy sailing!

I cleaned my Vetus cowls (and their bases) with Prism Polish and they look like new.  The only bad part is that they now make the rest of the boat look dirty!

FYI, the cost for a new rudder is $2221 plus shipping, as quoted to me by Catalina yesterday.     I was told it would be $100 more expensive (plus another leg of shipping) to send them my old rudder and rudderpost because of the labor involved in stripping off the old rudder.  So, sorry to say that the $1500 price quoted at various places in the forum is out of date.   

I had the same problem last year, although I am a little embarrassed to admit the cause.  We forgot to drain the water heater the previous winter and the water in the reservoir tank leaked out into the bilge over time and froze.  We already knew we had a leak in the water heater and had planned to replace it in the spring so it was no big deal.  This may not be your problem if you are sure that you drained the water heated and/or know that your water heater is intact.  Our boat is a 1989 so I would not be surprised if an original water heater in a 1990 boat had rusted out from the bottom, which was the case with us. 

We also are on Lake Michigan - McKinley Marina in Milwaukee.  I saw a fleet of 420s out on the water yesterday so sailing finally is beginning return to the Upper Midwest at last. 

I completely agree about Prism Polish, although I have to admit that it gave me a big shock last weekend.  I got bored polishing the stern rail and decided to try and shine up the silver engine panel, which I have thought for the past three years was made of aluminum.  Imagine my surprise when a few seconds of polishing revealed that the silver engine panel actually was black plastic when it left Woodland Hills some 20 years go.  That resulted in an hour of hard polishing to return one more small piece of our boat to pristine condition.   Looks great now and I got a good upper arm and shoulder workout as well. 

Related to this topic, anyone know how much line I need and what diameter for the E-Z glide system? 

We never use our stove so we bought a stove-top cover from Zarcor and placed the microwave on top of it.  A bungee-cord from the top of the stove, over the microwave oven, to the back of the stove keeps the microwave in place while we are underway.  That location opens up your choices of microwave ovens because the stovetop footprint is relatively big.  Just "food for thought."

We love our Zarcor stern perch seats for our 1989 C34 - it was the first purchase we made after we bought the boat and we couldn't be happier.  They also made a great mounting spot for Poly Planar cockpit speakers if you don't want to cut into the cockpit fiberglass.  Also, you get great sound from under the seats. 

Our boat is 1989 so we have the recessed track.  Guido said that they will bevel the corners of the cars so that they will slide on the track without having to raise the track.  As Stu said, they seem to know our boat very well. 

Thanks for passing that on, Stu - that is a pretty cool idea! 

Hmmm, not sure what you mean by the "stateroom" boards.  There is the access panel right over the prop shaft but that means clearing everything out of the aft cabin and contorting in half to get to the transmission fluid dipstick.  The side access from either the head or the aft cabin does not allow access to the transmission fluid dipstick, I don't believe. 

Really?  Your arms must be waaaaaay longer than mine.  Isn't the heat exchanger in the way? 

Has anyone modified the cabinet in the aft cabin on a Mark I boat to get better access to the rear portion of the engine?  I believe that this is a feature of the Mark II boats that I would like to see if I can add.  Getting to the transmission fluid dipstick is pretty difficult through the access panel.  I checked the projects file and did not see anything.  Thanks!   

FYI, with the benefit of this discussion, I called Garhauer and spoke to Guido in their technical department.  He said they will bevel the corners of the cars to mount on the recessed track.  Thanks to all who contributed on this topic - you just saved me at least a couple of hours of work and frustration.