Hello everyone,
Here is a link that will surely interest some C34 sailors:
It is about the 7-year voyage of the Catalina 34 MK1.5 "FINDUS" of a German crew (a married couple).
They sailed from Flensburg/Germany via the Baltic Sea, North Sea, English Channel, Biscay, Atlantic (Canary Islands and Cape Verde) to the Caribbean, then via the Panama Canal to the Pacific and crossed it vie the south pacific islands to New Zealand and then to Australia.
Then, after 7 years on board, the Corona problems stopped her voyage.
Unfortunately, the page is no longer updated.
https://www.syfindus.de/?page_id=9
it's a bit tedious to read the diary in the archive (its in german, but whit google translator it es possible to read for not german speaking but interesting men) because you have to read it "back to front".
Holger
Fantastic! I plan on sailing mine from Vancouver Canada to Mexico and back thru Hawaii. Fingers crossed I make it happen! :clap :D
Holger: Very interesting, and thanks for passing this on. We are planning on a trip south and west from the PNW in Summer/Fall 2024, intending to go down to New Zealand and back. I love my C34, but have questioned her suitability for that trip. Reinhard and his wife, with proper planning and equipment, crossed both the Atlantic and Pacific in their Mark 1.5--a wing keel model too.
I keep thinking there isn't enough storage, but they found enough room for a piano, other musical instruments, a bunch of stuffed animals, and a water maker too! Wow.
Nice to see their Hydrovane set-up, and interesting decision to go with a Solent rig up front.
I also keep thinking that the boat is a little light, but the Travelift operator during my haul out a few weeks ago said I was "15,000" pounds. This is while fairly unloaded. I have removed the marine head, holding tank, and aft water tank, and had about a half tank of fuel at the time.
Maybe we will take her.
I've thought long and hard about this since doing a double Biscay crossing earlier this year. The lack of fuel and water storage isn't easy. We carried an extra 80 litres of fuel on deck and an extra 100 litres of water under the dinette seats. Had we continued with our plan to cross the Atlantic, I'd definitely have taken a portable water generator and Honda genset.
You'll need to strengthen the table pillar because that's where you'll be doing your sleeping. Ours broke when I fell into bed in a swell.
A solent stay would be really useful, but problematic to fit and there in't much spare room for sails. A mast-mounted whisker pole and in-boom furling was a huge bonus.
Our Mk II coped well with some 4-5m swells but my biggest worry was the strain on the steering gear going downwind. There was quite a bit of stretch on the cable by the time we arrived in Spain after 5.5 days. A windvane with its own rudder would be really good. Failing that, a ram type autopilot.
Solar panels are essential because you can't carry enough fuel to charge the batteries by engine alone. In practice, this means you need a bimini.
Stowing the packed dinghy on the foredeck was a real PITA. But, on a Cat, there's not much choice.