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Thanks all, I will try these suggestions and post the results.  I guess I am not that hopeful, but think it's worth a try.

I have started stripping my cabin sole and have found that the wood is stained black (picture below).  Any thoughts about how I can clean these stains?  The holly portion is particularly discolored.  I have been using starbright teak cleaner on other teak in the boat but I am worried about rinsing such a thin piece of wood with water (required for the starbright).  The back of the boards are also very black.

Ok, well I am glad to know that I am not alone in my struggles.  I really thought there was something I was missing but it sounds like it is just a pain in the arse.  I will go at it again this weekend with whatever wedging, cramming, rolling tools I can find.  If all else fails I will cut the arrow and rely on the sealant.  I think that when I get the gaskets and orings replaced the boat will be a lot drier.  This is my first winter with the boat, but I have about 10 inches of ice in the bilge right now.  I didn't expect to get that much water down there, so I had just put a little antifreeze in the bilge for the residual water that was down there in the fall.  Not nearly enough.  Ice prevetned the float switch from operating for the bilge pump.   Not a good start for me.  I think I will put a tarp over the boom to keep as much water out as I can until I get it under control.  After the gaskets I am going through the other water in the bilge checklists I found on this site. I am so glad I bought a C34 by the way.  The boat is great, but this site is truly extraordinary for the do it your self sailor.  I never feel alone when having problems, I just think to myself "I wonder what Stu would say about this."  I think we should have C34.org T shirts with the slogan "What would Stu do?" 

So I ordered six new portlight gaskets from lewmar after reading the informative posts on this website about leaking portlights.  The  ports have been leaking pretty badly.  The water runs down the teak rail under the ports and ends up on the chart table causing all kinds of problems.  I thought about just putting a potted mini evergreen tree under the end of the rail to catch the water thereby inventing hydronic portlights.  But instead I decided to try to replace the gaskets.  I took the old gasket off and cleaned off the old sealant residue from the port.   I made sure I had the correct size gasket.  I can get the "arrow" of the gasket into the top and bottom of the portlight.  But for the life of me, I cannot get it into the corners of the portlight!   It is like the groove is too thin or something.  After about an hour, I gave up.  It was very frustrating, like prom night all over again.  I then tried to put the old gasket back in and had the same problem (confirming that the problem is me not the equipment).  The directions mention a "blunt plastic object" or "roller" as making the job "easier."  Any thoughts from someone that has done this before? 

Joe,

I ended up going with your setup, it just looks too good resist.  I ordered it tonight, will install soon and post a picture.

Thanks,

Sean

That is interesting about the flags in use in Nelson's day.  It looks like they basically had flags numbered one through nine and a code book.  So flying the 2, 5 and 3 flags meant "England" in 1805, but only by virtue of the code book.  I guess they would also change the code book sometimes.  It is different from the international system for which there is a fixed letter for every flag.   Anybody no where I can get a set of Popham's or perhaps Howe's signal flags?  It would be nice to fly the famout signal on Trafalgar day (as they do from the Victory in England) although I imagine absolutely no one in the harbor would have any idea what the hell you were doing.

Anybody seen the CLR laminate floor?  It looks pretty nice in the pictures.  Not cheap, but sounds like it is comparable to a new teak and holly floor.  After winterizing the boat this weekend and having antifreeze all over the floorboards from the hot water heater (don't ask) the thought of a synthetic floor is appealing.

I guess that is obvious enough.    I called Catalina and they referred me to a company called H&L marine who makes the teak and holly sole for catalina.  Apparantly H&L provides a certain cut to Catalina for the 34 and then Catalina does a final cut to fit.  So there is no ordering floorboards from anyone that are ready to go into the boat. The woman at H&L was very nice.  She told me they use "conversion" varnish when they do the varnish for catalina in case that is useful to anyone.  Anyone had a new teak and holly sole cut in the Connecticut New England area with good results?

I am looking to replace at least part of the cabin sole on my 1988 Catalina 34.  I was talking to my yard guy and he says that he once restored a 36 and was able to order all of the cabin sole pieces from Catalina.  He says he got them really quickly and believed that Catalina had them laying around (or can cut them quickly).  Any truth to this? 

It is cool to see so many options.  Gtrbone, is that the edson pod on the arm?  The teak one is cool too.  Thanks so much for the pictures.  I did a little more research on the options.  I can't believe the edson pod costs 150 blucks for a 5x5 piece of plastic, but I guess that's boating for you.

Thank you both for your thoughtful suggestions.  I have a 6000 control head with 3.5 inch round base.  Fabricating something might be my best bet too.  I had originally thought of installing in the fibreglass next to the engine instruments.  I even bought the hole saw.  But I just couldn't cut the hole (particularly before the thing was calibrated and I was sure I liked it).  It does make sense to have it there so you can use it while singlehanding (which is why I bought it).

I am almost finished installing a Raymarine S1 Autopilot and found the posts on this site invaluable particularly with respect to the rudder position sensor which gave me a lot of trouble.  The only thing I have left to do is to install the control unit in some suitable place on the pedestal/ above the wheel.  I was hoping to install it in some way that I could swivel it back and forth between facing aft and forward.  But I would also be happy with some kind of pod facing aft but can't seem to find one.