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Fellow Catalina 34 owners.  My current head sail just had it's 30th patch put on.  It looks like a traveling hobo quilt.  I was wondering if anyone has a used Genoa they may want to sell.  I have a roller furling so I would need it to have a sun cover.  My boat is a STD rig.  Many Many Thanks  . Peter 2005 34 Mk II

Team 34,

I know this question has come up before but technology and methods change so I wanted to be on the leading edge.  My Tach is not working and my battery is not charging so I am guessing my alternator needs replacement. I do a lot of weekends to Catalina so I would like one that will easially charge my two 4 D's and my starting bank.  My original alternator took forever.   I of course would like to do this on a budget and was wondering was the best way would be for me to purchase something that would not cost me an arm and a leg.  I am handy, so if I have to do some work it's all good.  I am also looking to replace the original Equip stock battery charger that I use when I am at the dock. My starting batter is an AMG and my house bank are lead acid 4d's so any recoemndations for that as well would be appreciated.

Peter Ellis
Ellis Island
2005 Catalina 34 MKII Hull 1772

My Fellow 34 Brother's and sisters. I come to you for help in a time of shear desperation. Two months ago a friend overheated the engine.  We noticed, the engine was losing coolant as we put food die in the coolant and it never ended up in the bilge. It was determined that it must be a leak in the heat exchange. I took it as a sign of issues to come and replaced every piece of the cooling system including both water pumps and hoses.  A month later the engine is back together but we were still losing coolant.  Turns out, my Exhaust manifold had a leak between the Coolant and the exhaust side and was blowing my Fresh water out the exhaust pipe.

So now two months sitting at the dock, the new manifold is on (hard to find part. I go to start the engine and nothing.  After an extensive look at all the systems I finally crack the hard fuel lines at the Injection pump and notice no fuel is coming out.   I have a friend turn the key to start the fuel lift pump and I bleed a full cup of Diesel using the bleed screw at the injector pump.  Based on this, I think I would be safe saying that fuel is getting to the injector pump.

My questions are :

Is the injector pump mechanical, or does is somehow rely on engine compression ? .
The engine was starting after the overheat and before we did all the work two months so why all of a sudden is It not working ?
Are there any things that I can adjust on the fuel injection pump ?

Any help would be appreciated

Peter Ellis
Ellis Island II
2005 Catalina MK II   Universal M35B

Fellow Catalina Owners - This weekend July 10th through the 12th is the annual Catalina Rendezvous. This is a great opportunity to meet Catalina owners of all boat sizes and hear about all things Catalina.  There are lectures, demo's food, adult beverages and lots of fun things to do.  There are already 7 Catalina 34 owners signed up. 

There is still room for more so tell all your Catalina owner friends  - I have pasted a link below to sign up :

http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001Favf57oVYXRjPx8kMKYlox7nBt7t4xcg1_LpBsMONFc9r3qVHMwUw1QHenyeh3dOw1n3lmcxTSKV6gBGRCLt7M0jwEMAaDebS3kT4kC3485fa_E9SOhYK9TDKZPWulj3gLxrtWVYC9er7OepGKktuGtHTgl3lNrxt02g3z2b6UzRaxnkZghieap8UeSWayneDaPpp9qHNkZKiyU2C3vlbTNZhwtJpFf4&c=eJAm5-LN0iAEN_DgTmM4PvRm9AUY-iK6ung6cZZQ-egiIh5uRmMYFw==&ch=8XqTlwXT2dKrnCJfAeUH584KGPks7znbn9nTImrwaedaLNAtZztlcA==

Fellow Catalina 34 owners. My Roller Furling Genoa is on it's last leg's.  I have a 2005 MKII with a standard rig on a Schaffer roller furling with a # 6 tape.  I am looking for a used roller furling Genoa of any size.  Any help would be appreciated.

Many Thanks and happy sailing :)

Another Year has passed, so I thought I would reach out once agin to My Catalina 34 Brothers and Sisters.

Fellow Catalina 34 Racers. I have a 2005 Catalina 34 std rig. I have been racing consistently in Los Angeles in Redondo Beach California  and seem to consistently come in last place each week. I have an experienced crew, a folding prop, a two year old Doyle cruising main and old NORTH Sail 3DL 155 Genoa that due to a run in with a spreader was shredded. Due to its age and fragility, it does not pay for us to put any more money into repairing it.

The winds in our area are light and average someplace between 6 to 8 Knots.  We are looking to purchase another used 155 racing sail preferably for a SDT rig, though we could cut down a tall rig version. We may also be interested in a used Racing main as ours is a cruising main. If you know of anyone with some used sails, we would appreciate if you could have them email me at peter.ellis@ngc.com

If you do not have any sails, I would be grateful for any recommendations for the types or cut of sails that may help us to go faster in light winds. Is a deck sweeper better thn a high clue sail for light winds ?.  Any insight if you know of any places to get any new sails at reasonable costs would help as well.

Thanks again and happy sailing!
Peter Ellis
Ellis Island II
Catalina 34 2005

Fellow Catalina 34 Racers. I have a 2005 Catalina 34 std rig. I have been racing consistently in Los Angeles in Redondo Beach California  and seem to consistently come in last place each week. I have an experienced crew, a folding prop, a two year old Doyle cruising main and old NORTH Sail 3DL 155 Genoa that due to a run in with a spreader was shredded. Due to its age and fragility, it does not pay for us to put any more money into repairing it.

The winds in our area are light and average someplace between 6 to 8 Knots.  We are looking to purchase another used 155 racing sail preferably for a SDT rig, though we could cut down a tall rig version. We may also be interested in a used Racing main as ours is a cruising main. If you know of anyone with some used sails, we would appreciate if you could have them email me at peter.ellis@ngc.com

If you do not have any sails, I would be grateful for any recommendations for the types or cut of sails that may help us to go faster in light winds. Is a deck sweeper better thn a high clue sail for light winds ?.  Any insight if you know of any places to get any new sails at reasonable costs would help as well.

Thanks again and happy sailing!
Peter Ellis Island II

Fellow Catalina 34 Racers. I have a 2005 Catalina 34 std rig. I have been racing consistently in Los Angeles in Redondo Beach California for two years with my boat and seem to consistently come in last place each week. I have an experienced crew, a folding prop, a two year old Doyle cruising main and old NORTH Sail 3DL 155 Genoa that we bought from Torin Knorr a couple of years ago. We got two great years out of that 155, but due to a run in with a spreader at the end of last season, it got shredded. Due to its age and fragility, it does not pay for us to put any more money into repairing it.

The winds in our area are light and average someplace between 6 to 8 Knots.  We are looking to purchase another used 155 racing sail preferably for a SDT rig, though we could cut down a tall rig version. We may also be interested in a used Racing main as ours is a cruising main. If you know of anyone with some used sails, we would appreciate if you could have them email me at peter.ellis@ngc.com

If you do not have any sails, I would be grateful for any recommendations for the types or cut of sails that may help us to go faster in light winds. Is a deck sweeper better thn a high clue sail for light winds ?.  Any insight if you know of any places to get any new sails at reasonable costs would help as well.

On the few days last year that we actually had winds in the 10 to 15 knot range, our boat did sail faster than many of the other boats in our PHRF B Class.

Thanks again and happy sailing!
Peter Ellis Island II

I live in souther California. I recently purchased a Catalina 34 MKII standard rig. I started club racing but my sails are shot and we finish last every week.

I am looking to purchase a good used performance  main with batons, a spinnaker and perhaps a 155 % Genoa. I sail out of Santmonica Bay and the wind on average is light.  Any help would be appreciated.
I can be reached at peter.ellis@ngc.com or via phone 310-376-8097.

Many Many Thanks

Peter

Fellow Cat 34 Owners,

So I finally got out for my first race on my Catalina 34 2005.  The local yacht club holds PHRF races each week, so we paid our five bucks and off to the races we went.  When we got to the starting line there many boats with crews dressed in brightly colored team outfits, big sails with lots of fancy stripes.  Theses guys looked like they had done this before.

The gun went off and we were racing. We did well at the start but soon faded off into the distant rear.  My small evil roller furling main sail was not match for the sea of Mylar/Kevlar/Tape sails that were passing us by.  Even the Cal 20's were beeting us. When we came around the first mark we managed to fly my old spinnaker from my Catalina 30 with no pole, 1 sheet and a few dock lines.  

An hour later the race was over and while we all had a great time, we rolled into the club dead last.  I decided that if I want to do better in the races, I think I would have to fly a traditional full baton main on my alternate non-furling sail track.

So my question to my fellow Catalina 34 owners is, what kind of sail will work the best to make my boat go fast ?.

My second question is, does anyone have any used performance main sails, big genoas or spinnakers that they may want to sell.  I sail out of Southern California and the average wind is about 6 to 8 knots.

Anything else you could recommend to help me go fast would be appreciated as well.

Many Thanks

Peter

Ellis ISland II
Hull 1722

Fellow Catalina 34 Owners.

The companionway on my Catalina 34 sticks and is very difficult to slide forward or back. Over the weekend I cleaned the surface that the companionway slides on. But it did not seem to help. I currently need to jiggle it from side to side to get it to slide in. Have you ever heard of this before, and do you have any recommendations on how to revolve it.

Many Thanks

Peter

Fellow Catalina 34 owners.

I finally sailed my recently purchased 2005 Catalina 34 home to its new birth and noticed that the rig made a strange creaking noises while under sail. Sounded like what you would hear in the movies, inside and old steel freighter. 

I have one of those in mast furlings and am not sure if that is part of the issue.  I never had a sound like this on my Catalina 30 or my Catalina 28.

Has any one else had this issue ?

Many Thanks

I know that at this point I have still not actually sailed my new boat, but in preparation for that first long sail to Catalina Island, I was pondering the future purchase of an auto-pilot.

I have seen on other boats Auto-pilots with the rings and pulley's attached to the wheels and I have also seen people who had the mechanism used to turn the wheel mounted below deck.   If possible I would like a Ray Marine display on the topside, but would like top have the mechinisims to turn the wheel mounted below the deck.

If anyone has done this, or if anyone knows of any great autopilots I would appreciate if you could share the model numbers and descriptions

Many Thanks

Peter

I just purchased a 2005 Catalina 34 and spent my first day and night (new years eve) on the boat. Unfortunately what I thought would be a great adventure turned out to be an uncomfortable stay.  Now I am having second thoughts and need your help.

First, thing I noticed when I brought my groceries in was that there was no real storage in the Ice Box to store anything of substance. I looked at a Catalina 32 and it had 3 ice boxes !.  I though, my boat is bigger it should have more storage. 

The next thing was the dinette table. I am not large, but I could barley squeeze in-between the tabletop and the cushions.  When it was bed time the frustration continued when I tried to convert the dinette table into a bed. I had to remove all the cushions from the settee (what a pain)  to  put the table down and that was only after I had to manhandle the table out of its base to remove the center pole that was rusted into its base. Surely their must be a better solution for this.

Once I had the dinette bed set up I moved towards the ¼ birth. The headroom was so low in there that there was barely enough room for my 5 year old. I am only 5-9 and I can not even put my knees up without hitting the ceiling. Again, not to harp on the 32, but the ¼ birth in the 32 seemed like the penthouse suite compared to the ¼ birth on the 34, and my previous boat a Catalina 28 also had more room.  Now I have to admit, I did notice this before I purchased the boat but it did not really hit me till I spent the night on the boat.

And last but not least the v-birth.  First, has anyone had issues with the mattress insert in the front of the V-birth falling to the floor? This happened to me a few time during the night. Another thing I noticed was that I was unable that unlike my Old Catalina 30 or my previous boat a Catalina 28, I was unable to sit up in the V-Birth and read with my back to the wall.

So... Having said all that, I know I have not actually sailed my boat with the exception of the Sea Trial, but on-board comfort is important too.  I just sold my Kidney's to purchase this boat, and what I would like to ask you fine Catalina 34 Owners is... What are some of the good points this fine boat that I may have not noticed in my day on the boat that puts this boat as a better choice over a Catalina 32 or 36.

Many Thanks

Peter