Topics

Just saw the news that President and Chief Executive Officer of Catalina Yachts, passed away November 15, 2020

https://www.catalinayachts.com/frank-w-butler/

[not]

Hi All,

I know this can be a controversial topic but hear me out.  Sometimes its helpful to know exactly where your anchor is and to let others know where your anchor is.  I'm aware that there can be issues with creating a marker using just a plain line and a bleach bottle (or similar).  Things like fouling another boats prop - or your own, having the tide rise and the float pulls out your anchor, etc. 

Our friend has invented a product Elastatether that solves these issues.  My son has been manufacturing the product for about a year and has recently taken ownership of the company and several improvements have been made.  I am associated to it but honestly we have used the Elastatether for 2 years on both our Catalina 34 and our Hunter 36 with great success.  It's basically a float on a giant elastic string that adjusts with the tide.  It is made to intentionally give way under strain like another boat running it over so as not to foul their prop.  Note this is not a trip line but it can help you determine where your anchor is to enable you to pull out the anchor in the opposite direction.

Please take a moment and check out the website to see how it works. http://elastatether.com/ and they are now available on Amazon.

I ran across an issue that I guess I never realized before.  You can't post pictures from your iphone or ipad to the forum.  You would need to get those pictures to your computer and then upload them which is rather inconvenient for me.  Usually on the boat I don't have my computer so I would have to wait to get home to do this.

I think there is a solution that would require an add in to the Simple Machines forum that is being used.  It's called Tapatalk.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapatalk
  With it you would use an app to see the forum.

Dave Sanner - Web Admin would need to add this.  Since I am a pretty infrequent user of the forum at this point, I thought I would get input from others on whether this is desirable before I go back to Dave to discuss.

Does anyone know of a fabricator willing to do a small job requiring bending and welding of stailess tubing for a small stainless item. Would love if they are local to the northeast or someone willing to ship.  Have tried googling and sending my design specs but so far most say they can't do it or the job is too small.
Thanks

I took the liberty of posting an article to the tech wiki about our experience installing flexible solar panels this summer on the bimini of our 1987 Mark 1.

Totally worth the money which has already paid for itself in saved transient slip fees. - Total cost $680.05

Of course it helps that I was able to do all the sewing modifications to the bimini which I had made myself during the winter of 2014.

http://c34.org/wikiwp/?rdp_we_resource=http%3A%2F%2Fc34.org%2Fwiki%2Findex.php%3Ftitle%3DFlexible_solar_panels

We just took off the original "oil can" type intake.  Before I toss it does anyone want it?  You pay only shipping.   

As part of the new website, I have redone the tech notes section to fit into the new design of the site.  This redesign will make it much easier for us to update the website with the quarterly articles from Mainsheet magazine.

I kept the navigation to the articles similar to the way it was before - by year and then issue and then by article.

As a reminder, these tech notes are only available to members of the C34 International association and you will be prompted for security credentials to access this.  When you join the association, you are sent a note with the Username and password to use for this.  These are still the same.  These are not the same credentials used for the message board.

However, this is now slightly different than it was before as described here.

- Issues prior to 2010 are only available in PDF or in some cases .doc format and will prompt you for the username and password
- Issues from 2010 forward are available in both PDF and html format.
     - For PDF you will be prompted you for the username and password
     - For HTML you will only be prompted for a password - This is the same password used for the PDF documents and the same as the one that was sent to you when you joined.

Here is a link to the new format.

http://c34.org/tech-noteswp/

Please respond to this post if you have any questions or issues.

I was cleaning out a few items from the boat with plans to sell on eBay and ran across this.  I assume it is something to feed a bolt rope or guide a line through but does anyone know what it's called?  This may not be from the Catalina 34 - could be from a Catalina 34 or from our daysailer.

Thanks,

After several months of work in between sailing excursions, we are ready to launch a newly redesigned C34.org website.  The new site will be made live this evening so check back tomorrow to see how it looks.  During this time, the forum should work fine but the main site c34.org may be unavailable during the implementation.

This effort is based on feedback from many of you and work done by myself and a committee including Rick Allen, Stu Jackson, Dave Sanner and some help from Jack Hutteball.  Our goal was primarily to bring the site into some updated technology and make it easier to use and update including better visibility on mobile devices. 

We will provide more info highlighting some of the changes after the launch.

After some great cruising experiences, we have decided to sell our boat with plans to move on to something a bit newer.  We have done LOTS of upgrades and critical maintenance items over the last 5 years thanks to those of you on this forum.  "Summer Rush" is ready for immediate cruising.

I have put some details on the marketplace here.

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,9166.msg66809.html#msg66809

And have created a website for the boat with lots of photos.

http://summerrush34.blogspot.com/

Let me know if you are interested in looking!

[Summer Rush]

Summer Rush - For Sale by Owner

1987 Catalina 34 Tall Rig – Fin Keel

Photos and details here.
http://summerrush34.blogspot.com/

Engines

Engine Brand: Universal
Engine Model: M25
Engine Type: Inboard
Engine/Fuel Type: Diesel
Drive Type: Direct Drive
Engine Power: 21 HP
Engine Hours: Unknown
Propeller: Folding propeller
Cruising Speed: 6 knots
Maximum Speed: 6 knots

Tanks
•   Fuel: 23 gallon, Aluminum
•   Fresh Water: rear tank, 43 gallons
•   Fresh Water: forward tank, 28 gallons – Water tank manifold new 2016
•   Waste:27 gallons (New 2012 with all new plumbing)
•   Cooking: CNG tank for galley stove/oven – two bottles

SAILS & RIGGING

•   Keel Stepped Mast
•   North Sails Fully Battened Mainsail , two reef points– (serviced 2016)
•   Genoa, Horizon 130% Furling Headsail – (New 2011, serviced 2016)
•   Spinnaker  - O'Neil Asymmetrical spinnaker w/Sock
•   Sunbrella Mainsail Cover – (New 2013)
•   Halyards (Jib and Spinnaker replaced 2011, Main halyard - 2016)
•   Mainsheet (replaced- 2014)
•   Hydraulic backstay adjuster
•   Garhauer Traveler – (New 2016)
•   Line control adjustable jib cars
•   Outer manual adjustable fairlead cars for spinnaker
•   Line control spinnaker pole w/deck chocks
•   Line control boom vang
•   Two, Self tailing Lewmar #46 Primary Winches
•   Two, Self tailing Lewmar #30 halyard winches on cabin top
•   Control lines are lead aft to the cabin top with clutches and self tailing winches


ON DECK
•   35lb Claw anchor
•   Anchor Rode – 35 ft chain + 200 ft nylon 8-plait braid– (New 2013)
•   Simpson Lawrence Manual windlass with chain gypsy and winch drum
•   Sunbrella Cockpit Dodger – (New 2012)
•   Helmsman cockpit cushion – (foam replaced 2013)
•   Strapless Sunbrella Bimini Top & Connector Panel (New 2015)
•   Magma rail mounted BBQ
•   Sheet bags – (New 2012)
•   Custom Mahogany Cockpit dining table with fold out leaves – (New 2016)
•   Double lifelines – (New 2014)
•   All exterior teak refinished annually
•   Stern mounted swim ladder
•   Bow and Stern pulpits
•   Wheel steering
•   Dock lines
•   Fabric covered fenders
•   Outboard Motor Bracket



HULL & MECHANICAL

•   Universal diesel engine model M-25 rated at 21hp@3200rpm
•   PSS Shaft Seal – (New 2011)
•   Stainless Steel Shaft – (New 2011)
•   Cutlass Bearing – (New 2011)
•   Oberdorfer Water Pump – (New 2016)
•   Max Prop, 2 blade folding prop
•   Macerator pump
•   Heat Exchanger – (New 2011)
•   Oil Pan – (New 2011)
•   Federal flexible shaft coupling – (New 2014)
•   Hurth ZF10 transmission – (New 2016)
•   Chainplates (rebedded 2012)
•   Cowl air vents – (New trim rings, rebedded, dorads repainted and rebedded – 2011)
•   Vetus K75 Motor mounts - (New 2014)
•   Coolant pump (new 2012)



ELECTRONICS / NAVIGATIONS

•   Full circuit breaker protected, DC panel and separate AC panel at nav. station
•   Balmar SmartGauge Battery Monitoring System – (New 2014)
•   Garmin Chart Plotter – 541S with Depth Sounder – (New 2011)
•   460 amp hour battery bank (4 x 6-volt)– (New 2015)
•   Battery Charger - Charles -  30 Amp Battery Charger – (New 2010)
•   Shore power connection with 50 foot power cord
•   iCom IC-M504 VHF radio (2011) with remote mic in cockpit (New 2013)
•   2 – 100W flexible solar panels – sewn to bimini – (New 2016)
•   Victron MPPT solar controller – (New 2016)
•   Raymarine 3000 Autopilot
•   Metz masthead mount antenna for VHF
•   Windex 15 masthead wind indicator
•   Richie Binnacle mount compass (reconditioned 2013)
•   Standard Horizon SD1 Speed indicator -  thru hull transducer replaced 2012
•   Standard Horizon DS1 depth sounder – thru hull transducer replaced 2012
•   12V / dual USB outlet in cabin (New 2015)
•   GFCI outlets throughout (2016)

HEAD / SHOWER FACILITIES
•   Corian Countertop in Head – (New 2009)
•   New Head, plumbing and holding tank – (New 2012)
•   Head sink setup to flush fresh water through head (New 2012)
•   Sink spout doubles as shower with floor drain and pump


GALLEY
•   Gimbaled 2 burner CNG stove with 1.5CF oven – Two CNG bottles
•   Pot holders for cooking underway
•   Galley Countertop – (New 2012)
•   Improved double sink drain upgrade (New 2012)
•   Alder Barbour 12V refrigeration
•   Pressure water pump – (New 2011)
•   Seaward 6 gallon Hot Water Heater – Electric and engine exchange heated– (New 2011)
•   Electric pump for icebox/refrigeration drain

CABIN
•   New cabin cushions– (New 2013)
•   Custom memory foam mattresses in vberth and aft cabin – (New 2013)
•   All LED interior lights – (New 2014)
•   Teak and Holly floors – (refinished 2011)
•   Curtains – (custom made 2016)
•   Beckson Opening port screens and seals – (New 2013)


ADDITIONAL / SAFETY
•   4 fire extinguishers
•   Electric and manual bilge pumps
•   Smoke alarm/CO2 detector
•   Lifesling with custom Sunbrella cover
•   Boat hook
•   3 Throwable PFD
•   Fairclough full length winter cover and frame– (New 2012 – repairs and modifications done in 2016)



All critical upgrades as noted by the Catalina 34 owners association have been done.

All interior teak oiled annually

Bottom paint: epoxy barrier coated under e-paint (applied 2016)

On our 1987 MK1 boat we have the original (we believe) Hurth HWB 50 transmission which seems to be failing in forward.  We had all the seals replaced 2 years ago after some leaking but now the boat will not hold the forward gear.  We have gone through the diagnosis of the issue by removing the cables and shifting manually but to no avail.  At this point we are ready to invest in a new transmission.  My husband spoke to someone at Foley Engines who indicated that we needed to know the gear ratio off the plate on the transmission.  There is no visible plate with any info we can see/get to.  We don't have the original manual that might have contained this info. either though our research suggests it is 2:1. 

Can anyone confirm this before we go ahead and try to order this today in hopes of getting off the dock this summer.

I have the original 2 burner Seaward CNG gimbaled stove/oven on my 1987 boat.  The top burner grates are starting to look bad (little rusty and peeling finish).  I am wondering if these can be painted?  or do I need to replace them.

I'm working with Stu Jackson, Rick Allen and Dave Sanner on some redesign work for the C34.org website which will allow the site to be maintained in an easier way and to improve the way you access the information. We would like to get more opinions on what is valuable or not on the site today and how you use it.  Please take a minute to respond to this 10 question survey.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/D5TD253

The bottom part of our icebox is getting filled with salt water from the drain opening.  This seems to be coming from the through hull being open.  We have an electric pump installed by the PO to drain the ice box.  How can we stop the salt water from coming in when we want to leave the through hull open to use the sink?  We always thought this was fresh water resulting from the ice building up on the refrigeration but we left the fridge off and drained it out and there was still water entering.  Then we realized that it was salt water.

Also, when this water accumulates (about 3-4 inches) there is water draining from somewhere under the starboard side of the ice box down into the bilge.  Is this some hose clamp loose that we can't see or could there be something with a crack in it leaking?

Just thought I would share my off season activity this year.  One of our dockmates with a C34 had an old sail and gave it to me to experiment with some sewing projects.  I though you all would like to see what can become of those old blown out sails. 

I also made a large duffle bag with the sail numbers on the sides and a large toiletry bag (my experimental piece).  I still have a lot of sail material left.  When you start to cut these sails apart you realize how large they really are.

This took me about 6 hours to put together so NO I am not offering to make them for anyone with an old sail.

Sue

In my 1987 MK1 I have a 2 burner CNG stove/oven combo which I assume is original to the boat.  I would like to get pot clamps that clamp on to the stove top and then tighten around the pot so I can cook/make coffee while underway without holding the pot.  I do gimbal the oven which is great but sometimes when it's choppy, the pot wants to jump around to stove top.

I looked at my stove/oven and can't seem to find any markings indicating brand or model number so I can order these.  I assume it is Seaward from other comments here but any idea what model or where I can look for the model number.

Also anyone have a good source for parts like this?

Thanks

In putting up our sails last weekend, we dropped the part that holds the clew of the sail to the outhaul car on the boom.  Of course it went overboard and is now at the bottom of Long Island Sound.  I'm not even 100% sure what this part looks like to get a new one.  I think it's some type of flat shackle but not sure.  We looked at West Marine but nothing even close to what my husband thinks it was.  Also lots of great info on the inner workings of the outhaul on the site and in the manual but I can't seem to find a  picture of this or description anywhere. 

Is there anyone with an MK1 that could snap a picture of this part and post it and/or can tell me what to look for size, description.

Thanks,
Sue

Our boat is still on the hard until next week.  While painting the bottom we noticed a nylon washer between the rudder and the bottom that we thought previously was attached to the bottom and now seems to be resting on the rudder.  (see photo) I'm wondering if this washer should be attached or not or whether it's just free floating and whether the spacing between the rudder and the bottom should be tighter and if so how do we adjust that?  I don't recall having any vertical play in the rudder last season.  

Note - I did read Ron's tech note from 1992 on adjusting with an additional gasket from the top of the rudder post but I don't know that that applies here.  

Thanks

[Evernote]

After trying out several methods for keeping all of our maintenance logs, manuals, part number, serial numbers etc. organized I think we have finally landed on something that works for us.  We tried paper notebooks and binders, Word Docs, Google Docs, spreadsheets and apps like Boating Suite but they all had their limitations. 

- Notebooks and binders being physical are never with you when you need them (like at WM) or they're on the boat when you want to research something at home
- Word Docs and Google docs are somewhat difficult to add pictures to and you can't put an existing PDF manual with them
- Spreadsheets - Difficult to add photos and no PDF support
- Boating suite App - has some good features but you are limited to the attributes they define for each area which may not be exactly what you want to keep.  There is also no way to work on entries from your computer - its IOS only.  The free version does not offer all the features.

This summer I started using Evernote and so far it is giving me everything we need.  I have long been an Evernote user for work but hadn't thought about how it might be helpful for the boat.  Evernote is a very simple cloud based notebook metaphor.  It's free and provides a desktop, web based, iPad, iPhone and Android versions as well as a web clipper add on to Chrome.

www.evernote.com

Some of the features:
- Since it's cloud based, all of your notes are available all the time on all your devices so a note I make on my computer is immediately available on my phone so it's always with you.
- Can have an email address specific to your Evernote account that you can forward emails to and they will automatically sync to your Evernote notebook.
- The web clipper allows you to clip a link, full web page or PDF to your notebook from any web page you are looking at
- Fully searchable
- Can share notes and notebooks with others


What I have done so far with Evernote:
- Created a single notebook for our boat (Summer Rush)
- Saved all the manuals available online for the boat, engine, electronics, etc. in PDF format to my Summer Rush notebook
- Created a note for logging all the parts and pieces including brands, model numbers, price, size, when it was updated or replaced and any notes associated
- Pictures - when I see a picture online or snap a picture with my phone related to the boat I can either email it to my Evernote account or clip it with the web clipper.
- Web pages - Instead of bookmarking a web page, I clip it to my Evernote account so I can easily reference it.  I can then make notes to go with it making it easier to search
- Shopping - when I am shopping for something online, I can snap pictures of the website page with the price so I can refer to it while at the store - great for price matching at West Marine.
- Checklists - I can create checklists for things like commissioning, decommissioning and sail ready that I can easily reference to make sure everything got done.

Some things I haven't done yet but plan to:
- Reminders - You can set reminders with due dates and emails sent to remind us of various maintenance tasks

I highly recommend Evernote to my fellow sailors.

Sue

I was about to make one of the other paper towel holders that others have designed on the forum when my son suggested the idea of going vertical.

It used a lot less wood and a simpler construction method so we came up with this.  It's made from mahogany and I used teak oil to match the rest of the teak fiddles. It also takes up very little space and can be reached from both sides.

I just refinished all my exterior teak with Cetol - I took some pieces off and left some on and taped.  I'm happy with the results but I have one question. 

I took off the trim pieces on the aft lazarette and the piece where the cabin sliding top handle is.  These were just mounted with screws from the inside into the teak.  I spent a lot of time cleaning up whatever was used to bed these on previously.

Now I need to remount these parts and I am unclear even after searching through the site on the best way to handle these specific parts.  I understand that a different approach might be used for the handrails along the cabin top but I did not remove those.

Do I use butyl tape here?  If so, just around the screw area or along the whole piece of teak?  Or do I use something else to seal out the water from the screw holes?

Thanks

I have taken the advice of others on the forum and I am upgrading to some LED fixtures. I went with the Dr. LED John. I found the best price surprisingly at West Marine(even less than Defender).

Now I have the old fixtures. The square ones with a switch on both sides if anyone wants them. Just pay shipping and they are yours.

I replaced the older florescent light in our head which failed with an LED fixture that I picked up rather inexpensively at a local RV shop.  So far I am very happy with it.  Now I am considering replacing the 4 original plastic rectangular fixtures in the main salon with these.  So much less expensive than any similar marine version I am seeing.  I don't care much about warm light versus cold light, I just want something bright enough to read by.  These are similar size to the original fixtures.  Any reason for concern on these?

http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Stars-F3528001-Fixture-Natural/dp/B00CZCY5SE/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

I've seen lots of discussion on where to store your dingy but I haven't seen anything specific to storing the oars.  We store our dingy in front of the mast upside down and remove the oars so they don't scratch the deck or fall off during the process or getting the dinghy onto the deck.  Taking them apart is not a great option to store them in one of the smaller lockers since they are somewhat difficult to take apart (that little button to release the 2 halves is hard to press.  Does anyone have a good place they put the oars when the dinghy is out of the water?

Our marina had a tag sale a few weeks ago and someone was selling a Lifesling for $5. I couldn't resist the bargain however the bag had seen better days. When I went to price a new bag they made my bargain seem like no bargain and from what I read, they only last a few years. Since I've had some recent success doing my own canvas work, I decided to make my own from Sunbrella. I modeled the new bag after the old one but since I had control of the details, I decided upon my husband's suggestion to customize it a bit.

We were looking for a place to store the little propane tanks for the Magma grill we also picked up used so I sewed on some pouches to each side of the bag with Velcro flaps to cover the tops and added a grommet to the bottom of each pouch to allow for drainage.   So far so good and I think it looks pretty good. Here's a photo from the back side.


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Just got our boat this fall and it is missing the pin that would hold the tack point of the sail to the goose neck. This is a 1987 Tall Rig.  I was able to get the specs on the pin from Gerry Douglas at Catalina but he does not describe the type of pin that it is. He stated that the factory supplied tack pin for the mainsail is 1-3/4" long x 5/16" dia.

Is this just a clevis pin?  If so is it secured with a cotter pin or something else?  Any chance someone with their boat in the water could take a photo of it for me?

Thanks,

We just purchased our boat in October and have of course a list of things to do to make the boat "our own". One of the areas that I have been curious about is the open area under the stove.  This seems like a space I might want to store some awkward things like a pot or pan with a handle but I am concerned it will fly out when sailing. I saw an older mainsheet article with a photo of a drawer front put in front of that area but there was no info about securing it or size. Has anyone done his or any other ideas for this space that might help. Perhaps some photos.