Topics

Stu,
After 12 wonderful years sailing our 1990 C-34 Pleiades throughout New England waters - from Maine to NY - I am now 84 and Nancy is 73.  After much back-and-forth discussion we finally decided rather than sell our beloved C-34 we will give her to our son and daughter-in-law and their three boys ages 10, 7 and 5.  They live in Petosky, MI.   Since he is a master shipwright at Irish Boat Shop in Harbor Springs, MI, Andrew certainly should be more than capable of maintaining her in excellent condition.  Hopefully, she will provide them with many years of wonderful sailing, a wide range of adventures, and memories to last five lifetimes.

I have a current subscription to Mainsheet that I believe extends through 2025.  Please contact me at pfjacobs@verizon.net so I can forward Andrew's name, and mailing address, so you can transfer my Mainsheet subscription to him.  As new owners of a lovely C-34 I am sure they will very much enjoy reading the magazine.

Nancy and I decided that while we love sailing too much to quit altogether, at our ages it was important to "downsize".  Thus, a good friend and former partner in our C-30 "Clair de Lune" and Nancy and I collectively purchased a  classic 1964 Graves Constellation (29 ft. 5 in LOA, 8 ft. beam, 4.5 ft. draft, 6000 lb. displacement) that was in fundamentally sound condition but needed considerable cosmetic attention.  We are about 1.5 years into her restoration and hope to be sailing her on Narragansett Bay this coming summer. 

For the third time in the past four years our engine is overheating.  I will check the water pump impeller, but I suspect it is fine.  The past two events were the result of sea grass clogging the sea water engine inlet.  On Pleiades there are three through hulls almost in an athwartships line: (1) The engine inlet, (2) the head sink outlet, and (3) the head inlet. All three thru hull inlets are relatively small (1/2" diameter ???) and are even somewhat smaller due to the build-up of bottom paint on the insides of the thru hull. Thus, they can readily become clogged with sea grass.  I removed the in-line water filter and found a wad of sea grass, which I cleared out, but the engine still overheated afterward.

Pleiades is still in the water.  I am thinking that I might: (a) close the raw water inlet sea cock, (b) remove the hose from  the (upper) water filter end, (c) hold the upper end of the hose ABOVE the water line, (d) open the sea cock, (e) push a thin rod down the inside of the hose to push accumulated sea grass out, (f) check that the opening is clear by gradually lowering the upper end of the hose until it is just below the waterline and assuring that water indeed streams in, (g) once clear, re-connect the upper end of the hose to the water filter.

Has anyone else ever done this?  Did it work?  The previous two times a dear friend - who is much younger than I - kindly held his breath, swam under the hull, and poked a screwdriver into the raw water thru-hull and voila, a wad of sea grass came out, and the engine ran fine.  Unfortunately, he is no longer available, and at 83 I cannot swim under the hull and hold my breath long enough to clear any blockage.

Finally, about 4 years ago I read an article that indicated that when microscopic organisms in saltwater die, they emit nasty odors.  Previously, we used saltwater to flush Pleiades head.  Since then, we use fresh water, and the head has worked perfectly and smells better.  The sea cock for the head inlet has been closed for four years!  I am thinking that over the winter I will re-plumb this hose to a "Y" diverter valve in the head locker. When - not if - the raw water engine inlet eventually gets clogged again, I would then be able to simply switch the diverter valve to provide raw water for the engine.  I could then disconnect one hose and repeat the process noted above to clear the clog.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

Dr. Paul F. Jacobs
Pleiades
1990 C-34 MK1.5 #1068
Wickford, RI

There is a chance a friend any I will be sailing a 1964 Graves Constellation (29.5 ft LOA, 20.5 ft LWL) that is in sound condition, down the Hudson River, around the Battery, up the East River, through Hell's Gate, and on into Long Island Sound, and thence to Rhode Island, in late April. 

Has anyone on this forum ever done something like that?  Evidently, there is a 3-hour delay between flood tide at the Battery and flood tide at Hell's Gate. How did you time it?  How bad was transiting through Hell's Gate?  Did you encounter much traffic in the narrow portion of the East River between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island?  Notwithstanding the "usual" convention of passing "port-to-port", I understand this is not always true in the East River.  What was your experience?  Obviously, one wants to travel with a favorable flood tide current, but this can sometimes lead to steering issues if the current is very strong (viz. 4-5 knots).  Did you experience any steering issues?

Paul Jacobs
Pleiades
1990 MK 1.5 # 1068
TR, FK
Wickford, RI

Does anyone have a source for mast wedges?  Now that Pleiades mast is on sawhorses prior to getting all new standing rigging installed, I realized that when the mast goes back in she will need mast wedges.

Because the mast boot was already in place when we bought her, and I did not want to disturb it, I made up some prior mast wedges from a few Douglas Fir 2x4's, which I then pounded into place "upward", from below.  Not the best.  After beating in big seas, all the wooden wedges would come loose, and now and then one or two of them would actually fall onto the salon table.

This time I plan to use a mallet to pound the wedges downward from above BEFORE installing the mast boot.  Ideally I would like to use rubber wedges with a small "lip" fitting just over the partner flange so the wedges would not be able to wiggle loose.  Does anyone know a source for rubber mast wedges?  Failing that I will make new ones, hopefully out of white oak so they will not rot in place.

Paul Jacobs
Pleiades
1990 MK 1.5 No. 1068
Wickford, RI

I decided to have a rigger check my standing rigging.  The boat is 31 years old and I have zero history as to when, if ever, the standing rigging was replaced by either of the prior owners.  So, I decided to call N.E. Yacht Rigging and have them check everything - upper & lower shrouds, headstay, backstay, swage fittings, turnbuckles, etc.  Sadly, they quickly (10 minutes?) found four very small "microcracks" in the port forward lower, starboard upper, starboard aft lower, and port split backstay. 

From the style of swage fittings and turnbuckles the rigger noted that they looked as if they were all original, hence 31 years old!  Since riggers strongly recommend replacing standing rigging when it is 15 years old, he said "not only have you been living on borrowed time, your borrowed time is living on borrowed time".

Interestingly, if one were to casually look at Pleiades standing rigging one might conclude all is well.  There are zero fish-hooks.  There is almost no rust.  Everything "looks" O.K.  However, with a modest optical power magnifying glass the rigger showed me each of the four very tiny swage cracks and I was appalled that I had never noticed them.   Since all the standing rigging is of the same vintage, one must conclude they are ALL nearing the end of useful life.

Has anyone else on this forum recently replaced their standing rigging?  I know that I will need to un-step the mast and later re-step it which is about $700.  Then there is about 100' of 5/16" diameter 316 stainless 7x19 wire for the S&P uppers, and about 230' of 1/4" diameter 316 stainless 7x19 wire for the S&P forward & aft lowers, the headstay and the split backstay, 22 swage fittings, a split backstay bracket, and 9 new turnbuckles, plus labor to remove all the old standing rigging, swage the new rigging, re-install the new rigging, re-step the mast, and finally tune the rig.

Has anyone done this recently?  I have not yet received an estimate, and am curious as to how deep a hit this will be to my wallet.

Paul Jacobs
Pleiades
1990 MK1.5 No. 1068
TR/FK
Wickford, RI

PLEIADES is a lovely 1990 MK 1.5 with many "bells and whistles", but she does NOT have a windlass.  I have been thinking about installing a windlass for some time, as I will soon be 83 and weighing anchor (25 lb. Mantus, 50 ft. of 5/16" chain, and 200 ft. of 5/8"nylon tri-braid) gets more "exciting" with each passing year.  We recently were anchored in about 20 ft. of water in Mackerel Cove just off Conanicut Island.  The Mantus had dug into the sand/mud bottom very deeply, and even using the engine it took much thrust to finally break the anchor free.  By the time I hauled up the chain and anchor, and slowly powered through the water to wash the mud off the anchor, while holding it with one hand I was huffing and puffing quite a lot.

Have any members on this forum installed a windlass on their C-34?  I have been looking at the Maxwell low profile vertical  chain and rope model.  I have five questions:

1.  Can one fit the windlass in the anchor locker but BELOW deck so it is not a "toe-stubber"?
2.  Does the motor also fit in the anchor locker, or must it go just aft?
3.  How did you route the wiring, what gauge wire did you use, and where did you install a circuit breaker?
4.  Did you install an "up / down" switch, and is it hand operated or foot operated?
5.  Is this a DIY job, or if done by a yard, how much was the installation?

Dr. Paul F. Jacobs
Pleiades
1990 MK 1.5 #1068, TR/FK
Wickford, RI

I want to know if anyone on this forum has installed in-the-boom furling, and if so which system did you select, and after using it, what do you consider to be its plusses and minuses?

I am 82 and Nancy is 71.  We LOVE our C-34 Pleiades in particular, and sailing in general.  However, with each passing year things that were easy twenty years ago become slightly more difficult.  Rather than sell our beloved Pleiades and go over to "the dark side" (viz. powerboating), I am looking at ways to make sailing easier, without compromising on performance, or spending vast amounts of money.  I do not like in-the-mast mainsail systems because they do not allow proper horizontal battens to maintain mainsail shape.  In-the-boom systems do not suffer from this problem, but can be rather expensive.  I am currently checking out Furl Boom, Pro-Furl, Schaefer, and Leisure Furl.

As an example, simply raising the C-34 mainsail using our starboard coach-roof winch now gets me winded, so instead I go to the mast and manually "sweat" the main halyard while Nancy takes up the slack in the cockpit.  Then, I return to the cockpit to crank up the last few feet on our self-tailing coach roof starboard winch.  Dropping the mainsail in a stiff wind involves again going up onto the coach roof, alternately flaking a heavy, flapping mainsail, securing it to the boom with sail ties, and later covering it with Pleiades mainsail cover.  None of these tasks are especially difficult, but they can be exhausting at my age. I have thought about converting the starboard coach roof winch to an electric version, but that is also rather expensive, and the motor would also significantly diminish head-room on entering the quarterberth.  Recently I have looked into the WinchRite system which is basically a geared, battery powered portable motor.  Presumably, the WinchRite unit can raise a mainsail the size and weight of a C-34's about four times before needing to be re-charged.  Has anyone on this forum purchased one, and if so, how do you like it.

I wish I were 21 all over again - for many reasons - and did not need any of this "stuff".  Unfortunately, I am not, and if such devices are not TOO expensive, and can help Nancy and I continue to sail for another 3-5 years, then I will gladly install and use them.

Dr. Paul F. Jacobs
Pleiades
1990 Mk 1.5 No. 1068
Wickford, RI

Does anyone on this forum know where or how to get a pair of the white rubber inserts that keep the boarding ladder from directly contacting - and potentially scratching - the transom?  Mine are cracked and getting very tired.  I assume the twin SS surrounding "retention guards" can be un-screwed, the white rubber inserts exchanged for two new ones, and then the retention guards re-screwed back in place.  Can you get these from Catalina, or Catalina-Direct, or perhaps somewhere else?

Paul Jacobs
Pleiades #1068
1990 MK 1.5
TR/FK
Wickford, RI

Hallelujah! 

Today Nancy and I took Pleiades out for her first sail of the season.  It was blowing 10-12 knots out of the SW at 11 am and by 2 pm it was up to 15-18 knots.  We put in a first reef and sailed from Wickford (only six sailboats on moorings in the entire harbor - which in mid July will probably have in excess of 70.  Initially we sailed close hauled up to the Jamestown bridge, then fell off to a broad reach hitting 6.7 knots, rounded the north end of Conanicut island, and then sailed across the east passage of Narragansett Bay past the south end of Prudence island and over to Portsmouth.  As it had clouded over by this time and the wind was approaching 20 knots, we decided to head back to Wickford.  With a thoroughly clean bottom, a first reef in the mainsail and our little 110% genoa, we were close reaching at 7.4 knots and even surfed at 7.74 knots on a small wave.

None of this is especially extraordinary - except that I am 82 and Nancy is 71 and she is recently recovered from major surgery.  Just to be out sailing, with the wind in our faces, the sun on our backs (however briefly), watching gulls flying overhead while listening to that magical sound of water sizzling past the hull was utterly glorious.  We are truly blessed.  Thank you to all of you on this forum who contribute bits and pieces of information that help this old salt keep our beloved C34  sailing properly.

Dr. Paul Jacobs
Pleiades
1990 C34 MK 1.5
No. 1068
TR/FK
Wickford, RI

We are having all new interior cushions made for Pleiades.  When the new cushions are finally completed and installed (probably late June 2021) the old ones will then be available, at no cost except shipping, to anyone on this forum.  They are original, (hence 31 years old), burgundy colored, in reasonably good condition (i.e. no bald spots, no stains, no odors, but slightly worn in a few places along the edges, and three of the fabric wrapped buttons are missing. Also, one quarterberth cushion was damaged by the PO and replaced by us in "the nearest matching Sunbrella color".
Pay the shipping and they are yours!

Dr. Paul F. Jacobs
Pleiades No. 1068
1990 C34 MK 1.5
TR/FK
Wickford, RI

[Does anyone on this forum know if such stability curves already exist for any of the versions of the C34?]

The March 2021 issue of Practical Sailor has a detailed article on the subject of sailboat stability.  The article presents a few examples of stability curves - namely righting moment vs. angle of heel.  The curves basically look like somewhat slightly distorted sine functions - starting at zero righting moment at zero angle of heel and then having the righting moment increase with heel until a maximum righting moment occurs somewhere between 50 degrees and 70 degrees.  Clearly, NONE of us want to be sailing at 50 degrees angle of heel, but it is reassuring to know that if this were to occur, one could release all sheets and the boat would be restored to near-normal.

The nitty-gritty details depend upon hull shape, ballast, displacement, cockpit size and a few other characteristics unique to a given sailboat design.  Even the C34 - with the closed cockpit MK 1, the open cockpit MK 1.5 and the broader stern MK 2 would have different stability curves.

Does anyone on this forum know if such stability curves already exist for any of the versions of the C34? 

Especially pertinent is the so-called "Angle of Vanishing Stability" or AVS.  This is the angle at which the boat will no longer right itself after a knockdown.  "Especially seaworthy" sailboats (viz. the kind that are often recommended for "blue water" open ocean crossings - typically have AVS values equal to or greater than 120 degrees.  The article goes on to present discussions about how to locate the metacenter, how sailboat manufacturers perform detailed tests to determine their sailboats stability curves.   Finally the article also provide two different techniques where one can "approximately" estimate the AVS value for a given sailboat.  IF these curves already exist - GREAT.    . However, if they DO NOT exist, since I am a quasi-retired physicist and the equations are not especially daunting, I will be happy to generate relevant stability curves as a service to the forum. 

While none of us ever want to flip our beloved C34's over, these curves are the basis for determining if a given design is considered appropriate for an ocean passage.  Aside from such things as beefing up the standing rigging, double checking the rudder and steering system, and having a means to securely close the companionway in a storm, having sailed three TransPacs many years ago, and having surfed a Cal 40 on 15-18 foot waves, I believe the C34 indeed HAS the inherent stability to survive even a very nasty storm at sea.  I just would like to know if that is really true.

In checking back through many topics on the Message Board over the past seven years, I noted some regarding checking / tightening the C34 keel bolts.  I confess that in the eight, soon to be nine years Nancy and I have owned Pleiades I have never checked - or tightened - any of her keel boats.  Shame on me!

I checked this site and determined that the hex nuts are 1 1/8", so I just ordered a 1 1/8" hex 1/2 inch "deep socket" that is listed as 5.7" long.  Although not specifically listed, I assume the "socket" portion probably takes up an inch, so the "effective" depth is likely about 4.7".  Hopefully, this will be deep enough to fit over all of the keel bolts extending into the bilge, and will still allow me to get full torque on their nuts.  Since Pleiades is currently on the hard, this seems like the perfect time to check the keel bolts, and tighten them if necessary, since the keel is blocked, and the entire weight of the hull is pushing down onto the top of the keel.

Question:  Does anyone know the recommended keel bolt torque?  I want to be sure they are "very snug". but not so tight that I may damage the fiberglass.

Paul

Pleiades, 1990 C34,
TR/FK, #1068
Yanmar 3YM30
FlexOFold 2-blade
Wickford, RI

Has anyone on this forum replaced their lifelines with Dyneema?

The lifelines on Pleiades (1990 C34 MK 1.5, No. 1068, Tall rig, Fin Keel) are now 31 years old and getting rather tired.  There are numerous cracks and splits in the vinyl covers, and more importantly there are rust stains in various locations, even after repeated doses of citric acid.  Primarily for safety reasons, but also for aesthetic reasons as well I think it is time to treat her to new lifelines.  A large person falling against a lifeline can induce a considerable shock load, and the last thing I want to happen is for a rusty lifeline to give way and have the person fall overboard!

I am inclined to go with Dyneema for a number of reasons: (1) Dyneema is very easy to Brummel splice using a fid, (or even the hollow tapered barrel from a ball point pen!), so I can easily do that myself - as opposed to swaging SS lifelines which would require a professional, since I do not have a swaging tool, (2) Dyneema is actually stronger than steel for the same weight, (3) Dyneema absolutely does NOT rust, (4) and Dyneema is less expensive that steel of the same diameter.  It will very gradually degrade over time due to UV exposure, but modern Dyneema fibers are coated with a UV protector, and by the time they need to be replaced again I likely will have gone on to Fiddler's Green.

Mauri-Pro sells white, 6 mm (approx. 1/4" diameter) Dyneema, with a breaking strength of 5600 lbs. for $1.75 per foot.  Allowing a bit extra for splices, and some small amount of waste, I assume I would need 130 feet to do both the upper & lower lifelines, on both starboard & port.  I could use SS thimbles at each end, or if I am feeling a bit more extravagant, those lovely fittings made by S. Johnson with the machine rounded & polished grooves specifically for spliced lifelines.  I intend to use the original SS turnbuckles to tension the lifelines.

I am really curious to know if ANYONE on this thread has done this before, which terminations did you use, and how did you like the final result?

Paul

Eight years ago I wanted to add a solar panel to our 1990 C34 MK 1.5 (no. 1068) to provide a means to remotely charge our battery bank when on a 10 -14 day cruise.  I looked at dozens of approaches.  I did NOT want hard panels at or near deck level, nor did I want the expense or less than aesthetic look of a davit-like structure.  I even thought about installing flexible solar panels on the coach roof, but realized that they would likely be very slippery when wet.  What to do?  I really thought long and hard, wanting a location that was extremely unobtrusive, not not negatively impact the C34 aesthetics, yet would be modest in cost to implement.  Then one day back in 2013 I was lying in Pleiades cockpit, on her mooring, reading a book.  At some point I stopped reading and happened to glance up at our split backstay.  Suddenly, I realized "why not utilize the split backstay to mount a solar panel"?  I made a few quick measurements and realized I would only need six SS wire clamps, a rubber grommet-like seal,  about 20 feet of positive and negative wire, and about 20 feet of 3/16" diameter Dacron line.  The advantages of this approach would be:

1.  EXTREMELY unobtrusive.  People often do not even SEE the solar panel until they are in the cockpit, and then only if they look up.
2.  EXTREMELY inexpensive.  About $25 for the whole mounting system, and about $200 for a 100 W panel & controller!
3.  Effective & rugged.  It has been up there for over 6 years, through sun, rain, snow, and 60 knot winds, and is still looking great.

I used a 10 foot stepladder mounted athwartships on the starboard & port cockpit benches.  Then I made a cardboard pattern of the solar panel and its frame.  On a windless day with a friend we held up the panel so it was about 10 feet above the cockpit sole, and marked the locations on the cardboard pattern where the split backstays touched.  Then, we very securely attached a SS wire clamp to the starboard split backstay about 13 feet above the cockpit sole, and a second such clamp at the same height on the port split backstay.  Next we attached two 10 foot lengths of 3/16" diameter Dacron line (3/16" for both strength and long-term UV resistance), one just above the starboard clamp and another just above the port clamp, with double clove hitches (sometimes known as a Magnus hitch), and then twin half hitches to the working part of the line.  The point is you REALLY do not want this knot to slip in a seaway.  Then, we drilled small holes (3/16" diameter) in the aluminum frame that fits around the solar panel - along what would be the aft transverse edge, at the separation distance marked on the cardboard pattern.  Next, we drilled two 1/4" diameter holes in what would soon become the fore portion of the panel at the P&S bottom outboard corners of the frame, and mounted both S&P 1/4" SS eye bolts with lock nuts directly to the frame corners. 

Now, one of us held the actual solar panel and its frame in position while the other of us screwed the 10 foot high twin wire clamps through the aluminum frame and very snugly secured all four lock nuts.  Now, we ran the starboard Dacron line from its 13 foot high clamp elevation, down to and through the starboard eye three times (to intentionally generate significant friction), and then down to another starboard wire clamp about 8 feet above the cockpit sole, and tied a temporary knot just to maintain tension.  Next, we repeated this process on the port side.  Finally, we increased tension on both the P&S sides until the frame was extremely snug, level, and the tension on both sides felt about equal.  At this point we secured both lines with Magnus hitches just below the 8 foot high clamps, cut off and burned the tails, and then used white rigging tape to cover all the knots.  Next, we ran the dual electrical leads down the starboard split backstay, securing them with small nylon wire ties about every 8-9 inches, ran the wires through a small hole (subsequently sealed with a rubber grommet-like seal) into the starboard lazarette, under the quarterberth panel (again secured with nylon wire ties so the twin wires would not interfere with other hoses), and finally to the solar panel controller mounted under the quarterberth seat, near the refrigeration compressor / fan.  Finally, the positive and negative solar panel wires were run under the galley and directly to positive and negative house battery connections.

The system has been operating for seven years.  The four (3 house + 1 engine) group 31 batteries (about 400 AH total capacity, 200 AH "useful" capacity above 50 % battery charge status) have NEVER been below 12.0 volts over the past seven years!  And, since properly charged batteries will NOT freeze, I can leave them aboard all winter, which saves a lot of effort each fall and each spring.  I was down at the boat yesterday (3 February).  Even with heavily overcast skies, in the dead of a RI winter, and with non-optimal orientation of the boat on the hard relative to the sun, all four batteries were at 12.4 volts!

I mention all of this simply as a "totally different" way to mount a 100 Watt solar panel on a C34.  Oh by the way, the resulting geometry neatly clears the mainsail leech by about a foot, so there is zero interference with the mainsail, and since the panel ultimately winds up in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the split backstays, it tilts down at about a 20 degree angle, so rainwater nicely cleans it, runs off it,  :clapand even washes off bird poop!  I do expect in another 3 - 4 years I likely will need to replace the Dacron line, since just like old sailors nothing ever lasts forever!

 I was pleased to note that some folks on this site enjoyed my slightly-longer-than-usual post regarding sail trim.  Although I have been a member for about 8 years, I had never posted before (long story!).  Finally, I thought other C34 owners and sailors might like to read about our experience(s) with respect to sail trim and C34 balance going to weather.  This led me to think about relating a story from a few years ago.  Nancy and I were on one of our summer cruises aboard Pleiades.  We were anchored at Kettle Cove, on the Buzzards Bay or north side of Naushon Island.  This is one of our very favorite cruising spots in all of New England.  It is, to the best of my knowledge, not listed in ANY of the cruising guides, has a beautiful white sand beach, clear water, a sand bottom with terrific holding out to about 20 ft. depth, and yet somewhat amazingly is rarely crowded - although after I write this note it may get more crowded in the future!

Anyway, Nancy and I were swimming, sunning, nibbling, and reading as the breeze began to pick up.  Then, Nancy who went below to clean a few dishes in the galley called to me in the cockpit and said "we seem to be out of fresh water".  During our 10 day cruise we are normally extremely parsimonious with fresh water, so even including taking numerous very brief transom showers, I had finally switched from the aft (44 gallon) tank to the starboard salon (28 gallon) tank only the previous day.  Thus, I was stunned when she said we were out of fresh water only one day later.  Some detective work after we were finally back home led to the discovery that our hot water heater - then about 25 years old - had evidently rusted through and was leaking fresh water into the bilge.  Evidently the automatic bilge pump switch would turn the bilge pump on every now and then, but who notices that while swimming or walking on the beach?  Eventually, we had leaked all our remaining fresh water into Buzzards Bay.  So.... rather reluctantly .... we decided to sail back to our home port of Wickford, RI.   Well, as is so often true in life, events giveth and they taketh away.  Had it not been for the leaky hot water heater (replaced with a brand new SS unit after we got home) the following wonderful sailing experience almost certainly would not have happened.

After weighing anchor, raising the mainsail, and unfurling the jib, we started sailing home.  I checked the tides and was very pleasantly surprised to find that we had a favorable tide in Buzzards Bay for the next three hours, and it would max out just above three knots!  The wind initially was out of the ENE at about 15 knots.  So very quickly our Garmin GPS indicated 9.5 - 10 knots over the bottom.  Then the fun really began.  The wind gradually increased to about 20 knots and backed to the NE.  There were whitecaps everywhere.  We began surfing on 2-3 ft. waves, often hitting 11 knots.  Penikese Island, and the Cuttyhunk Island very quickly slipped by to port. After about another hour the wind further increased to 23-27 knots, the seas built to 3-4 ft and we started to surf fairly regularly at 11.5 to 12 knots, as Sakonet lighthouse quickly slid past to starboard.

Finally, the wind backed a bit more to perhaps NNE, we were just between a broad and a beam reach, with the apparent wind around 120 - 130 degrees.  The wind was now 25-30 knots, the seas (fortunately we had "wind WITH tide", not against, were now around 5-6 feet, and we were regularly surfing at 12 - 12.5 knots, and hit an all time Pleiades maximum speed over the bottom of 13.3 knots on one especially large wave (perhaps 7-8 ft.).  I was amazed how stable Pleiades felt.  There was no tendency to round up, which would be bad, but especially no tendency to round down, which can be a major disaster invoking an unintended gybe, with resulting serious damage or injury.  We had rigged a nylon preventer (plenty of stretch to avoid shock loads), to keep the boom stable.  The apparent wind angle was such that the jib was not getting backwinded, so it did not thrash about on the foredeck after one inevitably surfed into the trough between waves.  Nancy kept looking at me as if to say are we OK?  It was incredible!  We were screaming along in perfect control.  Way back in 1975 I had sailed the Cal 40 "Anona II" in the TransPac.  Of course, Cal 40's are famous as outstanding surfing sailboats, and with a crew of six things are normally well controlled while surfing.  However, in this case it was just Nancy and yours truly.  Nonetheless, in sailing 2200 NM from LA to Honolulu, our peak speed on the Cal 40 was "only" 11.8 knots, although that speed did not have the benefit of a favorable tide.

Although I have never read anything about Catalina 34's being particularly stellar surfing sailboats, I can tell all of you who own one of these lovely sailboats that not only do they surf, but THE highest speed PFJ has EVER achieved while sailing indeed occurred on our beloved Pleiades.

Fair winds and following seas!

Paul

I notice that most topics are concerned with maintenance, which I fully understand.  However, I wanted to start one devoted solely to sailing.

Some background: In the 60's, 70's and 80's I lived in Pasadena CA, co-owned an L-36 out of Marina del Rey, and did a lot of racing, including three TransPacs, 20 Mexican races, and countless "round the cans" regattas.  In 1998 I moved to Rhode Island, and although Nancy and I cruise Pleiades (1990 Mark 1.5 No. 1068) hither, thither and yon every spring, summer and fall, apparently it is impossible to fully extract the racer from my bones. 

Over the past seven or so years I very much wanted to "tweak" Pleiades so as to improve her balance when sailing to weather.  I have tried MANY different things, and eventually, literally through "trial and error" have arrived at an amazing place.  The following is most definitely NOT intended to toot our horn, since anyone willing to spend the time and effort could have arrived at the same result.  Specifically, in winds from about 5 knots apparent all the way up to about 20 knots apparent Pleiades can be trimmed so that she will sail literally "all by herself" (i.e. with ZERO hands on the wheel) for up to 10 minutes at a time!!!  The good news: it is absolutely delightful, and guests who sail with us are genuinely amazed to see no hands on the wheel.  The bad news: do NOT fall overboard, she will simply continue sailing away leaving you far behind unless someone else takes control and comes about to rescue you!

Step No 1.  In keeping with the recent trend towards smaller headsails, when we initially purchased her in 2012 she was equipped with a 135% Genoa.  While excellent in lighter airs, tacking in strong winds (i.e. 18-22 knots apparent) was absolutely exhausting at my age (then 71 now 82), and multiple tacks typically required in the relatively narrow "East Passage" of Narragansett Bay, between Newport & Jamestown would have me seriously huffing and puffing.   Even with self-tailing winches Nancy - who is petite - simply did not have the upper body strength necessary to grind the headsail sheets in sufficiently, so I had to do it while she steered.  Recognizing that we might be sacrificing some light air performance in favor of MUCH easier tacking, we decided in 2016 to purchase a 115% jib.  This has made tacking vastly easier, and in all but the very lightest breezes (i.e. less than about 4 knots apparent) still provides more than adequate performance to weather.  Of course, when sailing well off the apparent wind, in extremely light air performance with a 115% headsail seriously suffers, but then if we will be sailing for a reasonable distance on a broad reach out comes our asymmetric, which has much more sail area than any Genoa.

Step No 2.  We have learned by trial and error to set the traveler about 4-5" to weather, such that with the C34's mainsheet system and the main sheet very tight the aft end of the boom will then be about 1.5" below the centerline.  In light air when sailing to weather we tighten both the outhaul and the vang, in order to substantially flatten the main.  Then, we sheet the 115% headsail in until it is about 1" off the tip of the spreader, while setting the fairlead to balance foot and leech tension.  In heavier air (viz. 15 - 22 knots) we put in a first reef in the main sail, flatten the main as much as possible, and again set the traveler so that the aft end of the boom is only about one inch below centerline.  Under these conditions we will often be sailing above six knots and pointing with modern racing sailboats, while not only NOT having any substantial weather helm, once we find the location of the wheel that optimizes VMG while sailing to weather, I initially noticed that I was steering with only two fingertips!  So, feeling gutsy, I was utterly amazed that I could actually take my hands COMPLETELY OFF the wheel!!!  Pleiades would romp along, very gradually heading up towards an imminent luff, and then almost as if by magic she would very slowly fall off until she was right back in the "maximum VMG groove", whence she would begin this process all over again, often for many MINUTES at a time!  Narragansett Bay is not sufficiently wide that we would soon be coming up on land, requiring a tack, whence the process would repeat all over again.

Step No. 3.  Early on this "look Ma, no hands" process would only occur on port tack.  After tweaking with the standing rigging, and especially adjusting the forward lower tensions, we eventually reached "nirvana" - where Pleiades would sail to weather in almost perfect balance on EITHER tack and in apparent winds from about 5 knots to about 22 knots.  Above 22 knots apparent we sail Pleiades with two reefs.  However, this happens sufficiently infrequently that we have not yet had adequate "tweaking time" under these conditions to achieve perfect balance, so, heaven forbid, one actually must sail Pleiades to weather in 25 knots apparent with one hand on the wheel!