Messages

Dave,

She looks fantastic. I'm really glad you got her. She's found a good home. I really hated to give her up, but the insurance money was much more than I could have gotten anywhere else. I hope you enjoy her as much as I did. I have a 36 now and it is a very nice boat, but I still miss my 34.

That is one tough boat. All of the boats around her after the storm were either sunk or totaled on the spot. It took 6 mos. for the insurance to declare the boat totaled and that was determined by the fiberglass people that the insurance folks had picked. I knew she was still a solid boat.

Good Luck ,
Norris Johnson

I have some experience here. I had to replace the cam shaft on two universals 35Bs in 2001. It is well documented on this website. Universal supplied all the parts, but no mech. I did it myself. I do have experience with a number of different engines. I strongly recommend changing the raw h2o pump and installing the sleeve Ron spoke of. Hopefully the cam shaft isn't worn too much. The sleeve is very important. Never had any more trouble with either engine. I just changed the raw h2o pump whenever I saw any leakage.
Good Luck!

Steve and Steve,

I'm also located on Galveston Bay in Harborwalk Marina located on the Northwest side of West Galveston Bay, near the town of Hitchcock.
I had a 34 but it was "Ike'd". I replaced it with a 36 ft Catalina. It was the closest I could find to the 34.

Harborwalk is an upscale Marina opened in 2007. We have an nice restaurant, salt water pool, and ship store. They have a website. Just Goggle Harborwalk Galveston, Tx.

Ozzie,
As the PO, that is great news. I miss that boat. I never had any plans to change boats, but the insurance money was the same that I paid for the boat in "98". I have replace it with a "36". It was as close as I could get to the Mariposa. Good luck Ozzie. You have a good solid boat! Sorry I missed you when you picked it up. Had some personel business that couldn't be changed.

Stu,
Would you send me the renewal to the 34 assoc. I must have misplaced the first one.
Thanks

Removed mine on my 34 a couple of years ago to clean the H/E. I counted 7 screws I had to remove. I went back with 4.

I cleaned the H/E on my 36 this weekend. The "dog house" on it is held down by 2 clamps; piece of cake! Ran it today before I left the marina. The temp never got over 150 F @ 2500 rpm. I couldn't run 2500 before the cleaning. The sea water temp is close to 90 F. Been really hot this year on the Texas coast and no rain.

Good point, Ted
Thanks,
Norris

Dave,

I just saw your response here. It would be great to get together.

Norris
piasano@sbcglobal.net 

Congrats Dave,

I love the new name.

Do you have any experience with Catalinas? They are great boats and the owner is a hands-on guy. All of the parts damaged were shelf items. They will continue to carry parts for a while.

The Mariposa is a wing keel. As far as damage below the water line, I have no idea. It was totaled based on the damage above the water line. A lot of the cost of repair was hauling out, loading on a truck, and shipped to a private yard for the work to be performed. After repairs, it was to be loaded up on a truck, and hauled back to the water. This yard is probably a mile from the yard where it was to be hauled and splashed. I would replaced all of the standing rigging. It was all stressed. About half of the turnbuckle bolts were bent. That had to stress all of the rigging.

After the storm, there was so much sea grass from the wetlands next to our marine that filled up our marina and got into the boat from the starboard side damage that it plugged up the bilge pump. So about 2 to 3 inches of water was in the boat until the grass was removed and the bilge pump removed the water. The water damaged the shower pump so it was removed. This wasn't mentioned in the salvage writeup. The teak and holly was stained some after the water was removed, but I put a heater in the boat for the last 5 months and the stains went away.

Some of the opening ports leaked after the storm. I rebedded them and they quit leaking. They seem to leak the most in the joint of the frames on both sides. I have seen some moisture on the nav table and the top of the hanging closet. I think it may be coming from the damaged port side handrail.

It is a standard rig.

The A/C and heater do not work. Don't think you'll need the A/C in Canada. Removing the A/C will give you a bunch more storage.

I highly recommend joining the C34IA. I have bought a C36, but I will stay with this form. Jon is right. You will not find any better help and you're input will always be welcomed. If I can be of any help, let me know. Glad you bought the boat. I was worried it would be trashed. It is too good of a boat for that.
As I have said before, if I was 20 yrs younger, I would have bought it back.

Good Luck,
Norris

FYI:  The Mariposa went for $20.000.01.

Joe and 4 sailing,

I think that web site puts their items on ebay along with other salvage folks.

I'm not sure what the bidders plan on doing with the boat. If they plan on refurbishing the boat, they have to declare it hurricane damaged and that will dramatically effect the value. As I have said before, the most damage was to the starboard side where the boat was forced to break off a telephone size post at the mud line. The other damage was all of the deck hardware and all of the standing rigging was either damaged or comprised. I don't know about the amount of damage on the bottom. It's going to take a rather large amount of money to repair even if you do it yourself. If you just patched the starboard side and not stiffen the cored part, it might not cost but about 30 to 40 grand.

FYI: The Mariposa is now on the auction block in Galveston Yacht Club. It's not a pretty picture,but it faired better than any of the boats around her. Shes up to 10100.00 as of today. The auction will be over on Saturday. If anyone is interested, leave a note on this board and I'll give a email address and any info you may need. If I was 20yrs younger, I'd bought her. The web site for the pictures is:
usauctions.com

Stu,

I don't think I could beat this forum. My plans are to replace my boat ASAP. There are a couple of 36's and 380's around close. I don't know of any 34's. As you can tell, it WILL be another Catalina.

I have a broker who's a friend. He's looking really hard. He knows what I like and don't like. FYI, He says the 34 is "toast".

Norris

The Mariposa has officially been declared " Totaled " by my insurance company. Hurricaine Ike has declared another victim. The good news is the insurance total was more than the value of the boat because I had a " Agreed Value " policy. Good news for you other Catalina owners. This is one well made boat. Mariposa was secured with new top of the line dock lines. 5/8's inch doubled braid line.

The problem was caused by a 36 ft Carver that broke loose, broke my finger pier loose and caused my boat to get into the pole that was between my boat and my slipmate's boat. The piers are 3 year old ShoreMaster Floating piers. Top of the line piers. That pole was like a telephone pole. The Mariposa snapped that pole like a toothpick. The remains of it and another finger pier were floating beside my boat after the storm.

There were 7 other boats that were involved. Two 36ft Carvers, a 38 ft Tayana, two sea rays, and two Bent-a-toes. Two Carvers and a Sea Ray were sunk. The other boats were totaled on the spot.

The Mariposa was floating around like the winner of a boxing match. It had no life lines, no staunchions, two broken shrouds, no stern pulpits, and no bow pulpits. The anchor roller was bent beyond repair and it had a bent port hand rail on the cabin top. As you can imagine, a ton of fiberglass damage, especially on the starboard side where it hit and broke the pole. The cleats were all there with no damage, amazing!
The boat had to have had boats and finger piers all over it.

I also remove the box aft of the engine. Mine had 7 screws. I went back with 4. It doesn't take 5 mins once you have done it once. I remove it to change the HE zinc. I also remove the HE to treat it with Limeway. When I have the HE removed and treated, I can wash it easier. My engine temp never excedes 160F.

Replaced mine about the same time as Steve. No big deal. Like Steve, I contacted Westerbeke and they were great!