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While we're on the subject of cabinet door latches (and I realize that we are not on the subject of cabinet door latches), I never liked sticking my fingers into holes to find little elbow catches, which were mostly broken on my boat.   Found some push button cabinet latches that fit the finger holes exactly (OK 38 seconds of work with a file).    Push button knob pops out door is unlatched and can be pulled open.  Close door push knob in until flush and door is latched.   The marine store had two versions: a chrome plated brass version ($23 cdn) and chromed plastic version ($12).   I put expensive ones on the locker near the nav station and the head and cheap ones in the less frequently used cabins fore and aft.   The all metal were an easier install.   

http://www.sea-dog.com/PDF/225300.pdf

We've done Desolation many times.   Never had more than 200 feet and we always run the line to shore around the tree (or mooring ring, rock, whatever) and back to the boat so that it can be released without having to go ashore.   600 feet would be fine if you have the space to stow it, but I can think of no reason why you would need it.   If you had 300 feet of line between your boat and shore, you present a navigation hazard to other vessels.   

200ft should be plenty.   300 would be the absolute max.  5/16 is too skinny.  Go 3/8 or better.   

We went the Walker Bay option with the tubes.   Absolutely love it.  Manageable.  Tows great.  Rows great.  Sails great.  Motors great.   Fits nicely on the foredeck and you can still access the anchor locker.   You can stand on the gunnel.  Fits two adults, two kids and a dog.  Just recently installed dual mini swim grids either side of the swim ladder and now we can flip the dingy on edge and it stows like having davits (though I don't think I would attempt to sail close hauled like this).   

Only drawback - if you like a big outboard and going places in a hurry on a plane - there are better choices.   

Re prices in Canada.  I just bought a California boat that was imported by the PO to Canada last year.   I paid a significant premium over the price that I would have paid for a comparable boat in California.   There is a lot more selection in California than you'll find in BC - bigger market - more supply - better price.   That explains part of the premium price in Canada.   I looked into bringing one up.  When you do, you need to pull the stick, put it on a truck, put the stick back in, & pay the tax man.   It explains most of the difference.    My conclusion was that the entire west coast is a viable shopping area for a boat like a C34.   It doesn't matter what you pay for the boat, the important thing is what is your total cost, taxes paid, to put it in your slip.   There are good values and some ridiculously overprice boats.

What matters is the boat.   Find a good one and crunch the numbers!

A left hand prop?  That's a clever idea.   However, when they rebuild the other half of the marina next year and assign me a new slip, I would be assured to get one where I would want a right hand prop.   Murphy has a way of looking after these things.   Just for amusement - here's the source of the cross current...

An update.   

I've had the boat out at least a half dozen times since posting the original question.  The problem can be solved completely at the helm without skilled crew doing line work on the foredeck.   It just takes practice.   

A big shot of throttle gets way on in reverse - shift to neutral half way across with helm hard to the right - helm hard to left with a good shot of forward throttle as my transom approaches the boats opposite.   I can usually make the turn in one try now.   Timing is everything.   It's a game of nerves and inches.
It seems to be entirely repeatable and is working in all conditions.

Guests aboard are dazzled by the feat of great boat handling.   Therein lies the problem.   It might be great boat handling, but it's not great seamanship.   The manuever is "hot".   That is it requires active steering and is totally depenendent on forward thrust of the prop at the right time to avoid the collision while backing.   If there should ever be a problem with the engine stalling or shift linkage - crunch.   (A couple of years ago there was a ferry a few miles from me loaded with a few hundred cars that lost reverse thrust due to a $5 pin being disconnected so it steered into a marina to avoid hitting the dock and sank 20 boats before running gently aground - a little empirical evidence to suggest my strategy is not entirely sound.)

So I'll continue to refine and think it through, but I'm not having any trouble getting out of the slip now.   Thanks for the feedback on this issue.

Steve

Still no luck on finding a deck fill marked "rum".     

Thanks for the responses!   

I was hoping for one of those insightful C34 secrets that would reveal some easy truth that was hidden to me.  This one is a bit tricky.   A spring off the neighbour's piling would be nice, but there is so much claptrap hanging off his transom (which also overhangs his finger) that I have a feeling I would be buying him a new crab trap after one or two tries.   Maybe I should just use his stern cleat!   

Backing all the way out to the turning area seemed like a great idea until last weekend when we were happily barrelling down the channel when another boat turned the corner to come in.   It was a dodgy maneuver trying to take way off and get over to the side of the channel while the wind and current wanted to swing the bow around.   I'm not totally comfortable with this approach. 

But you all got me thinking.   I tightened up the packing gland last weekend and we arrived at another dock some distance away and I realized I'd forgotten to check for drip rate and heat build up under power.   So I fired up the engine while tied to the dock, put it in forward and ran it about 1500 rpm.   I jumped off the boat to check that all the lines were secure and noticed that 3 of them were slack and only the after bow spring was under tension with the boat nice and snug against the dock.    I got back on the boat and played with the wheel a bit and noticed that I had full right rudder.   I turned it full left and the stern kicked out until the stern line was tight.   Back and forth with the wheel and in and out the stern would go.  Built in stern thruster!

I think I might try easing back out of the slip until my bow is about even with the piling.   A line around the piling to the bow, with fenders in the right spots, with a shot of forward thrust and full left rudder may just kick my transom to the right exactly as I want it.   No need for any manhandling with springs.  I'll see if this is possible without exotic fenders, gellcoat repairs and/or referencing the knowledgebase on how to straighten pullpit rails.     

Funny, my last boat that was 10,000 lbs lighter and anything could be done with a boat hook.   All this fancy close quarter maneuvering stuff seemed largely irrelevant.  But I must say the C34 handles way better than the old 26' twin-keeled fixed-outboard aft of the skeg-hung rudder vessel I was used to.   

And I absolutely love that I can give the helm to my eight year old doing 6.5 knots on a broad reach and he has no trouble keeping the boat on track.  Hmmm.   Maybe I should have Foster back the boat out of the slip.   

   

It's been a little more than a month.   4 weekends of some really fabulous sailing and one weekend of installing a diesel heater.   All good fun.   I have absolutely no complaints about the new boat.  When you buy something that is nineteen years old and reasonably complex, you expect to find at least one nasty surprise somewhere, but as I open up electrical panels and drill holes in diesel tanks, I find that the boat is in near new condition.   Not fanatically maintained, just untouched and well preserved.   It could be five years old.   (except every light in the cabin and they're all replaced now).

Life is good.   Well except for a few things...

The one challenge I have is actually getting out of my slip.   

Moorage is tight in Vancouver.   People buy brand new boats and leave them sitting on the hard for two years before they can splash them in the drink.   So when my marina manager assigned me to my new 35' slip that the stern of my 34' boat hangs out of by 4ft, I just smiled and wrote the cheque.  Between me and my neighbour, there is exactly one foot of space (on a perfectly executed docking maneuver the fenders kind of compress and roll against each other as they pass).   There is about 38 feet between the piling on my port side and the transoms of the boats opposite.   I need to make a sharp turn to starboard in a little more than a boat length as I back out. 

You're already smiling.   You know all about the whole prop walk thing.   But wait it get's better.   After a big rainstorm the creek at the end of the cove (my starboard side) registers 11 on the knot meter of the little sailboat over on the sales dock (sea trials only on dry days at high tide - I have pictures that make it look like a river rafting adventure).   My slip is 30 boats away and two aisles over so I'm sure I'm only dealing with an unfavourable current of 2 to 3 knots.   On a perfect day with an incoming tide and and a no wind or wind on the port beam with a good shot of  throttle in reverse for half a boat length or so, I can get enough way on, shift to neutral,  I can turn about 45 degrees.     Another shot of throttle in forward with the wheel hard over the other way avoids imminent gelcoat and pushpit rail demise and kicks the stern around enough that I am nearly pointed in the right direction and a little work from the foredeck crew with a boat hook on the piling (by the way the shiny new telescoping boat hook from WM? - crap) and we're on our way.   

With an incoming tide or wind on the starboard beam, (common) I end up backing down the channel past another 25 boats until I can turn around.    Any suggestions from veteran C34 handlers?   There was a great FAQ on backing into a slip, but I'm damned if I can back out.   

Thanks,

Steve

BTW - Why is that the marine stores all sell shiny deck fill fittings marked "diesel", "water", "waste" or "gas", but nowhere can I find a fitting marked "rum"?   Without the right parts that project may have to wait until after the windlass install and the dodger... 

I installed it in the dorade vent.   

The head could use a combo light/fan, but it's not an area on the deck where you want a big cowl sticking up.    Why not just leave the existing solar vent in place as a nice low profile weather cover?   

So I dug into the installation this weekend and it went pretty smooth taking about an hour as I predicted.   

Got the fuel pickup in, wiring, exhaust, controller, air intakes, with ducts into the the aft cabin and the main salon.   Everything works.   I just have one more duct to run from the wet locker aft of the nav station forward to the v-berth.  The question is how to run the duct forward.   For those with large ducts (3")for either a/c or heat how are they routed past the nav station into the settee forward?   Under the floor (looks like there's space but are there any structural members)??   In the space under the electrical panel? (I don't like to mix heat and electrical components).  Suggestions would be appreciated if anybody recalls which way their ducts go. 

Thanks,

Steve

Frank.   I too own an 88.   Installed a diesel furnace deep in the bowels of the very same locker on the weekend.  I was in and out of it at least 20 times and even had my tape measure in there.  Regrettably, I did not measure the locker.   

However, I can tell you this:  If you do actually go deep inside the locker, depending on your size, you will develop a profound understanding of childbirth from the perspective of the breech baby.   

This of course is useless information for you.   

However, I can tell you that there is a ton of variability of the height of the locker depending on position in the locker.   You should let people know where in the locker you plan on installing the propane box and exactly what measurement your looking for - minimum height under the lid, minimum height under the hinge area, etc.  so you can get an answer back with a useful measurement.   

Good luck with the install!

Steve

   

Thanks for the feedback guys.   I will attempt the installation tomorrow.   A pickup tube to the diesel tank, exhaust to stern, wiring to the panel, ducts throughout the boat - shouldn't take much more than an hour...

I bought it from a local marine supplier called Steveston Marine.   It's listed on their website for $60 US.   A little web work and you'll probably find a US supplier. 

And I had very good success hiding the wires which is to say, I went with white wire and you hardly notice it!   If I find some nice conduit, I will dress it up.   One of these days I'll go get a US money order, send it Stu for my membership, access the tech notes, and find out the magic secret for gaining access under the headliner to run wires.

   

Plowed through a few upgrades on the boat this weekend.  Plumbed new drains in the galley sink, splashed some teak oil around, added a new mini shop vac to the equipment inventory.   The best addition by far was a new light / extractor fan for the galley.   

It's a unit manufactured by Oceanair.   It fits nicely into the existing vent which puts in a perfect position for lighting the galley.   Really moves the air and stops that pot of pasta from giving the boat a major sweat on a cold day.   Power consumption for the fan was pretty minimal so I just wired it together with the light so both come on together with one switch.  Another wire and switch would allow independent control.   

Shoots two rabbits with one bullet as they say in Russia. 


http://www.oceanair-marine.com/en/m/br/brv_en_m.php