Messages

My friend and fellow Massachusetts sailor Mike Ide was laid off last year from his newspaper computer position and with the bleak job market, he has chosen to turn his hobby into a career doing custom boat wood projects.  In the last year he has made for me a mahogany/maple table, teak veneer sliders to replace the forever breaking black plastic ones, a teak floor grating for the head and a perfect storage rack for the hatchboards that fits in the aft locker behind the steering quadrant cover.  I am very pleased with the craftsmanship having absolutely no talent in this area myself, and I feel the additions have really improved the feel of the cabin.  I just thought I would share my upgrades (I'm trying to attach photos for the first time so I hope it works) and if anyone is interested in contacting Mike now that he has the C34 templates, I can get you his email. 
Brian McPhillips

I suspect I have the same model and it has been doing the same thing for a couple of years.  I found that a short loop of shock cord with a hook on one end could be rigged to hold the lever in place.  It has stood up through some steering through rougher than average conditions and it certainly fits the budget until I can replace the whole unit. 

I can add a slightly different perspective.  I have mainly used my C 34 for weekend day sailing + a 2 week vacation cruise with my family while racing with a very serious crew on a Beneteau First 36 Wednesday nights with full spinaker and all the fine tuning bells and whistles.  I started with this crew about 4 years ago knowing very little about racing and now consider myself a fairly competent bow man.   Locally we wind down each September in Boston Harbor with 2 fun "Chase" races with > 100 boats in each and a range of entrants from first timers to world class racing teams.  I now enter my boat in these races with less serious friends.  I have added a whisker pole which I can use easily on cruises and enjoy using in the races without the investment or talent requirements to move up to  a spinnaker.  I now feel confident racing my boat as captain from what I've learned on Wednesdays.  One more thought-while we have fun on Wednesdays, there is zero tolerance for a captain who doesn't thoroughly know racing rules.  The September races invite beginners with the understanding that not everyone will know all the rules and protests are for educational purposes. 
Brian McPhillips

I need to replace my house batteries prior to Spring launch and plan to go from 2x12 volt set up to 4x6 volt for the increased amp hour capacity.  The price quoted is very attractive and when I searched American Battery Company, 2 sites came up, one in Ft Lauderdale and one in Norwood,MA which happens to be 20' from my home.  I wonder if Dave or someone else can let me know who to call.  Thanks
Brian McPhillips

I suffered an unfortunate dramatic banging of masts with a Tartan 40 we were rafted to in Wellfleet, MA harbor this Summer as a fishing boat went out sending a big wake our way.  After that I  noted leaking water from several chain plates when it rains.  I  am  taking on the task of rebedding all chain plates this Winter following the excellent guidance found in this website.  I spent several hours each of the last two days trying to remove the chain plates but have only been able to remove 10 of the 12 screw/nut combinations.  The last 2 have resisted WD 40, banging with a hammer, heating with a mini butane torch, PB Blaster and elbow grease resulting in a few scrapes and bruises.   I would appreciate any advice on how to solve the corroded nut that just won't give up.  I am fighting the seasonal clock as it is getting colder quickly here in MA. 
Brian McPhillips

Last year I looked around a little and wound up with North Sails Direct for a new 130 genoa.  I was very pleased and this year added a new Main.  The sails are exactly the same as one would get from a regular North loft but you sacrifice the on site service for which you get a deep discount.  That said, the main arrived with an attached foot-I remember discussing wanting a loose footed sail but it didn't wind up on the order sheet.  Steve at NSD immediately stated they want completely satisfied customers.  They picked it up, recut and shipped it back correctly in 10 days at no cost to me so I don't feel like I got second rate service at all.  The next week we finished 28th out of 200 in the Figawi race to Nantucket so I'm pretty pleased with the performance as well. 

My boat came with a Spurs line cutter.  I know it works-I have felt it cut lobster pot lines several times.  Once in Maine while sailing I saw my speed drop to about 3 knots in high wind and saw a line trailing behind the boat, clearly dragging a pot.  I nervously started the engine and threw it into gear immediately freeing me up and off we sailed.  With hindsight I don't think I would have done it again and now travel with a wet suit, mask and cheap knife.  My conscience bothers me as I cost the lobsterman big bucks for steering poorly.  Of note, the fixed portion that attaches to the shaft strut I believe has screws designed to sheer off as a defense against shaft/engine damage if the line or other object cant be cut.  I lost this part and had to replace it after every season.  The last 2 years not travelling to Maine I haven't bothered reinstalling it.  Marine growth never seemed to be a problem-very hard steel in constant motion. 

I am about to order a whisker pole to go with my 130% genoa on a roller furler. Reviewing the Message Board I saw everyone mentioning the Forespar 12-22' Line control size.  Last minute I checked the Forespar web site which lists a sizing chart by specific boat type and for the C34 they list the 10-18' size, a significant cost savings.  I emailed Randy Risvold, their technical adviser and he responded:  "The 12-22 will be too heavy. The 10-18 will be a better all around pole.  Because of the displacement of the 34 I would not recommend using the 10-18  in the higher wind ranges except at a very short length. A lighter and stronger choice will be to purchase a fixed length pole 3' O.D. built to your J length. This will be a good all round choice for a 130% jib."     
I anticipate using this for extended running at 5-18 knot winds, possibly with the genoa reefed.  I just assumed the adjustable pole would accommodate reefing better.  I wonder if the 22' length is for a bigger genoa.  I would appreciate any experience/wisdom that could help me make this one time purchase the correct one. 
Brian McPhillips

Thanks.  After I posted the question, I went searching for bargains and came across a US Battery website that has an excellent visual on configurations.  My only other battery is a 100 amp hour starter that is still strong.  Normally the limited engine time it takes for me to get on and off my mooring fully recharges any loss from my weekend day sails.  The bigger capacity sounds nice for our annual Summer 2 week cruise when we really use the fridge.  The 4 x 6V configuration certainly seems like the best bang for the buck.  I just wanted to make sure there was no major disadvantage that I hadn't yet read about.
Brian

My apologies to the electrical engineers for a stupid question.  I have a 5 year old 2 AGM house bank of 100 amp hours each that has been adequate for my needs but is getting very tired. I looked through the site and see many references to substituting 4 x 6V batteries for better capacity.   On the Defender web site I saw a Sportsman wet cell 6V with 220 amp hour capacity for only $125. The replacement cost for what I now have would be $420 each!   It sounds like I could get 2 of the 6 Volts for much less and get a much greater capacity than I am accustomed to (might even turn on the fridge when the engine is off!)  I can't imagine needing the capacity of 4 (880 amp hours).  Am I missing something here?  Is there a trade off in life expectancy or some other drawback?  I never see anybody mentioning getting only 2x6V batteries. 
Brian McPhillips

I'm looking for some real world experience.  I was thinking of adding a Forespar line control aluminum 12-22' whisker pole.  My local rigger gave me a quote (with his 20% discount)  of $3600 installed.  He recommended a Harken track and car control assembly with on the mast storage for $1100.  This set up is certainly very nice but for a lot less money I could get a short Forespar track with a pad eye pin control attachment and deck or rail storage.  I cruise mostly with my family and would like the advantage of a pole for the 3-6 hour run/broad reach we often see.  The wife and I do the work while the kids lounge.  I do 2-3 pursuit  races per year with a full crew and it would be a big advantage to have a pole although we're not that serious.  I am looking for feedback on how easy or difficult it is to use the pole, whether the track vs pad eye makes a big difference as far as ease of use goes considering the extra weight of aluminum vs carbon (prohibitive), and a sense of whether it is worth the investment or not.  My worst fear is that I spend the money and then find it's too much of a pain to actually use it frequently.  Thanks in advance for any help.
Brian McPhillips

I am in the market for a new main sail.  I have tentatively put in an order with North Sails Direct-they recommended 8 oz Nordac cloth.  I then saw the Fx Sails web site which quotes standard Catalina sails and for the C-34 they recommend 7.3 oz Dacron.  I would be interested in any information on what conditions the different sail cloths might be best for.  I sail in New England, most often 5-12 knots wind but frequently reefing in the low 20s and every Summer at least once or twice I get caught in around 30 knots.  It's not to late to change my order if there is good reason. 
Brian McPhillips

I have a challenging problem I suspect others may have faced and solved.  I broke off the handle of the black plastic sliding door for the port side storage behind the settee.  I am a veteran of this problem as I broke one of the starboard handles a couple of years ago.  Last time I popped out the plastic piece, cut a new square leading edge, drilled a couple of new holes and replaced the handle and popped the sheet right back in.  This time I cannot get out the broken plastic door.  I can only assue that either the wooden tracks have come closer together due to wood swelling or something bigger like flexing of the hull now that the boat is on the hard.  It is clear that if I try to bend the sheet it will break before it comes out.  If I do break it, a new one of the same size won't fit in.  Does anybody have any ideas on how I can solve this?    Thanks in advance for any help.
Brian McPhillips

I picked up  a Kidde brand from Lowes this Summer, don't recall model number but it was the only one running exclusively on AA batteries.  So far we've used velcro backing to move it around.  It goes in the aft cabin when my daughters are in there while we are motoring, over the galley when nobody is aft making it easier to hear from the wheel.
Brian McPhillips

I had my boat hauled for the Winter a couple of weeks ago and found the propeller shaft Zinc missing.  This has never happened before and I have no way of knowing how long ago or why it fell off.  I launched in mid May so worst case is that I have had no Zinc in place 5 months.  The boat is in salt water.  I have always heard how important the Zinc is and now am wondering (worrying actually) what might have happened without it in place.  I would appreciate any advice regarding this situation, ie any areas I should look for excessive corrosion or other trouble.  Thanks.
Brian McPhillips