Messages

Hmm, I had to do that on the rails of our old C&C 30. I did go with the sand option, mostly because I was not interested in dropping all that caustic to semi-caustic stuff onto the exterior gelcoat. In my case some of the wood had also gone gray so the sanding helped get down to clean wood. Because the sanding dust was all dry it mostly blew aware (did it on the cradle before launch - not to both my neighbours with the dust). Sanded it most in one weekend and brushed the new Cetol on the next weekend. Looked like new.

One person's perspective.

Those are the general principals for everything from a dinghy to a keel-boat, but there are other things to consider depending on whether you have a furling foresail, deck stepped versus keel stepped mast, etc. Best bet I would say is to identify a local with a similiar setup as yous and find out what they do. Alternatively provided a more detailed description of you rig and setup.

I know hindsight is 20/20, but in the future, make sure that you mark your turnbuckles on all stays and shrouds before removing the mast. Then assembly becomes a much quicker process, and you only need to tweek it after a week or two of sailing.

The C34 basically meets your requirements (we had a C34 MkII), depending on what your expectations are, but you probably have that already in mind. Three sleeps areas if you count the dinette area. I grew up on a Grampian 26 with a family of five, but it was like camping on the water. So when we had 6 on the 34, no problem from my perspective. but it was a bit more like "camping" again. Don't have a dog. My kids are animal enough, LOL.

We found the cockpit plenty big enough, and the storage adequate for our needs. The wing keel is amazing, allowing us to get into anchorages that few other boats our size could get into. Yep, she was a good boat.

Yeh, I'd have to agree with Stu. When we put in a custom holding tank to replace the previous one, we also replaced all the hoses and redid the vent hosing and where it came out.

The factory installed sani-hose went first from the head aft, then looped back around under the waste basket to turn forward, and then up behind the nav-table and then down to the tank. I rerouted it to go straight out the back of the head to go up behind the nav-table and then back down to the tank. This way we had less "stuff" just sitting in the hose. (And freed up some storage space). That said, I think we went from a 15' hose to a 10' or less one.

As for the vent hose, we were having issues with the stanchion vent where it was dripping into the electrical area beside the nav station. So I cut the stanchion and close in the deck (nice and solid) and now no more water mixing with electrical, or any chance for it to ever do that. The vent hose went forward and out behind the main cabin port hanging locker in a 1" dia. hose.

Our 34 Mk II also did not have a cockpit/courtesy light. I agree with Dave, that your's must have been added by a previous owner. I think only the newer Catalina x5 series boats have what might be considered a cockpit/courtesy light built into their cockpit table base.

I looked and strangely enough, I don't have a picture of the dinette open. I guess every time we opened it we were eating or doing something on the table and I wasn't taking pictures. LOL. However, Ken has the right idea. You basically double the surface area. As for any "supports", it's only the hinges and the thickness of the table edge that holds it up. I would not support my weight on it. When sailing, I would close it up so that no one could accidentally fall against a leaf. It seems fine to put your elbows on, but I wouldn't use it to raise myself out of the seat lets say.

All the new xx5 series of Catalina boats have this design, so you might be able to find a closer picture of the table and hinge somewhere online. I'd have to wait until I get back up north to our snow-covered boat, which unfortunately won't be any weekend soon.

Paul, I hear you about leaves that drop down getting in the way of knees. That's why I was suggesting leaves that fold up. Our cockpit table on the C34 did just that, and our dining table on the C425 does that also. You'd be looking at having a more solid wood table and different flush type hinges.

Photos would be useful, as always.

As for fold-ability, I always liked the idea of fold into itself. i.e. the underside of the leaf becomes the top side when folded in on top of the fixed section. Take a look at the xx5 series Catalina's. This makes it easy for getting in and out from the dinette.

Depending on how you do it, the fixed section can have a cutlery drawer under it. I like the idea of well varnished wood with teak trim with a lip, to help prevent sliding off the table. With the method I mentioned above, the lip would only be upward when close/folded.

I second Jon's interest in Marelon. I know bronze has historical precedence and is the proven metal, but I'm all into reducing as much metal below the waterline as possible. This might be a personal bias since as a teen I remember being hit by lightning, and in that case what saved us was the large twin bronze grounding plates that all the standing rigging was attached to. After that, I research all about lighting, grounding and bonding. The less metal below means less maintenance of a bonding system. IMO, perhaps others think differently.

Hi Paul,

Nice diagram. Quick question... how much power does the UV filter/light draw? Is it on all the time or only when the water is flowing? I'm curious how this is going to affect the house bank and if there was an issue of going from 120v to 12v, or did they have a DC option?

Thanks, Fred.

We moved up to a C425 last season, and it does have the stern railings extended up to the side gates located at the aft area of the dodger! Having previously been a C42 MkII owner, I'd say yes, it is totally doable. We do enjoy the additional hard rail on the C425, even though we now have to have two types of clothes pegs.

I would think twice about mounting your bbq on the side, since this would get in the way of rafting up with another boat. Also consider that people will also tend to put more pressure on the rails and stantions, so that leaks are more likely to occur at those stantion bases. Wire is less conducive to grabbing. If you do go with stainless rails, then consider increasing the base plate underneath the stantions and inside the boat, so that you have additional backerplate support.

True, the port side is difficult to access. On #1602 I had to remove the box in the aft cabin to get into the starter area from behind. Fortunately for me, I left most of the difficult work to the marina to do (I know that doesn't exactly help you).

Hi James,

Ours was a MKII, but perhaps the photos of the new encloser we had made, may be of some use by providing some ideas on how you would like yours to be laid out. Hopefully this link will work for you: https://photos.app.goo.gl/XXhHWqs6cmdsqb8o2

Some things we were looking for were:

• Better visibility through the dodger. We went as high as we could for as far as we could. The forward panel is parallel to the mainsheet lines and does not sag 9as the original did). The central panel is removable from the top down, so we can control the airflow through the cockpit
• We wanted the framework to be minimal and fold away when not in use. The base was raised to the stern rail, freeing up deck clutter. The forward crossbar is telescoping and reduces to fold back level with the other two bars when stored back and up against the backstays. The horizontal stabilizing bar scissors down when folded up. A narrow sock then covers the bimini canvas when stored back (sorry no pics of that) (maybe I can find one)
• Hand rails. We had three handrails added the one across the aft edge of the dodger, the two outside ones (one on each side of the dodger). We consider these "MUST haves", just for safety.
• We also requested sun protector panels for the dodger windows, even though we are up north. I figured the dodger is out I the sun all week, even though we mostly sailed on the weekends. This was to ensure that the money we put into the dodger would last longer.
• In the north mosquitos can make or break a wonderful evening. Four of the "venting" panels are screened and we can roll down the plastic panel to allow for airflow, without allowing the little critters easy access.
• When not using the panels we can roll them up at the edges of the bimini. This saves with storage worries. We still had to store the two panels for the dodger/bimini connector section though.

We really enjoyed the enclosure and how it extended our time on the water. One thing that we would do differently,... is not to use snap fasteners for the sun protector panels. It causes too much "pushing" into the dodger to get them on, and we ended up with two fasteners breaking off when trying to remove the protector panels. Unfortunately, the canvas shop that did the work is no longer in business, but perhaps what you see is of some help.

Cheers, Fred.

It will depend on how the cells are wired together. Most solar panels are set up so that the cells are in series, in which case your panel has basically died. If you have four rows of cells, they may be series/parallel, i.e. two rows in series and then the two sets of two in parallel. In that case, you'd have half a panel.

I'm not a solar expert, but we do have them on our house and boat.

Sorry, looks like Ken and I clicked at the same time. LOL.