True North 34

[Mikbar]

Re: True North Owners... have just joined the Cruisers Forum.. We are the owners of a 34 ft 1976 Noon Ocean, built at Columbia Shipyard in N. Vancouver. We have been cruising for 12 years and currently are in Borneo. Our sturdy little boat has kept us safe and comfortable through all our adventures. If you need info on what had worked for us, please ask.

[Knapweed]

This is Bazzer's thread but I'm sure he won't mind me chipping in.

I would love to hear any and all stories/anecdotes/advice you have to offer. My wife and I are leaving for Vancouver tomorrow to spend two weeks on Palindrome and hoping to get some sailing in. My last trip was really just to get acquainted and to see what work needed to be done.

I would be interested to know, after sailing her for twelve years, would you choose the same boat again? If not, why not and if you would, what worked best?

[bazzer]

Originally Posted by Mikbar

Re: True North Owners... have just joined the Cruisers Forum.. We are the owners of a 34 ft 1976 Noon Ocean, built at Columbia Shipyard in N. Vancouver. We have been cruising for 12 years and currently are in Borneo. Our sturdy little boat has kept us safe and comfortable through all our adventures. If you need info on what had worked for us, please ask.

I am always interested in hearing from other true north owners, partially about sailing! I'm fairly new to the boat and my biggest problem is to reduce weather helm. I've got plenty of sailing experience but not with a cutter and a full length keel.
My boat, Tinuviel was built in Taiwan and the woodwork looks like the same chippy who built Hans Christian's built mine. All teak and sturdy. I do have wet core on my decks though

[Mikbar]

In answer to Knapweed.... Given our budget 14 years ago, this boat has proved to be an excellent cruiser and home for us for off shore passaging. We started with minimal frills, I.e. no fridge, no solar panels, no auto helm, and only a hand held gps. Over the years we have added what we thought would improve our comfort levels. If you want more details maybe email me.

Would we buy her again? Yes, for off shore passaging, and probably not for coastal and seasonal sailing where we would opt for a lighter vessel or multi hull now.

Yes, weather helm can be a problem. Over the years we have learned how to balance the boat to compensate. The weight and size of the head sail makes a huge difference, and the main , in our case, an in mast furled one, usually has one reef in it. The inner staysail is great for going to windward, combined with a. Reefed head sail... According to wind strength of course. Our Aries wind and has proved to be very successful for this type of vessel.

[bazzer]

Originally Posted by Mikbar

In answer to Knapweed.... Given our budget 14 years ago, this boat has proved to be an excellent cruiser and home for us for off shore passaging. We started with minimal frills, I.e. no fridge, no solar panels, no auto helm, and only a hand held gps. Over the years we have added what we thought would improve our comfort levels. If you want more details maybe email me.

Would we buy her again? Yes, for off shore passaging, and probably not for coastal and seasonal sailing where we would opt for a lighter vessel or multi hull now.

Yes, weather helm can be a problem. Over the years we have learned how to balance the boat to compensate. The weight and size of the head sail makes a huge difference, and the main , in our case, an in mast furled one, usually has one reef in it. The inner staysail is great for going to windward, combined with a. Reefed head sail... According to wind strength of course. Our Aries wind and has proved to be very successful for this type of vessel.

Yes I would agree about the reeding. In my view the main is just to big for the boat and she certainly carries less lee helm with a reef I the main. I don't have any roller furling, but I do have a good selection of sails, including a Yankee 1 & 2, a genoa, staysail, storm jib and trysail. Oh a spinnaker as well. Plenty to choose from.
Baz

[derinque]

Hey you True North guys,
Just found your conversation, great stuff, any of you still around?
I have a longstanding in True North 34's, I own the first one built in the 1970's, designed by Huntingford for David and Mary Welsh of Vancouver. I bought "Oceania" in 1996 and it has been quite the relationship. We've had some good times for sure, cruising up to SE Alaska in 2002 (as far as Glacier Bay anyway), and lots of exploring on the west coast of Vancouver Island (I live in Tofino). And there have been hard times, like when the engine passed away... and pretty intense moments, in which I have always been confirmed in my belief that the True North is a great boat design; sea-kindly and safe, but a wave-eater under sail.

I have seen some of your boats, looked at "Palindrome" in Gibsons when she was for sale back in 2000. Would be neat to see her again. And I used to see "Antares" around Vancouver and elsewhere (she's not a True North, tho, right?)e 1970's.

It would be great to hear how things go for you all. I'm heading south this fall, late September, plan to do the Haha but haven't signed up yet. Any of you guys going that way then?

Fair winds,
Derek

[Knapweed]

Hey Derek. Great to hear from another True North 34 owner.

We will be heading south but it will probably be September 2013 by the looks of things. We still need to sell the house so my missus can retire. Currently, she's run out of vacation, so my trips to Vancouver are about once every six weeks or so. We live in Northern BC (Burns Lake) and the boat is berthed at Cold Harbour.

At the moment, I'm fitting a composting toilet and later on an Isotemp water heater. The current set up is a nightmare of pipes and holding tank, which distributes crappy water in the bilge when it feels like it. We will also claw back a lot of stowage space which is always useful.

The previous water heater was a Paloma, which had been in service for over ten years but I'm paranoid about propane, especially heaters with pilot lights. Dumping it also saved over $200 on insurance.

The guy that bought Palindrome in 2000 owned her until I bought her earlier in the year. He did an awesome job of renovating her and fitting her out as I understand she was in a bit of a sorry state. She is looking beautiful now (to our eyes) and only has 300 hours on the engine.

If you're ever in Vancouver and we're on the boat, please feel welcome to visit.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Derek.

[bazzer]

Originally Posted by derinque

Hey you True North guys,
Just found your conversation, great stuff, any of you still around?
I have a longstanding in True North 34's, I own the first one built in the 1970's, designed by Huntingford for David and Mary Welsh of Vancouver. I bought "Oceania" in 1996 and it has been quite the relationship. We've had some good times for sure, cruising up to SE Alaska in 2002 (as far as Glacier Bay anyway), and lots of exploring on the west coast of Vancouver Island (I live in Tofino). And there have been hard times, like when the engine passed away... and pretty intense moments, in which I have always been confirmed in my belief that the True North is a great boat design; sea-kindly and safe, but a wave-eater under sail.

I have seen some of your boats, looked at "Palindrome" in Gibsons when she was for sale back in 2000. Would be neat to see her again. And I used to see "Antares" around Vancouver and elsewhere (she's not a True North, tho, right?)e 1970's.

It would be great to hear how things go for you all. I'm heading south this fall, late September, plan to do the Haha but haven't signed up yet. Any of you guys going that way then?

Fair winds,
Derek

Nice to hear from you and yes we are still around. I'm doing the Ha Ha this year.
I just tried to upload a picture of Tinuviel but it failed. I'll try again later

[derinque]

Hi again,
Knapweed; I just installed an isotemp hot water heater this spring, works great, but I think it may be redundant for heading south. My Dickenson has a stainless coil, heats the water in the tank when the stove is on. For cruising up the BC coast this is really nice; on those cold, rainy days holed up somewhere you've got hot water in the galley.

I also just installed a foot pump for salt water in the galley sink, so as to conserve fresh water. Great, simple system, can't believe I didn't put one in long ago. Don't have a watermaker and would prefer not to get one. Wonder how others get by with or without watermakers.

Bazzer: when are you headed south? Are you all geared up for the trip? It has been a challenge for me to decide where to spend my little resources gearing up for the trip south. I would have loved to upgrade sails, get a furling gear (finally) and an SSB, but decided instead to invest in gear I plan to never use: EPIRB and liferaft. Hopefully I'll upgrade other gear along the way, the important thing for now is to get going.

I have not experienced the weather helm issues you guys are talking about, or at least not very often. Unless there are heavy seas, the tiller will often just sit there in the middle, moving back and forth a bit, if left alone. I wonder what makes the difference.

I'll try to upload some photos of the boat sometime.

cheers

[Knapweed]

Yep, I understand solar heaters are all you need down south but we will probably have to spend one winter on the boat and, like you, we have a Dickinson heater, which we can use on the hook in the PNW.

We've only been out in 10-13 kts of wind, so it probably isn't a fair comparison but we've not experienced any noticeable weather helm. From what Bazzer was saying elsewhere, it sounds like he has a longer boom than we do, which may be a contributing factor. The previous owner of Pal used to reef early to prevent weather helm - anything above fifteen kts of wind and that balanced the boat up nicely.

I like your idea of a saline foot pump for the sink. There's another TN 34 in the marina and he has one hooked up. 140 gallons goes a long way but it would go even further with a sea water supply. There's a guy selling an unused Katadyn PS 35 in the marina. It's the forerunner to the current PS40 but has the same specs AFAIK and Katadyn still sells spares, so I'm tempted. It's only 1.5 galls/hour but draws 50-60 watts, so the solar panels should handle that quite easily.

I look forward to the photos.

[bazzer]

Here is a picture of our new California Dodger and Bimini, we like it!
This is my first attempt of uploading a picture file, so I hope it works.
We are off on the Delta Do Da next week, it will be hot so the canvas is really needed.

[bazzer]

Wahoo! the upload worked, so here are a couple more of some of our brightwork finished with several coats of teak oil. Not easy but we're loving the result.

[Knapweed]

Looking really good Bazzer! Your dodger is similar to ours but ours is hunter green - or so my wife tells me, I'm colourblind. Yep, your boom is quite a bit longer than ours. Our mainsheet comes between the dodger and bimini and is attached, without a traveller, to the bridgedeck.. Did you make it yourself matey or did you have it done professionally?

Good looking job on the brightwork. Our cockpit and coamings are fibreglass, so no brightwork in the cockpit.

[bazzer]

Originally Posted by Knapweed

Looking really good Bazzer! Your dodger is similar to ours but ours is hunter green - or so my wife tells me, I'm colourblind. Yep, your boom is quite a bit longer than ours. Our mainsheet comes between the dodger and bimini and is attached, without a traveller, to the bridgedeck.. Did you make it yourself matey or did you have it done professionally?

Good looking job on the brightwork. Our cockpit and coamings are fibreglass, so no brightwork in the cockpit.

Had it made, total cost was about $3500 US. That included winch covers and the sail cover. He also made a matching tote bag for my lady!
Strange your boom is so much shorter, mine matches Stan's plans. But definitely to big, but these days I have got the weather helm under control by better sail management. I need to put the first reef in around 15 knots of wind.
Baz