New Owner of Old Cal 34 Seeking Knowledge

[tishy willocks]

Sticking my tow in the sailing forum waters.

Recently I purchased a 76 cal 34 mkii which by all accounts is in pretty good shape. Prior to purchase I had the boat hauled and surveyed in addition to being inspected by a boat rite friend. I found posts I know were by the previous owner (little devil) of the boat in this forum. After owning the cal for 3 mos. I have made repairs and improvements and knowing next to nothing about sailing have employed the services of a seasoned licensed captain for personal lessons. I have discovered there are a lot of "need to gets", "want to gets" and absolutely "must gets" regarding rounding out the functional aspects of this boat.
I have so far learned a "boatload" of things about sailing one of which of course is how very much I don't know about sailing, I have however so far been out twice with the capt. and three more times on my own with my boat rite friend and others, (not ready to single hand yet). I'll take all the help and advice I can get! This forum has already been a big help!
Thank you all
John

[Jim Cate]

G'DAy John, and welcome to CF. You have already eliminated the usual new posters query of "what boat should I buy"... thanks for that! The Cals of that era were good boats and yours should be a good learning platform for you.

So, we're all waiting to ply you with free advice. All we need is the preferred subject, so ask away.

Enjoy!

Jim

[Ex-Calif]

Let's see... You have a boat, a support group and a big assesd list of things to fix...

Yup - Welcome to hell...

Sounds like you are headed in the right direction. Have fun with the boat.

PS - You wanna talk about anchoring, pirates, batteries or guns on board?

[tishy willocks]

Thanks Jim and XCal for taking the time to respond.

I'm currently trying to do 1-2 tasks a day which depending on the task at hand usually results in accomplishing between one and none. I'm living aboard and working full time. Life is good!
The boat is equipped with a raymarine e7 mfd, auto pilot and radar. Sonar would be nice as would a wind vane that interfaces with the auto pilot. The e7 on this boat does not have onboard sonar. The expense of installing the "options" sonar, wind vane etc. are significant so I have to take it all in stride.

John

[Ex-Calif]

Depending on where you are radar and sonar are definitely "nice" to have items.

I'd probably get AIS first but that's me...

Where do you sail and what are your plans?

[gjordan]

I am going to toss in my 2 cents worth, and it is worth just what you pay for it. You have purchased a great boat, and I think you are going about things in a reasonable manner, but other than making sure you have good ground tackle and maybe add an independant depth sounder, I would say to not buy much, or anything right away. The more you sail your boat, your ideas of what are must haves, or wants will change. The list of the latest fancy toys is tempting, but it is endless, and for learning your boat, and getting your sailing skills improved, most of it is unneccessary. Sail as much as you can, and your list of "must haves" will change as your knowledge goes up. You didnt say if your planning on being a coastal cruiser, or eventually going long distances? Have a wonderful time learning. _______Grant.

[tishy willocks]

Thanks for the input.

Yes fancy toys are nice to have but do come at a cost.
I learned what "ais" is over the weekend and will be putting that at the top of my list besides addressing my rigging. I'm located in Long beach, my plans are to sail coastal till I feel confident enough and have the boat adequately equipped to venture out further. "Ground tackle" meaning lines, blocks and rigging will by my project for this week. Lines that are too big for the blocks need to be replaced with new lines the proper size and length. It's pretty
tough to pull oversize lines through blocks I've found. As for long trips,
as time finances and experience allow I'll go as far as I feel comfortable
going.

[gjordan]

tishy, what I ment by ground tackle is your anchoring gear. You are near the channel islands which are a great cruising ground, but other than Catalina, you will be anchoring all of the time. Good ground tackle is the best insurance a boat can have. I wont even mention a brand of anchor, since that always brings on big arguments on CF, but SIZE MATTERS. So does making sure to safety wire all shackles in your anchoring system. Best of luck with your new love. ______Grant.

[tishy willocks]

Thanks for the clarification Grant.

I have 3 danforth anchors currently, too much rode and not enough chain. I have a 25 lb. cqr waiting to be fitted to the bow and an additional 300 ft. of new rode which came with the boat.

[SkiprJohn]

Congratulations! It's good that you have found someone to help you get started sailing. Do not be confused by all the input you get about what gear to buy for your boat. Some things are absolutely necessary like sails, standing and running rigging and anchoring gear (ground tackle). Getting all that sorted out should be your first priority. The fancy electronics can come later. A VHF radio is pretty much necessary but it doesn't have to have all the bells and whistles. If you are going to sea then look into getting an EPIRB. A depth sounder is pretty much necessary for any shallow water sailing and helps for navigation. You'll probably want some form of GPS to find your way if you venture away from visible landmarks and a radar reflector is necessary so ships can see you on their radar.
Good luck in your fitting out.
Best advice I can give you is don't change anything (furnishings) below decks until you've lived with it for at least 6 months. There is usually a reason why things are designed they way they are.

[gjordan]

tishy, Danforths are good, and I like CQRs, but 25lbs is much too small as your main hook. You say waiting to be mounted? If you are going to put a new bow roller on, then size it for several sizes bigger than is recommended. You dont say how much chain you want, but going with 15lbs less chain, and 15lbs more hook will let you sleep better when the wind shifts, or a squall comes thru. The total weight will be just as easy/hard on your back, but you will hold better. ______Grant.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by tishy willocks

Thanks for the input.

Yes fancy toys are nice to have but do come at a cost.
I learned what "ais" is over the weekend and will be putting that at the top of my list besides addressing my rigging. I'm located in Long beach, my plans are to sail coastal till I feel confident enough and have the boat adequately equipped to venture out further. "Ground tackle" meaning lines, blocks and rigging will by my project for this week. Lines that are too big for the blocks need to be replaced with new lines the proper size and length. It's pretty
tough to pull oversize lines through blocks I've found. As for long trips,
as time finances and experience allow I'll go as far as I feel comfortable
going.

Ground Tackle - The stuff that anchors the boat to the ground.
Running Rigging - All the sheets halyards and lines that move and adjust the sails
Standing Rigging - All the fixed gear that holds mast and booms up
Dock Lines - All the lines that secure to a dock

Mini terminology lesson as we go along.

If you have an iPhone you can get by with Navtronics for a while for navigation. Might consider a lifeproof case if you plan to get wet...

Agree with others - go slow on mods. For a month every time I pulled hard on a line it seems a turning block or something would break. People advised, "Don't pull so hard."

I ended up replacing every damn pulley on the boat.

[tishy willocks]

Thanks again, I appreciate all the input.
Some of you guys had posted on this boat with the previous ill fated "videographer" owner s.s. little devil. I was able to back track the strings and found out at least some of what had been done on the boat. I'll have more specific questions as time passes, I'll be out again this weekend taking advantage of whatever is left of the summer. I know, I can sail in the winter too.

cheers

[Adelie]

Assuming you had the boat surveyed, was there any mention of the condition of the metal beam under the mast?

Most earlier Cal's have a beam running across the boat under the cabin sole that does a very good job of resolving the mast and rigging forces. I believe the C34 was one of those boats, I'll check on that. Most were made of mild steel. If previous owners haven't done a very good job of keeping the boat dry you may have corrosion problems with this beam.

In the short term this is probably not a problem for coastal sailing. When you start going offshore you will want to have looked into this.

[Adelie]

I confirmed with Cal40John, who spent several decades sailing on a mutual friend's Cal34, that yes indeed the do have the metal beams.


Adelie