Everett wrote:

I'm thinking about a used CHB 34. Can anyone point out common problems I
should know about and watch out for in these 30 year old beauties??
Anything along the lines of "if it hasn't been fixed by now, you're going to
have to ..."

Thanks and wish me luck!
Everett

Here's a CHB group with plenty of people willing to give advice.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CHB/

I have a CHB bought used in 1979. Since that time I have spent $28,000 on rot
repair in the forward part of the deck cabin, and $13,000 for the only place
that wasn't addressed with that first go.

The boat came with classy lead/foam lining which, however, obscured being able
to see the top of the fuel tank and filler hose. In Canada in September the
hose gave way while fueling and put 100 gallons of fuel in the bilge. On
replacement, the top of the tank was found to be rusted and it may cost $4,000
to have that fixed. The classy lead lining is removed, by the way.

We had intended to use up the fuel in the tank and get it fixed, but during the
big rain in Seattle water got into the tank and blitzed our Webasto (how we
discovered it - better than blitzing the injector pump). I'm in the process of
being sure the water is out so the boat can be moved for repair.

CHBs were built by different yards, as most people know. The hulls were laid in
a central place and then farmed out to other 'yards'. For that reason, some are
good, like North Seas and Puget Trawlers - tight as ticks and very sound - and
some were bad, like our Far East. They all cost the same in the 70s when they
came in, but some of us knew more than others about boats.

Briefly. Get a good survey out of the water. Find out if the boat has been
stored under cover or out in the open (Ours was the latter and therefore had
obvious trouble which I, being naive, tried to caulk away for too long.). If it
has been kept under cover, and has only a thousand or so hours, then it may be a
ticking bomb.

We had a guy in our Trawler club years ago who stayed out an extra day after one
of our cruises on a rainy weekend, and it rained like crazy that Monday, and he
was shocked to find out how much the boat leaked. Prior to that time he hadn't
spent more than 2 days in the rain. We figured out that the water never got to
the part of soaking enough wood to actually come through.

Check absolutely every hose and connection. Don't ignore anything because it's
hard to get to. Check especially the hoses for raw water intake in the heads.

BOTTOM LINE: Yesterday I went to the boat and fired up the old Hi Seas heater,
and it got toasty and dry. I'm a slow worker so it took about 4 hours to do
just a few things. Listening to the stereo.

At the end I poured my 3-finger Scotch reward and went on deck to have it.
Looking back at the interior, lighted and warm, it was easy to recall the times
in anchorages, away from the city and computers and everything else, and be glad
as Hell for the boat. I'd have liked to be smarter earlier, but that's my
fault, not the boat's.

So learn from me and others on the CHB list and you will be able to make good
choices. They are slow old beasts but comfortable and economical. And as soon
as you really understand that a CHB isn't a form of transportation, but a place
to be that moves about, you will stop arranging to 'come over and meet you on
our boat and go...', 'pop around and see you...' and you will be happy.