Wayne B. wrote

I owned a Cal-34 for many years.


Hello from a fellow Cal owner. I have a Cal 25, but even though Dave
and Jaja Martin sailed theirs (heavily modified) around the world, I
don't think I'll be attempting the same feat I belong to a list of
Cal owners, and when asked which Cal they would consider for extended
offshore cruising, most votes came in for the Cal 34 (medium size) and
the Cal 40 or 46 (larger size).

Weak points are the deck stepped mast, the wood supporting
column below decks, the chainplates, mast, spreaders, and
the fibreglass keel shell.

I actually prefer a deck stepped mast, but I think you are referring
to the wood below, right? Yes, my ideal boat would be a fiberglass
shell and I would re-build the interior completely. I'm not quite
ready to build my own hull, but there's this guy Glenn Ashmore who is
building his own from scratch (www.rutuonline.com). He is something of
a hero to me.

There are very few sailboats under 45 feet on which I'd want
to spend more than a day or two in offshore conditions.

Just out of curiosity, which "small" boats make your short list, and
why?

Thanks,

Bob Whitaker
"Free Spirit"


Wayne.B wrote in message . ..
On 12 Mar 2004 14:19:34 -0800, (Frank Maier) wrote:

Heard great things of Cal
34's.

====================================

I owned a Cal-34 for many years. We cruised and raced it for
thousands of miles and had a great time.. It's very roomy for its
size and genre and is very fast off the wind, especially on a breezy
spinnaker reach. With an inexpensive tiller autopilot it can be
easily sailed by one or two people. Those are the major good points
other than being relatively easy to work on.

On the down side, the boats are getting old and need to be carefully
surveyed for structural issues. Weak points are the deck stepped
mast, the wood supporting column below decks, the chainplates, mast,
spreaders, and the fibreglass keel shell. Many older boats have
addressed some of these issues out of necessity, others have been
lucky, and more still have lurking issues as do most 30+ year old
boats. Most have either been repowered already or are badly in need
of it. Diesel is the way to go for serious cruising.

People have crossed oceans in Cal-34s but it's real strength is as a
coastal cruiser, preferably down wind. There are very few sailboats
under 45 feet on which I'd want to spend more than a day or two in
offshore conditions.