CAL 35--What do you all think?

Hi all, I know the perfect boat is always a bit longer than the one you have. In my case, it could be 10 feet longer. I'm thinking about a CAL 35-- vintage late '70s-early 80s, and I'm going to look at a couple of them. What advice can you give me about how the boat sails and if there is anything specifically I should look for when examining the Cal 35s? Thanks for your help Travis

Travis, Tim O's comments were excellent. I would definitely recommend the MKII for the better layout and better performing bolt-on-keel (although keel bolts scare me is some ways). Oh, on the engine, I'd recommend getting an independent mechanic appraisal and consider getting the oil analyzed (Oil Analysts Inc, Oakland, Ca. 800-424-0099. You can mail it in. Takes a week or so). Here are some comments I've posted before base on experience with my 80 MKI. Cons/things to check: - As you’ve see from the multiple headliner questions on the 35, they are all leaking at this point if the ports haven’t been re-bedded or replaced. - The upper rudder bearing should be inspected. - The boat is narrow aft and tends to bury at speed. She has a very definite terminal velocity and doesn’t like to surf. - Electrical panel location, if water every came in the companionway, this could be a problem - Dodger, the bridgedeck makes entry harder with a Dodger. But the bridgedeck also helps keep water out from down below if you get pooped. - Tender, the encapsulated keel (apparently MKI only) is very solid but not the best for getting the keel weight low and providing a slim profile. The boat heavily depends on hull stability in a breeze. - Hurth 10 transmission. If it hasn’t been replaced or rebuilt by now, it probably needs it. - V berth egress is hard. Bunk too high - Dark interior. Some people like all the teak, not me (except for afternoon naps). - Poor Pointing ability. The thick encapsulated keel along with the single spreader rig (i.e. not the tightest sheeting angles for the jib) are culprits here. - Tight cockpit. The wheel steals a lot of space. Pros: - Tracks extremely well with a very neutral helm (easy on autopilot, sometimes tough for beginner helmsman because they can’t feel what’s going on) - Light air performance. For an old tank, I surprised at how well she performs in winds under 10. - Stock engine, the Universal 5432 appears to be very robust. Mine has 3000+ and my yearly oil analysis indicates everything is great. - Bow anchor pulpit. It’s a strong, nice dual anchor set up for a stock system. - Rock solid hull. My boat has ‘fallen’ off some tanker wakes that I thought would split her in two but she survived fine - Halyards. My rig has two main and two jib halyards along with a spinnaker halyard. This may be heavy but I love the redundancy. That’s my two cents. Travis <tr… [at] sbcglobal.net> wrote: Hi all, I know the perfect boat is always a bit longer than the one you have. In my case, it could be 10 feet longer. I'm thinking about a CAL 35-- vintage late '70s-early 80s, and I'm going to look at a couple of them. What advice can you give me about how the boat sails and if there is anything specifically I should look for when examining the Cal 35s? Thanks for your help Travis SPONSORED LINKS Boating sailing Sailing boat Sailing Boating --------------------------------- YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "Cal_Boats" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses.

Dave and Tim, Thanks for the additional information. Also, Dave thanks for the PS review of the boat. After reading that, I'm more impressed with the boat, and it might just be what I'm looking for. I'm going to be looking at a couple of Mark IIs this weekend and maybe a MkI. Your comments surely will come in handy. Travis ----- Original Message ----- From: biggs dave To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2006 12:48 PM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] CAL 35--What do you all think? (Travis) Travis, Tim O's comments were excellent. I would definitely recommend the MKII for the better layout and better performing bolt-on-keel (although keel bolts scare me is some ways). Oh, on the engine, I'd recommend getting an independent mechanic appraisal and consider getting the oil analyzed (Oil Analysts Inc, Oakland, Ca. 800-424-0099. You can mail it in. Takes a week or so). Here are some comments I've posted before base on experience with my 80 MKI. Cons/things to check: - As you've see from the multiple headliner questions on the 35, they are all leaking at this point if the ports haven't been re-bedded or replaced. - The upper rudder bearing should be inspected. - The boat is narrow aft and tends to bury at speed. She has a very definite terminal velocity and doesn't like to surf. - Electrical panel location, if water every came in the companionway, this could be a problem - Dodger, the bridgedeck makes entry harder with a Dodger. But the bridgedeck also helps keep water out from down below if you get pooped. - Tender, the encapsulated keel (apparently MKI only) is very solid but not the best for getting the keel weight low and providing a slim profile. The boat heavily depends on hull stability in a breeze. - Hurth 10 transmission. If it hasn't been replaced or rebuilt by now, it probably needs it. - V berth egress is hard. Bunk too high - Dark interior. Some people like all the teak, not me (except for afternoon naps). - Poor Pointing ability. The thick encapsulated keel along with the single spreader rig (i.e. not the tightest sheeting angles for the jib) are culprits here. - Tight cockpit. The wheel steals a lot of space. Pros: - Tracks extremely well with a very neutral helm (easy on autopilot, sometimes tough for beginner helmsman because they can't feel what's going on) - Light air performance. For an old tank, I surprised at how well she performs in winds under 10. - Stock engine, the Universal 5432 appears to be very robust. Mine has 3000+ and my yearly oil analysis indicates everything is great. - Bow anchor pulpit. It's a strong, nice dual anchor set up for a stock system. - Rock solid hull. My boat has 'fallen' off some tanker wakes that I thought would split her in two but she survived fine - Halyards. My rig has two main and two jib halyards along with a spinnaker halyard. This may be heavy but I love the redundancy. That's my two cents. Travis <tr… [at] sbcglobal.net> wrote: Hi all, I know the perfect boat is always a bit longer than the one you have. In my case, it could be 10 feet longer. I'm thinking about a CAL 35-- vintage late '70s-early 80s, and I'm going to look at a couple of them. What advice can you give me about how the boat sails and if there is anything specifically I should look for when examining the Cal 35s? Thanks for your help Travis SPONSORED LINKS Boating sailing Sailing boat Sailing Boating ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses. SPONSORED LINKS Boating sailing Sailing boat Sailing Boating ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS a.. Visit your group "Cal_Boats" on the web. b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------