Ohana: 1978 Cal 34-III Hull No. 96

[pbnelson]

Yup, serious bimini envy, that's me. As far as I can tell, my wheel is in more or less the same position as yours. My boom definitely extends further, though. Your boom is 6-12" forward of your wheel, whereas mine is the same amount aft. Which is the change the interwebs tell me Cal made to the series-III, so not surprising. Anyway, it's the longer boom that has me worried, as I'm skeptical I can get a bimini to accommodate the boom/sail/topping-lift and still be large enough to provide meaningful shade. I hope to find someone having an original CAL-34 (1st edition) with aftermarket wheel and aft-mounted traveler, who also has had a successful bimini retrofit.

[SailingChris]

Just a note from the Great Lakes, where we are not yet in sailing season, so we get all our boat excitement vicariously. I've enjoyed reading the intelligent questions and equally informative answers in this thread. Yay for keeping these great old boats going and having fun sailing them safely. Earlier I had pleased to see that this is a renovation while sailing the boat, instead of deferring the fun until everything is perfect. Things will never be perfect but they can be good enough for now. By sailing our boats we learn what needs to be changed and improved while still getting out on the water.

Our sailing season is creeping up on us. My older boat, the lovely old 1061 Seafarer Polaris, will launch on May 13 over on the Lake Huron side, and here on Lake Michigan, the sweet Cal 20 will go in, after a vacation, in early June. I hate to leave her hanging on a mooring unattended for three weeks so will launch when I am back.

Chris Campbell
Cal 20 #1220, Martha C

[GBR3068]

Long overdue post to thank Mary Mac and all her help with my Bimini design. Mary was so kind and let me measure and copy her design. I couldn't have done it without that help. I changed a few things from her design.

Background. Cal 2-34 with wheel. I have a removable forestay for storm jib. I have a second removable forestay for staysail (both attach to same point on foredeck). That means I need running backstays in heavy weather further complicating the bimini design. The backstays can come down to big blocks on massive eyes on the transom, also used for drogue, or to tracked blocks on a short section of 1-1/4" track either side of the coaming just forward of the standard rear deck cleats. I also have to lead the sheets from an emergency trysail back through the bimini. The Schaefer furler boom overlaps the dodger and ends forward of the wheel.

Keys:
1. Punching extra holes in the solar panels along the edges with stainless grommets to allow zip tie mounts to tubing. After I did it, someone said you should just have used solid panels. Maybe. Everyone said the unsupported panels would fly off. I was worried about that. I've been out in 50+ mph including 60-70 mph gusts in that bomb cyclone we had in SF last year. The panels give and flex but dont break. So far, so good. They also got me to and back from Kauai in the SHTP.
2. Using Mantus swivel jaws for mounting the bows on the existing pushpit rail. The problem is the rails are not parallel and so when you come to mount (or remove) the dodger the bows wont raise & lower. The swivel jaws completely solve that problem. You'll know what I mean when you try it.
3. Ball and socket jaw slides from Taco. Allow easy disassembly and replacement of solar panels. I fully expect to have to replace a panel at some point. I can either remove the panels in place, by cutting zip ties. or just pop the whole panel and tube assembly out using the ball and socket joints. The ball & socket disconnect with just a twist of a locking mechanism.
4. Ball and socket joints also used for extra supports or stays to create a roll cage for offshore. I can remove the two stays that connect to the pedestal rail and separately two stays that attach to the dodger. With all stays attached the bimini is pretty solid laterally (pushing port to starboard, sideways), and you can hang on it. Without the stays there is no easy way to get rigidity of the bimini. I tried with several triangular braces (triangle more rigid than rectangle) but nothing worked as well as using the stays. The stays do reduce movement around the cockpit, but thats sort of the idea offshore. I have all my instruments on the bimini (active radar reflector, weatherstation, AIS antenna, VHF spare, GPS, Iridium) so that another reason to keep it as rigid as possible.
5. I just bought the Sailrite long bows (three but only ended up using two), not the kit. I just bought other tubing locally, shipping is hard otherwise. I tried bending my own. Forget that.
6. Hard parts were (a) Figuring out what to do about backstay. Just keep measuring and I finally created a design that is pretty impervious to backstay position and allows me to look up the mast at the wheel. It does not provide perfect rain protection and I dont think any bimini would anyway. (b) Getting it all together on land maybe 20 times through the assemble/measure/disassemble/reassemble loop and planning on how to get it on the boat single-handed. It was just a lot of planning and practice (c) Getting all the angles in 3D right. You can only do so much with pen and paper. Lots of string and cardboard.

Thanks Mary !!!

Bimini 1 IMG_0626.jpg

[GBR3068]

Here's the view from the other side and the key parts I mentioned.

Bimini 2 IMG_0624.jpg

Jaw Slide 1.jpg

Ball and Socket 1.jpg

[kylamurphy]

Mary, I apologize for falling off the face of the earth after your generous reply. Thank you for giving some insights into the upgrades you've made to your boat. There are several you've made that are on my to-do list when I find the sweet combo of time + money. Right now I have a lot of time.

In advance I will also apologize that this post is a bit all-over-the-place. I am hanging out with my 5-year-old and writing on the laptop as I can.

You have a sharp eye, I do not have a boom vang and could probably use one. The boat came with two sails, what appeared to be original wire-to-rope halyards, a mainsheet, jib sheets, a furling Genoa and its furling line, and a few fenders. Nothing else, really. I replaced the halyards with new rope (no wire), and replaced all the other running rigging, adding a topping lift as well. I would LOVE a spare halyard and am considering adding a baby forestay (for heavier weather options).

I've done very little to the boat so far, it was as you say in pretty good condition. We have gotten more comfortable using her and intend to do some weekend-long sails including anchoring around the Bay. But I have discovered (by sailing on others' boats) how bare bones she is. Thank goodness for Navionics and a handheld iCom VHF with AIS.

I had her hauled our first winter (2022) and got the bottom repainted, and all through-hulls cleaned, everything inspected from keel to masthead, and feel like she's in pretty good form.

What I definitely need is a reefing system. My boat did not come with one. Some of the hardware is there but no spare/old lines were aboard, and the PO was a complete amateur, so it never occurred to me what that hardware was for. I have been looking at setups on YouTube but they're only partially helpful. Do you have photos of your setup? My main has cringles for two reefs, but no rams horn at the mast or anything.

There are no electronics aside from a dodgy depth finder, no water plumbing hooked up, the original alcohol stove is still installed (still unused), and nothing atop the mast aside from a wind vane (no anchor light). My engine has run fine -- the PO had to install a new starter and an electric fuel pump to get her running for our sea trial, which saved a lot of money and effort on my end!

I have not had to address then engine, but I am starting to feel more vibration, so I just bought new v-belts and a pair of engine mounts to replace the corroding feet on the W-30. I need to nearly fill the oil reservoir each time run the engine -- it leaks so much into the bilge that I am growing a nasty 20-gallon milkshake down there. But it starts and it runs and it doesn't overheat, and it shuts off, as desired.

I have not solved that problem yet, and so I have also just gotten a new 2000 gph Rule pump to address it, having seen your setup. Next week, I will clean up the engine, place absorbent pads under it, add the new belts, replace the oil filter, and tighten everything a little bit, hoping to stem the leak. (I paid $300 for the local mechanic to service the engine and address the leaks. He said, "It's an old engine and it leaks everywhere. It's hard to access.") I have faith that it only leaks some places and those places are findable, if not accessible.

I improved the ground tackle system, which was just a Danforth and a ratty nylon rope, with better hardware and mixed rode including 30 feet of 5/8 HT galvanized chain and 100 feet of static arborist rope I salvaged from an old tree climbing job I had. I don't have a windlass or a bow roller, but I will soon have a nylon snubber to take off some of the shock in a windy anchorage.

Since we are always overnighting at our slip, I have allowed our head to remain untouched. We have a 20-or-30 gallon holding tank under the Port settee, and all has worked well so far. I would like to replace the tank and add a pex plumbing system, but I am pretty sure I cannot install your disposal system which I don't believe is allowed in the Chesapeake as it's protected waters.

As for my compression post, I have found that water leaking in my hatch pools around the point where the post would contact the cabin sole. That indicates that there is a downward force being applied to the mast or that there was once significant downward force applied to the mast and it deformed my sole a bit. That reminds me that I have seen where the bulkhead attached to the hull by the diesel tank and the fiberglass was not attached.

Oh now I have added a huge job to my list, remembering that. Other projects I have in store, near term:

Over the next few weeks, I will be re-bedding all the deck hardware and sealing up the leaks from hatches and windows and portlights. I have a bow pulpit which has bent feet, and the gelcoat is cracked there, but I have no idea how that all could have happened. I can't imagine the forces which bent the steel so that the forward edges of the bases are distorted a bit upward. None of our cleats have backing plates either, so that is also happening with the deck work.

The way I see it, I have to stop the oil leaking into the bilge. I have to get the existing oil/water out of the bilge. And I have to stop water from filling the bilge in the future. So deck sealing work and engine work are priority for now.

Last summer I replaced the shift and throttle cables which were badly corroded. Much better now. Still feels sluggish and slow at times, but will probably add a tachometer so we can motor more consistently.

I am excited about doing the work, which is nice. Let's see how I feel about that in two months, lol....

Jake

Hi Jake,

I have a Cal 34 III 1977 "Marea" with a Westerbeke 30. The engine mounts are starting to corrode so my next project is to replace them. I cant seem to find them all on the Westerbeke site, as one of the engine mounts was discontinued... Where did you get your engine mounts from? Does anyone else with a Cal 34 have any advice on where to find them? Hope everyones projects are going well! Ive owned Marea for about 6 months and have so far redone bottom paint, thruhulls, the head, chainplates and other small projects. Working on the engine right now!

-Kyla