New to the Californian

[Baba Yaga]

An intro and a question or two.

I purchased a 1979 34' Californian LRC extremely clean and fantastic running. Has the Perkins with turbos. A big thanks to John for taking such great care of her. The plate on salon post says 34/104/79. Documented vessel changed the name to Baba Yaga out of Coronado California.

Question #1-This model does not have a helm in the salon and has two hatches, forward and midship. I cannot find another photo of a similar setup. Does anyone have any info on this? Was forward hatch installed later?

Question #2- The salon doors are not sliding smoothly due to the channel the doors rest in are worn, what have you done to make them slide easy again? I have a couple of ideas but if you found something that works well I'd love to hear about it.

Question #3- Decks have been painted and have a nonskid that is not consistent. What have you done to update your decks?

Question #4- Sette was removed and I'm looking for ideas to replace the Ikea couch that's there now. I'm thinking of having a new sette built in and reinstall a table.

Question #5- Flybridge seating...looking for ideas, pros and cons to leaving original setup or replacing and updating to Hatteras type seating. What have you done?

Thanks for your ideas, help, and suggestions.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Welcome aboard.

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. As far as refinishing the decks, I love Kiwigrip. It will cover small imperfections and it is very durable. The PO of my boat did some deck repairs that I decided to redo this winter. I had to sand off the Kiwigrip. It took 40 grit in a belt sander in order to get it off in a reasonable time. It is a latex paint that is very easy to use. Congrats on your new boat.

 

[FlyWright]

Congrats on your new boat and welcome aboard. The PO was here on TF so you might find some of his old posts about Sweet Marie. Not many 34 LRCs without the lower helm.

Years ago, I added 1/8" UHMW plastic strips to the door tracks and it worked great...until the sun got to them and they cracked. Last year, I replaced them with Tap Plastics VHMW plastic strips that were 1/8 or 3/16 thick. They work great and stay slippery with an occasional spray of WD-40 to clean and lube.

Your molded-in aft hatch looks like mine on my 1977 LRC. I bet your fwd hatch was added later.

The ergonomics of my FB seating is terrible but I rarely use it, preferring the lower helm. Lots of good ideas out there for alternatives. Here are a few pics of some FB seating options that I had been considering.

 

[STB]

I had a 42 Californian Trawler..in California (Before recently trading to a 42 Hardin Europa in Florida)

The boat was different than yours. But, my wooden doors slid in a wooden track. The PO had some type of thin and badlybword plastic/teflon sheet in there. It wasnt working.andbdoors had to be lifted,up to move smoothly.

I took out the sheet in the track and put small plastic furniture leg sliders from home depot every few inches along the bottom of the door (versus track) They were thicker, but much to my surprise there was clearance.

Worked amazingly well. Lasted 2 years for me. And, to the best of knowledge, stull working for the new owner.

 

[STB]

Also, for the decks, I had them redone with awlgrip. Sanded/grinded down to good substrate. Built up with primer. Awlgripped with texture totally covering them while wet. Extra texture,removed with shop vac again once dry. And, awlgripped again (maybe twice, I forget). Worked great.

 

[DD788Snipe]

When I had my Californian 42 LRC I had the same problem with my sliding doors. I went to a plastics shop and had 1/8" thick teflon strips cut the width of the track. That worked great. But my sliders were smaller than yours so I'm not sure that will work for you but it's cheap and worth a try. I purchased it at that plastics shop in National City they have everything. Congrats BTW. Californians are great boats. I co-owned one for 10 years and loved it.

 

[jclays]

Welcome aboard. As far as refinishing the decks, I love Kiwigrip. It will cover small imperfections and it is very durable. The PO of my boat did some deck repairs that I decided to redo this winter. I had to sand off the Kiwigrip. It took 40 grit in a belt sander in order to get it off in a reasonable time. It is a latex paint that is very easy to use. Congrats on your new boat.

I second the Kiwigrip. Best and easiest deck paint to use. Watch the youtube videos on the paint.

 

[SeaDuty]

Congrats on the new ride.
I'm at harbor island west (sd). Same boat. If interested on mostly original layout swing by and take a look. Many upgrades. When i purchased i took a look at many others to get a feel on where i wanted to take her.
Just send me your contact info. I'm on her 3x + a week.

 

[SeaDuty]

Send your contact info to
greene2002@yahoo.com

 

[FlyWright]

Congrats on the new ride.
I'm at harbor island west (sd). Same boat. If interested on mostly original layout swing by and take a look. Many upgrades. When i purchased i took a look at many others to get a feel on where i wanted to take her.
Just send me your contact info. I'm on her 3x + a week.

Welcome, SeaDuty! Got any pics of your beaut? We love 34 LRC pics here!! Tell us more...

Gotta love San Diego. I lived there from 1982-85 working Air Traffic Control and got married there...reception at the top floor of a hotel overlooking Harbor Island and Lindbergh Field. Spent many an hour in the water and skies around SD during those years. Lots of great memories!

 

[SeaDuty]

Hey Flywright

will start a new thread with some boat pics..
having to dig through and random pics i've got - nothing set up - just in use stuff.

been busy at work -

regards
mike
sea duty

 

[PD Monkey]

Very nice! You bought Sweet Marie. I was looking at that one. Enjoy!

 

[Baba Yaga]

SeaDuty

I sent you an email.

PD Monkey

Yeah, we couldn't pass her up she is pristine.

 

[Baba Yaga]

Update...

Hey all,

Thanks for all the info, super appreciated!

Been a busy month or so but I thought I would do a quick update and add some pics, because who doesn't like pics?

Had Baba Yaga on the hard for a couple of weeks, the bottom is done, cutlass bearing done, packing completed, trim tabs had a minor leak, hull buffed, addressed some small items, redoing bait tank system, renamed, complete survey, replaced center flybridge canvas so I could see through it, and splashed back in.

We are just getting her settled with our flair, been out a few times for more shake-downs to discover future maintenance items, this is what we needed to address; batteries almost out of water, fresh water flush system hose failure and bubbled to about 10X the size, and starboard tranny was very low on fluid.