What is the Californian 34 Actual LOA? My slip has a hard limit of 35ft

[SeaRow]

Hi Gang,
I am in the market for the wonderful Californian 34 Sedan LRC.

My slip in Santa Barbara has a hard limit of 35ft and not an inch over.

My guess, I will have to drop the swim step and Stub the nose?

Has anyone ever dropped a plum line and got the very tip to tip length?

Any input much appreciated.



Chris

 

[DavidM]

I don't think you will make it. Probably 18" for bow pulpit and another 18" for swim platform- 37' LOA.

David

 

[Comodave]

Do you have a chain saw?

 

[SeaRow]

Swim step has to come off and yes the bow will get what we call the Santa Barbara stub nose.

 

[Comodave]

Can you do a folding swim platform?

 

[SeaRow]

Can you do a folding swim platform?

I can do anything as long as the boat tip to tip is not one inch over 35ft.

 

[Comodave]

Then I would look at getting rid of the bow pulpit and maybe leaving some room for a folding swim platform. There are a lot of boats out there that don’t have a pulpit.

 

[DBoat]

We haven't got ours officially measured yet. I'll let you know when I find out.

 

[SeaRow]

we haven't got ours officially measured yet. I'll let you know when i find out.

thanks!

 

[CaptTom]

Then I would look at getting rid of the bow pulpit and maybe leaving some room for a folding swim platform. There are a lot of boats out there that don’t have a pulpit.

Mine is one of them. I had to remove the pulpit (but fortunately, not the swim platform) to fit into the max allowed dimensions for my slip.

I don't think it came out too bad.

 

[R. Bush]

Then I would look at getting rid of the bow pulpit and maybe leaving some room for a folding swim platform. There are a lot of boats out there that don’t have a pulpit.

I'm in the same situation. I have been looking into Marine Trader 34 sedans (and similar boats). Our club has a hard LOA limit of 38', and all of the 34's I have seen bust that limit. I have been considering ways of shortening/hinging both the bow pulpit and swim platforms to get within the 38' limit. It would be great to hear about and see some pictures of how other people have tackled the problem of "shortening" the LOA of their boats.

Hope I'm not getting too far off topic here; but it looks as though the OP may also be looking for a way to shorten his boat.

 

[SeaRow]

Mine is one of them. I had to remove the pulpit

What was your final LOA?

Pictures?

Thanks Tom!

 

[Comodave]

Don’t know if I would hinge the bow pulpit. I think that I wouldn’t trust it to hold in a heavy blow. I think it might be better to just go without one.

 

[rslifkin]

To trim LOA on the bow, I agree, no hinged pulpit. Just come up with the shortest overall length pulpit / roller setup that'll fit your desired anchor and go for that. The size of the anchor is likely what will limit how much length you can trim there.

 

[CaptTom]

What was your final LOA?

Pictures?

Well, mine is a Prairie 36, not a Californian 34 (nice boat, BTW!) so the actual numbers won't help.

My avatar shows how it looks now. Below is what the bow looked like with the pulpit removed. Note that I used cedar shingles, a hammer and heat to slowly loosen the adhesive, probably something like 5200, to remove the old pulpit.

Below is the "after" image. The hinged section is 1/2" aluminum. The hinges are heavy-duty stainless and the whole thing is held down by removable fittings so I can flip it up when I'm in my slip. It turns out aluminum is as easy to work as wood, you just have to go a lot slower. It's been rock-solid.

 

[SeaRow]

Thanks Tom,
Ya that looks solid, depending on how much I have to shorten I may go the route you did or if I can just cheat a litte out and not have the folding option I will go that route.

Still hoping for some exact LOA numbers of the Californian.

 

[Comodave]

The reason the anchor roller has to stick out so far is so the anchor won’t hit the hull when it is up. One way to save length would be to have the roller right at the tip of the boat and not sticking out like the photo. Only put the anchor in the roller when you are anchored. Use a Fortress anchor so it is lighter and easier to handle. When it is not deployed store it on deck with anchor chocks. That would be the ultimate way to save length at the bow. If you do mount anchor chocks on the bow make sure to do the screw holes properly. Check out marinehowto.com for directions about how to make sure the screw holes do not leak into the deck core and make a huge problem.

 

[SeaRow]

Will do Dave,
However, Will be using the trusted Bruce anchor 100%

 

[Comodave]

A Bruce will be much more difficult to store on deck. Maybe get a Fortress for day to day and keep the Bruce stored below. The Fortress actually works very well and is lightweight and more easy to retrieve. Keep the Bruce for overnight and heavy weather???

 

[SeaRow]

A Bruce will be much more difficult to store on deck. Maybe get a Fortress for day to day and keep the Bruce stored below. The Fortress actually works very well and is lightweight and more easy to retrieve. Keep the Bruce for overnight and heavy weather???

Thanks for the advice, however I will stay with my Bruce at all costs.

I've run many boats, including a light boat for squid and anchoring is everything.. Bruce is the master out here on the west coast / Chanel Islands.

Cheers

 

[Spinner]

I have had the same issue with a hard stop on overhangs. My Nordic 42 has a Freedom Lift for the tender, plus the optional bow pulpit. On top of that, I have a big anchor. I was contemplating getting the pulpit removed plus moving my big tender up to the boat deck.... neither of which I wanted to do.

I actually only needed to drop a foot. The solution in my case was to get the anchor off of the roller. At first I tried pulling it up on deck, but frankly it was too much for me to handle safely, what with getting it through the railings, etc. What I ended up doing was to attach a line to the crown, letting the anchor down about 5 feet, then cleating the line back to my port side bow cleat. I also hang a large flat fender between the hull and the anchor.

This is working well! The anchor is secure, the flat fender hasn’t been needed yet, and the Marina agreed that my boat fits.

The method suspends the anchor to the side; tension on the anchor chain and anchor line actually holds the anchor away from the hull. I can easily put the anchor back in the roller when getting ready to leave the dock.

 

[LowNSlow77]

We have a folding pulpit and swimstep because of the previous owner's slip size. Though we don't use them they are sturdy and solid. Apparently it was cut to fit the slip to the inch.

 

[SeaRow]

I like that @LownSlow77
I will be in the same boat (every inch counts)

Thanks!

 

[LowNSlow77]

I will try to attach a picture of the pulpit. Only the rail is folded but you can see the the hinges in the pictures. It is very solid to stand on.

 

[SeaRow]

Only the rail is folded but you can see the the hinges in the pictures. It is very solid to stand on.

It must be sturdy, look how heavy the dog looks

 

[LowNSlow77]

It must be sturdy, look how heavy the dog looks

He's a killer.

 

[Comodave]

There used to be a boat builder called IMP that made some boats with a squared off bow. You could go with that look and just cut back about 2’ from the bow...

 

[DrissZougari]

An interesting old thread from 2008 in regards to the California 34 with all the specs.
""34 Californian Articles, Specs and Factory Options List""

 

[Nomad Willy]

A bow pulpit is just an invitation for a train wreck should on hit anything rather substantial. Extended bow rollers that are weak enough (weak link) to break away before the gunwales and cap rail are IMO the best compromise.

This picture of my bow roller is a bit dated but it's basically the same now.
Of course most on the forum have bigger anchors than me.
And my configuration requires being on the bow to deploy the anchor. I need to push down on the back of the shank while pushing fwd to gracefully deploy the anchor w/o hitting the boat. Easily done after a few tries learning how much pressure is needed ect.

 

[SeaRow]

This picture of my bow roller is a bit dated but it's basically the same now.

Ya that looks like what I will wind up with. Once in the slip I can probably leave the anchor on.

Hopefully I can keep the swim step and modify the bow enough to keep me under 35ft.