34' LRC Californian pics

Hey TF,

Long time lurker - trying to figure what to do with this thing.
After about 3yrs of tinkering, repairing and throwing undisclosed amounts of cash at it -- getting comfortable with her now.

Able to take the wife and kids for a weekend in calm waters
Fish offshore & local areas out of san diego

Basics
34 LRC californian 79'
125hp'ish naturally aspirated
all 12 volt - no generator / no inverter - keeping it easy
- Xantrex battery monitor (flo scan for batteries - 220ah usable)
bow thruster
micro commander throttles (only 2 - flybridge & below)
new electrical panel
rod holders / bait tanks
Simrad and garmin fishfinders - through hull and transom
Underwater light -- my favorite
lots of canvas to protect the wood
- replaced / repaired most items from head rebuild and associated plumbing to electrical -- pumps/lights/switches/windlass/crane ... etc..
still looking at other boats for additional upgrades.
Going to post pictures in separate posts so if you have and ideas and/or questions can keep it simple hopefully.

If i'm posting in the wrong spot - apologies

regards
Sea Duty

Profile shot of stbd

Shown with full canvas and dingy on deck and without.
Kids returning back safely
Achilles 12' with yamaha 15hp 4stroke

aft view

with bait tanks and without

on the hook - mariners basin

a place my family likes to go to
calm waters and lots of visitors

flybridge

top view fore and aft

interior shots

Not sure the wife would approve but only pics i had

New electrical panel - upgraded the old to a more organized layout.
No more tape with names and never certain about a few mystery switches.
All cleaned up - pulled ~5lbs of wire unused. not perfect but better. best i could hope for at the moment.

Engine Room

Couple random
Typical engines - but added lights - lots of lights

random fish pics

variety here - just for entertainment

Congrats, lovely job, you should be proud of your efforts.

SeaDuty said:

Long time lurker - trying to figure what to do with this thing.

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It would appear that you have found plenty to do with it. Looks like the family is fully enjoying their time on in and together. Congrats.

Looks good! Nice Calicos. I live in Poway and have been thinking about getting a trawler. Did you do all the work yourself? There are a few Californians for sale at what seems like reasonable pricing. Where is your slip?

How does she run with those perkins? Twins I assume?

Really cool setup and similar to how I use my boat but on the other coast. 34 Mainship with single turbo 160 Perkins.

The lines of your boat remind me of mine.

Very nice, SD!! Looks like you have found lots of ways to have fun with your boat! I love the 34 LRC as a reliable, efficient, and versatile platform for cruising, fishing, diving, etc.

Is that Fiesta Island I see in the background? Mission Bay is a great place to unwind.

I think those Perkins 6.354 naturals are 135 HP. Great engines....they can last a long time! Must be easy docking with twins and a bowthruster.

DOODIE!

Flywright
fiesta is a little further back - we go to the mariners basin right near the roller coaster near mission beach

I think you're right - 135hp
twins & bow thruster -- can slide in anywhere
had it installed for a previous docking arrangement - 15knots of wind on the beam and in a double slip - always had to come in hot or played bumper boats -- way to white knuckle for my tastes. Now i'm at a single slip docking into the wind. My wife who has zero boating exp can undock / dock from there.

auskiwi & Gdavid

thanks for the kind words - i grew up on sailboats / trying to get the kids more into what the area has to offer..
keeps the kids off electronics when out - always a good thing

PD monkey
Calicos / Cuda / mack / bonita / rockfish -- kelps are always fun - usually catch and release for me & kids have a blast - been known to keep a couple for ceviche.

After running a go fast fishing sled - family did not enjoy going out. Switched to this one and has worked out great. Should have done it sooner.

I'm at harbor island west - near the airport

The rod holders/railings - bow thruster /electrical panel -- used pros

Pumps / new leds throughout / winch / windlass / bait system / paint / basic engine maintenance (sensors / impeller / oil-fuel changes) - tackled myself

Mrwesson
I really like the Mainship as well - Californian was more in my price at the time - could be the next boat as there a few Mainship 40's near me..
Twins and cruise about 8knots 1850rpm - can push 10knots'ish at 2150rpm , can get a bit higher but feels like i'm plowing more. When cruising around get about 1.5 mpg +/- .5 mpg
Would like to install a flo-scan or something similar to find that sweet spot for fuel savings.
Even when a bit rough the twins just push on through. Having twins is nice as I lost an alternator about 40miles out last year and came back in on one at 5 knots.. I have boat us but that would have been a much longer ride. Peace of mind for me at those distances.

Looks like a great family boat.

Interesting. I cruise with 4-cyl versions of your NA Perkins, the 4.236, and do 7.5 Kts at 1800 RPM at 3.2 GPH. I'm no nautical engineer but I think the hull length plays more role into your sweet spot than engine size. I bet if you slowed to 7 Kts, you'd probably get very close to optimum. I live with 7.5 Kts as a compromise between speed and efficiency.

I only get 10 Kts at WOT.

thanks for the info.
i'll drop it down a knot or two and see what i come up with.

Really want to install the Maretron system to dial it in.
Currently use sticks(surprisingly accurate) to gauge fuel remaining. Fuel up and take trip info.

34 lrc

Beautiful job!

We also had a 34, an 84 located in Mission Bay as well. Still consider it my favorite of all. They are strong and stable, have fun crusing over to Catalina, it's a perfect boat for a weeks stay over there.

We are neighbors

Hello Sea Duty,

Great post and pics!

We are neighbors at Harbor Island West, and have sister boats. We own a 1979 34 LRC as well. Would love to meet up and talk Californians, tips and tricks we have learned, and buddy boat sometime. Hit us up when you have the time. We are in the 700 docks.

She's a beaut, Baba Yaga (great name). I love the brightwork on the older Californians. Yours looks bristol.

More pics please!

FlyWright said:

She's a beaut, Baba Yaga (great name). I love the brightwork on the older Californians. Yours looks bristol.

More pics please!

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Thanks FlyWright, I posted more pics and update in my thread, don't want to hijack SeaDuty's thread.

Davit?

Beautiful Californian, SeaDuty, thanks for posting. I am in the process of buying a 1982 34’ myself.
I was admiring your davit, and wondering if you had installed that yourself? Was any extra reinforcement required? I would like to do something similar, so any details are much appreciated. How much does your dinghy weigh? Thx!

Your pics are mainly family fun and enjoyment. I love that.
And some maintenance. The cost of family fun.

Nice pics. A really nice setup I'd love to have. You seem to be making it work well with what you have. Lots of smiles. A high output alternator on one engine (the one with the old alternator on it) would replenish your batteries if you wish you had more AH. Though 220 ah is considered good for 24 hr trips. When you say 220 useable, the recommended draw down is 50% for lead acid batteries. More draw down than that on a regular basis reduces battery life by years. So, you may want to double your house batteries and/or switch to AGM next time you need new batteries. Do you have saltwater wash down in cockpit for fishing trips? Freshwater hand shower in cockpit to rinse off after swim? These are fairly simple to DIY and affordable options.

davit

FalconPilot

The davit came with the boat and dingy weighs ~400lb'ish 15hp 4stroke on it just tiller driven. Don't know much about the install process as it looks well done and drops into the head area on a backing plate. no problems so far. love the ability to launch when at anchor. not so fun when offshore - dang near put the dingy inside the flybridge when i was offshore.
uses a ~1000lb -recently rebuilt winch with something called wire rope on it - not really wire rope but surprisingly strong for such a small diameter of line. replaced the rope as well - just seemed iffy but the new stuff looks exactly the same as the older line.

good luck on the purchase -
sea duty

Batts

Swfla

Appreciate the comments thank you

The boat batteries are (4) AGM 245 amp/hr deep cycle - had to switch out the alternators as well to get the correct voltage to them.
2 dedicated to start and 2 for the house. Would like to add a third batt to the house or use a couple solar panels off the top - as long as i dont use the fridge i can get about 3-4 days with minimal draw on all led lighting. Without having to fire up the engines. Others on anchor probably appreciate that, especially the wife.

Cool feature i added was a xantrex battery monitor which can display amps in/out , battery life .. etc .. used and time remaining to the 50% threshold off the house bank. Extremely helpful when anchoring for a few days.

salt water washdown on the back and would like add the option of freshwater rinse in the back as well. currently use the coleman water bag that you hang and warm up in the sun - holds 5 gallons. easy to bring out and store. Would prefer the freshwater like you mentioned though - working on it - next project or so..

-sea duty