C&C 38 need input

CliffR · #1 (**permalink**) 07-27-2008

Looking at a 76 C&C 38 and need input from owners please. We have a J 29 and love this boat but as we get older and want our kids and grandson to come up for the weekend on Lake Erie. I like the 38 but it is an old boat with an Atomic 4 it has been on the hard for a few years and I am sure the motor has just been sitting. While looking at it I could see the leading edge of the keel had seperated from the hull and I could see day light between the hull and the keel. Broker said this was common on boats of this age and design. It is an old boat that has been sitting for what seems like a long time. Any help would be great.

Thanks Cliff

sailingdog · #2 (**permalink**) 07-27-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by CliffR

Looking at a 76 C&C 38 and need input from owners please. We have a J 29 and love this boat but as we get older and want our kids and grandson to come up for the weekend on Lake Erie.

I've sailed on a C&C 38 quite a few times and I like the boat.

Quote:

I like the 38 but it is an old boat with an Atomic 4 it has been on the hard for a few years and I am sure the motor has just been sitting.

Atomic 4s are simple engines and generally tolerate a lot of neglect. If it hasn't been abused, it may still be quite usable.

Quote:

While looking at it I could see the leading edge of the keel had seperated from the hull and I could see day light between the hull and the keel. Broker said this was common on boats of this age and design. It is an old boat that has been sitting for what seems like a long time. Any help would be great.

Thanks Cliff

The broker, like many of his profession, is a lying sack of $$$$. Properly maintained, there shouldn't be any separation between the hull and keel.

Personally, I'd recommend you take a pass on this boat... the boat sounds really badly neglected.

jackal41 · #3 (**permalink**) 07-27-2008

I am new member interested in sailng/cruising and buying a sailboat. I am in research phase and have seen a Aloha 32 on Yachtworld.com. Anyone have input on this sailing vessel ?

sailingdog · #4 (**permalink**) 07-27-2008

Jackal-

Please don't hijack someone else's thread. You really should read the post in my signature...since it will tell you how to start your own thread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackal41

I am new member interested in sailng/cruising and buying a sailboat. I am in research phase and have seen a Aloha 32 on Yachtworld.com. Anyone have input on this sailing vessel ?

speciald · #5 (**permalink**) 07-27-2008

The boat may have been hard grounded and distorted the top plate of the keel. To fix this the keel would have to be dropped and planed down flat again. I know this as I hit a sunken concrete barge at 8 knots in a C&C 37+ and ended up with the same daylight through the leading edge of the keel/hull joint.

chef2sail · #6 (**permalink**) 07-27-2008

We have an 85 C&C 35 MKIII with the typical C&C" smile". Your appears to be a gap toothed grin the result of having be run agroound. No gap like that is "normal". I would stay away. Look for a early or mid 80's C&C with a yanamr diesel. They are safer than gas.

C&C quality of this age boats was excellent in almost all ways.

Dave

sailingdog · #7 (**permalink**) 07-28-2008

BTW, IIRC, there were two very different C&C 38s. The C&C 38 and the later C&C 38 Landfall. The easiest way to tell the boats apart are the Landfall 38 had the nav console to the starboard, the other to port. The Landfall also had a separate shower, which I don't believe the regular C&C 38 has.

The Landfall series of boats were supposed to be more cruising oriented than the regular C&C boats, which were essentially racer/cruisers in many ways. The Landfalls were a bit heavier than the non-landfall boats. Most of my time on a C&C 38 was on a C&C 38 Mk III.

sailingfool · #8 (**permalink**) 07-28-2008

I don't think a '76 would be a Landfall.

This model is an excellent racer/cruiser, a little short on headroom and amenities but very long on quality and performance, and especially sailing pleasure. I would buy one in a minute...

Most likely the keel has the traditional C%C smile referenced above. Very common, just filler that works loose. The fact that you can see daylight wouldn't persee mean the keel is seperated, it means some or a lot of filler has worked lose and needs replacement. Fill it in an go (usually just reoccurs). These 38s, as with the other C&Cs of that generation (like my old '76 C&C Mark I), have indestructible keels, no way you would need to drop it to repair it, nothing to repair. Hitting a rock at 6 knots produces nothing more than a scare and a big divot in the lead. Damage to this keel would involve seperating the whole keel stub from the hull, aint going to happen...the keel is not going to come off the stub. A surveyor can confirm my opinion or not. Meanwhile you could post a picture on the C&C email list.

PS ..a C&C37+ has absolutely nothing in common with the earlier boats, the 37+ might as well been built by a different maker, say Hunter.

CliffR · #9 (**permalink**) 07-28-2008

So far thanks for the responces, my wife and I have have been sailing long enough almot 20 years to know by now what we want out of a boat. I am a racer at heart and like getting the most out of the boat on all points of sail. Our short list is traveler in the ****pit not on the cabin roof, low free board and a nice sized V berth. I have spent hours and hours looking at boats on the internet. I few boats jump out the J 35 J 36 and the C&C 38. C&C has an edge because of the interior and the draft. Both the J Boats are closer to 7 feet and the C&C is closer to 6 feet. Here on Lake Erie the draft is only a problem at the dock. Other part of it is distance and price. The C&C 38 I have mentioned is a day sail home a J 36 I am considering needs to be trucked and it is a project boat but the price is right I re-did my J 29 so I am not worried about the refit. There is also a J 35 that peeks my interest but it is a long way home by water it is in Muskegion Michigan. I am not interested in a East Cost boat just to far and costly to get it home. We are not looking at the landfall design

We want to stay under $35K for aboat does anyother boat jump out?

Cliff

RickBarr · #10 (**permalink**) 08-05-2010

Cliff check out: "Boats.com"
Hear is an example of a low cost C&C we found on the site..The price suggests she'll need some work but you never know.

1976 C&C - Boats.com

I also found a few well looked after Ericson 35's on the site as well (would feed your need for speed) asking from $24,000-35,000

I was under the opinion that the C&C 38's hulls were sandwiched cored. Anyone can verify? I know the 39's were.