1978 Cal 34 III Deck, Keel, Beam issues

[L124C]

Looking at a Cal 34.
1.Are the keels incapsulated?
2.The deck that I could see appeared to be solid glass. Is some of the deck cored?
3.The compression post (deck stepped mast) is sitting on a fiberglass step about 6 inches high. What is under the fiberglass and how does it connect to the metal beam beneath?
4.How can I inspect the beam?

[cal30]

Howzit,
Not sure about the mast step, but I do believe that all Cal decks are plywood coverered in glass. I'm on a second Cal and feel that they are very well made. Look in the bilge, and if you see keel bolts you'll know. The 29 and 30 Cals are encapsulated keels . You may be able to see the metal crossbeam by accessing the the forward settee, where the thru hull intake fitting for the commode is. Got that info on this forum before we bought the Cal 2/29. Just check all the normal spots. Windows, hatches, thru hulls ,hoses,rigging,, motor if any, etc. Old boats will have some problems but that's part of it. Cal34 has a huge cockpit and would most likely be a great boat. Good Luck! Hope you get it!
LR

[EricP1]

Sorry if this is too late but yes, the keels are encapsulated.

As far as the deck step for the mast I don't have anything like that on my boat which is a '77. Does it look like it came from the factory that way or does it look like a post production job?

[L124C]

Originally Posted by EricP1

Sorry if this is too late but yes, the keels are encapsulated.

As far as the deck step for the mast I don't have anything like that on my boat which is a '77. Does it look like it came from the factory that way or does it look like a post production job?

I didn't get that far in the inspection. The seller wanted me to cut him a check without throughly looking at the boat. I liked the boat, but that ain't gonna happen! He found a couple of guys that bought the boat contingent on the seller teaching them to sail! How could they possibly know what they bought?
Do you know what your compression post is sitting on? As far as I know, the 34 is a scaled down version of the 40. I think the 40 has the beam. I would want to know if my mast was sitting on a steel beam in the bottom of a 35 year old boat!

[EricP1]

From what I can see there is no evidence of a steel beam in the bottom of the boat but I can say that the deck is perfectly straight at the mast step, and I hope it stays that way. Knock on wood!

The 34 is quite similar to the 40 but from what I can see the 36 is almost a dead ringer for the 40.

I have to agree that is not a fair deal to let someone have a full inspection. I saw a 34 recently on CL that was for $8500 and it looked pretty good too.

[Youlyseas]

I read that the Cal 34 does not have the "dreaded beam" where as the Cal 36 does. You ought to try asking the other forum Cal_Boats@yahoogroups.com which is where much of the original sailnet.net Cal group went after the first sailnet company changed ownership.
Jerry Sobel, Cal 24 Shpritz, 1962 kit (the original Cal)