We just purchased a 1968 Cal 34 in Mackinaw City, Michigan. Have been interested in sailing for several years but being from the Midwest in the United States I didn't have much access. For the last couple years we've been completely nomadic traveling and working in a DIY converted cargo van. We really like the Cal because of how clean and simple the layout is. And boy is it bigger than our van! Feels like a mansion! What a beautiful boat.
We bought the boat from someone who was very inspirational to us. They dreamed of living on the boat and cruising but for health reasons were forced to sell. This boat was primarily a weekend warrior with some week long stints in the great lakes, freshwater all it's life.
All this said, we believe the boat to be in good condition but has been sitting on the hard for awhile, it was last in the water in 2019.
Our goal is to get the boat in the water as soon as we can and have made a list of all of the required repairs to do so:
Get a starter battery installed
Start the engine, verify it is somewhat reliable to get us into the slip (rebuilt in 2009 Atomic 4, Previous owner estimates ~50 hours on it)
Bottom Paint (I am in the process of deciding if we will go down and barrier coat or just do a fresh coat of paint)
There is a lot more I could share about the boat. I'm definitely interested to talk to others that own Cals and to understand some layouts (battery banks, inverters, solar charger locations, etc). But I think a lot of that will come as we define the bottom paint job. If we attempt to DIY and add barrier coat + all the toppings that could eat up a lot of our time and shoulders (and money). If anyone has advice for any of these line items OR if we are absolutely crazy to think this boat will be in the water after just those three jobs PLEASE feel free to candidly let us know! Very open to any opinions and appreciate the time.
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