True North 34

[bazzer]

For sailingpup and anyone else interested. I own a True North 34. I purchased early last year and have spent a lot of time getting her back to sailing condition, in fact its my (our) intention to sail her (Tinuviel) to Baja in the fall on the Ha Ha. The True North that we have was professionally built in Taiwan in 1976, a very solid GRP boat with a great teak interior. The hull is a foam sandwich about the water-line. The decks are ply cored with 1 inch ply! The cabin to cockpit bulkhead is very thick, looks like 2 inch core. This is one strong boat and very heavy with a 26,000 lb displacement. The keel is full length and very heavy with 8,600lbs of ballast. Its a lot like a Hans Christian 33, however she is tiller steered rather than well.
When I started she had a really funky electric motor fitted, only a couple of car batteries, so that had to go. I found a Volvo MD 17c with low hours and fitted that, it's the only motor that will fit down there in the bilge, the flywheel is forward and a motor with a rear flywheel would just not fit without impinging on the cabin to much. She has large freshwater tank at 125 gallons, a really dodgy main fuel tank, black iron of 110 gallons and a temp day tank. I personally like to sail rather than motor sail although I expect to do plenty of motoring coming back from Baja.
Being a cutter rig, we have plenty of sails, including stormsails although I hope we never have to use those.
The original teak decks were removed by the PO, badly, now there is plenty of water in the deck core. This I plan to fix in sections instead of ripping it all up at once, besides the deck glass is in good shape and I really don't think strength is a problem given she is so overbuilt.
The cockpit is still teak planked and Kathy and I just spent a a few days re-caulking it. I must say the Fien multitool and de-caulking blade is worth its weight in gold.
Well that's it for now, if you are interested in knowing more please post and I shall answer!
Bazzer

[Knapweed]

Hi Bazzer and fellow True North 34 owner. I realise yours is an old post but it doesn't look like there are many owners of this particular design in these forums. My boat, "Palindrome" - soon to be "Ally May", was built in Vancouver by Port Starboard Fibreglass. I've looked on the web but the company doesn't appear to be trading anymore. She was built with GRP decks from the outset, so I don't have the deck hassles that seem to plague the Taiwanese and Chinese boats.

I've yet to sail her, as I only finalised the purchase last week. I'm traveling to Vancouver on Tuesday to spend a week on her and crawl over every inch. My wife, unfortunately, can't get the week off work (I just retired) but she's looking forward to spending some of the summer on her around the local area to get her sea-legs and for us to determine what needs replacing.

I've sailed ketches and sloops but not a cutter as yet. I'm expecting to need a steep learning curve in order to tack her properly/swiftly but I know I'm going to love the experience.

Next year, we are planning to sail South and (eventually) West through the Galapagos, Marquesas to NZ and Oz. After that... who knows.

What are your plans?

[bazzer]

Nice to hear from a fellow True North owner. We have done a stack of work on Tinuviel since my previous post and are expecting to cruise a bit, or a lot, this year. We are entered in the Delta Doo Dah, a fun event and expect to sail in the Baja Ha Ha later in the year, from there on we are not sure. Along with a new main we now are sporting a nice asymmetrical spinnaker along with a ATN sock. This week sees the installation of a new bimini and California style dodger. It's yellow!
If you decide to come south let us now and maybe we can meet up. Oh, if you don't mind me asking how much did you pay for your 34?

[Knapweed]

Hi Bazzer. I paid $49k for her, which was the asking price. Yep, I know that sounds silly but they had just dropped $5k on the price and TBH she seemed well worth the asking price. There were a couple more in the area, ranging from $55 to $115k!!

She is very well equipped and has that magic quality of having been loved. The couple that owned her are great and struck me as being very honourable and straight shooters. I guess I could have taken advantage of their situation and knocked off another $5k but I would have felt like crap and I didn't want to start my association with the boat on those terms.

It sounds like you've done a mass of work on your True North and I bet she's looking awesome.

I note you're a Tolkien fan I've probably read the books five times and used to possess the Silmarillion but it was lost in one of my many moves. If you have access to broadband, I can thoroughly recommend "Game of Thrones" on HBO, if you haven't seen it already. If you just inherited the name from a former owner and can't stand Tolkien, well, don't I look an idiot. lol

[Knapweed]

I just looked up the 2012 Delta Doh Dah Rally and it looks brilliant. Forty Nine boats taking part! That's a hell of a fleet. There's some pretty fast looking boats in the fleet too.

The previous owner did a fair bit of racing in his True North 34. Originally, his PHRF was rated as 263 but nothing could touch him, so he raced off a PHRF of 190 and still won a number of races in varying conditions. She's no racer but doesn't do bad for a twelve-ton displacement boat, pointy at both ends.

When we travel south, we'd love to look you up. No doubt I'll be picking your brains over the next few months, if you don't mind.

[bazzer]

Please keep in touch, it seems that True North 34 owners are few and far between.
Last weekend we set about painting the Bowsprit and discovered it was rotten at the point were it meets the bow, so at the moment I am trying to get a lump of Doug Fir the right size to make a new one. At least I will know the new one is sound.
Tinuviel is identical to a Hans Christian as far as the interior build is concerned, in fact the bull nosing in the cabin looks like they were both built by the same guy.
The other issue with her is the black iron fuel tanks, the day tank is completely rusted out and the main tank is not far behind. At the moment I am still trying to figure out how to get either of them out! I have installed a temporary plastic tank and have a couple of jerry cans on the deck.

[Knapweed]

I've been on the boat since Tuesday but my internet has been so erratic, I've been unable to post. It's also been raining cats and dogs with a forecast of rain until 10 May!

Bad news on the Bowsprit matey. I wonder if it's possible to replace it with a thick walled aluminium pipe or box section. I doubt a box section would look much different than the wood if it's painted. I guess the stay takes most of the tension. Mine needs repainting too as there are two longitudinal cracks for a fifth of its length. The wood appears sound though. Here's hoping.

My tanks look fine from the survey but you know how that goes. I'll see how they work out in practice.

My bloody head fills up with brown water overnight, seemingly independent of how I fiddle with the valves. I'm guessing it is from the holding tank, given the colour. I need to sort that out before I leave on Tuesday - don't want the boat sinking by the head. lol

I have to say I love the boat. She's built like a tank and I have every confidence she will do what we want her to do. She is certainly comfortable down below but sounds like a different layout from yours. Do you have the Pullman berth like the HC 33? I rather like that arrangement better than the forward V berth, which we have. My wife isn't down until the weekend, so I've been sleeping on the starboard berth in the saloon.

My motor is good with only 325 hours on her. It's a four cylinder, so pretty smooth. The boat has been fitted with a dripless cutlass bearing, which is new to me, being used to stuffing boxes. I will have to do some reading now the internet is up to work out some maintenance schedules.

As an aside, there are some original blueprints by Stan Huntingford on board. The previous owners kept every manual and piece of documentaion throughout the life of the boat. It all makes quite a read.

[bazzer]

Do you have a vented loop between the sea cock and the head? If not you should fit one right away. I get brown water when I haven't been to the boat in a while. The water in the intake seem to get stagnant very quickly.
I would love to have copies of the drawing etc that you have. I would willingly meet the cost if that's not to much trouble. I have very little. The po lived on Tinuviel and left nothing. The original owner is deceased and all I know is she has 10,000 miles on the log. Maybe more since it can be reset
Baz

[bazzer]

Originally Posted by Knapweed

I've been on the boat since Tuesday but my internet has been so erratic, I've been unable to post. It's also been raining cats and dogs with a forecast of rain until 10 May!

Bad news on the Bowsprit matey. I wonder if it's possible to replace it with a thick walled aluminium pipe or box section. I doubt a box section would look much different than the wood if it's painted. I guess the stay takes most of the tension. Mine needs repainting too as there are two longitudinal cracks for a fifth of its length. The wood appears sound though. Here's hoping.

My tanks look fine from the survey but you know how that goes. I'll see how they work out in practice.

My bloody head fills up with brown water overnight, seemingly independent of how I fiddle with the valves. I'm guessing it is from the holding tank, given the colour. I need to sort that out before I leave on Tuesday - don't want the boat sinking by the head. lol

I have to say I love the boat. She's built like a tank and I have every confidence she will do what we want her to do. She is certainly comfortable down below but sounds like a different layout from yours. Do you have the Pullman berth like the HC 33? I rather like that arrangement better than the forward V berth, which we have. My wife isn't down until the weekend, so I've been sleeping on the starboard berth in the saloon.

My motor is good with only 325 hours on her. It's a four cylinder, so pretty smooth. The boat has been fitted with a dripless cutlass bearing, which is new to me, being used to stuffing boxes. I will have to do some reading now the internet is up to work out some maintenance schedules.

As an aside, there are some original blueprints by Stan Huntingford on board. The previous owners kept every manual and piece of documentaion throughout the life of the boat. It all makes quite a read.

Hi again, I also sleep in the starboard saloon berth, my wife always sleeps forward. , no Pullman berth alas. The cabin on Tinuviel is all teak and beautifully finished. The main tank is buried under the sole and I I no idea how to get it out other than cut it up into smaller pieces.
I am in the process of cutting the rot out of the bowsprit and making a temp repair, but sometime this summer I'm going to make a new one.
Oh if you wish to communicate directly my email is bazz@me.com
Barry

[Knapweed]

Hi Barry, Sorry about the delay in responding. I'm using a wi fi service called BBX until I get DSL sorted out with Telus and the connection is dreadful... and expensive.

I'd be happy to send you copies of the drawings I have as soon as I get home next week. There is a full drawing of the rudder and a set of plans for "Noon Ocean", which I believe was an original True North 34, constructed of wood. As you can imagine, the drawings are a tad faded but still legible. When I get home, I will correspond through email and get your address.

The problem with the head was just down to me being daft. I only pumped enough to empty the bowl after flushing until it emptied plus a couple more pumps. Now I fill the pipe with water (10 to 15 pumps) and then flick it to "empty bowl" and carry on pumping (another 10 or so pumps) until I hear the natural siphon sucking the water out of the bowl, No more problems of brown water since. I figure I wasn't emptying the bowl enough to cause a siphon and the pipe full of grotty water was just trickling back into the bowl,

[Greggegner]

Originally Posted by bazzer

For sailingpup and anyone else interested. I own a True North 34. I purchased early last year and have spent a lot of time getting her back to sailing condition, in fact its my (our) intention to sail her (Tinuviel) to Baja in the fall on the Ha Ha. The True North that we have was professionally built in Taiwan in 1976, a very solid GRP boat with a great teak interior. The hull is a foam sandwich about the water-line. The decks are ply cored with 1 inch ply! The cabin to cockpit bulkhead is very thick, looks like 2 inch core. This is one strong boat and very heavy with a 26,000 lb displacement. The keel is full length and very heavy with 8,600lbs of ballast. Its a lot like a Hans Christian 33, however she is tiller steered rather than well.
When I started she had a really funky electric motor fitted, only a couple of car batteries, so that had to go. I found a Volvo MD 17c with low hours and fitted that, it's the only motor that will fit down there in the bilge, the flywheel is forward and a motor with a rear flywheel would just not fit without impinging on the cabin to much. She has large freshwater tank at 125 gallons, a really dodgy main fuel tank, black iron of 110 gallons and a temp day tank. I personally like to sail rather than motor sail although I expect to do plenty of motoring coming back from Baja.
Being a cutter rig, we have plenty of sails, including stormsails although I hope we never have to use those.
The original teak decks were removed by the PO, badly, now there is plenty of water in the deck core. This I plan to fix in sections instead of ripping it all up at once, besides the deck glass is in good shape and I really don't think strength is a problem given she is so overbuilt.
The cockpit is still teak planked and Kathy and I just spent a a few days re-caulking it. I must say the Fien multitool and de-caulking blade is worth its weight in gold.
Well that's it for now, if you are interested in knowing more please post and I shall answer!
Bazzer

Sounds like a good boat, If you get a chance we always like pictures. Wish I carried that much fuel, you will use it.

[jgbrown]

Originally Posted by Knapweed

Hi Bazzer and fellow True North 34 owner. I realise yours is an old post but it doesn't look like there are many owners of this particular design in these forums. My boat, "Palindrome" - soon to be "Ally May", was built in Vancouver by Port Starboard Fibreglass. I've looked on the web but the company doesn't appear to be trading anymore. She was built with GRP decks from the outset, so I don't have the deck hassles that seem to plague the Taiwanese and Chinese boats.

I've yet to sail her, as I only finalised the purchase last week. I'm traveling to Vancouver on Tuesday to spend a week on her and crawl over every inch. My wife, unfortunately, can't get the week off work (I just retired) but she's looking forward to spending some of the summer on her around the local area to get her sea-legs and for us to determine what needs replacing.

I've sailed ketches and sloops but not a cutter as yet. I'm expecting to need a steep learning curve in order to tack her properly/swiftly but I know I'm going to love the experience.

Next year, we are planning to sail South and (eventually) West through the Galapagos, Marquesas to NZ and Oz. After that... who knows.

What are your plans?

You bastard! I was wondering who beat me to it. I was really interested in her. Just came across your thread now! Kidding(mostly) and congrats, she looked like a beautiful boat.

[Knapweed]

Originally Posted by jgbrown

You bastard! I was wondering who beat me to it. I was really interested in her. Just came across your thread now! Kidding(mostly) and congrats, she looked like a beautiful boat.

Neener, nee na.

We didn't let any grass grow TBH; we fell in love with her from the Kijij advert and got on to the owner straight away. We had five boats lined up to see but once we saw her, we were blown away and cancelled the other appointments.

I think we are going to have a long association with Palindrome and really believe she will do what we want her to do. The PO left us so much stuff, I doubt we will have to buy any spares for five years! We've just come off her after a week on board. Now it's just down to the mundane stuff of settling our affairs up North. Ho hum.

[jgbrown]

Originally Posted by Knapweed

Neener, nee na.

We didn't let any grass grow TBH; we fell in love with her from the Kijij advert and got on to the owner straight away. We had five boats lined up to see but once we saw her, we were blown away and cancelled the other appointments.

I think we are going to have a long association with Palindrome and really believe she will do what we want her to do. The PO left us so much stuff, I doubt we will have to buy any spares for five years! We've just come off her after a week on board. Now it's just down to the mundane stuff of settling our affairs up North. Ho hum.

As soon as I saw her I emailed the owner, he said she was gone.
Love to see her sometime! Antares is anchored out in False Creek right now, moving to Granville on Friday. It turned out for the best, I can afford a 13k$ boat+moorage, once she's paid off I can make some decisions. Still a bit jealous though

[Knapweed]

Yep, the PO is a very honest and straight guy. He took me at my word. You're more than welcome to see her when I'm back down in Vancouver. She's in the marina down at Coal Harbour. I will be joining the rowing club in a couple of weeks so, if you come over, I'll whip you over for a drink or three.

What did you buy in the end? Sounds like a bargain.