Jack - In September, my C34 Std Rig, Fin Keel was +/- 18,000. Maybe 20 gal fuel & 20 gal water, plus my usual cruising stuff, except the dinghy/motor. I don't know where Catalina got the 11,950# on the brochure. Maybe without rig, sails and motor or possibly the keel.

Craig

My Mk II was hauled by a crane a few years ago and the operator said the weight was in the high 18,000s. Sounds reasonable to me. Once all optional equipment is added, provisions, cruising gear, books/charts, bottom paint, water and fuel tanks are topped off...I can imagine it. I always treated the number with a bit of skepticism, though, as I have little faith in the accuracy of a crane to accurately weigh an object of that size. Far more accurate would be to get a trucker hauling a C36 to go through the DOT scales.

Jack, the lift operator indicated that Serena weighed in excess of 18000 lbs when we pulled her for a bottom job. So, I suppose that your quoted weight is somewhat correct.

Mike
Serena hull 2137

[QUOTE=jmontani;324]Just pulled the boat for a bottom job and it weighed in around +/-19,000 lbs in the slings. ... This is about 71% displacement/weight to float the boat.[/QUOTE]

Jack,

I am confused by your sentence. Any floating object will always displace an amount of water which weighs the same as the boat.

In the aircraft maintenance business we often are asked to weigh aircraft. It is important on an aircraft for weight and balance purposes, it also determines the useful load of the aircraft as the more the basic airplane weighs, the less it can carry. It is a thankless job much a kin to charging woman to weigh them, they never like the answer.

Aircraft too almost always get heavier over time, equipment is added the weight of which is often miscalculated, dirt builds up in nooks and crannies, new interiors are often heavier and paint to adds weight.

Our boat hulls do absorb water, even hulls that show a fairly low moisture content, this adds to the total weight. It may be interesting to ask the travel lift operator for a read when the boat goes back in the water after being on the hard for a few days.

A gain of 5000 lbs does surprise me. The manufacturer may be a bit optimistic and trying to push the racer in the cruiser he is selling. It may explain why so few people can get their 36 to sail to its handicap number as it may be more handicaped than we think.

It does make for a nice comfortable cruiser and if we think of buying or selling the boat by the pound it is now a better value.

You are welcome, Jack. I'm glad you didn't take it as a criticism. While the physics are very simple and clear, it can be a confusing subject when commercial and marketing interests get involved.

What IS the actual weight of beer, anyway?

We just purchased our Catalina 36 about six weeks ago and it supposedly weighed 19,000 lbs. It has extra fuel tank, and unknown weight of the water tanks and holding tank, extra gear, pots and pans, dishes, anchor and chain, windlass motor, and probably a thousand pounds of assorted goodies on board. I suspect the figure you got from the crane operator is about right, there are apparently a lot of owners who got similar numbers.

My 1983 hull #75 weighed in between 18 and 19000 on the last haul out - disappointing but I think it is pretty common. J/35's have been known to vary by over 1000 pounds when weighing in for one-design racing and they were actually supposedly paying attention to the weight when they built those...

When the boat was pulled last Tuesday the crane operator stopped as soon as it got in the air and said that it weighed 19,000 lbs and he was concerned he couldn't reach over to the cradle with that much weight. He wanted guys watching the outriggers when he did it. I meant to ask if his insurance was good. The boat was empty then too, full fuel but nothing else, no mast, sails and rigging, not even upholstery.

That same day they lifted 34, 37 and 38 Hunters, a CS 36 Merlin, Niagara 35, 36 Gulfstar and an Island Packet. None of them were over 15,000 lbs. I was pretty surprised by that weight, but I'd rather have it heavier than lighter.

Mine weighs 15000 lbs including dinghy but mostly empty. I just shipped it and the driver let me know.

Hmmm. That means I probably have about 4,000 lbs of books, tools, linens, food, computers, fuel, and fishing and crabbing gear on board. My sextant is plastic, so that can't add much weight.

And beer and wine. And cat food and kitty litter. There, that sounds more reasonable.

I note that the first 2 years of production they listed the boats at 15,500 and then in '85 knocked it down to 13,500. In reality most production models gain weight over time as options are added. Bob Perry has stated the out-the-door weight of the Valiant 40 gained thousands of pounds over the years it was produced - so much that they moved the boot stripe in the moulds.

I suspect that like most boats the brochure displacement is meant to convey a certain level of performance relative to the boats peers. I have no doubt that my boat is up over 18k# and I'm equally sure that it has less junk in it than most due to our racing proclivities. Yes, I have taken a hole-saw to most of the bunk and seat lids, not to mention floor panels.

[QUOTE=LCBrandt;16279]Hmmm. That means I probably have about 4,000 lbs of books, tools, linens, food, computers, fuel, and fishing and crabbing gear on board. My sextant is plastic, so that can't add much weight.

And beer and wine. And cat food and kitty litter. There, that sounds more reasonable.[/QUOTE]

It just means crane & travel lift scales are horribly inaccurate. Our C-36 was DOT weighed when the hauler got the DOT wave down on the way to our house one winter. They held him up for over an hour because one of his tires did not meet the load rating or some other dumb thing DOT likes to pull on hard working guys....

She weighed in at 14,600 +/- with the spar, sails, 3/4 full diesel tank and all our gear on board. Water tanks were empty. This right after she had come off a travel lift showing her weighing 16,700....

With crane scales it is all how the load is balanced. I've watched my buddy John change the weight of a boat by 4000 pounds just by moving the straps and shifting the weight.. He laughs anytime someone wants their boat weighed and tells them to call a trucker...

I'd trust the crane scales before truck scales any day. Once upon a time, in another life, I drove big trucks for a living. On one trip I weighed 8,000 lbs different on 3 different scales in 3 different states. No, it wasn't snowing. Crane scales better be right or it could get real ugly, real quick. But what do I know?

A good customer of mine got stiffed by his trucker back in about 2002. He was shipping his Cape Dory 36 from Florida to Maine. He told the trucker it weighed about 17,800 pounds, to be on the safe side. Her listed displacement IIRC is 16,000 +/-.

Long and short is the trucker left the boat yard and a day into the trip calls my customer demanding more money because the boat weighed 23,500 or something ridiculous like that. Told my customer he would not "release" the boat until it was paid in full for the "actual weight"...

My customer is a no BS lawyer, trucker did not know that. My customer got on the horn to Andy V. (sp?) the owner of Robin Hood marine and the founder and owner of Cape Dory Yachts. He confirmed the boat should weigh about 17,500 - 18,200 with gear, sails chain etc. for shipping. The truck was in South Carolina at the time and my customer made a few phone calls and pulled some strings.

Long and short is the trucker was apparently pulled over in four or more states, weighed in four states, and sent on his way. When he got to Maine, still trying to pull one over on my customer, my customer refused to let him off load until he went to a certified scale here in Maine.

The boat was within 200 pounds of what my customer had told him, in favor of my customer.. The guy tried to argue that the boat weighed nearly 24k based on the travel lift.. My customer looked at him and smiled and asked "What states pulled you over in on the way here and weighed you?" with a wink... Trucker got quiet...

Be careful with boat haulers as they may try to use the travel lift trick on you, it is not the first or last time that type of shady boat hauling has happened..

There is no way my old 1986 Catalina 36 weighed anywhere even close to my customers CD-36... I've drilled though both hulls, worked extensively on both of them and sailed extensively on both too... The CD is a TANK but still weighs about 18k for shipping......;)