I'm thinking about a used CHB 34. Can anyone point out common problems I
should know about and watch out for in these 30 year old beauties??
Anything along the lines of "if it hasn't been fixed by now, you're going to
have to ..."

Thanks and wish me luck!
Everett

"Everett" wrote in
:

I'm thinking about a used CHB 34. Can anyone point out common
problems I should know about and watch out for in these 30 year old
beauties?? Anything along the lines of "if it hasn't been fixed by
now, you're going to have to ..."

Thanks and wish me luck!
Everett




Several ongoing problems with old CHB's. Watch out for dry rot in all
the window frames and cabin walls around the frames. Also, if it's a
sedan rather than an aft-cabin, look for dry rot in ceiling over
walkways. Stringers tend to have dry rot. Electrical systems were some
of the worst ever put in a boat. Fuel tanks are prone to need
replacement.

Those are some of the major things to look out for in an old CHB. If you
can find a good one, and there are lots of good ones out there..they are
great old boats...kinda slow with that 120 Lehman, but hell for stout.
Good Luck..

"Everett" wrote in
:

I'm thinking about a used CHB 34. Can anyone point out common
problems I should know about and watch out for in these 30 year old
beauties?? Anything along the lines of "if it hasn't been fixed by
now, you're going to have to ..."

Thanks and wish me luck!
Everett




Several ongoing problems with old CHB's. Watch out for dry rot in all
the window frames and cabin walls around the frames. Also, if it's a
sedan rather than an aft-cabin, look for dry rot in ceiling over
walkways. Stringers tend to have dry rot. Electrical systems were some
of the worst ever put in a boat. Fuel tanks are prone to need
replacement.

Those are some of the major things to look out for in an old CHB. If you
can find a good one, and there are lots of good ones out there..they are
great old boats...kinda slow with that 120 Lehman, but hell for stout.
Good Luck..

Everett wrote:

I'm thinking about a used CHB 34. Can anyone point out common problems I
should know about and watch out for in these 30 year old beauties??
Anything along the lines of "if it hasn't been fixed by now, you're going to
have to ..."

Thanks and wish me luck!
Everett

Here's a CHB group with plenty of people willing to give advice.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CHB/

I have a CHB bought used in 1979. Since that time I have spent $28,000 on rot
repair in the forward part of the deck cabin, and $13,000 for the only place
that wasn't addressed with that first go.

The boat came with classy lead/foam lining which, however, obscured being able
to see the top of the fuel tank and filler hose. In Canada in September the
hose gave way while fueling and put 100 gallons of fuel in the bilge. On
replacement, the top of the tank was found to be rusted and it may cost $4,000
to have that fixed. The classy lead lining is removed, by the way.

We had intended to use up the fuel in the tank and get it fixed, but during the
big rain in Seattle water got into the tank and blitzed our Webasto (how we
discovered it - better than blitzing the injector pump). I'm in the process of
being sure the water is out so the boat can be moved for repair.

CHBs were built by different yards, as most people know. The hulls were laid in
a central place and then farmed out to other 'yards'. For that reason, some are
good, like North Seas and Puget Trawlers - tight as ticks and very sound - and
some were bad, like our Far East. They all cost the same in the 70s when they
came in, but some of us knew more than others about boats.

Briefly. Get a good survey out of the water. Find out if the boat has been
stored under cover or out in the open (Ours was the latter and therefore had
obvious trouble which I, being naive, tried to caulk away for too long.). If it
has been kept under cover, and has only a thousand or so hours, then it may be a
ticking bomb.

We had a guy in our Trawler club years ago who stayed out an extra day after one
of our cruises on a rainy weekend, and it rained like crazy that Monday, and he
was shocked to find out how much the boat leaked. Prior to that time he hadn't
spent more than 2 days in the rain. We figured out that the water never got to
the part of soaking enough wood to actually come through.

Check absolutely every hose and connection. Don't ignore anything because it's
hard to get to. Check especially the hoses for raw water intake in the heads.

BOTTOM LINE: Yesterday I went to the boat and fired up the old Hi Seas heater,
and it got toasty and dry. I'm a slow worker so it took about 4 hours to do
just a few things. Listening to the stereo.

At the end I poured my 3-finger Scotch reward and went on deck to have it.
Looking back at the interior, lighted and warm, it was easy to recall the times
in anchorages, away from the city and computers and everything else, and be glad
as Hell for the boat. I'd have liked to be smarter earlier, but that's my
fault, not the boat's.

So learn from me and others on the CHB list and you will be able to make good
choices. They are slow old beasts but comfortable and economical. And as soon
as you really understand that a CHB isn't a form of transportation, but a place
to be that moves about, you will stop arranging to 'come over and meet you on
our boat and go...', 'pop around and see you...' and you will be happy.

Everett wrote:

I'm thinking about a used CHB 34. Can anyone point out common problems I
should know about and watch out for in these 30 year old beauties??
Anything along the lines of "if it hasn't been fixed by now, you're going to
have to ..."

Thanks and wish me luck!
Everett

Here's a CHB group with plenty of people willing to give advice.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CHB/

I have a CHB bought used in 1979. Since that time I have spent $28,000 on rot
repair in the forward part of the deck cabin, and $13,000 for the only place
that wasn't addressed with that first go.

The boat came with classy lead/foam lining which, however, obscured being able
to see the top of the fuel tank and filler hose. In Canada in September the
hose gave way while fueling and put 100 gallons of fuel in the bilge. On
replacement, the top of the tank was found to be rusted and it may cost $4,000
to have that fixed. The classy lead lining is removed, by the way.

We had intended to use up the fuel in the tank and get it fixed, but during the
big rain in Seattle water got into the tank and blitzed our Webasto (how we
discovered it - better than blitzing the injector pump). I'm in the process of
being sure the water is out so the boat can be moved for repair.

CHBs were built by different yards, as most people know. The hulls were laid in
a central place and then farmed out to other 'yards'. For that reason, some are
good, like North Seas and Puget Trawlers - tight as ticks and very sound - and
some were bad, like our Far East. They all cost the same in the 70s when they
came in, but some of us knew more than others about boats.

Briefly. Get a good survey out of the water. Find out if the boat has been
stored under cover or out in the open (Ours was the latter and therefore had
obvious trouble which I, being naive, tried to caulk away for too long.). If it
has been kept under cover, and has only a thousand or so hours, then it may be a
ticking bomb.

We had a guy in our Trawler club years ago who stayed out an extra day after one
of our cruises on a rainy weekend, and it rained like crazy that Monday, and he
was shocked to find out how much the boat leaked. Prior to that time he hadn't
spent more than 2 days in the rain. We figured out that the water never got to
the part of soaking enough wood to actually come through.

Check absolutely every hose and connection. Don't ignore anything because it's
hard to get to. Check especially the hoses for raw water intake in the heads.

BOTTOM LINE: Yesterday I went to the boat and fired up the old Hi Seas heater,
and it got toasty and dry. I'm a slow worker so it took about 4 hours to do
just a few things. Listening to the stereo.

At the end I poured my 3-finger Scotch reward and went on deck to have it.
Looking back at the interior, lighted and warm, it was easy to recall the times
in anchorages, away from the city and computers and everything else, and be glad
as Hell for the boat. I'd have liked to be smarter earlier, but that's my
fault, not the boat's.

So learn from me and others on the CHB list and you will be able to make good
choices. They are slow old beasts but comfortable and economical. And as soon
as you really understand that a CHB isn't a form of transportation, but a place
to be that moves about, you will stop arranging to 'come over and meet you on
our boat and go...', 'pop around and see you...' and you will be happy.

For the unenlightened, what is a CHB?

Vic

--
__________________________________________________ ______

Victor Fraenckel - The Windman
vfraenc1 ATSIGN nycap DOT rr DOTcom
KC2GUI

Home of the WindReader Electronic Theodolite
Read the WIND

"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long
and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival."
- Winston [Leonard Spencer] Churchill (1874 - 1965)

Dost thou not know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed?
-Count Oxenstierna (ca 1620) to the young King Gustavus Adolphus

For the unenlightened, what is a CHB?

Vic

--
__________________________________________________ ______

Victor Fraenckel - The Windman
vfraenc1 ATSIGN nycap DOT rr DOTcom
KC2GUI

Home of the WindReader Electronic Theodolite
Read the WIND

"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long
and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival."
- Winston [Leonard Spencer] Churchill (1874 - 1965)

Dost thou not know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed?
-Count Oxenstierna (ca 1620) to the young King Gustavus Adolphus

Everett:
I learned, as most do, by accident. I reserve the right to be wrong
about all of this:
When you see a CHB, it may be a lot of different, but similar appearing
boats, too many to even try to mention without a lot of research. These
boats had three basic evolutions. All this changes by model as to when
it occurred.

Evolution #1 Fiberglass hull, wood deck (mostly early 70's)
#2 Fiberglass hull, glassed wood deck (later 70's +)
#3 Fiberglass hull and deck
You can probably guess which one you want to find. A good surveyor can
teach you how to tell which is which. Learn for yourself how to do a
brief survey when looking at any boat. The basics are pretty easy.

There's the "Europa", vs aft cabin models. Like someone said in another
message, watch out for the "Europa" cabin top. But, the cabin tops, and
decks, can be trouble in all models. Knowing what I know, I would only
be looking for a molded fiberglass cabin top and deck. Plywood coring
of these molded decks can be trouble. Learn how to tell what you're
looking at. Look for evidence of leaks and the consequences of those leaks.

All these boats have badly conceived windows, and all of these 30 year
old boats need tanks by now.

As the guy who taught me about tanks told me, "There are two types of
owners of 30 year old tanks, those that know their tanks need replacing,
and those who do not know it."

When I did mine, I cut the old ones out, made modular ones that can be
removed if ever necessary. Total cost was about $3000. $1000 of it was
the labor of cutting the old ones out with a sawzall. I could have done
this myself. I made wood box patterns for the tank maker to use as
patterns. The new ones are 50 gallons each, connected by a manifold. I
now have 200 gallon capacity and a lot of storage space. I could add
more tanks if I ever decide 200 gallons isn't enough.

Yes, the wiring...sometimes they used some non-tinned wire, the color
coding is terrible, and then there's what has happened to all of it in
the last 30 years. My boat had some welding cable used for battery
cable...and a of other sins committed in back of the electrical panel.
I had a professional go over everything, and it wasn't that bad to start
with, total $2000. But, I know everything is proper.

The good side is that the hulls, engines, trannys seldom cause trouble,
especially if MAINTAINED. Zincs, oil changes and such.....

I accidentally bought the right boat, and as you can see, I had a lot to do.

Good luck, and let the rest of us know what you see out there.
Jim

Everett wrote:

I'm thinking about a used CHB 34. Can anyone point out common problems I
should know about and watch out for in these 30 year old beauties??
Anything along the lines of "if it hasn't been fixed by now, you're going to
have to ..."

Thanks and wish me luck!
Everett

Everett:
I learned, as most do, by accident. I reserve the right to be wrong
about all of this:
When you see a CHB, it may be a lot of different, but similar appearing
boats, too many to even try to mention without a lot of research. These
boats had three basic evolutions. All this changes by model as to when
it occurred.

Evolution #1 Fiberglass hull, wood deck (mostly early 70's)
#2 Fiberglass hull, glassed wood deck (later 70's +)
#3 Fiberglass hull and deck
You can probably guess which one you want to find. A good surveyor can
teach you how to tell which is which. Learn for yourself how to do a
brief survey when looking at any boat. The basics are pretty easy.

There's the "Europa", vs aft cabin models. Like someone said in another
message, watch out for the "Europa" cabin top. But, the cabin tops, and
decks, can be trouble in all models. Knowing what I know, I would only
be looking for a molded fiberglass cabin top and deck. Plywood coring
of these molded decks can be trouble. Learn how to tell what you're
looking at. Look for evidence of leaks and the consequences of those leaks.

All these boats have badly conceived windows, and all of these 30 year
old boats need tanks by now.

As the guy who taught me about tanks told me, "There are two types of
owners of 30 year old tanks, those that know their tanks need replacing,
and those who do not know it."

When I did mine, I cut the old ones out, made modular ones that can be
removed if ever necessary. Total cost was about $3000. $1000 of it was
the labor of cutting the old ones out with a sawzall. I could have done
this myself. I made wood box patterns for the tank maker to use as
patterns. The new ones are 50 gallons each, connected by a manifold. I
now have 200 gallon capacity and a lot of storage space. I could add
more tanks if I ever decide 200 gallons isn't enough.

Yes, the wiring...sometimes they used some non-tinned wire, the color
coding is terrible, and then there's what has happened to all of it in
the last 30 years. My boat had some welding cable used for battery
cable...and a of other sins committed in back of the electrical panel.
I had a professional go over everything, and it wasn't that bad to start
with, total $2000. But, I know everything is proper.

The good side is that the hulls, engines, trannys seldom cause trouble,
especially if MAINTAINED. Zincs, oil changes and such.....

I accidentally bought the right boat, and as you can see, I had a lot to do.

Good luck, and let the rest of us know what you see out there.
Jim

Everett wrote:

I'm thinking about a used CHB 34. Can anyone point out common problems I
should know about and watch out for in these 30 year old beauties??
Anything along the lines of "if it hasn't been fixed by now, you're going to
have to ..."

Thanks and wish me luck!
Everett

Vic Fraenckel wrote:

For the unenlightened, what is a CHB?

Vic

An abbreviation for "Chien Hwa Boat". As you see from my earlier, it was sort
of a supercontractor, like Bechtel, with subcontractors working for it. Some of
the importers supervised and insisted on good work, others left things to chance.