Hello Steve
Glad to meet you, as it were! I have a 1983 O34 myself and the question that you are asking about ground tackle is likely to get you a lot of opinions. My primary sailing area has mostly mud/silt/clay type bottoms. When anchoring, I normally am in water anywhere from five feet (under keel) to 20 feet. I keep a spade anchor, with 15 feet of chain on a two hundred foot 5/8" rode mounted. I also have a 10 lb. aluminum danforth type anchor on 15 feet of chain and a two hundred foot rode that I keep in the anchor locker for special occasions. There is plenty of room for the line, chain, and spare anchor in the locker. I also keep a 24 lb. danforth with 20 feet of chain and 200 feet of 5/8. This stays at home most of the time and is only brought along in the event I am straying a long way from home into unfamiliar waters. When I do have it on board, I keep it affixed to the pulpit with brackets, even with all three anchors on board, I have never noticed any balance problems. Under normal circumstances, the spade is my primary anchor. I'm sure that with all of this, there is a place somewhere where it probably wouldn't be enough, so your needs are going to depend on where you are going and what the available anchorages will be as far as depth and bottom type. The heating problem could be caused for a number of reasons, blockage in the intake, thermostat going bad, a worn out impeller, or a weak "radiator" cap at least that would be my top guesses. Has a previous impeller ever blown? If it has there could be a small piece lodged in the cooling system somewhere. Is there a raw water filter? Could need cleaning. My boat has an M25 Universal and under normal operation runs at 165, when pushed it runs at 180. Is this any place close to yours? That's about all the information I have on the subject. Good luck with your decisions.
