Lorraine,
There is an active Yahoo group for the c30 that has a lot of discussion on C30 issues as well as this forum and I've found both to be very helpful to new owners and very tolerant of questions even if you think they are too "newbie" to ask. Believe me, we were all there at one time, none of us were born knowing how to do this stuff! I think it's great that this is such a popular boat that you almost never have to reinvent the wheel; someone probably has had your problem before you and is happy to share a solution with you. The Tech Talk binder (which I think is available on the IC30A website?) is a collection of owner articles written over the years and compiled into one binder. I found it to be quite a help to get started when I first bought the boat, but if you join the IC30A and start getting the quarterly magazine you'll be getting the articles that way as well. The Tech Talk binder will provide you with all the older articles.
I grew up on power boats in the PNW so moving to sail on the Gulf Coast was a huge learning experience for me. Once thing that has served me well was building a "Big Blue Binder" (you could really use any color you like!) of systems on the boat and trying to break the boat down into individual pieces that are more easily understood.
I've rewired a lot of my boat so I have a custom electrical schematic now and have collected owners manuals for all the equipment on the boat which makes it easier to trouble shoot problems as they come up. The C30 systems are very well known, don't be afraid to ask questions and although I have only talked to them once myself, I understand the factory is helpful as well.
One of the first projects I did when I bought my boat was to replace all the water lines on the boat (the original ones were so nasty that the water smelled and they just looked scary). This was an easy project from a tools and equipment point of view and it also required me to crawl into every corner of the boat and see what was there, turned out to be a good way to get to know the boat.
The other bit of advice I got from one of my sailing mentors is to use the heck out of the boat. Anchor out for afternoon and see what works and what doesn't, what would make your life at anchor more pleasant. Then anchor out for the night near home. Then anchor out for the night a days sail away from home. Cook dinner in the oven and on the stove. Try to read your book or watch your movie (whatever your "thing" is) and see how the lighting and power works out for you. That has been a great tip for me and it's made me realize that I like having plenty of electricity at anchor, I like having my XM radio and good lighting to read by and I like having an easy working oven and stove to cook with. Cabin fans are important in my part of the country and solid ground tackle has meant a good nights sleep for me, but I wouldn't have known it if I hadn't used the heck out of the boat over the last few years. I love knowing that we can decide to spend the night on the boat now and in 30 minutes be motoring out of the slip and the boat is all set up for it.
The other thing that was money well spent was hiring a "captain" when I first bought the boat. I'd never owned a boat with a rudder and keel before so I hired a guy to spend a day with me. I would estimate that I learned in that day what I might have learned in my first year had I tried to figure it out myself. Picking the right "captain" is critical though, I knew I would likely single hand a lot so I found a guy who had done a lot of single handed sailing himself and I learned much from him. At no small cost for sure (I think it was $55/hour back then!).
Knowing the rules of the road, some first aid, man overboard procedures, navigation, VHF procedures and having a seaworth boat are the basics before we load our trusting friends and family on board as well I think.
One of my favorite quote in my industry... Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.
I hope I haven't come off as preachy or too much of a safety nerd, but it's just such a neat hobby if you approach it as a learning process and know your limitations and push your boundries a bit and expose it to other people along the way. Gosh, I wish I would have been taken sailing as a kid!
How to get up to speed quickly though? A real live (pay by the hour!) mentor was one of the best things I've ever done.
Good luck, and let us know how it's going for you!
DanM.
... I am looking for something that is a little user friendly, not so technical. Something along the lines of '15 things to know about your boat', or 'The things you really need to know about your Catalina 30'. I'd even consider 'Catalina 30 owner's guide for Dummies', But we all know that only rather clever folks have these fine vessels, not dummies. (I really dislike the dummies series anyway). 
