Hello, after sailing last year on Catalina 27 and loving it (my first boat), I upgraded to Catalina 30 Tall Rig ('85). With a help of an fellow marina sailor we took her from Bristol RI to Bridgeport CT in 2.5 days with overnight stays. I love my Green Pearl already! A lot of the equipment on the boat has been upgraded but interior cushions are in OK condition. The dinette large cushion (that goes over the engine) is worst with faded and near rip spots. At this point, I have little desire to spend several thousand on brand new ones. I googled used Catalina 30 interior cushions but there is absolutely nothing out there. Any advice on where to find either all new cushions or just the dinette ones? My current color is Green (Forrest Green may be..?). Thank you and I will post pics as soon as I can.
New Catalina '85 Tall Rig new owner
- Thread starter vshinsky
- Start date
Congratulations on your new sailboat and welcome to the forum!!
Yep..........replacement settee cushions are expensive.....I know as I am getting replacement cushions for 2 of the 6 settee cushions for $900, excluding fabric which I purchased for $200 for the entire settee, from a local cushion/canvas contractor in my marina.
Yep..........replacement settee cushions are expensive.....I know as I am getting replacement cushions for 2 of the 6 settee cushions for $900, excluding fabric which I purchased for $200 for the entire settee, from a local cushion/canvas contractor in my marina.
Make some slip covers, rather than an entirely new cushion. You can insert a 1" layer of foam between the new covers an the old... if needed. Since it's inside you don't really need sunbrella or canvas. That should last a few years, look good and give you time to save enough for a complete set at some time in the future... I put slip covers on my old canvas covered interior cushions 8 or 9 years ago...and they have held up pretty well. I purchased the material at a regular fabric store and my mom was delighted to help me with the project. A home sewing machine was all we needed.
I'm sorry I don't have pictures on this computer. I wouldn't describe them as "pillow cases"... in that they are not open on the end. It might be more akin to wrapping a large present, or building a "fitted" bedsheet. You can remove them, there are snaps on the corners. But the cushion's vinyl under sides are not completely covered...We considered elastic.. but settled an a couple of straps underneath to help keep tension in the fit. If you're rough on them... if you have kids for instance... they might wear pretty quickly. Instead of cutting in a lot of "darts" for the corners we tried folding, like a bedsheet and it turned out okay... a heavy fabric might not look as good though. My fabric is not heavy at all... but like I say.. it still looks pretty good. I sleep on the boat, but always have a pad between sheet and cushion. I'll try to dial up the photos on the old computer and send them off to you via private message when I can.
Thank you, again! Here is me sailing this Sunday. Now a sailing/rigging question. My boat seems to be a powerful rig. I had a full main up yesterday and a slightly furled Jib. I have a self tacking Jib so it's only 100 or 90% to begin with, so probably reduced it to 70-75% or so. My boat is also a bowsprit option so sail plan is bigger. Steady wind was 15-20 with gusts well into mid 20s. Beam and broad reaching was most comfortable so I had my main out pretty far. What I found quite physically difficult is to bring main in for close hauling when under such load (describing winds above). I have this over sized main sheet and only a small one speed winch on coach roof that's shared between halyard and main sheet. Its extremely difficult to sheet the main in with the winch without first bringing it into the wind. The main sheet goes through at least three blocks under the boom and is also connected to the traveler. Anyway, is that the same configuration every Catalina 30 has? What is your experience of bringing boom in while under considerable load. Of course, letting it out is much easier. Overall, this was a great sail and we beamed reached and broad reached at 6.8 to 7.4 knots. Thanks for sharing info!
Attachments
@vshinsky
Congratulations on your C30 and welcome to SBO!
You might get more specific answers if you post new questions for new subjects in new threads.
My C30 is also a TR with Bow Sprit.
Watch out for oversized sheets. Often an owner will up size the sheet but smaller sheets run through blocks easier. The spec on my 93 calls for 7/16" mainsheet. For 2 seasons I used a 3/8" mainsheet and this year I switched to 5/16". I can still grab it easy enough, throw it on the winch when needed and it goes through the blocks easier.
I also switched to Garhauer Marine ball bearing blocks.
My sheet runs through 1 triple on the traveler, 3 blocks on the boom, forward to the mast base, starboard to a deck organizer and back to the cockpit. Thus the reason to try to reduce as much friction as possible.
As winds increase past 15 knots I usually reef the main first, then start reefing my 135 Genoa.
One thing I learned from the forum here is the need for a 10" winch handle over an 8" winch handle. That extra 2" makes a big difference in the torque you can apply to the winch.
Nice pic! You have some sweet instrument pods hanging on that pedestal guard. Enjoy.
Congratulations on your C30 and welcome to SBO!
You might get more specific answers if you post new questions for new subjects in new threads.
My C30 is also a TR with Bow Sprit.
Watch out for oversized sheets. Often an owner will up size the sheet but smaller sheets run through blocks easier. The spec on my 93 calls for 7/16" mainsheet. For 2 seasons I used a 3/8" mainsheet and this year I switched to 5/16". I can still grab it easy enough, throw it on the winch when needed and it goes through the blocks easier.
I also switched to Garhauer Marine ball bearing blocks.
My sheet runs through 1 triple on the traveler, 3 blocks on the boom, forward to the mast base, starboard to a deck organizer and back to the cockpit. Thus the reason to try to reduce as much friction as possible.
As winds increase past 15 knots I usually reef the main first, then start reefing my 135 Genoa.
One thing I learned from the forum here is the need for a 10" winch handle over an 8" winch handle. That extra 2" makes a big difference in the torque you can apply to the winch.
Nice pic! You have some sweet instrument pods hanging on that pedestal guard. Enjoy.
Thank you! I will check my main sheet, guessing it's much thicker. No idea why owner would do that. The routing is similar. I will check the bigger handle if there is enough clearance. Nice heeling on your pic! BTW, my boat doesn't need steering when close hauled unless way too windy. Is that normal? I was quite surprised, it holds a point of sail better than my autopilot.
this isn't cheap but the original mainsheet and traveler that came with the boat were junk. i replaced both with garhauer and it made all the difference in the world.
Yep it is. When you have your sails tuned well the helm will hold close to center and little to no pressure on the helm will be needed to steer the boat.
A lot of owners think bigger line is stronger and better to hold but it is a trade off. Most standard line is plenty strong enough for sheets and grip or feel is a personal thing. Smaller line runs though blocks better. I use 5/16" line for my halyards and main sheet. 7/16" for jib sheets since they get handled more.
When you have a chance post some pics of your traveler and mainsheet set up.
Congrats on the new boat!
I have found that, like you , the it is difficult to bring the mainsheet all the way in with the winch, and even so the boom isn't centered. What I do is just bring the mainsheet in as much as I can and then move the traveller upwind which helps center the boom (in light to medium wind), which makes up for that last bit of mainsheet.
BTW, do you have any information on the treads on your swim ladder? Like are those original, how are they attached. I would really like to have something similar on mine. Its painful to climb up the ladder on the bars.
I have found that, like you , the it is difficult to bring the mainsheet all the way in with the winch, and even so the boom isn't centered. What I do is just bring the mainsheet in as much as I can and then move the traveller upwind which helps center the boom (in light to medium wind), which makes up for that last bit of mainsheet.
BTW, do you have any information on the treads on your swim ladder? Like are those original, how are they attached. I would really like to have something similar on mine. Its painful to climb up the ladder on the bars.