Worn out seats / anchor line winch

[Jack in Alaska]

My 1983 22' Angler still has the original seats. They are in terrible condition.
I saw the seats in a 25' CD at the local dealer that looked real good.
I e-mailed the factory and they told me, after a long wait, to contact the seat manuf. and order from them.
Does anyone have a better solution. As my "personal substructure" is wide I need the new seats to be wide like the originals.

I am also looking for a deck winch that will handle 600' of 3/8" line. I anchor in 150' of water with 5-6 knot current and need all of the line every time.

Any ideas for the above 2 problems would be appreciated.

[Pat Anderson]

Bill - this is Jack in Alaska, who as you can see, NEEDS A PHOTO ALBUM for High Tide...

Jack - I think if the problem is the covering, just get King Marine in Seattle to recover them. If it is something else, then I guess the factory reccommendation is it...

[Casey]

I don't know who manufactured the seats/canvas in 1983, but those items are currently being made by King Canvas in Seattle. You might want to contact Dave at King Canvas:
canvasking@aol.com

As for the windlass - I suspect the issue may not be the windlass, but rather the anchor locker available to store all the anchor line/rode. You might think about removing or remodelling the anchor locker panel and moving it aft a few inches to gain sufficient space. Good luck!

Casey

[TyBoo]

[Jack in Alaska]

Thanks to all those that got a photo album set up for me. Now if I can just get my stubby fat fingers on the correct keys to get pictures put in it I will be happy.

Also thanks for the info on new/recovered seats and a windlass.

By the way.......I got my boat back today with a new lower unit $$$$$$$$
and my kicker tuned up.
Took it out for trials and hooked up two silvers (cohoes). Life is good again.

[Swee Pea]

I found a place (www.lowelldistributing.com) where you can buy sunbrella at a great price. Also, they sell stainless steel snaps and studs at quantities of 100 dirt cheap! Very helpful and friendly when you call. Shipping is quick and fast. I'm in the process of making snap on window "shades" as pictured in some of the albums.
Thought if you were going to tackle a reupholstering job, this would be a great place to start.
John
Swee'Pea

[Sea Wolf]

As ain aside to this thread, I'm wondering how many hours, days, or years of use the upholstery in a C-Dory typically lasts?

I've never really looked closely at another boat to see exactly what the standrd Sunbrella upholstery fabric looks like. Is is much like the Sunbrella canvas?

My "87 has soft woven fuzzy blue material that is (based on my experience working in furniture stores during college) a wool/polyester composite with the wool for the fill, and the polyester for the net structure. After 17 1/2 years, is doesn't show any real wear or significant fading. The only problem has been having to tack down the plastic edging where it tucks under the plywood base once or twice. I'm pretty sure this is the original upholstery. Is this what everybody else has? If not , I wonder if and why they changed it?

Just trying to figure out another piece of the puzzle. Joe.

[Sneaks]

Joe, if RV experience is any measure, the foam inside your upholstery usually starts noticeably dying in about 5-7 years, based on getting good quality foam initially. It's hard to notice foam changes because it's so subtle, but if you buy new, high quality foam and replace the old stuff, it's amazing.

Though as a long time computer operator, my nether region is pretty insensitive....

[Sea Wolf]

Sneaks- Thanks for the comments! I assume you're you talking about the foam simply loosing its resiliency long before its apparent breakdown where you can see the foam disintegrating. I'll have to check that out on my cushions, although I'm not sure what to compare it to since all of the samples I have are the same age and any new foam material might not be the same composition. I haven't noticed any softness or changes, but if it's subtle, how do you know?

I'm still wondering if my upholstery is original, and the same as the SuSunbrellaow in use. I've never heard of Sunbrella upholstery material, as opposed to Sunbrella canvas, so does that make the current upholstery Sunbrella canvas, as used in boat covers? If so, it's very different than I have, as noted above.

The question about the material I have and whether it's the same brings up a whole group of discussion points that may be rather sensitive to some owners and the factory.

At the last C-Dog gathering at Lake Shasta in 2001, I met one of our original C-Brat members from whom we haven't heard much lately.

Yellowstone John is a retired school superintendent from Montana, living up in Washington State with his wife, Edna. While looking at and discussing several of the C-Dorys at the get-together, he mentioned that he thought that the boats had been changed in several ways over the years, usually, but not always, for the better.

Most changes were win-win situations, where the factory had made the boat easier and therefore less expensive to put together, and the resulting boat was a better product, such as the change over to stainless handrails and white Decaguard interior cabinets, although some of us with the old teak rails and wood grain interior and doors like the more traditional look, despite the upkeep.

Another example of the win-win situation has been the addition of the powder coating on the windows, which look much better as they match the basic hull off-white background color.

Some other changes, he thought, were not win-win, such as the evolution of the doors on the lazarette compartments. My old style flat ones with the recessed rubber gaskets do leak to the inside somewhat. The later ones with the raised doors are better, but, according to John, had been changed again, not for the better. As I remember, he was saying that the raised lip around the opening had been eliminated, making water entry easier again. This presumably was to facilitate building the deck in the mold and removing it. I hope this is correct, as it's been a few years now.

Another ongoing problem has been the water accumulation/bilge/drainage problem in the 22's. With the fore-aft rocker of the boat, water accumulates when the boat is at rest up at the cabin door entrance, and doesn't move to the bilge well at the transom until the boat is moving and tipped backwards by the engine thrust. Numerous solutions and projects have been attempted by owners and the factory, including the side mounted bilge pump under the galley just inside the bulkhead. Not all have been successful.

At this time, the best appears to be floorboards that level out the cockpit floor. Several have suggested that this be a factory included item and not an option, such as was done with the center opening window for the 2005 model. This, they suggest, would make a better ready-made product and enhance the product's and factory's image. Unfortunately, this would raise the base price of the boat, which is now pegged at just bout $30,000.

The greatest thing about this site is that we can discuss all of these issues and rely on the experience of each other to retro-fit our boats accordingly, and without so much trial-and-error. Without such a discussion means, such as this C-Brat site, an individual owner's knowledge of these problems and their solutions would be much more limited, because some, if not most of us, are widely spaced apart, and out enjoyment of our prized C-Dorys much more constrained without this shared knowledge and friendship.

Thanks for your comments, and I hope this is helpful to all. Joe.

[Sneaks]

[ffheap]

About the seats,

I have a 1983 Angler. My wife had the seats in the Dinette and Berths redone as a Birthday Present. As for the Helm Seat. They can be found in any Boating Catalogue, like BoatUS, West Marine Etc.

The one thing I like about my seat. When in is folded down, it make for a good counter top for my future galley.

Fred Heap
Man From Nantucket

[Captains Cat]

I wish I had the factory decking in the cockpit! What I have is dri-deck and have put grey indoor-outdoor carpeting over that. It works fine and dries out OK after it gets wet for whatever reason. My boat is somewhat nose heavy for some reason and water in the cockpit runs through the drain hole into the cabin and all the way to the front. This despite twin Honda 45's and full gas tanks. Have "solved" it by putting a rubber plug in the hole at the centerline cabin door. I don't have a bilge pump there like some folks have, wish I did.

My pump is an Rule pump in the depression at the stern and stays on automatic all the time. Have had no problem with it draining the two batteries, it's directly connected so even if I turn them off, it gets juice.

Charlie