c&c30

[sailbyu]

I have a c&c 30 and would like to know if anyone knows how long the wood rails on the deck are.

[drichards]

I also have a C&C 30 (1981). I have just retrofitted a Yanmar 3GM30F engine with a 2.61:1 gear ratio. My old folding 12"Martec prop is now just an egg beater. Any suggestions out there for a new prop?

[drichards]

I also have a C&C 30 (1981). I have just retrofitted a Yanmar 3GM30F engine with a 2.61:1 gear ratio. My old folding 12"Martec prop is now just an egg beater. Any suggestions out there for a new prop?

[MikeMoss]

I had a 1976 C&C 30 for 18 years with the A4 and a 11X7 2 blade. Now we have a C&C 35-1 with a Martec folding prop.

Get a folding prop. They are fantastic. They will really reduce drag under sail and they motor very well. The C&C 30 is very easy to handle anyway as they turn and back so well with that big spade rudder.

You can swing a nice large diameter prop with that boat too.

Buy one. The boat is worth it. It''s a real sailboat.

Just call Martec or whoever and give them the data and they will spec the diameter and pitch. Defender discounts them.

[drichards]

Thanks Mike. I am leaning that way. However, the prop people are trying to talk me into a three blade feathering prop for more power in a big sea or in a big breeze while docking the boatl.

[MikeMoss]

It''s true that a three blade prop of any kind will provide more surface area so as not to slip or cavitate as much in extreme conditions. It (particuarly) a feathering prop will back and stop better.

However you have a diesel with a nice big reduction in the tranny. And you have a boat that will swing a large diameter prop (lots of clearance) if yours is like my 76.

Feathering props are very expensive and subject to damage, wear and even theft. Feathering props have more drag than folding props and will catch lobster pot floats.

Your 30 has a swept back keel and rudder and will sail right thru pots. Very few boats will do this but only with a folding prop.

I sail a C&C 35-1 with a 12" X 12" Martec folding prop. It backs and stops just fine.
It''s better in high winds than my C&C 30 was with the A4 and 1/1 tranny and that 11X7 2 blade fixed prop.

There is no problem backing up a C&C 30. They have a big spade rudder and steer in reverse very well with any prop. And if you have a tiller you can reverse the rudder 180 degrees and steer even better in reverse.

The boat is worth a low drag prop because it has the potential to be a really good sailor.

Get the 2 blade Martec folder. Save the money.

Measure from the tip of a blade now to your hull for the present clearance and measure the diameter of your prop. Call up Martec and ask for the largest diameter you can swing with the 15% clearance. I would guess it to be at least 13" That will be a nice big prop.

You are so lucky to have that C&C 30. Someone here on the net bought a Bristol 29.9 and paid over $20K. They are a dog as a sailboat.

You may as well put in a new cutlass bearing and hose on the stuffing box while you have the prop shaft out.

If I had a million bucks and repowered my C&C 35 I would still put on a folding prop.

Good luck.

[drichards]

Thanks, Mike. If I wasn''t convinced before, I am now. I race our C&C30 fanatically and have been very successful on Lake Ontario. For the past three years we have done quite well in one design as well as PHRF. I hope to cruise with it down the east coast at some point in the next few years going from lake Ontario, through the Erie Canal to the Hudson River and then south to New York, and on to the Chesapeake or to New England. With the new diesel, along with a new cooling and exhaust system there should be no concern about sea water. However, I do worry about going out on open Atlantic, even if I am staying close to shore. How will the 30 handle the swells and potentially rough weather?
If I find I can enjoy the cruising life for a summer, I would love to go to Florida and then cross over to the Bahamas in the winter...no further though in this boat.
Where have you sailed? Do you have any experience in tidal situations with the 30? Thaks again for your advbice about the prop. By the way, I have a ton of clearance (9 1/2 inches from the shaft to the hull). And I have replace the cutlass bearing, shaft coupler, and stuffing box. everything is new.

[MikeMoss]

I have not sailed on Lake Ontario enough to have seen it all but friends tell be that some really bad squalls come up. That''s about as bad as it gets in coastal sailing too.

We sailed the C&C 30 from 1978 thru 1995 from Eastern Long Island Sound to Nantucket and back quite a bit, maybe a dozen times or more. A number of years we spend 60 nights or more on the water. This is just coastal cruising and no different than day sailing except that your living aboard.

There is nothing to swells really unless they make you seasick. Luckily for me and my "bride" we are not affected by that. So coastal sailing is no big deal compared to Lake Ontario I would think. Of course there are tides and currents to deal with but that is not relevant to one boat type over another.

There are a lot of good harbors on the Northern East Coast however with the exception of New Jersey .

Thirty foot boats will do it all for coastal cruising. Of course bigger boats ride better and have more room.

Do you have a wheel or tiller? An auto pilot?
Hot water?

Mike.

[drichards]

Mike, it is so exciting to know of someone who has sailed off the coast. i don''t know whether I said that we are thinking about doing a trial summer cruise down the Hudson this July.
Out boat , an ''81, is the luxury edition, with propane tank, three burner stove and oven, and all the built in cupboards, as well as a teak and sole floor.
Nevertheless, we have spent our money on racing and have built our sail inventory instead of a cruising inventory. We have brand new #1,#2, main and spinnaker, as well as new halyards, blocks and jammers.
We do have a dodger that we only mount when we occasionally cruise. We also have GPS, Loran,knot log and VHF Radio.
Otherwise the boat is like new.
Our bottom is painted with VC 17. I think I may have to use something else for salt water.
We don''t have an autopilot, but I have been thinking about a purchase at the Toronto Boat Show in January. I would also like a new integrated electronics package, but that may wait for a year.

I would love to hear the best places to go once I get to the coast.

I have heard from one sailor, whose opinions I don''t take too seriously, that when he went to the coast, the swells were quite uncomfortable on the C&C 30. My wife and I do not get sea sick on Lake Ontario - even in the worst conditions, but I just have this vision of 10 ft tidal swells with 20 know winds making the ride very uncomfortable.

Please respond. Good to hear from you. Eager to hear what you think.

[MikeMoss]

Unless you are going to take the summer off it''s a long way to go for salt water. If you look at a map you can see that Lake Ontario is really big. Bigger even than Long Island Sound. You will have to take the mast out to get to Albany. Of course it will be quite an adventure.

Unless you are going to the Chesepeake from NYC everybody goes east. There are lots of really outstanding harbors on both the North and South shores of Long Island Sound.

Of course just like when you are driving you avoid cites like NYC, Bridgeport and New Haven. They are harbors but have more vandals there.

There are NO swells on Long Island Sound. Forget swells. High winds. That''s what will get you.

An autopilot is really nice for crusing. So get one if you go. A lot of boats here have radar. We don''t because standard practices are adequate and radar does not make the boat faster. Use VC Offshore and wet sand it like you do now.

Long ago we left Point Judith RI in a little Cal 25 with only a compass, chart and a watch. The fog was so thick we could hardly see anything and the swells were so big that when we passed a boat the mast of the boat would disappear in the troths of each swell.

When we got near Sakonnet, RI and an important mark I said "if we don''t find it we are turning back" well we found it and make it to Cuttyhunk, I. That Cal had only one jib. It was a really nice 165% by Ulmer. That''s my kind of sail. Oh the "good" old days.