New Sailer with a pile of questions

[thebee64]

Hey Guys,

First off, thanks for the great site, it really does look like there's a lot of good information here to be learned! I've always been around power boats, but I finally took the plunge and got a sailboat.

I did a bunch of looking, dock wondering and researching before I finally decided on the boat that I bought. However, after I bought it I learned something very interesting! The boat is a 1974 Coronado 23 MK2. My budget was $1000.00 and I did need something with a relible motor as well. The first boat that caught my eye was a older 1969? Columbia 22, which seemed to be a good boat. When I learned that most Coronado's were basicly identical to columbia's I was happy with my find. It turns out that the Coronado Mk2 is the same as the Columbia 23T which the infamous Bayliners were based. As I climbed aboard for the first time, it did dawn on me that depite the fact that the boat was sitting in shallow water, the fin wasn't hitting. Granted, the Coronado 23 doesn't have the high freeboard and even bigger cabin that the Buc's have, hopefully the QC is a little better.

I do have some questions about the rigging. Right now, it looks to have the orginal mainsheet rigging, which is mid boom sheeting with no boom vang. I'm going to get some photos this weekend of the rigging. I do plan on getting (or making) a vang, the one I had in mind was West marine's small boomvang, I was thinking about moving the mid boom sheeting out to the end so the line doesn't run against the side of the cabin as the boom is being let out. Is there any kind of problem with moving it that I should be aware of? Are there any how to's on making a simple boom vang? My sail also has a Cunningham Criggle and one row of reefing points but it doesn't look like there's anything on the mast or boom where I would secure the rigging for them, I've looked for photo's and searched the forums but didn't see any basic setups that I could adapt.

Moving forward, I only have one eye on the deck to run the jib sheets through before the winch and cleat. Looking through my books, it looks like I need some kind of fore / aft adjustment to get the proper sailshape for the jib. I've looked at adding some track, but I have no idea what kind of lengh would I need and where would I mount it? Any help would be great!!

Thanks

Rick

[eherlihy]

Hey Rick,

Welcome aboard! You'll find a LOT of information/knowledge/opinions here (sometimes it's hadr to tell which is which). Just place an entry in the appropriate forum.

[smackdaddy]

Originally Posted by eherlihy

Hey Rick,

Welcome aboard! You'll find a LOT of information/knowledge/opinions here (sometimes it's hadr to tell which is which). Just place an entry in the appropriate forum.

And don't forget outright lies, unfounded tripe, and smartassedness. I got that covered.

[davidpm]

I did a quick google an found: Columbia T23 and Coronado 23 Mk II Literature
Might be good for you.

[eherlihy]

Originally Posted by smackdaddy

And don't forget outright lies, unfounded tripe, and smartassedness. I got that covered.

You be the KING of the latter; but I do appreciate you & your contribution to SailNet!

And to the OP - If you stick around long enough, you'll learn who to listen to, who to ignore, and who to laugh at!

[BubbleheadMd]

'Bout time we got another Coronado owner on here!

[fordo]

Before you start doing alot of work moving things around, sail the boat for a while and make changes after you see a real need to do so. See if you really need a vang; is the mid boom sheeting really a problem? After I sailed my "new" boat for a season the priority for my upgrade list changed alot.

One exception, if you sail more than a mile from the dock you should be able to reef your sail. Is there a reefing hook on the gooseneck and a cringle on the luff of the sail? You can use the reef points by running lines through them and tying them around the boom, before you invest in a new reefing system.

Take it slow and enjoy the sailing as you do the upgrades

[bljones]

Check out the Small Craft Advisor review of the Coronado 23. Lots of good info.

[thebee64]

Thanks for the replies. I do plan on sailing her to really get a feel of what I want vs what I need. I sail in the puget sound, Whidbey island to be exact and I don't plan on going out for any real distance without having the proper systems in place, such as reefing.