Hello all, brand new on here.

Looking to purchase an 83 Cav 30. We will be sailing the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria mostly but would like to head up the coast for extended cruising in the future.
I would like to know the learned folks thoughts on the boat for this purpose.
Disregarding condition and room etc, that will be a given. It is the seaworthiness / capabilities that we are looking at.

Regards
Ian

Perfect. Used to own one with fractional rig, tiller steered. A very seaworthy 30 footer not compromised by the IOR rule.

Isn't it a stretched Cav 28? And that was designed by Laurie Davidson, smaller sistership to Kay Cottees "First Lady". Good pedigree

Lovely boat, stretched 28 with modified keel, rudder and rig. The one at Metung obviously has a shoal draft rudder and rig so would not go like the standard ones, but the standard ones were fast, well balanced and (from the little sailing I did on and against them) great boats. The little wheel on the Metung one would make accurate steering a bit difficult, but it wouldn't be hard to fit a proper-sized one.

Unlike many designs, the 28, 30 and 37 had well balanced waterlines, with fuller bow lines than many other boats. It may slow them in some conditions but it means that they maintain fore-and-aft trim well and therefore handle well.

Select to expand quote

Kankama said..
Isn't it a stretched Cav 28? And that was designed by Laurie Davidson, smaller sistership to Kay Cottees "First Lady". Good pedigree

Yes. The extra 2ft goes into the transom with the cut-out access. I previously owned a Cav 28, but shot a few envious looks over to the Cav 30 parked nearby. Both are good boats, sail nicely and are generally well-designed (with the exception of a few design niggles)

Things to look for are the condition of the engine (is it the original Bukh, or new?) and the electrics. I found a horror-story in the original construction of my engine beds. Also, look for delimitation on the side decks, leaky windows etc. Get the best-condition example you can find.

IMO, there is a design flaw in the electrics. The switches are located low down, below the seats. If you get a leak (like I did), the low-down electrics will get wet quickly, and you might need to replace them. Or, like me, you uncover yet another horror-story in what previous owners did to the wiring.

Thank you very much for the feedback Achener
A friend of ours knows the boat well and its history. He is in the marine industry where its located.
The mechanical side I'm not too concerned about for this reason. The engine is a Volvo Penta.

Again, I really appreciate you advice.
Regards
Ian

And thanks to everyone else who responded. Great feedback
Very new to this format.

For completeness the Cav30 I owned was the standard draft version not the shoal draft version.