Sold-Stray Cat will be up for sale

Hello all. We purchased "Stray Cat" our Prairie 29 in 2010 and have had numerous adventures with her. We made a number of improvements in her for comfort, and in November 2014, we sold our home on the West coast of Florida and moved aboard full time...my husbands dream and my adventure. Now we have settled down in Stuart Florida...loved this place so much that we now own a condo here and are looking to sell Stray Cat. I will be posting details and pictures soon. In the meantime, if anyone is interested in a Prairie29 let us know....

Straycat;
So a couple living full time aboard a Prairie 29...enough space? For storage, sleeping, just two persons in such a small area?

I lived on a Marine Trader 40 by myself, along with some smaller sailboats.....so I am aware of space considerations.

I have been going back and forth between getting a 29 or a 36.....just cannot make up my mind!

So I look forward to your pics and details.

Stray Cat

Since we moved to land 4 months ago, we are still settling in while maintaining a slip at a nearby marina. Time seems to rush by quickly as each Friday come around again....When we moved aboard Stray Cat, we did so from a 2000 sq. ft home...placing those items not replaceable and our keepsakes in storage for the future.

Needless to say, downsizing was a matter of serious decisions and then reorganizing storage many times on board Stray Cat. I needed to be able to easily retrieve those items that I used daily..not go digging for them.

I am usually very organized so "that" work was my doing...including the placement of tools etc., food, MANY books for reading.

For example..I love to cook and wanted to have extra canned/dry goods on board that would give me the opportunity to choose a meal on impulse.

My mind always needs to be busy and have a project to start and I need to be prepared for it. My sewing machine was aboard and that allowed me to create many of the "comfortable" changes on board.

When we purchased her, Stray Cat only had a love seat and a storage box..think "pool deck box" which was the only food storage on board. I also hated a top loading fridge..we both wanted a settee to lounge on during the day or to watch TV ..

SOOO we ditched the love seat and removed the fridge by cutting it out of the Port side altogether. The allowed for placement the second settee . Now we purchased the base of queen size bed that had drawers and cabinets beneath it, divided it by removing the center board that connected them and then placed one on each side of the salon...that gee us 3 drawers and 1 cabinet on each side of the salon. We made custom cushioned seats on each side and more than tripled our storage.

In addition, the Prairie has hidden storage from the salon out to under the deck outside. Access was available from the backs of the settees. Into these spaces I placed numerous low-sided containers where I stored excess groceries, and other items like out of season bedding, clothes etc.

On the starboard side, we placed a "GRAPE SOLAR" 5 cubic foot fridge that has a small but very usable freezer. This fridge is ac/dc and will run operate on our solar panels alone, especially at anchor or on a mooring ball. A new counter was built for the remaining galley and we resurfaced the front of the cabinets with formica matching the walls, a cream color which in turn creates a sense of space and light.

So enough for now..Today is Easter and We are headed to Sunset Bay Marina...the best marina on the East coast of the US...we believe...to enjoy the friendship of our many cruising friends. More to come and hopefully I will get our photos organized. Donna

prairie listing.

Our Prairie 29 has a full listing on the Trawler Forum classified thread.

Just a quick note..Stray Cat has been sold. We hope the new owners will enjoy her as much as we have.

Congrats on the quick sale. You obviously both priced her right and maintained her properly!

Well done.

Congrats. Nice looking boat. Now on to the next boat???

Thanks for your reply. When we purchased Stray Cat, it was not our intention to live aboard full time. When we decided to move aboard full time it was decided to make her more comfortable for full time living. New mattresses, a real front loading fridge, not a top loader...(what ever you wanted, as always on the bottom) ..and a settee for each of us. (previously there was only a love seat) and lots more storage for food etc.

The boat already had small awnings over each of the opening sliding windows, great for shade and rain and I made roll up awnings for the three sides of the cockpit and a large awning that rolled under the forward brow toward the bow. This was large enough to allow the forward hatch to remain open during the rain and protection from the sun.

The last and most important addition was 2-225W solar panels that provided ALL the electrical power need while at anchor or on a mooring ball.

It seems that all of those upgrades were exactly what the owners were looking for. We hope that they enjoy as many adventures as we did....

Congrats on your sale.

I like the awning idea.

Do you have any pictures that you are willing to share?

Stray cat Awnings

Regarding our awnings...I am sorry this will be long....I tended to improvise as I designed them.....The side awnings..those over the port and starboard sliding windows we already installed when we purchased her. They resembled those currently found on motorhomes and trailers. There was a "Awning track flanged" (see Sailrite site) piece of hardware like canvas makers use for vinyl "glass" or canvas on hard tops. The canvas itself was attached by sewing to "Keder Awning Rope" and to a spring activated roller (much like a window shade), attached to folding arms and all rolled up just under the upper helm overhang. When deployed, the awnings are held down in place with nobs that tighten down on the arms. I will try to publish one photo that I have for them.

Since our boat had the extended upper helm over the cockpit, I used the same "Awing flanged track " white plastic, not metal, screwed to the inside of that overhang, one on each side and one across the back. Using Phifertex, an open mesh vinyl fabric that is easily sewn on a standard sewing machine, I attached the receiving corded across the top of each panel..on the bottom I made a hemmed casing and used old sail batten cut to length and used that to stiffen the bottom. I attached fabric loops on the bottom of each end to use to attach a method of tying down the shades so they would not blow around. From my experimenting, I tried both elastic cord and parachute line to fasten the ends and found the elastic cord does not last long in the sun, but does allow some "give" when the wind blows. Rolling up the cockpit shades, I fastened them with a hook and loop set that I purchased fro Sail Rite on line. Also found the track and corded fabric from them as well.

The forward awning was copied from some cruisers who had made on for their sail boat..using a halyard to support the middle. Since we did not have a mast, I improvised using, again, old sail battens for stiffeners. On the internet, I was able to purchase 6 yards of 4 ounce, 60 inch wide white Sunbrella like fabric for $6.00 /yard. I used the center panel as the basis of the forward awning...measuring the length I wished it to extend forward. I them added two half panels..one to each side..and then shaped it along the forward rails, port and starboard. Again making a casing, I inserted a batten on the forward most edge and added two non metal eyes to attach connecting lines for attaching to the bow. These were long elastic cords, again to allow movement from the wind. Using your own judgement for locations , i was able to place the attachments high on the rails in pleasant weather to provide shade and in rainy weather i lowered the end to our windless and we were able keep our forward hatch open for air.

Again..I used the same track and corded material attach the aft portion of my awning under the forward overhang, above the windshield..We screwed this to the underside of the overhang and the same hook and loop hardware to attach the awning when rolled up. My intent was to have the awnings available and in place when I needed to deploy them and also eliminating the need to find a place to store them when not needed.

For additional attachments, I purchase tent clips in the camping area of Walmart. One end screws down onto the fabric and the other end has a hole to attach a hooked cord. These were placed at varying intervals along both sides of the awning and tied off to the rails. This whole project was a try and try again project, finessed until I was satisfied with the result. Keeping in mind that at some time it may be necessary to go forward to the bow, the attachments had to be easily removed from the rails to allow a quick access. Again, check Sail Rite for their Staput shock cord clips and the knobs and or hooks. These are what I also used when we rolled up the forward awning under the overhang above the windshield. I used canvas straps to attach the shock cord to and did not want to our holes for screws, used 5200 to "glue" the buttons or hooks in place.
If any of this does not make sense, please get back to me. I will try to post the photos tonight.

straycat said:

Regarding our awnings...I am sorry this will be long....I tended to improvise as I designed them.....The side awnings..those over the port and starboard sliding windows we already installed when we purchased her. They resembled those currently found on motorhomes and trailers. There was a "Awning track flanged" (see Sailrite site) piece of hardware like canvas makers use for vinyl "glass" or canvas on hard tops. The canvas itself was attached by sewing to "Keder Awning Rope" and to a spring activated roller (much like a window shade), attached to folding arms and all rolled up just under the upper helm overhang. When deployed, the awnings are held down in place with nobs that tighten down on the arms. I will try to publish one photo that I have for them.

Since our boat had the extended upper helm over the cockpit, I used the same "Awing flanged track " white plastic, not metal, screwed to the inside of that overhang, one on each side and one across the back. Using Phifertex, an open mesh vinyl fabric that is easily sewn on a standard sewing machine, I attached the receiving corded across the top of each panel..on the bottom I made a hemmed casing and used old sail batten cut to length and used that to stiffen the bottom. I attached fabric loops on the bottom of each end to use to attach a method of tying down the shades so they would not blow around. From my experimenting, I tried both elastic cord and parachute line to fasten the ends and found the elastic cord does not last long in the sun, but does allow some "give" when the wind blows. Rolling up the cockpit shades, I fastened them with a hook and loop set that I purchased fro Sail Rite on line. Also found the track and corded fabric from them as well.

The forward awning was copied from some cruisers who had made on for their sail boat..using a halyard to support the middle. Since we did not have a mast, I improvised using, again, old sail battens for stiffeners. On the internet, I was able to purchase 6 yards of 4 ounce, 60 inch wide white Sunbrella like fabric for $6.00 /yard. I used the center panel as the basis of the forward awning...measuring the length I wished it to extend forward. I them added two half panels..one to each side..and then shaped it along the forward rails, port and starboard. Again making a casing, I inserted a batten on the forward most edge and added two non metal eyes to attach connecting lines for attaching to the bow. These were long elastic cords, again to allow movement from the wind. Using your own judgement for locations , i was able to place the attachments high on the rails in pleasant weather to provide shade and in rainy weather i lowered the end to our windless and we were able keep our forward hatch open for air.

Again..I used the same track and corded material attach the aft portion of my awning under the forward overhang, above the windshield..We screwed this to the underside of the overhang and the same hook and loop hardware to attach the awning when rolled up. My intent was to have the awnings available and in place when I needed to deploy them and also eliminating the need to find a place to store them when not needed.

For additional attachments, I purchase tent clips in the camping area of Walmart. One end screws down onto the fabric and the other end has a hole to attach a hooked cord. These were placed at varying intervals along both sides of the awning and tied off to the rails. This whole project was a try and try again project, finessed until I was satisfied with the result. Keeping in mind that at some time it may be necessary to go forward to the bow, the attachments had to be easily removed from the rails to allow a quick access. Again, check Sail Rite for their Staput shock cord clips and the knobs and or hooks. These are what I also used when we rolled up the forward awning under the overhang above the windshield. I used canvas straps to attach the shock cord to and did not want to our holes for screws, used 5200 to "glue" the buttons or hooks in place.
If any of this does not make sense, please get back to me. I will try to post the photos tonight.

Click to expand...

Great information. Thank You.

Looking forward to the pictures.