Resplacement shades other than those from Catalina Direct

[David Discenza]

Hello. We are interested in replacing the shades on our '93 Catalina 34. We do not like the solution offered by Catalina Direct. We'd like to know what other solutions members have come up with. We see that Zarcor offers products made by Oceanair. Are there any other manufacturers out there? Thanks to all who reply.

[KWKloeber]

What don't you like about them?

It's hard to tell for sure but it looks like CD is reselling Ship-Shades (at a premium price naturally.  I bought an older version of them 20 yrs ago and was mostly happy. Ot looks like they adopted my signature tag line from the emails we exchanged for website rag line. Too funny.
The newest version is likely improved over my 20 y.o. version.

At one time CTY was selling the tracks, etc for their oem window coverings - you might try the parts dept.
Theres another brand that has slide-by panels but I didn't care for that idea.

[David Discenza]

KWKloeber, thanks for your reply. We don't like the looks. We also don't like that they are a hard-to-clean fabric that seems to do a great job of catching and holding on to dust. Ideally, we'd like to find something with a reflective backing to help control the heat in the salon.

[Roc]

You might try buying pleated shades for home windows and try cutting them to size to fit the boat.  I've heard of others doing this.  You can search the internet for ideas.  Home shades are less expensive and you can make a few out of one shade.

[robbjd]

We replaced the pleated shades on all of our opening ports with Zarcor "Clozures" this past summer and love them. Zarcor now has our patterns for the remaining non opening windows. These make the interior appear larger and do a good job of blocking light & heat while still allowing us to see what's going on around us when slid to the open position.

[tvorgitch]

I got a couple of these a year ago for $22 each: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DDFZT4U

They worked well, but are now $47. When I bought them I was thinking the price was a mistake.