Owner notes · Cushions
Replacing a cushion on my 1975 Katama.
I ordered a replacement from Specialty Marine. The question I kept coming back to was the color: the cushion on my boat was off-white with brown piping.
What I found under the seat
I believe the cushion on my 1975 Katama is original. To check the color, I removed the seat and looked underneath, where it had been protected. It was off-white there too.
That gave me something more useful than a photo of the exposed top. It still didn’t establish the factory upholstery specification. I can describe what’s on my boat, but I can’t say that every 1975 Katama left the factory with the same cushion.
I had ordered from Specialty Marine. The exact replacement SKU isn’t recorded in this article, so I haven’t linked a current listing as if it were the one I bought.
Matching the boat or restoring the original?
Those are different jobs. For a match to the cushions already aboard, a physical sample is much more useful than a color name on a screen. “Parchment,” “off-white” and “white” don’t tell you how two pieces of vinyl will look together.
If the goal is factory accuracy, look for period documentation and ask a specialist what evidence supports the material choice. The protected underside is a useful clue, but it doesn’t prove the cushion’s history.
What to send the supplier
- Photos of the whole seat, piping, underside and attachment points, taken in even light.
- The boat’s year and model, with any changes to the seating noted separately.
- Seat dimensions and attachment spacing.
- A request for a physical sample of the current vinyl and piping.
- Any unanswered fit or color questions, plus confirmation of the return conditions before anything is modified.
Where this leaves the purchase
Specialty Marine is a useful place to look for classic Whaler cushions. My purchase doesn’t establish how every item in its catalog fits, and I haven’t tested its range.
For a choice between a catalog replacement and custom upholstery, the replacement cushion guide compares the options and the details to check. A proper review of my replacement will need the exact product and observations from using it. Those results aren’t available here yet.
Purchase and observations reported by Mark in July 2026. No commission links are active. Editorial standards.