The Cape Dory Board

My grandfather had cataracts, and could only see about 20 feet, and even that was fuzzy. One day, he was riding in the passenger seat, with my grandmother driving, when he noticed a truck coming at them head on, and said "DON'T YOU SEE THAT TRUCK?!" To that, my grandmother calmly replied: ...

There should be a fairly heavy padeye on the front of the mast, about 3' to 4' above the cabin top. Here is the page in the forespar catalog (no picture):

http://www.forespar.com/onlineCatalog/0 ... 2006.shtml

I have a Zodiac 285 with the 4-piece wood floor and a v-tube that inflates beneath it. The West SB-285 you mentioned looks similar. If you will assemble/inflate once a season, and then tow it behind you, it performs well. Be aware that the wood floor design prevents easy inflation on board. You real...

The UV fabric on my roller-furler is white, but it is an obvious, thicker layer of fabric. In the hank-on versus roller-furler department, it sounds like you have the worst of both worlds: your roller furler does not work because you're missing the luff-foil, and you can't hoist your jib the old-fas...

I've used the genoa alone on very broad reaches/runs, where the apparent wind angle would have caused the main to blanket the genoa. Wing-and-wing would be more powerful, but as I approach 15 kts, my 135 genoa is enough for hull speed, and the roller-furling genoa is easier to handle. The main/genoa...

I have a sort of reverse DR for my most common routes written out on 3"x5" cards. I keep the appropriate one tucked in my shirt pocket, and tell my crew it is there and how to use it. When I obey the pre-written command to "steer 25 magnetic for 12 minutes at 5 kts to R2", and th...

I don't have a tachometer, but at about 4.5 kts the YSM-8 in my 1978 CD27 burns less than 1 quart per hour. That's a rough estimate, because I've never motored far enough to consume more than a gallon or so, which makes calculating consumption difficult. I can't compare to other engines, because I'v...

The thought I read that the Volvo Ocean Race organizers chartered a boat from the Vendee Globe to follow the racers.

Apparently another sailboat was the best choice, because (except for navy s hips) fast powerboats can't carry enough fuel, and long-range powerboats aren't fast enough to keep up.

OK, so it's not the same as Carter's cover shot and multi-page article, but if you look very closely, you can see Lilypad in both of the photos on page 84 of the Jan./Feb. 2006 issue of Good Old Boat . I can tell you firsthand, Alaris , which won the race, looks even bigger when you're staring at he...

Saturday forecast is for NW winds 10-15 kts.

If Robin has crew, I'll invite Will to team with me.

Start at Thomas/Tolly Point?

Dan Pfeiffer is not a Cape Dory owner, but his website has some universal applications, and is very thorough:

http://dan.pfeiffer.net/p26/cfloor.htm

Several members have helpful responses last season to my "new sails or better trim skills" question. I postponed the new sails, and have managed to point pretty close to 45 degrees off the wind when conditions are right. The problem is that conditions are not always right for a 135% genoa ...

A previous owner of my 1978 CD27 #105 had a fiberglass holding tank installed between the head and the port side hull, and enclosed behind a teak panel, with a storage shelf on top. The tank is shaped to fit the available space, and holds about 12 gallons before the "tank full" light turns...