The Cape Dory Board

At the risk of getting flamed, let me play devil's advocate. I'm in the marine industry, and while I don't sell boats, I do get to see plenty of boat sales. The reality is that many boats are selling today at prices that would have seemed outrageously low just a few years ago. Many of these are 'dis...

Steve, you mentioned your 1984 CD30 doesn't have the V-drive. Do you (or anyone else) know when that change took place?

Danny Greene's Chameleon stitch-built plywood nesting dinghy might be a possibility. Here's a link:

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/04/s/d ... /index.cfm

I've seen a couple of CD30s recently where Starboard (West Marine calls it 'Marine Lumber') was used in place of teak for a new bowsprit. Although I love the look of teak (until I have to refinish it, anyway) I thought the bright white material didn't look bad. My concern, though, is its strength. A...

You might call this guy in San Francisco. When I spoke with him a year ago he had a good selection of parts as well as reconditioned engines.

http://www.britishseagulls.com/

My wife and I sail in Southern California waters (on other peoples' boats at the moment, unfortunately) and while we've never chased them as these kayakers did, our encounters with whales over the years are some of our most treasured memories. That said, what the kayakers did was probably foolish. T...

I agree with the observation about weather helm, but in my experience it tended to happen when we didn't reef soon enough. The boat definitely does not like to sail on her ear. As to a bow sprit for the anchor, I've seen several similar sized boats fitted with an anchor roller, which would be simple...

Having owned a CD25 (the one with the outboard motor, not the CD25D), and sailed it in both light and moderate winds here in Southern California, I've got to say it balanced just fine as originally configured, although it certainly could use a roller reefing jib and jiffy reefing on the main. An asy...

Just got back from looking over a '76 CD30 Cutter being offered for sale in Marina del Rey, California (see listing on Boats.com) that has a couple of features I've never seen on a CD30 before. First, the salon is set up with a dinette to starboard instead of two settees. The joinery work is first c...

That looks like an even better solution than a conventional hatch since I'm guessing it has latches on the top rather than the bottom. Seems like a relatively simple fix.

A lot of folks have cursed the engine access problems with the CD-30's v-drive. I'm not familiar enough with the engine layout in the 30 (the CD-25 we used to have had an outboard) but a solution Bud Taplin, who used to be the plant manager at the Westsail factory, came up with was to install a low ...

The Unlikely Boat Builder has a good primer on celestial navigation on his blog. You can find it here: http://www.unlikelyboatbuilder.com/2010/07/celestial-navigation-fun.html BTW: I've read, there and elsewhere, that sun sights, while not as accurate as star sights, are fine for the sort of small-b...

This is addressed to the owner of the CD30 in Hawaii. If this is the CD30 with the Cape Horn windvane that came over from Long Beach several years ago it's not connected to the steering quadrant, but has control lines running through blocks to the wheel like the Monitor. One of the charms of the Cap...

1980 Cape Dory 25 (Wings O’ Morning) FOR SALE Psalm 139, v9-10: If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Thy hand shall lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me. LOCATION: Channel Islands Marina, Oxnard, California PRICE: $6,000.00 negotiable -- al...

Something which is discussed in some of the previous posts on this subject is the modifications needed to accommodate various engines. We have a Nissan 5 HP 4-stroke long shaft (1999 model) and this engine needed to having the mounting board lowered so the engine would fit with the cover closed. It ...