The Cape Dory Board

I've spent over 20 years at my trade and have found that most yards are very trustworthy, and yes O.J. a little grease goes a long way. I don't mean money either, a smile, a kind word, and just plain professional respect. In the past 20 years I have seen a lot of fly by night operations and bottle r...

By law any vessel made after June can be considered the next model year, and is reflected in the last 2 digits of the hull number. A boat recieved at a dealership in august of this year will be a 2007 model and will have 07 as the last 2 digits.

Maumee Bay in Toledo is frozen solid!!! We had about 12 boats noodling around out there. If you ever want the thrill of your life contact your local ice yacht club and find out where they are sailing. Show up and someone will always give you a ride. I had the Arrow scootin along at about 40 mph and ...

I seem to be misunderstood if any would like these items I wil send them to you rather than throw them in the garbage ( annual clean up, thow out extravaganza)

Dave

I bought mine for back storage. It too sat full of water and goo. I scrubbed her up and rubbed out the hull and she's just fine. I did add a compression post and made new toe and rub rails, and recored part of the fantail. The boat is easy to work on, and original parts are not hard to fine This pas...

Look right where the cabine meets the deck. If you see a gulley or indentation around the cabin it is being pushed down. I may ony look like a half inch or so but it really is a lot more. I put a compression post in mine with very little effort and it went away. My cap shrouds were almost bottomed o...

JRC did in fact make all the radars for Raytheon. When Raymarine was spun off as a seperate company JRC lost the contract and Raymarine did all their own work. As far as the quality of the unit, I think they work fine. They don't have the bells and whistles of Raymarine or Furuno, but they do what t...

Call Lee Sails Northeast. THe people there are great. I got "Boat" a new jib and Main for under $700.00. They are very well made, and their delivery was ahead of schedule. I have not had the chance to sail them yet but am confident they will do the job. I still have my old sails but they a...

I check the alignment on every boat I commision. The primary prerequisite is that the boat is in the water, rig up and tuned, and has been that way for 3 days. The shape of a boat will change sitting out of the water and a tuned rig will flex it even more. These are hard fast rules for me. After tha...

The best method is percentage of stretch.. Take a 2 meter folding ruler (carpenters ruler) tape it to the shroud with the sliding metal end at the turnbuckle. Tighten the rig until the til of the ruler is 2mm away from the turnbuckle (1% of stretch). THis is far more accurate than the Loos meter

Dave

You only need to install brakes on one axle. There are two types out there. Surge brakes which are activated by the momentum of the trailer pushing against the hitch as the tow vehicle stops. This type of system requires the replacement of the trailer coupler and the addition of hydraulic lines from...

The best out there is Harken, but it's also the most expensive. Really good alternatives are Schaeffer, and Profurl. Catalina uses Schaeffer, they go together fast and easy and require no headstay modification as does the Harken. THe turnbuckel is kept internal on the drum and can still be adjusted....