The Cape Dory Board

Russell: Yes, we were able to heave to with the 3rd reef in the main and the staysail. As noted, our staysail was on a furler and at the time we had it partially furled. We also experimented with the main sheet and found that Como No held her position best with the main slackened a little to counter...

Hello everybody. As some of you know we sold our CD-40 this year, after 15 wonderful years of living aboard and 10 years of a round the world cruise. Como No was fitted with a 3 rd reef in the main and was cutter rigged, but with out the staysail boom. We chose to get rid of the staysail boom in fav...

Hey John: Timing is everything. I also believe that everything works out for a reason. I wish you luck. There are a lot of options out there and it is a buyers market. The worst thing that you can do is let the dream die.
Will

Kevin: Funny you should ask. Look around your home marina.
Will

Russell: The paint I used was purchased at Home Depot. Standard Spray can labelled appliance paint. It looked great and as I said, it held up well. I believe that the prep with the complete stripping, acid etch and Zinc Chromate primer is the key. I delivered the boat to the new owner last week but ...

We painted ours in 2003. Stipped all the original paint with a stripper wheel on an electric drill, sanded smooth, etched with West System's aluminum etching kit and sprayed two coats of Zinc Chromate primer. Then sprayed several coats of white appliance Expoxy enamel. All spray can applied. Altho t...

While voyaging aboard our CD-40 we experimented with the free wheeling prop. All other considerations aside what we found is that when voyaging we were annoyed by the sound of the prop and found that the revolving shaft and prop created created radio noise on the SSB radio. We always locked the prop...

Dear Cape Dorians: Our beloved Como No, Hull #8 has been sold. No doubt you will be joined by the new owners, Robert Main and wife Amy of San Antonio, Texas. This ends 15 years of continous live aboard and a fantastic world cruise for Ann & I. Como No has been a wonderful home and safe and comfo...

Our home of 15 years, Como No, CD-40, Hull #8 now has a new owner, Robert Main and wife, Amy of San Antonio, Texas.

Re-Sharkbait's comment about using two other boats, one on either side. If at all possible use spinnaker halyards from each of the boats alongside in order to avoid having a halyard jump a sheave. If the three boats are well secured to the docks and the halyards from the two adjacent boats are lead ...

Recently our wind instrument failed to give wind direction. The wind velocity readout was still functioning properly. I purchased a replacement masthead unit for the dear price of $432, went up the mast and replaced the unit. All works well now. When I examined the original masthead unit I found tha...

Wow! Did this thread get off the original subject? I can strongly second Russell's comments. After in excess of 50,000 miles of ocean cruising I can attest to the fact that most serious "OCEAN" voyagers will have dodgers and biminis. Now, if I were casually sailing in protected waters I wo...

Have you ever heard of lightning? All of our electronics were lost when our masthead was struck while we were anchored in the Rio Dulce river, Guatemala. Thankfully, we knew where we were at the time. The thing that bothered us the most was not the loss of GPS or refrigeration, it was when we discov...

Yep. Place the plunger over the thru-hull--under the water. We learned this trick when a Marelon Seacock on a friend's new Catalina broke when they were closing the seacock. Jumped in with a plunger in hand - slapped it over the thru hull and they were able to motor to the travel lift. [ i]If you mo...

If you must work on a seacock when the boat is in the water try placing a toilet plunger over the thru hull first. Then you can take your time without worrying about flooding the boat. Check those backing pads periodically and replace if delamination is evident or if they are getting soft. Hoses com...