The Cape Dory Board

Jim, Did I understand correctly via you comment on JDMs thread you sailed back to Connecticut? Your home? How was the voyage? I hope you post a thorough trip report. Well done if you are in fact home. BZ. Yes I’m back. I returned on 7/3 at 4:06am. I will put together some details soon. The Gulf Str...

Wow. I just assumed all boats rattle and squeak. If Orion and Far Reach can be so quiet that evan a little squeaky trim is noticed then I have so much more work to do. Leoma is so rattley and noisy especially around the engine housing. Oh well. I have plenty to work on for the rest of my retirement...

Just a follow-up to my original post…removing that thin slice of trim did cure the squeak! And I certainly gave it a thorough test. My trip back home from Bermuda took a week, and four of those days were in big seas and associated winds.

John Stone wrote: ↑Jul 6th, '24, 17:05 Ship's car.

Okay, I’ll bite…what is a ships car? Perhaps a ships “chat”?

Can anyone recognize why it may not be your best strategic move to run down the rhumbline singlehanded toward Newport until after the race participants have arrived in Bermuda?

I have a five gallon bucket with 92’ of 5/16” BBB you can have for free. I have no idea where you are located but the bucket is in Connecticut. It still has a few years of life in it that’s why I didn’t discard it when I bought new high test chain a few years ago. It’s been stored in my garage ever ...

You didn’t mention your thermostat. You can remove it and check that it works in a pan of water brought to a boil but if you haven’t changed it recently I’d just replace it. They don’t often fail catastrophically, they usually fail by operating intermittently before complete failure. Your owners man...

Orion is a cutter so I have two headsails, a yankee and a club footed staysail. The yankee had an old Hood furler when I bought her, and the staysail was hanked on. After my first trip to Bermuda in some “challenging” weather I replaced the hanked-on staysail with a new Harken furling unit. Infinite...

Many of the Cape Dory models seem to have different hatch designs. I think the hatches on the Far Reach are same as on Orion. Mine have a very close fit but I have considered adding a gasket at some point. I'd have to take measurements from inside the locker then use hand planes and/or a router to ...

When offshore I see a trickle coming from the stuffing box which my rudder shaft passes through. Easy solution is remove the old packing and replace with new. The problem is, there’s always a problem, that I lack the clearance to loosen the lock ring and retaining nut sufficiently to perform the job...

JD has arrived and posted an update in the Cruisers Corner.

Congratulations! Great news, glad to see you’re back safe and sound. You did a whole lot of sea miles over a short period of time. Great display of seamanship.

It’s been nearly two and a half days since JD’s last reported position. I would expect landfall has been made. It would be nice to have confirmation.

The tree frogs are making a real racket this evening, they must have really appreciated the heavy rainfall. It’s very pleasant. There actually is an open patch of sky to the north west. Perhaps my solar panel will see some sun tomorrow.

Here’s a picture of the staysail boom tent I have which allows me to keep the forward hatch open when it rains. Works perfectly as long as the wind is less than 15 knots. You simply cannot leave the boat without ventilation down here, my dodger allows me to leave the companionway open and the boom t...