The Cape Dory Board

I wonder if amateur radio for sailors will go the way of celestial navigation, with the advent of more affordable and capable satellite systems for offshore sailing.
https://www.cruisingworld.com/7-afforda ... e-sailing/

Having installed most of the lifelines, this project is nearly completed. I used 1/4" Samson's AmSteel-Blue (color silver), with 1/8" for lashings. Instead of using one continuous length, there are individual segments between stanchions. The stanchions are 30" high, except for the fo...

In a short time, I would stop thinking of the money that I spend on a good auto pilot. However, it would always haunt me (Happy Halloween) to recall having been shorthanded, exhausted and in desperate need of relief at the wheel. Looks like you're getting comfortable working with composite materials...

JD wrote:Very nice work Hilbert . Curious what material you used to make the backing plates, and what thickness? Thanks!

Backing plates are 1/4" thick G-10 (https://www.mcmaster.com/grade-g-10/fr4-garolite-bars).

G10/biaxial should be very strong backing for the chainplates and it also reinforced and sealed the hull/deck joint. A backing plate for a seacock adds strength and provides a flat surface to mate with the flange. At 1-5/8", a backing plate will not add any strength. Your reasoning to forgo a b...

I have been adding fittings for a solent stay, while overhauling the rig. Yesterday, I completed the installation of a Wichards 9150 mast tang. https://cdn10.bigcommerce.com/s-7hppvd/products/15701/images/14577/WIC9150-2T__34454.1429023399.100.100.jpg?c=2 It mounts on the inside of the mast and is ...

Looks really good. I really like the idea of adding bulwarks to the Cape Dory. They just seem to belong. I've only seen a few examples of bulwarks added to CDs and these have had divergent designs, materials and implementations. I think that they all have had nice lines, but more importantly bulwar...

John, good to hear that you were able to find a yard to fabricate the G10 chainplates. 1/2" G10 will be be very strong and will easily outlast us all. Please post a picture of the completed work. "Mish-Mash" was used as a filler in the hull deck joint and between the top of the metal ...

After searching the Internet far and wide, I found reclaimed southern long leaf yellow pine in my own Baltimore backyard. According to Fred (fenixrises), "The 'Spray' was replanked with this wood. Back in the day it was considered one of the best planking woods available." This lumber was ...

My gut feeling is that you could bend the yellow pine. The rubrail and toe boards were bent around those curves and that teak is stiffer that yellow pine. Tim, you may be correct, however this Heart Pine is extremely hard, strong and stable. Also, the teak strips on the CD28 were about 1 square inc...

John, great information as always, however it appears that I have created confusion by reviving this old post. I did so because I am attempting to tie up loose ends from 2010, with the bulwarks. I found long leaf yellow pine that Fred recommended in this thread, a long time ago. They are very dry re...

As a substitute it would be better to use untreated wood. Quarter sawn Douglas fir would also be a good wood to use. As long as neither wood is left standing in fresh water it will last a long time. Douglas fir was used as deck planking on west coast work boats. And long leaf yellow pine was used e...

David, here is a screen shot from the invoice. The prices were from a year ago: https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/services/mediarender/THISLIFE/009011365494/media/74637644909/small/1562579500/enhance Transparency is a mater of taste. You can always add a shade on the interior, but you can't increase ...

I believe that the lids were intentionally designed to serve as ventilation for the locker . . . I am of the opinion that hatches are designed to seal off a compartment and vents are for circulating air. If sealing off the compartment is only a matter of adding a gasket, then it can be done with 1&...

I would expect that an epoxy plug is less prone to crushing than balsa core, but nothing good comes from over tightening hardware. It looks like Cape Dory was constantly changing things up. Everything was probably a constantly changing compromise between cost, quality and experience. On my 28, there...