The Cape Dory Board

It doesn't matter which boat you start with. There is no perfect boat, only a perfect match. The reason we all love our Cape Dorys is because our boats fit us. You can't expect to know what you want in a boat until you get more experience. So go out and crew on other boats. Show up with a six-pack a...

Chuck,

Mike Little lives in our neighborhood and he has been doing rigging and boat work for 32 years here in Clear Lake. He is the service manager at Sea Lake Yacht Sales now. If you need whipping on the end of dock lines, chafe gear done, or even a wire rope spliced into braid he can do it.

J

I've replaced many of these parts on boats. Usually using s vaneer is the hardest way to do the job. I'll bet you the parts you want to replace are simply teak plywood. You can buy 1/8" luan door skin plywood and cut it into 1.5" strips along the grain. Then by snapping the pieces to lengt...

We might have to be patient with the rest of the fleet to give their stories. The weather was so perfect for sailing, they might still be out there.

I just left the rest of the fleet back at the Bayland Marina last night and the party was just beginning. It looked to be six boats. The smallest being "Adoryable" a CD22 up to a couple of CD30s. Everyone was having a great time, good friends and good drinks. Every boat seemed to have a di...

Given the cost of flying you and crew around, buying provissions, fuel and stuff that will break along the way, I would beg you to consider putting it on a truck and hauling it here over a couple of days. I've done that crossing several times. You just can't predict what will happen after you cast y...

Tri-Colors are great in theory, but bad in practice. It's true that a tricolor can be seen from a greater distance, but judging that distance is difficult. I had a close call off shore in the Gulf of Mexico with a crew boat. He didn't immediately recognize me as a sailboat with a tricolor because he...

Is it a Houser pin?

I have rebedded hundreds of pieces of hardware in my work. I've cursed previous installers who've used 5200. 101 is deck sealant and seams to stay tacky below the surface and makes a huge mess when you remove it. Silicone leaks in about 6 months. Boatlife makes a sealant called Lifeseal. Lifeseal is...

I found an innexpensive headset for a computer at the dollar store. It had a two small connections that plug into the handheld VHF. I don't use the microphone, so I don't plug it in. The headset only has one earpiece, so it doesn't interfere with hearing everything else. I hope this helps. I would t...

I'm thankful that I have a trailer for my Typhoon. After boarding up the house, I hitched the trailer and towed the boat to safety. Thankfully, we were spared a direct hit in the Galveston Bay area. All the major highways were at a standstill, so I took surface streets. I'm sure I was a site driving...

Where do you keep your boat? The easiest way to handle your situation is to find a Cape Dory owner near you willing to let you video or photograph the interior of their boat. Take a few measurements and lots of notes. As a woodworker that specializes in boats, I have built many interiors from a bare...

When gluing vaneers, I use contact cement. Apply it to both surfaces and let it dry for about 30 minutes or when it is no longer tacky to the touch. Then carefully put the two pieces together. Once the two pieces make contact their stuck. Push the vaneer down firmly to finnish.

I have a little experience with refinnishing teak. I own wood shop specializing in boats. First of all, there are many sailors out there who recommend mixing teak sawdust with epoxy as a filler. The problem with that is that the sawdust mixture is extreamly dark compaired to the freshly sanded teak....