The Cape Dory Board

I've noticed the same problem on my 1971 Ty. I'm always having to remind myself and visitors not to stand on the cover. A simple solution may be just to add a layer of fibreglass cloth on the bottom side of the hatch cover. I haven't looked to see if that would interfere with it's operation though. ...

You can use a standard oarlock on the coaming if you use an extended mount for the oar - about 4" higher than standard would work. Using standard hardware will cause the oar to rub against the genoa track on the toerail. I have an inch or so gouged out from my oars due to this friction when I w...

I got a new main and jib from cruisingdirect.com and was very happy with them. They were attentive to details and their price was competitive. The difference between the new sails and the previous ones (1971 originals!) is phenomenal - she sails like a different boat.

I noticed that my upper mooring chain has either worn or corroded badly. It's only been in the water 3 years but perhaps that's the life expectancy of chain in salt water. The lower chain and the lower part of the upper chain are in good shape, leading me to believe that the chain thats in the mud i...

My 71 (#158) Ty also has the raised fiberglass for the rudder post. It strikes me that that's the best option for keeping water out and reducing maintenance. Another change in the Ty's at some point was to add a bumper strip of teak just b elow the toe rail. I can see pros and cons with this item. M...

Sailing in Penobscot Bay my 2hp Honda longshaft has worked out very well. It has enough power to get through the chop and currents and pushes her at about 4.5 knots. Uses very little fuel.

My Ty boom has a cheek block on the boom for reefing but not a padeye on the opposite side. Most posts about the reefing process suggest a line from a padeye through the reefing cringle and then down to the block and forward to a cleat. Is there a significant disadvantage to just tying the line at t...

I just received my main and jib from Cruising Direct and though I haven't gotten them on my Ty yet (next week!!) I was very pleased with the construction and their service. Dan Calore was very thoughtful about many aspects of the details and as he had built some other Ty sails recently, he was knowl...

Good points by Al and Steve about the shock absorbing aspects of tying around the sail. Last week I ordered a loose footed main with two reef points for my Ty (my present sail has the bolt rope attachment). Will I still tie the reef around the foot in this case? Should I have ordered the slug attach...

If the foot of the sail is attached via slugs to the boom, how does attaching the reef to the boom add stress on the sail that would be any different than if it was tied to the sail?

I'm ordering some new sails for my Ty Weekender #158. The originals from Murphy and Nye measure: (main) 21.5' luff, 22.75' leach, 8.5' foot and (working jib) 19.3'', 17.7', and 7.25'. Standard Ty sails from Lee or the Sail Warehouse have differing measurements. Does anyone know what the actual dimen...

West System has a good manual on fiberglass repair (with their products, of course) that I used when dealing with the blistering and rudder rebuild on my Ty.

I'm building an Eastport Pram from Chesapeake Light Craft. It's quite light (60 lbs), which was an important consideration as we need to move it around on shore quite a bit. It seems to be a good shape for towing (behind a Ty) and rowing but I won't know until July.

The nature of the bottom which ultimately "holds" the anchor is an important determinant . A relatively light mushroom will hold well in muck but not so well on a harder bottom. I would ask the locals who have had boats in the same area over multiple years of weather conditions. I have a 1...

We used oars on our Ty for the first year we had it. They worked, and it was fun to row, although we really needed oarlocks that raised the oars well above the rail as the oar rubbed the genoa track. I was able to clip along at a fairly good pace. The problem was that our mooring is only about 30 ft...