The Cape Dory Board

Ron: Why not have the cover rolled to the curve of the tank? Almost any sheet metal shop should be able to do it in a few minutes, and as long as you had one of the tanks (or a template made from one end, or a reasonable facsimile) getting the curve right should be fairly easy. I'm not sure I'd both...

Bob: A number of years ago, there were reports of impellers going bad right out of the box - the rubber part separating from the bronze hub. You might also have a blockage of some sort in one of the hoses, that is cleared when the hose is moved around (when you move the intake in and out of the jugs...

Ron:

There have been a bunch of small Yanmars on eBay recently, although I don't recall seeing a YSB-12.

Dick: OJ is, of course, entirely correct. The pins are usually bronze rods that are press-fit through the gudgeon fitting and the keel, and then the ends are peened over with a hammer so that they can't push through from either end. The holes in the gudgeon may be countersunk so that the rod ends wi...

My biggest concern with the CD 27 is its size. This will be my first sailboat ownership and my sailing experience is somewhat limited. I will also be single handing her. Ten years ago we were in your shoes. Go for the CD27. She will take better care of you than you will of her, no matter how good y...

The Senator from Pennsylvania would, if he had his way, prevent the National Weather Service from publishing raw weather data and issuing its own reports, instead providing that data only to services that sell subscriptions. I'm sure the legislation is dead at this point, but there is a principle to...

Joe: I have a 1977 CD27, which I have had going on ten years now. We mostly daysail her, but overnight once or twice a season and have gone for a week with a crew of two. We found her to be fun and easy to sail, whether on a daysail in Boston Harbor or in Narragansett Bay, a weekend cruise to Block ...

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It's good to have you back. I'm going down to the marina this morning; should I tell Andy to hold a mooring for you?

Mitch: I never winterize anything before the last sail, but this may work for you: most years, I use vodka for the fresh water tank anti-freeze. It works just as well as the pink stuff, leaves a more pleasant taste (and so requires less rinsing, especially in the years when the tank gets a cleaning ...

Whats wrong with haning it over the side of a dock in a real body of water? I tested my transducer that way. Boyd s/v Tern CD30 MkII Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Up here in the world, water is often a little more distant than down in the land of back-yard 'gators. Heck, we can get to 9 feet above sea leve...

We daysail and harbor-hop pretty much exclusively, and in areas that we know well and that are well marked, so at this point in my sailing career I could realistically go all season without any nav aids (except the course book on race nights). We always have paper charts in the cockpit, and if there...

Rich reminds me of another trick that worked for me on a cold day - the fittings are cold, and therefore relatively smaller than they would be at a higher temperature. With the hose cut to length, I left it on the floor in the front of the truck over lunch with the heat on, and it was nice and warm,...