Cape Dory 10 Restore Status

[wsonntag]

Here are a couple of photos of my recently re-launched CD10. This one had exposed mahogany inside transom face and it did not appear that the wood was rotting from within as discussed in another set of posts. But, I have a piece of mahogany picked out for a cap on the transom. We'll clamp her up on the workbench to relax the grain a bit before we cut it. Winter woodshop project along with new upper mast step piece and stem cap of some sort.

Boat's been in the family since new, 1970. Full strip and restore on gelcoat, 2 coats new gelcoat sprayed and wet sanded, with lots of filler work on the outer transom, new mahogany inner and outer rails at gunnel, all bronze hardware electropolished bright, 15 to 20 (lost track)coats of varnish on original seats, 7 coats on rails and interior mahogany so far, new interior paint, three coats. Sorry about the fat model in the rowing shot! Thinking of renaming her "Death and Glory"! (see Arthur Ransome "Swallows and Amazons")

Cheers!

Bill Sonntag

[David van den Burgh]

She looks great! Nice job.

[Steve Laume]

Very nice.

I sanded, epoxied and then painted Feather. The paint always gets all chewed up at the dock. I have never tried messing with gel coat before but it seems like the way to go.

They are fine little boats, Steve.

[mashenden]

Well done, Bill!!

Seeing the picture of your CD-10 as tender behind another CD got me wishing some time away. I restored a CD-10 two winters ago in anticipation of using it as my dingy if/when time comes to buy a larger CD. Purchasing a larger CD materialized this past May with the purchase of the CD-36 previously named Parfait. I did things a tad backwards, first buying a slip, then my tender, and then the vessel, with a handful of Tys in between

After a notable resurrection of the CD-36 (cabin fire) over the past 4 months, I renamed her "Nautica" per a proper ceremony and with hopes of changing her luck back to good (so far, so good). I am definitely looking forward to using my CD-10 as the dingy.

The little one's name, you ask? "Nauty", of course!! (or Nauti, or Knotty... jury is still out).

[GPWINSTON]

Looks really good! So how difficult was it to prepare and re-gelcoat the boat? I just got a CD-10 in somewhat rough condition (all there, but needs chipping paint removed... "soft" gunnels need replacing) any pointers on replacing the gunnels/sourcing mahogany for the job? Your pictures are an inspiration!
- Parker

[Steve Laume]

Parker, take a look at some of the decking material available at you local lumber yard before you start buying mahogany. I was doing a deck for a client when I replaced the gunnels on my CD-14. I ordered an extra piece for the job and got to pick through the entire stack to find the straightest piece for my gunnels. The decking material is some sort of mahogany but is a bit harder and more oily than Philippine or Honduras mahogany. It comes in long lengths and is clear with very straight grain.

Great stuff for gunnels, Steve.

[wsonntag]

I did not try to do an amateur gelcoat restoration. I'm sure there are those that do have the skills here on this message board but not me. I had the very good fortune of being referred to a professional at this trade that was willing to take this little boat on as a private project at home on the weekends. He was charmed by the boat, something different from the usual small craft he works on and by the story of the boat being in my family for so long. He also did the mahogany rails. He was at a friends wood boat shop when he saw some really good long grained stock that was a portion of a bigger lot of stock for another job, bought it and installed it, kind of like what Mr. Laume described. I was happy with the result and the extra fees involved were well worth it. Mr. Laume is correct, you need the right long, clear grain stock for this. If you are somewhere near the water and have a wooden boat shop, or journeyman ship's carpenters in the area, see if you can get some advice for where they source their materials. I've been around wooden boat repair/restoration for a lot of years so I have a few connections in the Chesapeake Bay area that I could share. In addition, even checking Wooden Boat Magazine or the maritime museums might be helpful too.

Sorry about delay replying - I've been out sailing - grin!

Bill Sonntag

[wsonntag]

Steve Laume:

Looking back at your recent post I was intrigued with your description of the deck/flooring material you used. We used some fine stock Angelique as a rot resistant substitute for mahogany on a big boat restoration for deck furniture ie skylight, hatches, companion way. It was a beast to work with, dulled carbide blades with one pass, destroyed plane blades, etc. Very dense almost sandy wetlands origin wood. But it looks great, takes a nice varnish finish, no rot so far. Anyway here's link to a link about assorted similar woods that might be of interest.

Bill Sonntag


http://www.glen-l.com/wood-plywood/boat ... woods.html

Dicorynia guianensis Basralocus, Angelique
Family: Leguminosae
Other Common Names: Basralokus, Barakaroeballi (Surinam), Angelique batard, Angelique gris (French Guiana). Another species, Dicorynia paraensis is found in the Brazilian Amazon and is called Angelica do Para.
Uses: Marine construction and general heavy construction, railroad crossties, industrial flooring, ship decking, planking, and framing, piling, parquet blocks and strips.