Miscellaneous Questions for CD 25

[casampson]

1) Anyone have any suggestions for holding up the lazarette cover while using the outboard on a CD 25? Right now I tie it to the backstay, but it's not an elegant solution. Thinking of putting in some hinged supports of some kind, but would welcome ideas.

2) Also planning on buying a headsail bag as shown below, and would appreciate comments and suggestions on what to buy and where.

https://www.velasailingsupply.com/harke ... BEQAvD_BwE

3) Finally, can you install a compass behind the helmsman? I know it sounds unethical, but the lazarette cover might make an ideal place for one. Out of the way and close to the tiller. But would you be able to read it properly there?

Thanks!

Chris

[Kilgore]

My laz cover came with a pair of automotive piston hood/trunk supports. They work well.

[Gary M]

To hold up the cover on my CD22, I cut a scrap piece of teak down to fit a small pad eye. I screwed the pad eye to the teak and then I used a sealant/adhesive I found in my dock box to attach the pad eye and backing plate centered on the inside and forward part of the cover.

From there a line and a clip long enough to reach the back stay was spliced on to the pad eye.

The clip can hang from the pad eye when not being used and then clipped to the back stay to hold the cover up.

Simple and functional.

I was lucky and found a very old bronze clip that had been laying in my tool box for many years. It was perfect for the job.

Gary

[Steve Laume]

3) Finally, can you install a compass behind the helmsman? I know it sounds unethical, but the lazarette cover might make an ideal place for one. Out of the way and close to the tiller. But would you be able to read it properly there?

It would work pretty well when you were backing up.

It really needs to be in front of you or slightly to the side. Having it behind you would make it very confusing and hard to follow, Steve.

[mgphl52]

3) Finally, can you install a compass behind the helmsman? I know it sounds unethical, but the lazarette cover might make an ideal place for one. Out of the way and close to the tiller. But would you be able to read it properly there?

It would work pretty well when you were backing up.

It really needs to be in front of you or slightly to the side. Having it behind you would make it very confusing and hard to follow, Steve.

Plus your outboard could cause deviation...
On my last Typhoon I made up an extra hatch board and mounted a compass in it.
Since there was an ever so slight warp to board it stayed put and didn't giggle around.

[John Stone]

No. You cannot install a compass behind the helmsman.

I have a very simply solution for the lazarette hatch on the Far Reach. I have a 3/16” diameter 5” long aluminum rod that is very bendible. I slid it into a pice of vinyl hose. I bent one end around the back stay and then shaped the other into a “S” shaped hook. I slide the rod up the back stay high enough for the lazarette to open. Then I lower the hook over the lip of the lazarette lid. Works perfect. Hatch stays wide open. Nothing gets scratched. The hook lives on the backstay...is slides down to the top of the turnbuckle when not in use. It’s practically invisible.

[Jim Davis]

For the compass. As has been suggested a bracket mount on a weather board or mount something like this on a team pad on the sea hood. Either way is easy and puts it where you can glance at while steering and scanning the horizon.

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/ritchie- ... cordNum=10

[casampson]

Thanks everybody. Good ideas on the hatch cover. When it comes to locating the compass, however, it's obvious that I am not a spatial thinker. I thought, given that the helmsman would be close to the compass if mounted on the lazarette, that he or she might still be able to read it while standing over it. Obviously not a good idea. I just don't want to cut a hole in my bulkhead, but that seems to be the best option.

Chris

[Frenchy]

Chris, another idea if you don't want to cut a hole in your bulkhead- just mount a teak block onto the fiberglass with Sikaflex
291, or some other caulk. Sikaflex has very good adhesion, but will still allow removal. You won't be able to light the compass
but at night you could use a flashlight to check your course occasionally. Anyway, it's a thought. - Jean

[Scott MacCready]

I'm assuming you want to motor with the lazerette open because your outboard won't run properly with it closed? That's been an often discussed topic on this board over the years. You'll have a quieter cockpit if you can figure out a way to help your motor breath adequately with the lid down. When I had a CD25, I had a 4-stroke Honda that had an exhaust port on the back side of the shaft just above the waterline. Installing a small piece of copper tubing into the port and routing it below the water line solved the problem completely.

[casampson]

The motor runs fine with the lazarette cover closed, but I have to fold the tiller arm back in order to do so. This leaves me without access to the throttle or shift lever in case I have to react to something quickly, such as a boat crossing in front of me as I navigate through a channel. I do believe I can reach the kill switch through the small hatch cover that opens into the cockpit, however.