CD30 Circumnavigators

[Michael Berry]

Looking for sailors who have done some extensive cruising in a CD30. Stories, tips and suggestions. I am currently looking at with the idea of heading West to the south seas.



prtberry@whidbey.com

[Matthew Atkinson]

Looking for sailors who have done some extensive cruising in a CD30. Stories, tips and suggestions. I am currently looking at with the idea of heading West to the south seas.

That's a big topic. I have sailed from NY to Trinidad and back. Southbound in winter primarily hopping, though a couple off off shore passages of up to five days, 1-2 years sailing around caribbean, and off shore return from St Maarten (2 weeks, over 1500 km), all but some minor hops single handed. You are talking bigger distances. Nonetheless I have learned a little.

Mostly, I recommend reading for general guidance, outfitting, supplies (endless spare parts - make sure they fit, I found myself with four extra impellers, supplied by the factory dealer, stamped with my engine model, in factory wrappings - that did not fit).

As a single hander self steering is a must, and a CD 30 by definition is short handed (two would seem to max it out on an extended cruise, the fore cabin was devoted to supplies, rodes, sails, ect.) Of course you can hot rack on a single passage, but in bad weather you'll wish you had a sea berth (with strong lee cloths) for everyone. I fit her out with a monitor and I would never embark on a long cruise without mechanical wind vane steering on a smaller boat. Why? Because your electronic redundancy is very limited by size & weight, how big is your house bank, where is your generator, ect. Nonetheless, I consider an electronic autopilot equally necessary for very light air to calms which you can expect in the southern pacific trades, depending on the year (a friend recently did the passage from the Galapagos to Tahiti motoring most of the time, no wind).

I also fit out Tinker (CD30, hull 77) with extra primary, self tailing winches (Lewmar 40ST), a separate trysail track, I beefed up the staysail stay to 1/4", installed new mast hounds, 4 part runners, and an ABI detachable forestay lever with a stay keeper along side the foreward port lower. Also, installed spinlock turning blocks, but a couple of strong padeyes there, using snatch blocks would be my preference there now. Mostly because I use a cruising spinnaker with one sheet and it is much easier to jibe with an opening snatch block. However, you need something aft for either the cruising spinnaker or the trysail sheets, and with a storm staysail up, you'll see that the additional winches are not merely handy, but necessary. Along those line you'll want a fairlead for a non-clubed out storm staysail. I use snatch blocks at the padeyes for my running back keepers at the shrouds (just forward of the aft lowers) and I also installed two folding padeyes on the outer edge of the coach, just aft of the mast, throughbolted in the cabin (you have to cut out the liner just aft of the main cabin for the backing plate, and I used round teak to finish).

As for the trysail. I have three reefs in the main, the 3rd is deep an arguably could serve as a trysail. Nonetheless, if I am preparing for very bad weather, I would like the boom well secured and I don't carry an extra main, so something else to fly makes sense. Also 3 reefs is great for balancing the rig, useful with a monitor. Finally, I hollowed the leech on my heavier voyaging main - I love it, less weather helm and chafe. I don't know about your experience, but a full roached main is rarely useful to me except in light airs. If you follow the trades, your light airs are down wind where the main is often pointless anyway. The little lost in certain conditions does not favor, in my book, the big main (though I use one around eastern long island during the summer, where light airs are the rule).

Other improvements that I like: raise to lifelines to 28" and bow and stern pulpits, replace the lower lifeline at the stern pulpit with stainless tubing. Beef up the anchor cleats and move the existing to either side of the bow, big help with docking ect. Installed four padeyes forward of the traveler for lashing down, such as an inflatable, though in open ocean I prefer to stow it below decks forward where I installed a bunch of lighter duty hinged padeyes for lashing down. I also was concerned with the working load on the traveller car, a nicro marine, and indeed they are a bit undersized, so I reinforced the whole traveller with a welded on 1/4" aluminum bar stock and fastened a harken mid range track with 3" harken blocks, way smoother, but in the end gave up the whole business and moved the traveler track to the cockpit where I can get at it without leaving the cockpit - if interested I'll explain how I did it - works beautifully.

Needless to say you want to make sure all your systems, electrical, plubing, fuel, ect are in good shape (mine weren't - I replaced all the wiring, for example). I installed a nauta flexible diesel tank in the port locker with a jabsco fuel transfer pump, the extra fuel over the stock 13 gals. I had was crucial. I can explain if you are interested. I also recommend at least one flexible solar panel - I have two, and what with running lights and all you have to run the engine once a day without them, and at anchor I never need to run the engine with one large panel and one small one. My house battery is a lifeline 4D which I consider minimum. I have a lifeline group 31 for the starter which is more than I need. I use an echo charge for the starter after several other configurations and I am now entirely satisfied.

For communications? A good hard wired VHF, a back up handheld which stows in my ditch bag, along with a back up hand held gps & type II 406 epirb, would like to give position to passing vessel/plane. I elected not to have an ssb because of power demand, but do have a receiver which I think cruicial for weather, both voice and weatherfax - yup a laptop as well with a special articulating table from someplace - I could look it up. Along these lines, I think when I sail to Europe next June I'll buy or rent an iridium - gives a chance to call beyond SOS and a backup for weatherfax & other downloadable weather products. A great article on it in a recent Ocean Voyager - cost is relatively low, coverage worldwide, and performance is good. Would like the ssb, better ship to ship system, but can't face it, would probably have to run the engine when using it (some are speced at 13.6 volts - where is your generator?), and then noise from the alternator, ect.

Anyway, I could go on and on, re: running and standing rigging, liferafts, at least one manual watermaker. If you want to ask I'll be happy to keep running on concerning what & why.

In sum, she works well for shorthanded passage making, plently lively in a sea way, and plenty wet in a following sea, everything should be secured or securable. You should have no questions about the integrity of your crucial systems.

Feel free to write any specific question you may wish to pose.

Matthew



matkinson54@hotmail.com

[Larry DeMers]

Mathew,

Excellent information! You are obviously pleased with the boat and your mods to it. I assume that you will continue sailing your CD30 in June then?

I would like to hear more about running and standing rigging reinforcements, dodger reinforcements if any, did you install any weather cloths? Did you install lee cloths then or now? Please do write more on any part of the preparation that you feel is important. Also, what would you say are the biggest things to watch for in this endeavor, assuming that all systems are in good condition. Did you mount a liferaft, and if so where did you find room? Did you use alcohol or propane onboard? Eeeye..I could go on and on. It is rare to talk with someone that has gone this far with their vessel, and rarer yet for that person to be sailing the same boat as your own, basicly.

Your letter gives me encouragment to continue with our dream of sailing the Atlantic circle with a year in the Azores. I don't know if we will gather our nuts and unclutter our lives in time to do this before old age sets in seriously..but if you don't have dreams, you might as well be shark bait in my opinion.
I have been quietly upgrading the boat over the last 3 years with "The Trip" in mind (explains why I may appear too serious sometimes too), and have completed the electrical rewiring of the whole boat, added an economical reefer system, added in battery capacity..now at 240Ah useable in two separated banks plus the starter bank, high output alt., nav equip., sails, with triple reefed main, reefable staysail out of heavier material than original, replaced staysailstay with 1/4in. and have plans to mount a second head stay with a Highfield Lever 6in. behind the current stay, so that we can use a hanked on storm sail when needed, but stow it up by the mast when not needed, replacing the traveler with a Garhauer traveler with the gear for car adjustment from the cockpit, adjustable genoa sheet cars, etc.etc. the list seeems enough for two lifetimes.
Thanks for kicking me into a higher gear on this.

Cheers, and well done Captain,

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 Sailing Lake Superior

Looking for sailors who have done some extensive cruising in a CD30. Stories, tips and suggestions. I am currently looking at with the idea of heading West to the south seas.

That's a big topic. I have sailed from NY to Trinidad and back. Southbound in winter primarily hopping, though a couple off off shore passages of up to five days, 1-2 years sailing around caribbean, and off shore return from St Maarten (2 weeks, over 1500 km), all but some minor hops single handed. You are talking bigger distances. Nonetheless I have learned a little.

Mostly, I recommend reading for general guidance, outfitting, supplies (endless spare parts - make sure they fit, I found myself with four extra impellers, supplied by the factory dealer, stamped with my engine model, in factory wrappings - that did not fit).

As a single hander self steering is a must, and a CD 30 by definition is short handed (two would seem to max it out on an extended cruise, the fore cabin was devoted to supplies, rodes, sails, ect.) Of course you can hot rack on a single passage, but in bad weather you'll wish you had a sea berth (with strong lee cloths) for everyone. I fit her out with a monitor and I would never embark on a long cruise without mechanical wind vane steering on a smaller boat. Why? Because your electronic redundancy is very limited by size & weight, how big is your house bank, where is your generator, ect. Nonetheless, I consider an electronic autopilot equally necessary for very light air to calms which you can expect in the southern pacific trades, depending on the year (a friend recently did the passage from the Galapagos to Tahiti motoring most of the time, no wind).

I also fit out Tinker (CD30, hull 77) with extra primary, self tailing winches (Lewmar 40ST), a separate trysail track, I beefed up the staysail stay to 1/4", installed new mast hounds, 4 part runners, and an ABI detachable forestay lever with a stay keeper along side the foreward port lower. Also, installed spinlock turning blocks, but a couple of strong padeyes there, using snatch blocks would be my preference there now. Mostly because I use a cruising spinnaker with one sheet and it is much easier to jibe with an opening snatch block. However, you need something aft for either the cruising spinnaker or the trysail sheets, and with a storm staysail up, you'll see that the additional winches are not merely handy, but necessary. Along those line you'll want a fairlead for a non-clubed out storm staysail. I use snatch blocks at the padeyes for my running back keepers at the shrouds (just forward of the aft lowers) and I also installed two folding padeyes on the outer edge of the coach, just aft of the mast, throughbolted in the cabin (you have to cut out the liner just aft of the main cabin for the backing plate, and I used round teak to finish).

As for the trysail. I have three reefs in the main, the 3rd is deep an arguably could serve as a trysail. Nonetheless, if I am preparing for very bad weather, I would like the boom well secured and I don't carry an extra main, so something else to fly makes sense. Also 3 reefs is great for balancing the rig, useful with a monitor. Finally, I hollowed the leech on my heavier voyaging main - I love it, less weather helm and chafe. I don't know about your experience, but a full roached main is rarely useful to me except in light airs. If you follow the trades, your light airs are down wind where the main is often pointless anyway. The little lost in certain conditions does not favor, in my book, the big main (though I use one around eastern long island during the summer, where light airs are the rule).

Other improvements that I like: raise to lifelines to 28" and bow and stern pulpits, replace the lower lifeline at the stern pulpit with stainless tubing. Beef up the anchor cleats and move the existing to either side of the bow, big help with docking ect. Installed four padeyes forward of the traveler for lashing down, such as an inflatable, though in open ocean I prefer to stow it below decks forward where I installed a bunch of lighter duty hinged padeyes for lashing down. I also was concerned with the working load on the traveller car, a nicro marine, and indeed they are a bit undersized, so I reinforced the whole traveller with a welded on 1/4" aluminum bar stock and fastened a harken mid range track with 3" harken blocks, way smoother, but in the end gave up the whole business and moved the traveler track to the cockpit where I can get at it without leaving the cockpit - if interested I'll explain how I did it - works beautifully.

Needless to say you want to make sure all your systems, electrical, plubing, fuel, ect are in good shape (mine weren't - I replaced all the wiring, for example). I installed a nauta flexible diesel tank in the port locker with a jabsco fuel transfer pump, the extra fuel over the stock 13 gals. I had was crucial. I can explain if you are interested. I also recommend at least one flexible solar panel - I have two, and what with running lights and all you have to run the engine once a day without them, and at anchor I never need to run the engine with one large panel and one small one. My house battery is a lifeline 4D which I consider minimum. I have a lifeline group 31 for the starter which is more than I need. I use an echo charge for the starter after several other configurations and I am now entirely satisfied.

For communications? A good hard wired VHF, a back up handheld which stows in my ditch bag, along with a back up hand held gps & type II 406 epirb, would like to give position to passing vessel/plane. I elected not to have an ssb because of power demand, but do have a receiver which I think cruicial for weather, both voice and weatherfax - yup a laptop as well with a special articulating table from someplace - I could look it up. Along these lines, I think when I sail to Europe next June I'll buy or rent an iridium - gives a chance to call beyond SOS and a backup for weatherfax & other downloadable weather products. A great article on it in a recent Ocean Voyager - cost is relatively low, coverage worldwide, and performance is good. Would like the ssb, better ship to ship system, but can't face it, would probably have to run the engine when using it (some are speced at 13.6 volts - where is your generator?), and then noise from the alternator, ect.

Anyway, I could go on and on, re: running and standing rigging, liferafts, at least one manual watermaker. If you want to ask I'll be happy to keep running on concerning what & why.

In sum, she works well for shorthanded passage making, plently lively in a sea way, and plenty wet in a following sea, everything should be secured or securable. You should have no questions about the integrity of your crucial systems.

Feel free to write any specific question you may wish to pose.

Matthew

demers@sgi.com

[Michael Berry]

Looking for sailors who have done some extensive cruising in a CD30. Stories, tips and suggestions. I am currently looking at with the idea of heading West to the south seas.

That's a big topic. I have sailed from NY to Trinidad and back. Southbound in winter primarily hopping, though a couple off off shore passages of up to five days, 1-2 years sailing around caribbean, and off shore return from St Maarten (2 weeks, over 1500 km), all but some minor hops single handed. You are talking bigger distances. Nonetheless I have learned a little.

Mostly, I recommend reading for general guidance, outfitting, supplies (endless spare parts - make sure they fit, I found myself with four extra impellers, supplied by the factory dealer, stamped with my engine model, in factory wrappings - that did not fit).

As a single hander self steering is a must, and a CD 30 by definition is short handed (two would seem to max it out on an extended cruise, the fore cabin was devoted to supplies, rodes, sails, ect.) Of course you can hot rack on a single passage, but in bad weather you'll wish you had a sea berth (with strong lee cloths) for everyone. I fit her out with a monitor and I would never embark on a long cruise without mechanical wind vane steering on a smaller boat. Why? Because your electronic redundancy is very limited by size & weight, how big is your house bank, where is your generator, ect. Nonetheless, I consider an electronic autopilot equally necessary for very light air to calms which you can expect in the southern pacific trades, depending on the year (a friend recently did the passage from the Galapagos to Tahiti motoring most of the time, no wind).

I also fit out Tinker (CD30, hull 77) with extra primary, self tailing winches (Lewmar 40ST), a separate trysail track, I beefed up the staysail stay to 1/4", installed new mast hounds, 4 part runners, and an ABI detachable forestay lever with a stay keeper along side the foreward port lower. Also, installed spinlock turning blocks, but a couple of strong padeyes there, using snatch blocks would be my preference there now. Mostly because I use a cruising spinnaker with one sheet and it is much easier to jibe with an opening snatch block. However, you need something aft for either the cruising spinnaker or the trysail sheets, and with a storm staysail up, you'll see that the additional winches are not merely handy, but necessary. Along those line you'll want a fairlead for a non-clubed out storm staysail. I use snatch blocks at the padeyes for my running back keepers at the shrouds (just forward of the aft lowers) and I also installed two folding padeyes on the outer edge of the coach, just aft of the mast, throughbolted in the cabin (you have to cut out the liner just aft of the main cabin for the backing plate, and I used round teak to finish).

As for the trysail. I have three reefs in the main, the 3rd is deep an arguably could serve as a trysail. Nonetheless, if I am preparing for very bad weather, I would like the boom well secured and I don't carry an extra main, so something else to fly makes sense. Also 3 reefs is great for balancing the rig, useful with a monitor. Finally, I hollowed the leech on my heavier voyaging main - I love it, less weather helm and chafe. I don't know about your experience, but a full roached main is rarely useful to me except in light airs. If you follow the trades, your light airs are down wind where the main is often pointless anyway. The little lost in certain conditions does not favor, in my book, the big main (though I use one around eastern long island during the summer, where light airs are the rule).

Other improvements that I like: raise to lifelines to 28" and bow and stern pulpits, replace the lower lifeline at the stern pulpit with stainless tubing. Beef up the anchor cleats and move the existing to either side of the bow, big help with docking ect. Installed four padeyes forward of the traveler for lashing down, such as an inflatable, though in open ocean I prefer to stow it below decks forward where I installed a bunch of lighter duty hinged padeyes for lashing down. I also was concerned with the working load on the traveller car, a nicro marine, and indeed they are a bit undersized, so I reinforced the whole traveller with a welded on 1/4" aluminum bar stock and fastened a harken mid range track with 3" harken blocks, way smoother, but in the end gave up the whole business and moved the traveler track to the cockpit where I can get at it without leaving the cockpit - if interested I'll explain how I did it - works beautifully.

Needless to say you want to make sure all your systems, electrical, plubing, fuel, ect are in good shape (mine weren't - I replaced all the wiring, for example). I installed a nauta flexible diesel tank in the port locker with a jabsco fuel transfer pump, the extra fuel over the stock 13 gals. I had was crucial. I can explain if you are interested. I also recommend at least one flexible solar panel - I have two, and what with running lights and all you have to run the engine once a day without them, and at anchor I never need to run the engine with one large panel and one small one. My house battery is a lifeline 4D which I consider minimum. I have a lifeline group 31 for the starter which is more than I need. I use an echo charge for the starter after several other configurations and I am now entirely satisfied.

For communications? A good hard wired VHF, a back up handheld which stows in my ditch bag, along with a back up hand held gps & type II 406 epirb, would like to give position to passing vessel/plane. I elected not to have an ssb because of power demand, but do have a receiver which I think cruicial for weather, both voice and weatherfax - yup a laptop as well with a special articulating table from someplace - I could look it up. Along these lines, I think when I sail to Europe next June I'll buy or rent an iridium - gives a chance to call beyond SOS and a backup for weatherfax & other downloadable weather products. A great article on it in a recent Ocean Voyager - cost is relatively low, coverage worldwide, and performance is good. Would like the ssb, better ship to ship system, but can't face it, would probably have to run the engine when using it (some are speced at 13.6 volts - where is your generator?), and then noise from the alternator, ect.

Anyway, I could go on and on, re: running and standing rigging, liferafts, at least one manual watermaker. If you want to ask I'll be happy to keep running on concerning what & why.

In sum, she works well for shorthanded passage making, plently lively in a sea way, and plenty wet in a following sea, everything should be secured or securable. You should have no questions about the integrity of your crucial systems.

Feel free to write any specific question you may wish to pose.

Matthew

Larry and Mathew
Thanks for the input and knowledge..shall digest it all as time allows and will, no doubt get back to you
Michael Berry



prtberry@whidbey.com