Not to buy a CD

[sam]

If I were in the market for a boat and came to this web page and read about blue ooze, deck cracks and all the other problems that people discuss, I would conclude that I should never buy a CD.

I think it is worth pointing out that a. other boats have similar problems, b. despite the groans, all the boats are still going strong, blue ooze deck cracks and all.

Nearly all these problems are cosmetic (anyone got a boat sitting in the junk yard from one of these problems ?). I think CD owners are a caring group of boaters and worry more about their boats than most folks. We like our boats and want to keep them looking like new even though they are 15 or 20 years old. They are not throw away boats like Hunters and other modern production boats.

I bet 15 years from now CD owners will still be groaning about their blue ooze and deck cracks but Hunter owners will be the owners of a different boat.

Any one disagree??

[Neil Gordon]

>>If I were in the market for a boat and came to this web page and read about blue ooze, deck cracks and all the other problems that people discuss, I would conclude that I should never buy a CD.<<

How else can you ask about a problem if you don't describe the problem??? If you want everything to be wonderful, go to the boat show and read brochures.


Regards, Neil
s/v LIQUIDITY
Cape Dory 28 #167



neil@nrgordon.com

[zeida cecilia-mendez]

Sam:
One of the most important features of our website is precisely that we can talk about problems on our Cape Dory boats. These problems are even more prevalent in most other boats. We CD owners are NUTS about our boats and are constantly striving to:
a) upgrade them b) maintain them or restore them to their original wonderful shape, since they are no longer in production c) unless you can afford the Hinckleys, Morrises, Shannons, Pacific Seacrafts, etc. only the Cape Dory or the Bristol will give you a sense and the quality of the traditional, classic seagoing vessel. And then, in my opinion, these other boats are grossly overpriced.

With a Cape Dory, you get the quality of those boats, at the right price. You do not get the LUXURIOUS fully varnished interior, leather cushions, and the additional frills that Hinckley, Morris, etc. offer, but then, my Cape Dory 33 has the beautiful lines, solid hull, same rigging as those others. I just came back yesterday from the Miami Boat Show, and yes, I did go in to see the Hinckley 52, Morris 45, and Cabo Rico 40.. they are of course, gorgeous inside and out, and totally unaffordable. And then I thought of my own Cape Dory, very solid, simple but spacious inside, with A/C, refrigeration, very similar layout inside to those other beauties. My boat is a 1981, and as soon as I can repair the tiny spiderweb cracks in minor areas of my deck, and next year during haul-out strip her bottom, epoxy it, barrier-coat it and repaint it with a good antifouling paint, My CD will be immaculately perfect! Which is the way I intend to get her. The problems we all describe and talk about here are all solvable, it's just that we must be a very NUTTY bunch of sailors - At my marina, in Key Biscayne, FL there is one Morris 42, some Island Packets, a bunch of Hunters and Catalinas, some older Ericksons, Morgans, C&C, S2, Beneteaus et al. Other than the Morris, my heart still skips a beat when I see my boat and realize that it is mine!

The blue ooze in my rudder and keel is coming out of the tiniest pinholes, and I must have about 10 or 15 on each side of my bottom. She is back in the water, and because of this website, I know I no longer have to worry about them because they can last a year without any additional consecuence to my bottom. I am going sailing today in gorgeous weather down here. I think if I were to purchase another boat, if I could ever afford it, you guessed it, it would be another Cape Dory. Cheers!
Zeida



zcecil@ibm.net

[Leo MacDonald CD30K]

Zeida,
Nicely put, I endorse 100 percent. Thank You.
Leo A. MacDonald CD30K No. 57, Heather Ann



macdola@gwsmtp,nu.com

[Ed Haley]

Well said, Zeida! These are my sentiments exactly, except I have to wait at least two more months to go out for a sail
Ed



eghaley@dreamscape.com

[Tom]

If I were in the market for a boat and came to this web page and read about blue ooze, deck cracks and all the other problems that people discuss, I would conclude that I should never buy a CD.

I think it is worth pointing out that a. other boats have similar problems, b. despite the groans, all the boats are still going strong, blue ooze deck cracks and all.

Nearly all these problems are cosmetic (anyone got a boat sitting in the junk yard from one of these problems ?). I think CD owners are a caring group of boaters and worry more about their boats than most folks. We like our boats and want to keep them looking like new even though they are 15 or 20 years old. They are not throw away boats like Hunters and other modern production boats.

I bet 15 years from now CD owners will still be groaning about their blue ooze and deck cracks but Hunter owners will be the owners of a different boat.

Any one disagree??

Not all Cape Dorys have the blue ooze problem. Mine is a CD 31 of 1984 vintage which I have owned for 10 years. I haul yearly and in all that time I have had only two blisters -- both smaller than the end of a pencil. I sanded them out filled them with marine tex and now haven't had a blister in 7 years. Meanwhile I have seen other brands of boat with literally hundreds of blisters.

My CD is unniversally admired in our marina. People usually guess her to be about 38 feet and can't believe how much room she has for her length. Craftsmen who work on her are awed by the quality of her construction. Someone once told me that you should always buy a boat that looks beautiful because you'll spend most of your time looking at her and a small percentage actually sailing her. Cape Dory wins in both sailing and eye appeal. After 10 years I am still TOTALLY happy with her. Zeida has it right -- there's always a surge of pleasure when I look at her. Dollar for dollar the best go anywhere boat ever made.



TacCambria@thegrid.net

[Pete Zwiefelhofer]

I own a cape dory 30 and like it, but any boat involves a number of trade-offs. While cape dorys have beautiful lines, there is very little room below (as compared to other boats of similar length). And although the full keel with attached rudder is bullet proof, God only knows what direction my boat will go when in reverse. The boat is extremely sea worthy, but slow in light air. And as for your spider cracks (i.e., crazing), the gelcoat was redone over mine, but the crazing returned. It's clear that gelcoat is a cape dory weakness.

That said, I'm proud to own such a beautiful and well-crafted boat. But when in the market for a larger boat, in addition to cape dory, I'll certainly look at other well made production boats such as Tartan, Ericson, S2, etc.



pete@zwiefelhofer.com

[Brewer Ezzell]

I love the loyalty of CD owners to their boats. And with good reason. My CD36 is the best sailing boat that I have every been on. On my dock in Wilmington, NC, there are four (note - FOUR!) CD36s and two are still with their original owners. In addition, there is a CD30 and CD30 Motor Sailer. An unbelieveable collection a long way from Maine (or should I say Mass.). The boats are all admired for their quality, appearance and sea keeping ability. Cheers to all who promote and defend the CDs and to those who built them.

By the way, I have a doctor friend who was looking to get into sailing. He asked my advice. I told him to buy a used boat with some age on it from a quality builder, like Cape Dory. He bought a new 43 foot Hunter condo. He saw my son this weekend and told him "your dad told me not to buy the Hunter and he was right." He has had so many problems with it.

Brewer Ezzell

[Lyn Heiges]

Z--

I couldn't agree more! That's why the second boat is a Cape Dory! Not to mention a third which is 1986 Grady-White when we really want to go out and fish!! The surrond on my license plate says "I'd Rather Be Sailing!" which shows where my heart is!!

I LOVE MY CAPE DORYS-- and they have agreed to be my valentines for the last fifteen (15) years!!

Happy Valentines Day!

Lyn Heiges
CD28 MOON CHILD
CD27 GUILLEMOT
GW19 SCAMP TOO

Sam:
One of the most important features of our website is precisely that we can talk about problems on our Cape Dory boats. These problems are even more prevalent in most other boats. We CD owners are NUTS about our boats and are constantly striving to:
a) upgrade them b) maintain them or restore them to their original wonderful shape, since they are no longer in production c) unless you can afford the Hinckleys, Morrises, Shannons, Pacific Seacrafts, etc. only the Cape Dory or the Bristol will give you a sense and the quality of the traditional, classic seagoing vessel. And then, in my opinion, these other boats are grossly overpriced.

With a Cape Dory, you get the quality of those boats, at the right price. You do not get the LUXURIOUS fully varnished interior, leather cushions, and the additional frills that Hinckley, Morris, etc. offer, but then, my Cape Dory 33 has the beautiful lines, solid hull, same rigging as those others. I just came back yesterday from the Miami Boat Show, and yes, I did go in to see the Hinckley 52, Morris 45, and Cabo Rico 40.. they are of course, gorgeous inside and out, and totally unaffordable. And then I thought of my own Cape Dory, very solid, simple but spacious inside, with A/C, refrigeration, very similar layout inside to those other beauties. My boat is a 1981, and as soon as I can repair the tiny spiderweb cracks in minor areas of my deck, and next year during haul-out strip her bottom, epoxy it, barrier-coat it and repaint it with a good antifouling paint, My CD will be immaculately perfect! Which is the way I intend to get her. The problems we all describe and talk about here are all solvable, it's just that we must be a very NUTTY bunch of sailors - At my marina, in Key Biscayne, FL there is one Morris 42, some Island Packets, a bunch of Hunters and Catalinas, some older Ericksons, Morgans, C&C, S2, Beneteaus et al. Other than the Morris, my heart still skips a beat when I see my boat and realize that it is mine!

The blue ooze in my rudder and keel is coming out of the tiniest pinholes, and I must have about 10 or 15 on each side of my bottom. She is back in the water, and because of this website, I know I no longer have to worry about them because they can last a year without any additional consecuence to my bottom. I am going sailing today in gorgeous weather down here. I think if I were to purchase another boat, if I could ever afford it, you guessed it, it would be another Cape Dory. Cheers!
Zeida

lheiges@compuserve.com

[Tim White]

Sam,

I owned a CD 30 hull #232, for thirteen years and felt that it was a great little boat. However, there were certianly many shortcomings that one should know about. Several of these were acess to the engine, removal of tanks, and storage. If you aren't planning to sail around the world I think overall you would be happy with these boats. My next boat will be a Shannon 38.

Regards,
Tim White



dany@maui.net

[sam]

Zeida, I agree with all you say. And I too would probably take a Morris if price were no object. By the way have you priced a new Cape Dory (Robinhood) 36 or 40. At the price of new ones, people can buy a used one in good condition put a LARGE sum of money into repristinating it and still have money in the bank. A great boat at a great price despite its little problems.

[Tim]

I own a cape dory 30 and like it, but any boat involves a number of trade-offs. While cape dorys have beautiful lines, there is very little room below (as compared to other boats of similar length). And although the full keel with attached rudder is bullet proof, God only knows what direction my boat will go when in reverse. The boat is extremely sea worthy, but slow in light air. And as for your spider cracks (i.e., crazing), the gelcoat was redone over mine, but the crazing returned. It's clear that gelcoat is a cape dory weakness.

That said, I'm proud to own such a beautiful and well-crafted boat. But when in the market for a larger boat, in addition to cape dory, I'll certainly look at other well made production boats such as Tartan, Ericson, S2, etc.

Pete,

If you think an S2 or Ericson is going to get you away from gel coat crazing and blisters, you may want to talk to more owners of these boats. I have seen more blisters on these two manufacturers than any Cape Dory, by far. The absence of CD problems is the reason I bought mine in the first place. I do admire the Tartan, so we don't disagree totally, (ha!ha!)

Love that CD,

Tim



tsanborn@ameritech.net

[Mike Everett]

Really, one of the reasons we bought our CD was because I had found this website and I figured that for an inexperienced sailor such as I the bulletin board would be a great resource. (As it has turned out to be, of course. Thanks to all of you!) And also because of the loyalty that CD owners have toward their boats.
The other reason we bought a CD was a book I found at the library entitled "Seaworthiness: the Forgotten Factor." It really made us think about what's important (like safety) in a boat and what's not so important (like a floating living room).
And the third reason was that we simply loved the way the Cape Dory felt when we first looked her over -- snug, rugged, old-fashioned, and loaded with woodwork.



everett@megalink.net

[Bob Luby]

I saw a 25D at the Newport Boat show in 1986 and fell in love
immediately. Why? I could straighten my back in the cabin! ( I'm 6'4" ) I could also manuever in the head! The room was where it counted. If you don't have kids, who needs the V-Berth?

I finally found one I could afford in 1994. All things come to he who waits!

It's also a nice feeling to be leaving for a sail when the C22's are
returning to port looking blown-out. If the wind picks up the boat builds your confidence.

It's a solid, seaworthy boat. It is not a racer, but I knew that when I bought it.




Rluby@aol.com