Where to overhaul CD25 #667 in Chesapeake?

[Trey]

I am planning on having Wind Song overhauled this summer and into the 2005-06 winter. Currently she is on the hard on the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. Anyone have any suggestions on a reputable place that could do everything from awlgrip to replace her standing rigging? I am a weekend sail from Cambridge, Annapolis, Oxford, St. Michaels and a long day from Solomon's Island. My local guy is swamped with surveys and is rebuilding his dirt-floored barn (which is not condusive to good painting).

I am going to attempt the rewiring myself, including the dreaded mast-to-battery feed (which I hear is a nightmare to locate w/o hours of aimless poking around).

Thanks !!! [/quote]

[ray b]

for a long haul out
I would just get a trailor and avoid yard fees and HIGH RATES
a older power boat's trailor can be used after a little welding
or a flat bed with a
shiping cradle as 25's are light
and sell the trailor when done if you donot need it
remember you donot need a fancy rig if not going far or fast

to get a pro paint job go to an auto or truck paint shop
the rest of the work canbe done in a backyard inc paint prep
by useing cheaper and most times better indepentdant workers
or even day labor for the grunt work
over the yards guys who make 10-15 an hour but you are billed at many times that rate

use the old wires to send thru the new wires on both the mast and boat

[adevans]

Zahniser's in Solomons has done two major refits for us. Our Cape Dory 36 (Hull 83, 1983), was in their skillful hands from 1998-2002, and our Bristol 45.5 (Hull 74, 1990) from 2002 to date. Soup to nuts (stem to stern; keel to masthead) on both boats, and we have been very pleased with the skill, timeliness, and professionalism. One of the attractive aspects of Zahniser's is the full-time yard crew providing all necessary crafts. Very little gets subcontracted out. They've also been willing to cooperate in my working my own to-do list. Besides having them work on the boat, we keep it at the Zahniser marina.

[Trey]

Ray B. wrote:

[use the old wires to send thru the new wires on both the mast and boat]

I have heard that the wires between the mast and the electric panel are glued or glassed in place. Sure, pulling through is going to be my first stab at it, but I am not counting on it being so simple. Here is a question, when pulling, do you knot the new to the old, or tape (like rerunning a halyard). I guess it depends of the tightness of the wire's clearance. I'd hate to pull through the tape...that is where the "poking around" I mentioned before happens.

As far as trailering...I'd consider a well retrofit/customized trailer for around $2k, but a new $4000+ triad trailer is hard to swallow. I'd rather spend the money on the boat. Thanks for your advice, I'll more seriously consider a trailer.

[Dave Brandt]

Just last night I pulled a coax cable and a spare electrical wire from the electrical panel through the space between the cabin liner to the mast step on my `76 CD-25. , It can be done, I got it on the second try. It required a bit of prep work to make it go. First I made a good sized opening in the cabin liner under the mast step, I had to do this to deal with some problems with the mast step bolts ( two of them missed the steel plate in the mast support ). Then I cleaned out some of the bonding material that attached the liner to the cabin in the area where the forward part of the companionway ends. At this point I made a small access hole to feed the fish tape through. On my photo page you can see the cutouts on the page labeled V-Berth-1, in the upper left you can see the access hole.

On my boat the wires for the nav lights and the cabin lights are bonded in to the space between the liner, I don't know how they could be replaced.

Dave

[Oswego John]

Hi Trey.

The last thing that you would want is to have the factory installed drag wire separate from the new wire that you are trying to install when half way across.

Rather than knot one wire to the other, I would suggest utilizing a low profile Western Union splice to join the conductors. If you are using stranded wire, which I suggest you do, skin a little extra insulation off, flux the ends of the copper strands and tin them with a drop of solder. This will keep the stranded wire from untwisting while you are serving the splice.

Unless you are very adept at skinning with a knife or razor knife, I feel that you should use a wire skinner to prevent knicking of some copper strands of the conductor.

You can streamline the finished splice by applying a few wraps of vinyl electricians tape around the splice. A little lubricant on the conductors will ease the pull..

When pulling across close tolerance areas or up masts, some people have been known to pull a spare drag of nylon cord along with the new conductor(s), to be used for future wiring. Try not to let the extra drag twist around the conductor(s) during installation because when you go to use it to pull a new wire in the future, the new wire will follow the drag, which might be woven through the old bundle of wires. Keep it separate and free running. Have fun.

OJ

[Greg Ross]

Rather then use a splice, I solder the new to the old and have a uniform cross section. In my Ty I used all existing openings and one new dome lamp location to progressively pull the new feeds for lighting and running lights. The small plugs installed in the cabin liner were removed in several places for additional pull points. This way I was dealing with shorter distances for fishing the initial pull line in.
Worked great. Only one I have not managed to get yet is the Mast feed but I have a wealth of patience!

[Jeff Wright]

My loyalties lie on the Eastern Shore. The yard in Cambridge where my boat is a family run business that does quite of bit of historic renovations in addition to regular overhauls. Did work on my Cape Dory 30 a few years ago when I rapped a rope around the prop. It bent the cheap shaft ( now SS not bronze ) cracked the shaft casing among other things. They did good work and I guess reasonable money wise. Not as fast paced over here. Yard is Generation III in Cambridge. The Wheatly family . Dave is the owner and his wife Eddie answers the phone. I recommend them for small boats or big ones.