This bulletin board, hosted by the CDSOA, Inc., is the on-line meeting place for all Cape Dory owners and groups. We welcome everyone's questions, answers and comments about Cape Dory sailboat
I am hopelessly over committed and waaaaayyyyyyyy behind schedule for making RESPITE ready. So cheer me up. Anybody having a good time?
And to make matters worse my e-mail inbox has been attacked by a virus and made unavailable by my virus protection software. If I owe you a reply, sorry it won't be forthcoming.
Mitchell Bober
Sunny Annapolis (where it looks like sailing season except ay my house) MD
Saturday out of Detlaville, 15 to 22 knots from the SSW, temperature 75, port tack, spray over the bow, dodger wet, reefed main and stay sail, easy beat, making 41/2 knots, wife sound asleep in the cockpit. Yep, I'm having fun.
Mitch,
I took Sine Qua Non out for her first sail of the year last Wednesday. She was sporting a brand new 140% genoa and she hit hull speed with only 8k true wind. What a pleasure.
I also took her out solo on saturday afternoon and made some final adjustments to the rig. She's sailing just beautifully this year, as I'm sure Respite will.
"I desire no more delight, than to be under sail and gone tonight."
(W. Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice)
I sailed out of Southport Marina early Saturday morning on a slack tide and tacked down the Cape Fear River. It was a real thrill to pass the point of Bald Head Island and hear the surf crashing on the beach. I followed the channel out to Buoy 9 and got a new view of the continent - from the east. I hove to and spent a few minutes taking it all in - then let the now flooding tide and light breeze carry me back to Southport to conclude my first cautious, tentative expedition into the Atlantic.
Sunday I sailed up the Cape Fear on a flooding tide and following wind, under jib only as I saw recommended in a thread lately. It worked! With the mainsail furled there was not the constant anxiety about an accidental jibe, and I could focus on avoiding the constant stream of freighters, barge tows and "Rodney Dangerfield" boats churning the river to a froth. Time ran out, and I reluctantly motored back down the river to Southport, battened down and made the long drive home.
Marianna Max wrote:We went out twice on Saturday (out of Marina Bay, Quincy MA). It was my first time sailing in the Cdory 28 and first ever where I did any of the sailing myself!
The wind was light and it was pretty chilly out but still lots of fun.
The nice part about going out when it's chilly is that the power boats pretty much stay at the nice warm toasty marina, leaving the water unobstructed.
Rumor has it you not only sailed on a Cape Dory for the first time, but that you won your first race in the process.
Rumor has it you not only sailed on a Cape Dory for the first time, but that you won your first race in the process.
Ha, that wasn't me, that was under protest since it was going backwards away from the dock and I was hungry for dinner! But there was some winning going on and the power boats mostly stayed home.
Last Saturday afternoon my wife and I did a shakedown cruise on the Merrimack River in Newburyport. Sunny, nice steady 8kt breeze, couldn't have been more relaxing. Then came Sunday, 15kt gusting to 20kt occasionally = reefed main = wet close haul = fun. It's hard to turn around when you are heading toward a horizon with no land in sight. It's fun to entertain the thought just for a second about not turning around. I love my boat.
Left the Bohemia River at 11am on the 7th in 15-20 mph winds out of the north east. My first sail in LIBERTY since I purchased her. Had an awesome sail under full sail. Down below Pooles Island I even caught a 32" striper in 14 foot of water. It was caught while trolling two lines off the stern. Proceeded to Baltimore light where the wind died for the rest of the evening. Motored into Annapolis at sundown, had dinner and went to sleep looking up at the stars and listening to the night sounds. Next morning, at 7 am woke to 10 mph winds. Off went the lines and out to main channel LIBERTY went. By the time I was out there, winds had gotten up to 20mph with higher gusts. I furled the Genny and wanted to reef the main but wind was too strong. Brought LIBERTY about and beat into the 3 foot seas, current and 25+ mph wind. When I had enough of that, turned on the Honda 8hp 4 stroke and made it back to the mooring. A tremedous Sea Trials. Lots more sailing to come.
Left Rock Hall on Friday and sailed wing on wing with cruising spinnaker all the way to Fells Point before lowering sails. On Saturday we left Fells Point and motored out to Fort McHenry, then a close haul on starbord tack to Rock Hall and then decided to go back in to do some needed maintenance. This is the longest cool spring that I can remember.
You have to strike while the iron is hot [or in this case the breezes are blowing]. Cleaned the winter dirt off of "Second Wind" [CD25] last Tuesday. Went for a wonderful sail on Thursday: wind from the NW about 12-15. The weather was all over the place from spitting rain to warm sun. By late afternoon the breeze had built to the point where we had to change headsails down to the working jib. With a clean bottom, the boat was charging along at 5 knots close hauled. What a blast!
Yesterday Monday 5/16 we went out again for an all day sail. We sailed away from the dock at about 10:30 am. Clearing skys. From the Bohemia we got down to Howell Point off of the Sassafras. It was a broad reach with wind from the NW at the same 10-12. We flew down. When we turned around, we could just make it close hauled up the Elk. We had plenty of time, so we went up the Elk past the Bohemia to Court House Point. Then we turned for home. After putting the boat away on her mooring we stopped at The Tap Room in Chesapeake Cith for a steamed seafood dinner. What a way to finish the day!
The New York Lady went in the water in Sesuit Harbor (Cape Cod) on Friday May 6th. We had planned on Saturday but moved it up as a result of the predicted blow Saturday/Sunday. She was sporting new paint, loads of much needed maintenance, and a new 135 tri-radial genoa. We had a 22nm jaunt to Provincetown with a 000 heading and a 10-15 knot easterly wind almost all the way in - a beautiful beam reach. This new genoa is the best investment I have made to date - she sails like a dream.
We brought her into Provincetown Harbor sailing downwind under genoa only and smartly sailed her onto her mooring for the first time. We actually dropped off the mooring and took 3 more runs at it just to get the practice. There were few enough boats out there to make it safe with our limited experience. I suspect we could now do it under much tighter conditions if needed.
A perfect day and a great beginning to the season.
I’ve been in the water since April 14th. {NY Long Island Sound} Once I got the hull waxed, the mast stepped, and the bottom painted I had her launched. I figured I could get to all the other work once she was in the water. Problem is… it’s been pretty windy. So, I’ve been getting my fair share of sailing [about 15 times,] but my teak and topsides look pretty rough. I figure there will be plenty of windless days this summer for work..
Yeah-- finally got Mary Ellen launched at high tide yesterday afternoon, and I showed up at the boatyard looking like a needy spaniel first thing this morning. I had a very long wait for launch service out to the mooring, so didn't set foot on the boat until 11am or so. I left the outboard in the shop where it still awaits an oil change. The hell with it. I didn't need it today.
Had a few minor rigging issues to deal with before casting off. Added a pickup buoy to my mooring tackle, added two cleats to the forward end of the boom to complete my reefing arrangement, reeved new reefing lines, slipped the battens into the mainsail, and... hey... I'd run out of projects. Time to go sailing.
I raised the main and rigged the 150, leaving the sheets free and leading the mooring pendants along the starboard bow. I let them go with a shout of "This is it! Sailing season!" and ran back to the cockpit, taking the tiller and feeing that delicious sensation of being laid over on the starboard tack, the mooring ball passing by. I could hardly believe it.
I had a nice gentle zephyr, no more than 8 knots probably, out of the SE, enough to push me out of the anchorage at 4 knots and change, headed NE.
Wind died for a while east of Hart Island, just as a tug pushing a barge the size of a skyscraper came hellbent for hellgate from the NE. I thanked my lucky stars that the wind had left me well clear of the channel.
I was considering setting the asymmetrical in desperation-- I had a 9-year-old to pick up by 5:30-- when the wind made a reappearance and I had a lovely beam reach back to the mooring. Picked up the new stick, called the launch, flaked the main, put the genny into her ready bag, and generally tucked Mary Ellen into bed. Man, that felt good.
World's shortest spinnaker run on Monday. First time out-just for a couple of hours in the afternoon. S-SE breeze about 8kts. It was pretty foggy on the South Shore so I was just reaching back and forth by the Bayshore Marina. Turned down to head back in and the boatspeed just died. So I figured what the heck, Ill practice with the new Asymmetrical. I dropped the jib. sheeted in the main, so the boat was kind of hove -to. Rigged the sail, and hoisted it up. Had to correct one mistake, but the sail then filled nicely, and the boat really came alive! I jibed once, and then I was back at my creek. Maybe 15 min total! But the sail worked real nice. Can't wait to use it again. Good start to the season.
Mike
