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 interested to hear that Edson has a part to push the guard forward. It never occured to me to look. I wonder if they also offer a larger guard? I was able to sneak the cables by the underpinnings, but it was a tight fit; would have been much easier with a straight shot from the guard. I ran cables down both legs for the Raymarine set up and it wasn't a lot of fun.
The new Edson guards come with either 1", 1 1/8" or 1 1/4" wide tubes. If you get larger tubes (your boat should have 1" tubes) you'll have to replace the pedestal guard plate and the feet as well. I don't know about the part to offset the feet, but you may want to give Edson a call (508)995-9711. Anyway, here's their home page:
The extended guard support was new, old stock...it's not in their catalog. I talked to them at the Annapolis boat show. What I was really after (before I knew about the extended support) was an idler wheel support/pedestal backup assembly that was originally designed for the CD36. For some reason, CD went to the custom weldment and Edson stopped making that part. After I explained what I was trying to accomplish, they mentioned the part, I called and ordered it, so it may still be available.
One correction to Cathy's note, Edson's current guards are 1-1/8 diam tubing. Their old ones were 1". They make fittings for those plus 1-1/4" tubing, which Navpod uses.
Does anyone know if the CD30 has an Edson guard? I'm interested in adding a navpod to the helm one day and curious to know what the story is on replacement. I'd probably modify my existing if it came down to drilling and filling at the feet. Ken, do you have pics of yours?
Transmission out on one of the smaller tractors today, just stepped away for a minute from that surgery. Funny, I keep saying to myself, "this would be tough on the boat"!
Bill
Sorry to say I do not know how to get a picture into these notes. If you send me your e-mail, I'll send you a picture of my 36 with the radar / chartplotter installed at the helm. I went a different route than most as I do not use a "pod" and it cuts down the clutter. Edson makes a small arm that attaches to the pedestal guard. Weh in port I keep a bag over the wheel thus protecting the wheel cover and radar. Althought if you read, it is water resistant. It has been out in the rain and other fould weather with never a problem. This will be its fifth season..........
Woody
Are you wanting a picture of the pedestal kludge or the slanted hole under the cockpit sole? I probably have the former and might even have the latter. Just let me know and I will upload it so you can peruse.
I recently bought a Garmin GPSMAP 276c. Since it is so small and so portable I'm hoping to install two mounts for it - one below and one above. While considering various cockpit mounting options, I set the unit on top of the binnacle rail just to get a sense it. I was then a little unnerved to see the compass needle deviate about five degrees. When I moved the unit further away the compass returned to its original heading. Repeating the experiment several times confirmed that when the GPS is proximal to the compass the heading changes. Five degrees seems a substantial change. Recalibrating the compass would not be helpful as the GPS might not always be mounted in the same place.
Obviously, people have been mounting their chartplotters on the binnacle for years. Is this problem peculiar to the small 276c? Do bigger units have better shielding?
Is the GPS self-powered or are you running it from the boat's batteries?
If the latter, it might be that all you need to do is twist the power leads together so the field generated by the current in one lead is cancelled by the field from the other lead. My Raymarine RADAR chartplotter sits on top of the pedestal guard and the cables run down to the guard just forward of the compass binnacle. It makes no difference to the compass whether the unit is there or whether it is powered. The compass heading without current influences is the same as the GPS course over ground. That always amazes me, but I keep checking and it contiunues to be true.
