CD28 - Really?

[K_LeMans]

So many of you have probably seen the article in the current Good Old Boat magazine about Bruce Bingham and his "Cape Dory 28". Specifically, about all the DIY "improvements" he has made to the galley.

Now then, I have a CD30, not a 28, and mine's a 1981, not a 1974 (Bingham is quoted as saying the boat is 37 years old), but I'm looking at the photos of the interior of this boat, and it doesn't look much like what I would expect a CD to look like. One, the port lights are plastic, not bronze. Two, the way the furniture is built looks nothing like my 30. Not to mention that there does not appear to be a liner, or any of the other CD quality finish touches one might expect.

So my question is, is this really a CD? Were the early boats that much different in finish and hardware? Just wondering.......

[RIKanaka]

So my question is, is this really a CD? Were the early boats that much different in finish and hardware? Just wondering.......

From what I've read on this board and seen of older CD28s listed for sale on the internet, that is true.

[Cathy Monaghan]

Yes, it's true, prior to 1980 the portlights on the CD28 were plastic. They were not manufactured by Spartan Marine. Cape Dory also used alot of laminate down below rather than the teak marine plywood for the bulkheads and cabinetry found on the later models.

Cathy
Webmaster - CDSOA, Inc.

[Neil Gordon]

Yes, it's true, prior to 1980 the portlights on the CD28 were plastic.

I don't know what year they switched over, but my '77 has bronze port lights.

[Duncan]

... my '77 has bronze port lights.

I think that '77 was the changeover year.
Bronze ports, a "teakier" interior, a bulkhead-mounted table, and no more pilot berth are the differences I recall.

Here's the interior of a 1974 model, from the Cape Dory Sailboat Photo Gallery at the Sailing Texas site





I like fixed tables and pilot berths, but I guess the marketing department didn't.

[2tocruise]

The first CD28 we looked at had plastic ports. And a pilot-berth outboard the port settee berth. I believe she was a 74 or 75. I think they switched to bronze and removed the horribly small and cramped pilot berth after the first year or two of production.

[kmulligan]

I've been on Bruce's 1974 CD 28 and he's helped me with some projects on my 79' 28. His does indeed have plastic portlights which he hopes to replace. He's done amazing things to make his 28 a liveaboard. He recently helped me with plans to replace my aft chain plate, which was a grueling job in tight quarters. Cape Dory cut some corners in that area. My original chainplate was a triangular truss monstrosity of common steel, not stainless, under the pad eye deck plate. The other two sides of the triangle were actually made of rebar steel, the same stuff for reinforcing concrete. It was all rusting away and had to be ground out before being replaced with a stainless chain plate thru-bolted from the stern with both a fiberglass backing plate and a stainless one.
I am grateful to Bruce Bingham for his invaluable assistance on this project. He periodically hosts some interesting sailing seminars at his Boca Ciega Yacht Club where he demonstrates techniques such as reefing on his beloved CD 28.
Kevin Mulligan
CD 28 # 226, "Skibbereen"
Crystal River, Fl.

[BubbaThePirate]

My 1975 CD28 is just like the pictures shown from sailingtexas. Late last summer, I replaced the forward 6 portlights with New Found Metals' tri-matrix ports. Still not bronze, but I COULD afford theirs. I like them a lot actually.

The pilot berth will come out this year. I think I'm going to use the same cabinetry but move it to port; making the pilot berth a slightly over-sized shelf. Also, I removed the plywood divider forward of the stove area to get at the deck hardware and stantion bases. I like the openness it created in the cabin. I may leave that off or reduce its size.

I'm cherry picking some of Fred Bickum's modifications to Fenix, including exterior chainplates.

I posted a link to my picasa for port project pictures here:

http://capedory.org/board/viewtopic.php ... highlight=