The driest boat in town

[CaptainDave]

We bought Cape Dory 25 four years ago and I have the most amazing boat story. She is a 1977 and we have been granted the title of "The Driest Boat in Town". I have been on the water since 1988 and thought a damp, wet boat interior was just part of the scene. Between catching drips and replacing core, that's the way it was. Until we found our Dory! Never a drop or hint of moisture! I have a new Nicro vent, still in the box. No need to cut an extra hole. I have installed an electrical gland (expensive but worth it) and a giant custom cast Sampson post but still dry as a bone.

The bilge has never seen water and looks like something from Arizona.

I looked carefully at the drawings in my original owners book- they are very detailed. Whoever designed this boat put an extra effort into doing it right. 46 years of use and she is still fine.

Part 2: After 30+ years of scraping boat bottoms with every tool known to man, the Dory got a soda blasted bottom & epoxy barrier coat. It is now an easy 45 minutes to paint her! In case you are wondering about the effort- forget it. Ignore any horror stories about the epoxy mixing and curing. It was as easy as painting. I would do it again anytime. It was days of research and pondering and apprehension and then one hour of easy effort. The only strain was simultaneously patting myself on the back and kicking me for not doing it years ago.

[Randy B]

Looks amazing! During my haul out this past September to take care of other things I noticed there were several layers of bottom paint and it was obvious that the hull has likely never been soda blasted in its 40 years. No blisters, though, so I was very happy about that. I remember looking at a Beneteau before buying a Cape Dory, and the surveyor found 60 blisters on that Bendytoy. Cape Dory are truly generational boats and will last for ever.

[Jim Walsh]

That boat looks amazing after 46 years. My boat will be 40 years old in a couple weeks and I can fully appreciate that it takes dedicated owners to keep them up to snuff. Also, a dry boat is a blessing and fully appreciated when offshore for several days. Even small drips can be torturous.

[fmueller]

nice ... I did my bottom over recently ... I wouldn't classify it as "easy" ... but I got thru it ...