Cape Dory 31 Advice

[Ryan Turner]

Am considering the purchase of a Cape Dory 31 and would like some advice. Any year models to avoid? Any other factors to consider? Thanks in advance for your help.

Ryan Turner



rdtec@aol.com

[Tom Coons]

Am considering the purchase of a Cape Dory 31 and would like some advice. Any year models to avoid? Any other factors to consider? Thanks in advance for your help.

Ryan Turner

Ryan: They only made the 31 for a couple of years so there weren't any "bad" years in there. I have a 1984 and have been extremely pleased with it. A few things to consider and your survey will probably turn up in any case: Every 31(and other Cape Dorys too) I ever saw had some small deck cracks. There's some debate about the cause, one being that they occur where the sheets of balsa core are joined. The thing is you want the surveyor to go over the deck and cabin with a moisture meter to make sure the cracks haven't allowed any water into the balsa core. I found 3 or 4 wet spots on mine and had them ground out and sealed so the whole core wouldn't go. Also had cracks in the cockpit area so I had a 2 inch teak sole put in the cockpit to stiffen that area. These aren't major things, but something to look for. Also be careful about the transmission. Many of them had a 3 cylinder Universal diesel with a Hurth 50 transmission. (Mine does). The manual that comes with the engine has some incorrect information in it about sailing with the transmission inf the "forward" position but the engine not running. This eats your discs in fairly short order. The first sign of a bad transmission is that it hops out of gear. You can put it right back in at first but this is a sign of expensive trouble to come. I haven't heard that other engines choices had this problem, but I'd be careful with Hurth 50 transmissions and if you ever have trouble contact me I can probably save you some money with referrals. Outside of that 31s are terrific sailing boats. Fast, dry, the rig is handy, and I can't think of anything I'd want to change. I think you'll be extremely pleased. Tom



TacCambria@thegrid.net