40 yr old Cape Dory gets a face lift

[fishsail]

1975 25' Cape Dory. I've had the boat a few years now and finally getting closer to a splash date. Total strip, repaint, all new Mahogany interior and exterior.

[Jeff Bird]

Very nice. Looking forward to seeing pics of her in the water.

[oldragbaggers]

Very nice!! I love to see those wonderful old boats get a second life. We are currently doing a Cape Dory 33.

[northoceanbeach]

Going to look good as new!

[fishsail]

tnx, it's been a fun project. I'm using Awlbright on the exterior wood. looks like glass and holds up much better than varnish. Just very expensive.

[Don C L]

Beautiful! And to you that is a boat worthy of all the work and money required isn't it? What if someone said "you are doing all that for a 25 foot boat when you could buy a bigger boat that is ready for less?" How do we explain the madness? (No that we need to.) These links might be interesting to you if you haven't seen them. Like your shots, they are inspirational to those of us with the great old school boats...
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=54dcd7dc0b

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=bf016aab90

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=bf016aab90

[fishsail]

Tnx for the sites, they looks very interesting, I will spend more time on them when I get home. I luv yur shop. I'm working on the side of the house spraying outdoors dealing with the S.Florida bugs and a crowded garage. but it works. I'm blessed I have what I have.
Can anyone tell me if I have the old chrome stripped off the winches are they bronze under the chrome?

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by fishsail

Tnx for the sites, they looks very interesting, I will spend more time on them when I get home. I luv yur shop. I'm working on the side of the house spraying outdoors dealing with the S.Florida bugs and a crowded garage. but it works. I'm blessed I have what I have.
Can anyone tell me if I have the old chrome stripped off the winches are they bronze under the chrome?

I WISH it were my shop. I am just an admirer of the boat, the shop and the refit. You are doing great especially considering you are doing it outside!

[oldragbaggers]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Beautiful! And to you that is a boat worthy of all the work and money required isn't it? What if someone said "you are doing all that for a 25 foot boat when you could buy a bigger boat that is ready for less?" How do we explain the madness? (No that we need to.) These links might be interesting to you if you haven't seen them. Like your shots, they are inspirational to those of us with the great old school boats...

There is really no way to explain to anyone why we do what we do, and especially not to anyone who doesn't have a love for the old classic designs. What is it about the lines of a particular old boat that makes it worth giving up several years of your life and enough money to buy a larger, newer boat, just to see that boat looking new again and gliding gracefully through the water? It's incomprehensible to some people why we bother. Sometimes they even question whether we actually like sailing, as opposed to just fixing and building. I assure you, we love sailing, and sailing on this gorgeous old classic will be a dream for us.

If you boil it down to only dollars and cents it makes no sense whatsoever, not even to those of us who do it. And it's not even that we don't like the new designs, actually we do. And it's not that I couldn't go cruising on one and be perfectly happy. I could, absolutely. But there are just some boats that make our hearts skip a beat and when you see one of those boats languishing, knowing that once it is gone it will never be replaced..... well, I can't speak for anyone else but for Lance and I we are moved to act. We not only want to see that boat reflecting her true beauty again, we want to see her continue to exist. We don't want to see all of these beautiful old classics disappear. Maybe they are not the latest technology, maybe they lack in some of the performance (arguable, and only in certain areas) but their beauty is unmatched, and when we set out under sail there is nothing we would rather be sailing on.

There is also a pride of ownership that occurs when you look at something that was on the verge of uselessness and is once again functional and beautiful and know that it became so under your hand. The fact that we enjoy the work is just a bonus.

For us it's not just about owning "a boat." We could have had "a boat" that was larger, newer, and quite suitable for cruising for probably less money than we will spend on our restoration in the end (has always been so in the past) but it wouldn't be "the boat," it would just be "a boat." For those who already understand what I mean, nothing else need be said. For those who don't get it there is nothing else that could be said that would ever make them understand.

But I know fishsail understands.

[fishsail]

well said

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by oldragbaggers

There is really no way to explain to anyone why we do what we do, and especially not to anyone who doesn't have a love for the old classic designs. What is it about the lines of a particular old boat that makes it worth giving up several years of your life and enough money to buy a larger, newer boat, just to see that boat looking new again and gliding gracefully through the water? It's incomprehensible to some people why we bother. Sometimes they even question whether we actually like sailing, as opposed to just fixing and building. I assure you, we love sailing, and sailing on this gorgeous old classic will be a dream for us.

If you boil it down to only dollars and cents it makes no sense whatsoever, not even to those of us who do it. And it's not even that we don't like the new designs, actually we do. And it's not that I couldn't go cruising on one and be perfectly happy. I could, absolutely. But there are just some boats that make our hearts skip a beat and when you see one of those boats languishing, knowing that once it is gone it will never be replaced..... well, I can't speak for anyone else but for Lance and I we are moved to act. We not only want to see that boat reflecting her true beauty again, we want to see her continue to exist. We don't want to see all of these beautiful old classics disappear. Maybe they are not the latest technology, maybe they lack in some of the performance (arguable, and only in certain areas) but their beauty is unmatched, and when we set out under sail there is nothing we would rather be sailing on.

There is also a pride of ownership that occurs when you look at something that was on the verge of uselessness and is once again functional and beautiful and know that it became so under your hand. The fact that we enjoy the work is just a bonus.

For us it's not just about owning "a boat." We could have had "a boat" that was larger, newer, and quite suitable for cruising for probably less money than we will spend on our restoration in the end (has always been so in the past) but it wouldn't be "the boat," it would just be "a boat." For those who already understand what I mean, nothing else need be said. For those who don't get it there is nothing else that could be said that would ever make them understand.

But I know fishsail understands.

Beautifully written! That should be framed for all of us! And thinking of that Rhodes 41 re-fit: some may say crazy, but if you had to have that boat built new it would have cost much more than the re-fit. You can't find boats like that anymore, and you can't find many boats BUILT like that anymore. I think the owner was very smart to do that re-fit, and you too fishsail!

[fishsail]

These are a few pics of the day I brought her home, A little rough but somehow I saw the diamond deep within. After all she did survive a couple hurricanes.

[oldragbaggers]

I'm so happy you saved her, fishsail. She will be turning heads in the harbor soon and for a lot of years to come because you made the investment of your time, energy, and money to give her another life. Good on you!!

[Nicholson58]

Pretty nice. My 1964 CD-10 with a genoa added on. Would make a nice dink I always liked the larger CD's. Nice looking boats. I have a stable of oldies including hull 186 Tornado (late 1960's I think) & our 1984 Camper & Nicholson ketch, really old Sunfish, '64 Mustang convertible. Old is fun.

[Xthewater]

It's a form of madness I think.
If one has a lot of skills in different areas it is a pleasure that working on these boats provide an outlet to use and develop even more skills as progress is made. Sometimes it seems overwhelming .Then comes the point where the first sea trials begin and all the time and $ come together.

We started on our Cape Dory 31 in April 2013 and so close now to having our first sail. https://capedory31.wordpress.com/