Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
My westerbeke (circa 1973) does not drain thru the dipstick hole -has to drain out of the pan drain – and into the bilge when something spills…..So, when I rebulit the engine 3 years ago I made up a drain pump that screws into the drain pan and pumps the pan dry from there. I saw this set-up on Beta and Nanni engines at the boat shows in New England & thought it pretty slick idea. Just buy a Fynspray oil transfer pump & bring it and your drain plug to your local hose fabricator – I use a local large auto parts store that makes up hose & has a machine shop – they will make up the hose with a fitting that mates into the oil pan and attaches to the pump – I’m using high pressure hydraulic line – tell them how long a hose you want for mounting considerations & there you go. I can drain the engine in about 3 minutes – no muss, no fuss and no electricity needed. You can pump directly into a used gallon jug & never have to screw around with messy oil containers. easy. The best part is that the pump is mounted in the engine room 24/7 so you do not have to go look for the “transfer” stuff, haul it to the boat, use it and than haul it home.
The old Perkins 4-108 had a pump mounted directly to the top of the aluminum pan that does the same thing – Why westerbeke did not use the same pan when they marinized the perkins engine makes no sense to me – except that the aluminum pan probably costs a bit more than the stamped steel one on the westerbeke…who knows.
JuJu,
I forgot that I had this site saved as a reference location. It shows a nice photo of a very nice D 35 “woodie” that was for sale in Maine around 2006-7. Also included are decent listings of “specs” for the boat as well as builders drawings. This might be of some interest. For others looking at this post there are listings for the 36, 37 & 41 at this site too.
http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_ID=1258
MikeWelcome to the Dickerson Board! Give folks a hint about you, your boat and location!
If you are located in the Maryland/Virginia area, a nice destination to drive for a visit is the Calvert Musuem – They were given “Ernie” Tucker’s old drawings & files of the Dickerson Yachts by his wife after Ernie passed away. I’m pretty sure they have many of the old “woodie” Dickerson plans & drawings on file. I know they will make full size copies for a very reasonable charge. Our boat was stored in a yard next door to the musuem when we bought the boat 5 years ago, so I was lucky to have a chance to look through most of the files on hand one rainy afternoon – Pretty cool, since all of the plans are hand drawn, in pencil, on velum. I remember that they had many of the “woodies” on file. In fact, I had a copy made of a 1965 aft cockpit ketch for a friend who keeps his Ketch ( Guinivere) in Maine. I have a copy of our Dickerson 36 plan – now framed on the wall at my office.
The plans are a great reference for measuring new sails, reviewing rigging sizes for re-rigging and the like. One caveat; On my visit, 5 years ago, the files were not set up to enable some one to call on the telephone and and request a particular plan – they are pretty much all in a couple large folders that you need to go through to see what’s there. I suspect they don’t get a significant amount of folks asking to see these plans, since the boats were not built in the Solomons area. one of the musuem curators mentioned to me that he personally knew Ernie Tucker’s wife and that’s how the plans ended up there – she wanted them preserved & taken care of – Wonderful for us, but I suspect, based upon my conversation, that these plans sit in a “eddy” of interest and are not given much thought by the folks at the musuem and are rarely viewed by the public.
You can see an example of what the plans look like on Don & Di’s Dickerson 41 web site – their boat is named Southern Cross. Google Dickerson & Southern Cross…They have some nice bits to look at re: the D41
Hope this helps…Here is the musuem link.
Mike
http://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/Tired of winter??? Gee here in New Hampshire winter is ’till about June it seems!! Joe has a great idea – Folks ought to join the Dickerson Owners Association. Lots of boats out there, not too many members. Gee, $30 is a tank of gas in the car or a very cheap evening out for 2 – maybe a movie and popcorn for 2.
New projects in planning mode are the wiring/installation of the new Lewmar vertical windlass I recently had delivered. Ought to keep me busy for a bit as I decide where to position it, wire it and generally figure out the installation. Beats sitting around watching TV!….. Also going to re-paint the insides my bronze dorade cowl vents (thought I’d use red for a little “fun”) and do a little varnish work on cabinet doors, ect in the main cabin since they can be removed and finished in the basement – even thought he basement might be a bit cool in the artic north. Oh, I had John Carey send me a 3 stanchion bases, so now I can replace the 2 broken ones, strip all the paint off the remaining ones & still have a spare! Love it.
A Fun FYI story…..A buddy of mine spent the last 5 years restoring his 1932 Alden designed sloop (PAVITI TERN) , that was built in Fairhaven Ma. It has been his “retirement” project – This fall he sailed it singlehanded from Wetport Ma to Key West. Arrived last week. Pretty good trip for a 66 year old guy in a 77 year old boat!! Now I think he is off to the Bahamas – I think he said the beer was better there, so it’s worth the trip! Great inspiration for spring!
Gee, I was thinking I ought to get a set of davits & hang an inflatable from them. Then install a bimini and paint Iris white – oh, and loose the mizzen mast & I’d look like Snoodle Time. Alas, not enough time this spring…….
Just a FYI. Lewmar has some very low pricing on their V1 series Vertical windlass. I understand they are going to eliminate this model and have the V2 & V3 as “heavier” units and the V700 as a lighter unit. This size is in the ball park for the D 35 & 36…Defender is selling for $599 (old sell price around $1,350) 1000# max pull and 250# working load. Probably more than enough for weekend warriors and 35# anchors and 35# of chain. Low profile & out of the way. Looks like a lofrans 1000, but about $1000 less. Hmmm Any one use Lewmar products?
Hi Barry,
The best in 2009 to you too!
Looks like you have the “around the world” windlass option. I’d be interested in a photo to see your placement/location since we have Sampson posts to work around with Dickersons. I had a “new” SL Hyspreed manual windlass that was packed away in the boat when we bought it – I sold it – unused- last year to a fellow up in Maine (more to discourage me from mounting & using it. It would have been an easy install, but not too sure I’d have liked the “manual” effort on the fore deck). A buddy of mine mounted a Lofrans Project 1000 a couple years ago on a D-35 “woodie” and he really loves it. Tag me a photo if you do not mind: boatsnh@yahoo.
Have Fun!
MikeHi Joe,
Nice start to a “lively” discussion on sails I hope!!
A couple years ago I posted a couple questions to the old board looking for general preferences as to the the Likes/Dislikes of Dickerson owners various sails & sail configuratons. Pretty quiet at that time. I wanted to replace the old (I suspect they were the OEM set ) sails that came with the boat. Hardly an answer – so I did a bit of research myself and had new sails sewn for IRIS. We found that the old “standby” Dacron was by far the best “value” for the kind of sailing we do. We spoke to perhaps 6 different sailmakers. There were many different cloths/cuts & batten configurations available. My brother owns a CAL-39 and had recently had Doyle Sails make a new Main & Jib in the 2 + 2 batten configuration with a Doyle “Stack Pack”. He loved the sails , so….. Even thought the roach on our Dickersons is much less than that found on a CAL, I followed his lead ; our mainsail has 2 full battens up and 2 standard battens down. I find it holds shape very well and if motoring with the sail up the long battens tend to keep the sail quieter. The cloth for all our sails is a top quality Challenge HA cloth in a mid 7.4oz range. (some interesting articles available on te web from Quantum & MACK sails on fabric choices for dacron sails). We use the OEM in mast slug/slides – I do use MCLUBE on all sail track and sail slugs – it makes a HUGE difference on lowering friction on anything it’s sprayed on & I HIGHLY recommend anyone who has slugs oon their sails us it. Our main handles easily, with no super effort needed to raise or lower. I had a single deep reef put in the main, but we hardly ever reef – just drop the main to jib/jigger.We had the Jib cut a bit high, to stay out of the waves/water in Buzzards Bay Chop – it’s 135% on a furler. I like the visability a higher cut sail offers and we get plenty of drive out of it. The Mizzen is conventional battened – with a single reef and works fine.
Oh, I almost forgot my favorite sail – I have a mizzen staysail that I bought from another Dickerson owner (the boat was holed and sunk in NH 6-7 years ago) that I love to fly in wind below 15 Kts. Its really a fun sail to “play” with and it buys me an honest Knot of speed – We surprise many “newer” boats as we sail by under 4 sails. As I say to my wife – more sails = more fun!
Enjoy!
MikeIt’s always nice to see articles out there in the press about our boats & their owners. for the last 4 years we have kept our D36 “Iris” in Westport Ma. Many people have mentioned that they remember seeing the boat on one of our various little jaunts – they always comment on how “classic” the boat looks. True, classic they are.