DaySailer.org Forum

Greetings,

As a new DS II (1983) owner I want to replace the cuddy edge molding which is brittle, and discolored. In all the forum posting categories no one has covered this topic and nothing at D&R is offered for sale.

Has anyone replaced this "cuddy" edge trim molding? and what vendor can you recommend?

Thanks,

Mark

I replaced mine, and I know I got it from D&R - check their website under deck and hull parts in the Daysailer specific section. I carefully used a putty knife to remove the old - it cracked and fell off for the most part. It was an easy and big improvement to the appearance of the cockpit. I highly recommend it.

Yes, D&R has it here:

http://www.drmarine.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DS241

Thanks for the quick responses. I will look again at D&R.

Recently bought a set of new upgraded stays, spreaders, rubber spreader boots... but just didn't see the trim.

Sincerely,

Mark

May as well just go ahead and bookmark D&R - if you're anything like the rest of us, you'll be back often! ;-P

Ditto for the D&R bookmark, I use it for most of my DS and Mariner parts.

D&R is definitely my most used source for parts. I occasionally get a few things from Stuart Marine as well.

I replaced the cuddy trim on my boat about 9 years ago, still doing good.

John

I am in the process of building a cuddy door and want a trim that will form a seal. It doesn't need to be water tight, but enough so that's it keeps rain water out. Thinking about going through www.acmerubber.com for the seal. They have many different materials to choose from. When I do, I'll report back on how it worked.

The best way to keep rainwater out would be a gutter. Glue some suitable U-channel or L-channel across the upper cuddy edge, so that it overlaps the top edge of your hatch. That way, rainwater won't get in from the top.

With the hatch overlapping on the sides, any rain from the side should drain down into the cockpit rather than sideways into the opening - well, at least most of it, and you wrote it didn't need to be perfect.

The problem with any form of rubber seal is that you'd need uniform pressure to make it work. That puts additional demands on the stiffness of your hatch and the positioning, type and number of your latches.

A variant would be an internal gutter. Glue a curved backing piece to the inside top of the hatch and cut a channel in that. Rain would collect and drain to the sides. Block the ends of the channel and drill drain holes to the front, and any water that gets in between hatch and deck will end up channeled and drained. (Be sure to epoxy coat any exposed wood). A side benefit is that such an internal backing piece will dramatically stiffen your hatch cover. You may be able to go down to a thinner material for the hatch itself.

For years I have used neoprene foam weather seal tape (I think it's 3/8 x 1) on my one-piece hatch, and it has always stayed dry from rain. You can buy real marine gasket material from Bomar and Taco, I have just used the stuff from my local hardware store. It is 5-year rated neoprene rubber. It is open-cell, so it is not waterproof, but the stuff has never leaked through. I think one thing that helps is that the cuddy trim (the original subject of this thread) pushes into the foam and compresses it. BTW, while I support getting the precut trim from D&R, if you are shopping around for gasket material, I think you will find that the trim is also available from places that sell materials for cars.

I am not sure if my hatch would seal the cuddy in a capsize. The hatch has a lip that sits on the bottom edge of the bulkhead and is held in place at the bottom with a flap of plywood. The sides and top are held in place with two latches. The sketchy part of the seal is the transition from the bottom edge (sealed by pressure pushing down) and the sides and top (sealed by pressure from the latches).

A major complication on my boat is that the bulkhead is not flat. The bulkhead below the tanks is almost vertical. Above the tanks, it slopes forward. It appears from the layup work in the cuddy that the cuddy and the cockpit liner were made as separate pieces. O'Day slathered them with fabric and resin to fit them together. The lower edge of the hatch angles away from the bulkhead surface, so the tape has to go on the lip, not on the hatch itself. When the hatch is forced flat against the upper bulkhead (with some bending), the sides and top seal with the foam.

I improved the fit by installing two 1x2 oak strips inside the cuddy that bridge the arc of the bulkhead on the concave side. Every once in a while I give the bolts that hold the oak steps a couple of turns, and that has reduced the transition angle slightly.

talbot wrote:I am not sure if my hatch would seal the cuddy in a capsize.

How high does your boat ride in the water when capsized? I thought one of the points of having a smaller cuddy opening in the DSII (compared to the DS1) was to keep water from flowing in when the boat is on its side (all bets are off when the boat is turtled, of course).

Getting a hatch to seal when the opening is under water would appear rather more difficult than keeping out splashing water or rain.

I will defer to members who have actually capsized their boats, but I have it on good authority that there is ample room for water to fill the cuddy when the boat is on its side,

The advertising for the Day Sailer III and for the current Cape Cod Day Sailer indicate that all earlier boats are not generally capable of self-rescue. The promotional materials claim the improved safety of the later models is due to sealing hatches and to foam floatation under the after deck of the Cape Cod boats.

My modifications to my DS II basically consist of retrofitting it to include the later design changes. I even saw a design for installing an after deck, but I haven't undertaken that one yet.

Having had the whole capsize experience twice I can say that initially my boat sits on it's side high enough to keep water out of the cuddy. Small openings along the hull deck joint lets water in however and the boat will slowly begin to "settle" low enough to allow water into the cuddy even with my hatch cover in place. This is the main reason I filled my bilge with pool noodles to provide flotation and limit the amount of water that can get in the bilge. If the boat can be righted quickly, chances of too much water collecting in the bilge can be reduced. Flotation of the mast head is very important to keep th boat from turtling.

My main reason for having a hatch is not so much to keep water out if I should capsize, but rather to keep my "stuff" in the cuddy in case of a capsize.

John

Update on the cuddy hatch:
I claimed in an earlier post that the open-cell foam weatherstripping that seals my hatch never leaks. No longer true. We had a violent storm last week, and yesterday I found a small amount of water in the cuddy. So maybe it is worth getting actual solid rubber marine hatch gasket.

Since I never noticed rain leakage before, this also might just be latch adjustment. I replaced the seal this spring, and the latches have to be loosened up whenever I put on new tape. The hatch has been on for about 3 weeks, and I never tightened up the latches. I'll crank them down and see what happens in the next storm.

Rainwater can get into the cuddy many ways:
1) around the hatch opening (hard to seal)
2) around mast is your boat is pre-1984 and has mast stepped through cuddy top.
3) the 2 drains that allow any water that gets in the cuddy to drain back to the cockpit..... in a heavy rainstorm the cockpit can fill up faster than the self-bailer can drain it. Water then tends to flow into the cuddy through those 2 holes. I put flappers (check-valves?) on mine but they don't seal well enough.

On another point. Best way to avoid water getting into cuddy if you capsize? EASY! DON'T CAPSIZE!
When sailing a Day Sailer (like any centerboard boat), ALWAYS keep the mainsheet in your hand, let the cam-cleat hold the tension, but keep that mainsheet in hand. If a gust of wind hits, you can quickly pop the line out of the cam-cleat and let the sail out allowing the boat to come back up without going over. If the winds are strong, sail without the jib (raise CB slightly to reduce weather helm), or if you have your boat set up for reefing the main (slab-reefing is far better than the original, standard roller-reefing), reef the main. Using a boom-vang helps to flatten the sail, reducing the heeling effect, as does tightening the outhaul. I also have a tiller-extension to allow sitting out on the side decks while sailing, amazing how much sitting there levels the boat and reduces heeling (even when I weighed less than my current 200+ pounds!) Using these techniques I have avoided capsizing for 20 seasons on windy, Buzzards Bay, MA (and 8 seasons prior with a Widgeon) mostly sailing solo. Yes, I've had a couple of "close calls", but I've successfully avoided capsizing my DS II.