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Garage, Galley & Hangar
GG&H
Technical Owner's Manual
Cape Dory 30FIG. 1
30.21'
CAPE DORY YACHTS
Cape Dory 30
The Complete Owner's Reference
REV 1.0 · 140 PP
SAILBOAT · 30.21'
GARAGE, GALLEY & HANGAR
9 chapters · 91-term glossary · 90-entry index
Sailboat · Cape Dory Yachts

Cape Dory 30

The Cape Dory 30 is a Carl Alberg full-keel pocket cruiser, built in heavy solid glass by Andrew Vavolotis's Cape Dory Yachts in East Taunton, Massachusetts, from 1976 to 1986. It suits the sailor who values seaworthiness and Spartan bronze craftsmanship over speed and interior volume, a boat owners have taken across oceans but one that is slow in light air and narrow below. This reference is honest about the upkeep behind the looks: the bronze ports and hardware that need endless rebedding, a balsa deck core that wets at fittings, the aging parts-scarce Volvo MD7A behind a brutal V-drive, and a head and icebox that drain into the bilge.

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A sample of what's inside

Specifications

Length overall30.21 ft (9.21 m)
Beam9.0 ft (2.74 m), narrow by modern standards
Displacement10,000 lb, with 4,000 lb encapsulated lead ballast (approx. 40%)
Keel and rigFull keel with keel-hung rudder; masthead ketch (early) then cutter (later), sloop optional
EngineVolvo Penta MD7A 13 hp or 2-cyl Universal diesel (earliest boats a 12 hp Yanmar)
Used marketapprox. $12k to 45k, condition-driven

Known issues, covered honestly

  • The Cape Dory signature: bronze ports and deck fittings whose bedding ages out and leaks, a rebed-forever tax you inherit on any boat that has not had it done (and never with silicone, which corrodes the bronze).
  • The original Spartan tapered-plug bronze seacocks seize if they are not greased and exercised, and a below-waterline seacock you cannot close is a sinking risk, so every one must actually operate.
  • The out-of-production Volvo MD7A means expensive, scarce parts and a V-drive so tight that every oil change is a crawl, so a boat that needs a repower soon carries a roughly $12k to 20k liability.
  • A genuine design flaw, not just age: the icebox, head sink, and shower all drain into the bilge, leaving a smelly bilge and a fouled pump wherever a prior owner never re-plumbed it to a proper sump.

…and the full survey guide, service schedules, systems, and parts sourcing in the complete volume.

Custom Edition

Make it your boat.

We fold in your year, your engine, your electronics and refits, your hull number, and your vessel name and your own boat's photo on the cover. The book stops describing the boat that left the factory and starts describing the one in your slip.

$260
personalized to your vessel