Dufour owners

TBenolken · Jan 28, 2015

Have a 2006 455 GL in chicago. Have never seen a dufour owner piston the site. Enjoy your boat

Freewinds · Feb 12, 2015

Hi Jess,
I have a 79 Dufour 31, absolutely love the boat, sailed thousands of miles on her on the Great Lakes.
My wife and I are looking forward to heading south until we see palm trees and then West until we see islands. Perhaps in a year or so. Id be happy to share thoughts regarding the Dufour's
Regards,
Free..

kesagape · Apr 7, 2015

Hello Fellow Dufour Owners:

I purchased my Dufour 27 about a year ago. She was pretty much a bare bones daysailer with all original stuff...no modifications. I spent the last year outfitting, upfitting, and adding to make her a cruising sailboat for short trips, something my wife and I can handle. The boat is in Norfolk right now and I will be bringing her down to Edenton, NC where I recently relocated to as a retirement destination. See my profile for before and after pictures.

Karl and Alicia

Jackdaw · Apr 7, 2015

kesagape said:
Hello Fellow Dufour Owners:

I purchased my Dufour 27 about a year ago. She was pretty much a bare bones daysailer with all original stuff...no modifications. I spent the last year outfitting, upfitting, and adding to make her a cruising sailboat for short trips, something my wife and I can handle. The boat is in Norfolk right now and I will be bringing her down to Edenton, NC where I recently relocated to as a retirement destination. See my profile for before and after pictures.

Karl and Alicia

Karl thanks for posting your pictures. I have very fond memories of the very first boat I ever chartered many years ago; a red Dufour 27 called 'Dufour Fun'. It was not the fastest boat, but easily the most seaworthy 27 foot boat I've even been on.

Freewinds · May 23, 2015

trainmanjess said:
hello freewinds

I hope to see you down in florida soon.... give me a buzz when you come down, maybe we can get together and have drinks or a meal together.... my wife and I would enjoy meeting up with you and your wife....

let me know of any improvements or changes you have done to your boat.... also do you have any concerns with your Dufour, that might also be part of my boat too ?

sincerely
Jess

Wow! Jess thank you for the invite! I apologize for to getting back to you sooner! Time flies! I have been offline working on the boat and other things but currently I am replacing the cutlass bearing on my Dufour 31. Not a difficult job WITH THE RIGHT TOOLS! Impossible with out them but here is the kicker. On the 31, the bearing has a 1 1/2 OD and an 25 millimeter ID.. this is not a standard part and if you dont know this you will order the WRONG part! So I called Duramax Directly and told them my measurements . The knowledgeable person I spoke with replied with" You have a European boat don' t you! " I said yes, have you heard of this before? He said they did. So the bottom line is that the new bearing needs to be turned on a lathe to 1 1/2 " OD. Standard metric bearing is 40 mm OD. About .074 too big. I had access to a lathe so did it myself. I didnt think any one would ever mix the two systems on the same part but live and learn. Any wise, we are going to splash her next week. Just bought a new main sail, looking forward to that. I'll attach some pics in the future. Cheers to the start of another season!
Freewinds

Bandt31 · Dec 1, 2019

Hi Freewinds, I'm in the process of replacing the cutlass bearing on my Dufour 31 (1977) and found your comments interesting. Care to expand on the process at all (THE RIGH TOOLS...) etc.? I would be really interested to know more. I'm at the point of pulling the prop off and then sliding the shaft out. Much appreciated, -Chris