Factory vist for the Mary Ellen

[Big Mac]

I recently e-mailed Jeff and asked when they would have time to do a few up-grades to the Mary Ellen. He said bring her up anytime. I took the boat in on Nov. 7th. Shortly afer I arrived I was met by Adam who said he would be doing the work. He listened and took down notes. I told him I wanted to get the new fuel tank mounting system and also the new fiberglass fronts. He said that the fronts had recently been updated to have fuel level site cutouts. I also wanted to get the new hinge and lock system for the table. As we were looking thru the plant I noticed a new latch and stop for the cabin door. He said they could also put that on for me. Before I had been there 15 minutes Scot Renyolds came out and looked at the boat and asked what I was here for. It sure is nice to have the Factory president still show an interest almost 4 years after he sold me the boat. I left knowing that the boat was in good hands. I got a call on Friday and was told that the boat should be ready Monday to be picked up. I went up Tuesday Nov. 15th. and was not disappointed. As Adam was showing me the upgrades he mentioned that he had freshened up all the teak, boy did it look nice. Again Scot and Jeff were there and made sure that all the work was done to my satisfaction. I had also had the 100 hour service done on the twin Hondas. All the work looked great, the price was fair and it was done in 1 week. I quess by now I should not be surprized with C-dory, but it still amazes me with all the boats they are building that they still find time to give great service to a customer that bought his boat nearly 4 years ago. I guess it shows, I am a great fan of the C-dory Marine Group. On page 4 of the Mary Ellen album are the upgrades.

[rogerbum]

It's great to hear that the fuel sight level cutouts are now part of the new covers. They weren't when mine got upgraded a couple of months ago but I strongly encouraged them to do so (especially now that the tank covers are a bit wider - it's a little harder to see the tanks). I mentioned that I had seen that somebody else on the C-Brat site had done that (sorry don't remember who). Anyways, a little input from me (AND I'm guessing others) a couple of months ago and the factors has already implemented the change. Nice.

As an aside, since you likely don't have the bigger fuel tanks installed (unless you upgraded them since the purchase), you might want to talk to them about the new side chocks for the tanks prior to having them do the work. On mine, they used a template designed for the newer tanks so the tanks are really up against the chocks. Not a huge issue in terms of the tanks as the strapping keeps them from moving around anyway. However, the new chocks are significantly closer together than the old ones and the cooler no longer fits between. Had I known in advance that was going to happen and had a little time to think about it, I probably would have asked to pay the cost of the new, 25 gal tanks and had them installed at the same time. Given that they have it apart anyway, it should be easy to swap to the larger tanks at a price a little greater than the cost of the tanks. It will increase the range.

Roger on the SeaDNA

[Byrdman]

Yes, one of the nicer things about C-Dory ownership is the response from the factory.....A F T E R.... you are an owner. Many folks communicate great before you are an owner, but our factory really wants us to enjoy our boats and really does great follow on work too. Who knows.... I may just drag my new to me 1985 18' Angler back over for some of the current "upgrades" and take advantage of the quality work and skills of the folks in the shop.

[Big Mac]

Roger, Thanks a lot for your input, I too had thought that I would miss being able to see the fuel status. I was pleasantly surprized when they informed me of the changes. I failed to mention in my post that I had already upgraded to the larger tanks a while back. Happy Boating, Big Mac.