Desert Dory - Lake Havasu Oct 2020

[Desert Dory]

Day 6:

Ahhhhhhhhh, a nice, uneventful night's sleep and we wake up to a beautiful, glassy, but somewhat brisk morning. Today we're in absolutely no hurry to be, or go, anywhere. We have covered quite a bit of the lake by this time in the trip (115 water miles by the end) and really don't have a game plan. So, we just hang for a bit, sip our coffee and tea, and enjoy the tranquility of Copper Canyon.







Around 9am the Mrs decides it has warmed up enough (like I had mentioned earlier, she has ZERO concern for the water temp, because she just doesn't fall in, only the air temp) for her to get in some exercise by doing a bit of paddle-boarding. There was one of those lighthouses just outside the entrance to Copper Canyon that she wants to go take a look at. I get the board off the rack for her and send her on her way. While she's gone I'll go ahead and get some breakfast going and maybe do a little reading.

Oh! One thing I thought about while just hanging out this week is how much polishing/waxing I could have gotten done. I'll have to put together a kit to keep on board for just such an occasion. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE just sitting and doing nothing but, there where a few times where I thought it would be nice to get some of that work done.




A little while later the Mrs gets back and we have some eats, relax for a bit and she decides she wants to go for another paddle to check out another lighthouse see saw while she was out the first time.







This gets me thinking about something I've thought about a few times now. COMM's! It's time to pick up a fixed VHF for the Dory so the Mrs can take the handheld with her when she ventures off. Right now, I figure if she's not back in an hour or so, I go looking. With the handheld and a fixed radio we'll have COMM's good for several miles. If something actually does go wrong she can hit the DSC distress button on the handheld and I'll get the alert and her position will show on the map on the chartplotter. Sooooooo fancy!

While she's gone this time around I noticed a few boats have come motoring thru canyon and I can see them giving me the stink eye, along with some muffled cursing, because we're occupying THE best parking spot in the entire canyon. Tata losers.... :wave:

Anyhow, she gets back awhile later and we get things ready to go. We're only about 14 miles from the ramp where we launched so we'll just kind of slow crawl, check out some more coves and lighthouses, potential overnight spots, etc, etc, before finding a spot close to where we launched to call it a night.








While we're just puttering along around 6 mph I decide to throttle us back to about 900 rpm and 3 mph and send a silver and black Rattle Trap off the back of the Dory. It wasn't about 2 minutes later that we picked up this little striped bass. Actually caught 2 of them but the second one was even smaller than this little guy.




And more lighthouses.






HEEEEERRRRRE's JOHNNY!



We meander on down the lake and keep an eye out for potential beaches to call home for the night. We wanted to be somewhat close to where we launched from and this place happens to be right across the lake from the ramp we took off from 7 days ago. We decide this will be a great place to spend what will be our last night on Lake Havasu.

How about that! Someone even named it for us!



Now someone else is giving us the stink eye! What's wrong with these folks!!












And, so ends our 6th day.

[Desert Dory]

Day 7:

So, here we are, our last morning on the lake and it’s looking like it’s going to be another beautiful day. We go thru the usual morning routine in a leisurely fashion and, even though I can tell the Mrs is about ready to get home again, I’m somewhat melancholy realizing that it’s time to pack it in. I like doing this and really don’t want to go back home just yet.







As we’re packing stuff away in preparation to load the Dory on the trailer for the trip back to Tucson, a boat across the lake catches my eye. “Is that another C-Dory?!?” I ask myself. I excitedly call to the Mrs, who’s stowing stuff in the cabin, “Hey Hon! I think there’s another C-Dory over there across the lake!! Check it out!!!”. She gives me a little eye roll but stops what she’s doing and joins me in the cockpit, “Where?”. I say “Right over there” and point to a little white speck in a cove a mile or so across the lake. She’s like “Oh, ok…” and goes back to what she was doing. I go in the cabin and grab the binoculars and check out the speck. Well, sure enough! How bout that! It’s another 22 cruiser and it even has the gray trim just like the Desert Dory.


Now, it’s not every day you see another C-Dory, much less one that’s pretty much the twin to the one you have.


We finish packing stuff away, start the engine, pull in the anchors, and set a course for the white speck across the lake. Now, I could have just pinned the throttle and got over there in about a minute but I show some restraint and did the usual 6.5 mph slow cruise across.





So, here’s Gary (we’ll call him Gary because that’s his real name) and his 1999 C-Dory 22’ Cruiser, the C-Rover. Gary and his wife are here from the So Cal area and, according to Gary, they spend a few weeks every spring and fall at Havasu in their 5th wheel. They've owned their Dory for about 2 years now.

Gary likes fishing, enjoys long walks on the beach and a nice, vintage, Pinot Noir… (hahahaha….)





We talk about C-Dory’s with Gary for awhile, say goodbye, and head for the ramp. The truck’s still there (YAY!!!) and we load up the Dory, pull her up the ramp (out of the way of others, thank you) and get her ready for the road. As we’re getting the Dory ready a somewhat excited lady comes over to say hello. She’s Gary’s wife (sadly I can’t remember her name) and starts telling us they have a boat just like this, and how wonderful it is, etc, etc…. We tell her we ran into her husband Gary out on the lake and we chat for another 20 minutes. I ask her for an email address so I can send them a couple of photos. Nice folks!







Anyhow, as we wrap things up, it’s been a great week for us. The Mrs and I have been married for almost 35 years now, raised 2 great kids, and are at a point in our lives where we’re able to get away by ourselves a little more. While we have, and do, actually take “real vacations”, I think I prefer these low-key, get away from it all, trips.

I’m also finding as I reach that “Get off my lawn!!!” stage of life, trips like this are what really allow me to reboot and recharge. Whether it’s with a good friend like Ken (my Powell Buddy), my wonderful wife, or just out by myself, being out there, SOMEWHERE!, pretty much away from others, and enjoying the wonders of God’s creation is just what I need every once in a while. I'm also very blessed that my wife is not a high maintenance, queen bee type of lady, and is willing to join me in simple adventures like this.

We've only had the Dory for a little over a year now and, since we both love the water, we're finding it's just about a perfect get-away vehicle for us, even if it's just for a couple of days at our tiny local lake. Desert Dory is not a luxury cruiser by any means. But, she is simple, comfortable, and safe. I pray we can do this for a long time to come.

Cheers!

[TyBoo]

Thank you so much for this! I really enjoyed it!

[Hunkydory]

An enjoyable read & photos. Thanks much for sharing.

Jay

[dutch123]

Thanks for the write up and pics. Isn’t it great to meet another C-dory owner out on the water and have an instant connection! Happy cruising!

[JamesTXSD]

Great day-by-day tale and photos - thanks for sharing!

[Desert Dory]

[JamesTXSD]

[hank clow]

Thoroughly enjoyed your log and pictures as I look out my window at snow flakes and howling winds off Lake Superior. The C-Brats site is true therapy during our quarantine days.

Thank you
Pat Clow