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Upper Mississippi River C-Dory Trip - Sep. 2021
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colbysmith



Joined: 02 Oct 2011
Posts: 4523
City/Region: Madison
State or Province: WI
C-Dory Year: 2009
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: C-Traveler
Photos: C-Traveler and Midnight-Flyer
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 9:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi John,
Some more good advice. I also just call the lock by name or number. Not necessarily the right number, but a number. Confused (I mean, by the time you go through a dozen locks, it's hard to keep track of where you are at... Laughing

Quote:
Fenders can pop...if one does, it’s your rub rail that will be grinding up the wall, so we use six fenders per side (agree always on BOTH sides rather than the minimum of three). Fenders are so much cheaper than rub rails.
While riding up the very large Joe Wheeler lock, we didn’t have the strength to prevent the fore line from slipping on the bollard, driving the stern and engine cowling to scrape up the lock wall. The two of us couldn’t push the stern away. We added a ‘locking cleat’ forward in the cockpit and now have better control with a loop around that. And no, Colby, I still haven’t fully repaired that cowling, it’s just cosmetic like your scratch.
Other suggestions:
When locking up, scan the lock wall for a niche or hollow that could swallow a fender on the way up. The water forcing your boat into the wall can prevent the fender from getting free, which would tend to pull the wall side of your boat underwater and capsize. We heard the T-S superintendent describe how this happens every year, but mostly to small cottage boats and skiffs. Also avoid the recessed service ladders and rungs that can entangle a fender. Keep a sharp line cutter nearby (one that Canada or the USCG would not consider a ‘weapon’ when they ask if you have any ‘weapons’ on board). This is never an issue riding down, since a swallowed fender would merely fall back onto the boat as the boat rides down. Note the bollards within recessed niches...you don’t want your fender to get ‘trapped’ in one when riding UP.


Just some comments to your remarks. Razz If you need 6 fenders per side, your boat is too big! Mr. Green I use exactly 2. Ok, I had an extra one just hanging around, so I use 3 on the starboard side, one near the bow, and two near the stern...sometimes. And popping fenders? Your boat is definitely too big or you are hitting the wall too hard. Mr. Green That Wheeler lock is a dandy. Not sure how you positioned on the bollards, but I place the bollard right next to my cockpit helm, then pull my fore and aft dock lines around it. Didn't have any problems going up or down. I do hang on pretty tight to the lines. But that's mostly to keep the boat centered on the Bollard. I wonder if it matters where the line's boat cleats are? My front line is on a cleat just outside the cabin helm window. The aft cleat is near the stern. Excellent comments about recessed ladders and stationary mooring bits. Fenders are useless that slide into them. Confused
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colbysmith



Joined: 02 Oct 2011
Posts: 4523
City/Region: Madison
State or Province: WI
C-Dory Year: 2009
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: C-Traveler
Photos: C-Traveler and Midnight-Flyer
PostPosted: Tue Sep 28, 2021 11:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I finished repairing the gouge I got in C-Traveler's side. Couldn't get the color match perfect, but maybe I'll do a little more work on it later. I'll upload some more photos in the cruise photo album of the repair. Colby
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colbysmith



Joined: 02 Oct 2011
Posts: 4523
City/Region: Madison
State or Province: WI
C-Dory Year: 2009
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: C-Traveler
Photos: C-Traveler and Midnight-Flyer
PostPosted: Thu Sep 30, 2021 2:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sure hope some of the others on this expedition share their reactions. But anyway, just some statistics from C-Traveler. I forgot to note my engine time, and maybe I can figure that out before I head out again in another week. I will have just a bit higher stats, since I took one of my kids and his cousin out on the boat the day before we officially departed St. Paul. We went up stream thru Lock 1 and just a mile beyond.

260 gals of gasoline used (in the boat). I think average price I paid on the water was around $3.69/gal. (The first 100 gals was at $2.95/gal! Wink)
598 NM or 657 SM. A good majority of this was at 15 kts, or about 17 mph. So I averaged about 2.5mpg. That was with a Yamaha 150, and a 15 x 13 aluminum 3 bladed prop.
Two dozen down lockages with the group, and then add the up and down lockage in lock 1 for me.
13 days on the cruise with the group. 1 extra day cruising for me. 4 days on the road. (One to tow the boat to St. Paul, one to drive the rig down to Alton, one to return to St. Paul with my kid's car, and then one day home from Alton. I had approximately 250 miles to St. Paul from Home, and 360 miles from Alton to Home. The distance between Watergate marina and Alton marina was 534 miles each way. Ford F150 averaged about 12 mpg towing the boat, and about 15 mpg with just the trailer. Not sure what my kid's sporty looking Camaro got, but probably around 19-21. lol. Colby
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Bluechablis



Joined: 17 Aug 2012
Posts: 171
City/Region: Redondo Beach
State or Province: CA
C-Dory Year: 2001
C-Dory Model: 22 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Far C'r
Photos: Far C'r
PostPosted: Fri Oct 01, 2021 9:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you Colby for all the images and commentary on the trip, I appreciate it. I finally got a new engine for my Jeep and will be picking it up next week, otherwise I would have been enjoying the Miss River adventure with the rest of the group. Maybe next year Smile
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Floyd & Eiko

Far C'r - 2001 Cdory 22
Bluechablis - 1992 NorSea 27
Quarter Note - 1972 Cris Craft Sloop
Palantir - 1971 31 Mariner Ketch (Far Seer in Elvish)
Aphrodite - 42 Ft Schooner Jay Benford Design
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Jim Gibson



Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Posts: 612
City/Region: Sacramento
State or Province: CA
C-Dory Year: 1998
C-Dory Model: 22 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Pounder
Photos: Pounder
PostPosted: Fri Oct 01, 2021 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, we finally made it home, October 1st, as planned. We spent 6 days driving out to Watergate Marina (St. Paul), and spent 7 days driving back from Grafton, Illinois to Sacramento, California. The land part of this trip for us from California was much more challenging than the water part. We put 4,600 miles on our truck and trailer for this journey, out and back.

The Upper Mississippi is a great expedition cruise for our C-Dory’s. The weather in September was almost perfect for this trip. Very little rain, some warm days, some cool days, but generally nice weather. The bugs were also minor. The water levels were fine, though low in some marinas where you had to be careful.

I want to thank everyone who came on this trip: Scott & Barb (Little Bit), Colby (C- Traveler), Lewis & Doris (Cat Claw), and Steve & Karen (SeaSpray). It is the people who make these trips memorable, not the destination, or even the journey.

A special thanks goes out to Colby for his pathfinding leadership on the trip. We all appreciate his leading the way downriver for the rest of us. Also, Colby, thanks for arranging the get-together at Doug’s boathouse in Winona. Dr. Doug is quite the host and a very interesting fellow. You meet the nicest people on a C-Dory.

Another special thanks go out to Steve & Karen for driving out and back with us. You were great company that we enjoyed. Also, thanks for helping us with our trailer flat at Grafton. Your assistance was highly valued.

Scott & Barb, thanks for showing up and being in the arena. You also gave us good advice regarding the marinas you visited ahead of us.

A final special thanks to Dr. Lewis & Doris. Lew was the only one on this trip to be a 3-medal recipient for joining us on three major river expeditions (Upper Mississippi, Cumberland/Tennessee, and Snake/Columbia Rivers).

I would recommend the Upper Mississippi to any C-Dory owner as a destination cruise. I put 64 hours on my Honda engine going through two dozen locks and traveling the 625 nautical miles down-stream, at an average speed of close to 10 NMH.

I would have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the Midwest hospitality that I experienced on this trip. Everyone was so kind to us and interested in our Mark Twain’s Big River excursion. Even the "Loopers" we met on this trip were interested in our journey.

Now I have to rest up a few days from the drive home, clean up the boat, and put it away for the winter. I don’t know how many more of these expedition cruises I have left in me. Hopefully I will have a few more.

_________________
Jim on M/V Pounder
And the C-Tales Continue
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hardee



Joined: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 12632
City/Region: Sequim
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2005
C-Dory Model: 22 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Sleepy-C
Photos: SleepyC
PostPosted: Sun Oct 10, 2021 4:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just barely got home myself from a road trip MN to CO to NM to OR and home so missed your whole trip thread but just read the last page. Now I need to go back and go through the whole thread so I can know what to look for next Fall, (Maybe). Sounds like all are home safe so that is good.

Harvey
SleepyC Moon


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Though in our sleep we are not conscious of our activity or surroundings, we should not, in our wakefulness, be unconscious of our sleep.
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