The Decision to Buy: how long did it take?

jimandlaurie · Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:12 pm Post subject:

1986- I was on vacation visiting from Denver where I lived at the time...We were traveling southbound on Pacific when I spotted a boat on a pole..thought that was pretty cool...liked the boat!
Having grown up on the Uniflite pictured in our Album, this new one I saw was nothing like that.

2001- Moved to Seattle in 1990, and wanted a boat! Always had the C-Dory in mind, but all we could handle was a 12' Livingston(hmmm familiar now).

2002- we were in position to buy a boat and the C-Dory was it !! We looked and looked at used , and said the heck with it ..we bought a new one..22 Cruiser,and was asked if it could be the SBS Boat ,and the rest is ongoing.

2005 We bit the big one the ,25 Cruise Ship.

Captains Cat · Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:27 pm Post subject:

Took me about 10 minutes once I saw it at the marina. Then it took me 2 weeks to find the owner, and why it was so neglected. Then a month to pursuade him to sell it to me at an outrageously low price.... Laughing

The rest is "history" as they say.... Very Happy

Hoop · Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:56 pm Post subject:

Nick,
Well how about that. OUTBOARD BOATER's HANDBOOK is right here in front of me and a favorite over the years. I've always enjoyed reading it, and it has definitely influenced my boating perspective. You did the article on River Expertise and one other? Very well done.

SMALL BOAT JOURNAL has been a favorite of mine, too, over the years. And I am pleased to say that the spirit of it is pretty much alive in the relatively new SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR though with a focus on sail and manually powered craft only. But certainly the joy of messing around in small boats continues in those pages, as it also does here at C-BRATS. www.smallcraftadvisor.com

I don't own a C-DORY yet, but it was last summer that my wife said, "I think we need a bigger boat." And those wonderful words have put the gears into motion! My prediction: at least 2 years if not more from idea inception to action, which is a timeframe I have repeated now at least 3 times with 3 different boats so far. (Three other boats were more impulse purchases but at a much lower price point!)

Hunkydory · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:44 am Post subject:

Saw our 1st C Dory in Bridge Bay Marina, on lake yellowstone in Yellowstone National Park in l981. Jo-Lee and I on that day made a pact that we would own a C Dory someday. It took 22 years for that dream to become reality. Even though we know the C Dory history we still named our boat Hunkydory. Websters got it right our boat is "fully satisfactory, all right and safe".

Jay and Jo-Lee

Otter-BelleHavenMarina · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 7:23 pm Post subject:

ffheap · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 11:19 pm Post subject:

Hi Folks,

I first spotted the C-Dory way back in 1988, when I was teaching in a small college in Vermont. I could not afford a C-Dory at that time. About five years ago I started looking for a used C-Dory on the East Coast, and kept missing them by a week or so. (I even tried to buy RIVER HORSE after William Least-Heat Moon spoke in Nantucket.)

On my first USCGAux Meeting, I found my 1983 22' Angler boat in the parking lot on Otis AF Base. After negotiating for about four months, I purchased it in February. It was not exactly what I wanted, but it was the only 22' C-Dory for sale on the East Coast.

I am very happy with the boat.

Would I buy a new 22' Cruiser model or a 25' C-Dory? Yes, if I could afford it. My present boat is paid for, new engine, rebuilt stern, cockpit cover, cushions etc.

I have a theory. Every day is a good day. Every day I can spend on my C-Dory is a better day, even if it's working on it, as I will be doing tomorrow and Sunday.

I went to a boat show today in Foxboro MA today and studied the 25' CD. that Y-Landing Marina was showing. Whether I could afford it, I don't know yet. I do know that I have a great boat in my 1983 Angler. I also know that there was not ONE boat that compare with a C-Dory. We noticed that all the action was at the C-Dory booth.

Happy sailing

Fred Heap

Papillon · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:59 am Post subject:

I discovered the C-Dory in a very round about way. I was searching the web for information on "Circle Hooks" and in one of those Google searches (4000 items)...I saw a reference to the "The Great Circle Loop"..I didn't know what it was but it got my attention and low and behold it took me to Bill & Ell's page. It didn't take me long to bookmark it and I spent the next months reading in over and over. I was captivated by their adventures and travels and their boat. That was the spring of 2005 and I started lurking here at C-Brats.com . Come September I was visiting my cousin in Bremerton, Wa. and he just happen to be friends with Doug, of "Liberty Call". Doug was good enough to take me out on his 22 Cruiser and everything I had come to learn about the boat was confirmed. The search for a boat I could afford to pay cash for was now in high gear. It took all of 45 days and I found "Papillon" at 3 Rivers Marine in Crystal River, Fl. She was not the cruiser I was looking for but she had the same hull and that is all I need to start making her into the boat I wanted. Now...my wife says I have to sell the Boston Whaler 22-Revenge or trade it for another C-Dory, then we could have "His & Hers"

Valkyrie · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:45 pm Post subject:

Hoop,

Thanks for your comments on Outboard Boater's Handbook, but my part in it was very small. Actually, it is smaller than I had remembered. I just checked my copy and I only had one article in it, the "River Expertise" piece that you mentioned, not two as I previously stated. Hey, you should hear my fishing and hunting stories; they really grow larger with the passage of time, too.

Tom on Otter,

Your idea for a new thread about boating magazines is a good idea. At this time, most boating publications leave me cold. There is very little there to grab my attention. The only mag about the water that currently has my attention is SALT WATER SPORTSMAN.

Best regards,

Nick
"Valkyrie"

gljjr · Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:49 pm Post subject:

Two years ago I took several trips to Sekiu and Neah Bay to fish with my son. On our trip to Neah Bay the weather was a little finiky and we had 3-4 foot chop. Not much fun in my sled but we were out there catching fish and having fun! As we were heading in from Tatoosh we were watching all the Deep V's go pounding by. Then a C-Dory came by doing about 15 knots and just as smooth as could be (It was probably Roger from SeaDNA now that I think about it). I looked at Justin and told him we needed one of those! I started working on the better half not long after in a similar fashion to what Roger did... Finally after looking all over I found the 27 on the C-Dog site. Paid to have her surveyed and bought it site unseen. In the next month or so she will get a new motor and hopefully be ship shape for salmon fishing.

I still love my sled and would love to keep it. But 3 boats is a bit more than my wife can handle!