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C-Wannabe
Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 47
State or Province: AB
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C-Wannabe
Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 47
State or Province: AB
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JamesTXSD
Joined: 01 Mar 2005 Posts: 7451 City/Region: from island boy to desert dweller
State or Province: AZ
C-Dory Year: 2007
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: "Wild Blue" (sold 9/14)
Photos: Wild Blue
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Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:15 pm Post subject: |
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Greetings C-Wannabe,
Welcome aboard. I have to take exception with your "Gospel and final word"... this forum that you are reading right now has the most comprehensive and factual data from the folks who are actually USING these boats. Not a "one day review" like you'll see in most magazines, nor stats from the builder... just honest to goodness real world, this-is-how-it-is stuff to do with our boats.
When we were in the search-mode for a C-Dory, I got more information here than from the factory (and the factory was my dealer at that time). I was told what to look for, what to look out for, what options worked for some folks, and what to expect. Thanks to this forum, this was one of the best-informed buying decisions I have ever made. Oh sure, there were still a few surprises, but none of those "I had no idea" moments.
Good luck with your search/research.
Best wishes,
Jim B. _________________ Jim & Joan
CD-25 "Wild Blue" (sold August 2014)
http://captnjim.blogspot.com/
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C-Wannabe
Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 47
State or Province: AB
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Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:55 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Jim!
That gospel comment was added with a bit of tongue in cheek.
Anyone who has stumbled onto this great site knows where the real "gospel and last word" lies!
Right now I'm contemplating the thought of retirement in a couple of years and buying a small cruiser to do the Loop or a variation on that theme. My shortlist of boats includes the C-Dory 25 (our 20ish daughter and dog might join the crew, otherwise it'd be a C-Dory 22) and the Rosborough RF-246 Sedan Cruiser. The latter is heavier, though, and more expensive used so the 25 looks more attractive all around.
And you can share the blame on that choice, Jim, what with the exploits of Wild Blue beckoning drooling buyers like me. Shame on you!
Something else I wanted to mention to wannabes are the great construction photos shown in the Anna Leigh photo files. Reading about balsa core and actually seeing it in a pic are two different things. Great stuff! A guy could spend weeks rummaging through this site. |
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C-Wannabe
Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 47
State or Province: AB
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Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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Let's throw a couple of books with C-Dory "heroes" (the boats, not the authors) in for wannabes, too:
River Horse: A Voyage Across America by William Least Heat-Moon
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showthreaded&Number=168336&site_id=1#import (reviews, interviews, Amazon.com excerpt, etc.) C-Dory 22
Landfall Along the Chesapeake: In the Wake of Captain John Smith by Susan Schmidt... C-Dory 22 again
To my knowledge, this is the only book with a C-Dory featured on its front cover. A good pic of "Landfall" can be found in the For Sale Pics in the CBTechLibrary of this forum or you could have a gander at the boat and her Boykin spaniel at www.susanschmidt.net/index.htm ... or read her entire daily log at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/landfall/index.html
Both books should be cheap cheap cheap at www.bookfinder.com or www.abebooks.com . Susan's book is also up at Google Books where a lot of it is there for the reading.
I consider El and Bill's online "Halcyon Days" volume to be as enjoyable as the aforementioned tomes -- actually far more so. And the price is right, too! |
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C-Wannabe
Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 47
State or Province: AB
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 9:50 am Post subject: |
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Another article for wannabes who think a C-Dory 22 is cramped space for two/three:
Exploring With Penelope: Four Thousand Miles in a Hundred-Dollar Canoe
May/June 2009 Number 208 WoodenBoat www.woodenboat.com/wbmag/index.html (small "free" pic in table of contents)
Penelope is a 22-foot Chestnut freighter canoe with a beam of 62" and depth of 24". Total carrying capacity is 5,000 lbs. The authors use a small tent onboard -- and travel with their cat.
It can be done! |
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C-Wannabe
Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 47
State or Province: AB
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:18 am Post subject: |
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Another book for wannabes (and one that should have had a C-Dory 22 on the front cover):
Cruising in a Big Way by Richard Cook
29 page preview available at www.lulu.com/browse/preview.php?fCID=5835870 ....Just forward page number to see next page of content
or click on www.lulu.com/content/5835870 to order either hardcopy or cheaper downloadable version.
The book focuses on doing the Inside Passage but is applicable to cruising in small boats in general. And all this from the perspective of folks who had virtually no boating experience but worked their way up to gain solid sea legs. Original cruiser was a C-Dory 22, now upgraded to a Bounty 257 Offshore Pilot (why not a C-Dory 25??) The 22-footer was the Cindy Sea which you can find in the photos section. |
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El and Bill
Joined: 08 Nov 2003 Posts: 3200 City/Region: Lakewood, CO
State or Province: CO
C-Dory Year: 2000
C-Dory Model: 22 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Halcyon
Photos: Halcyon
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 12:44 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the kind comments about our website. We have been asked by several publishers to put it in book form, but they said that would require removal from the Internet! We turned them down - we like keeping the tales free for folks and our audience has exceeded a half a million viewers - unlikely to have such a readership if in a book format. _________________ El and Bill (former live-aboards)
Halcyon 2000 CD 22 Bought 2000 Sold 2012
http://cruisingamerica-halcyondays.com/ |
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C-Wannabe
Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 47
State or Province: AB
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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If there is a pumping heart and soul to the C-Dory clan it would be the two of you. Your generous website words not only contain much knowledge but overflow with wisdom, too.
The only folks I can compare you to is a couple of dedicated beach bums by the name of Ida Little and Michael Walsh. I remember whipping off a letter to them after reading their fine article "In Search of Anse Dufour: Canoe Cruising in the Caribbean" which appeared in Small Boat Journal in 1987. Their boating motto? Keep it simple, as in a canoe if possible. Ida graciously wrote me back a quick note about their new trailerable 36-foot liveaboard, built with an 18" draft so they could still ground out on sandy beaches in the Bahamas where they had decided to spend winters. (It was felt that a canoe was probably not the best craft for the trip over the Gulf Stream or as a long-term liveaboard.) The new boat's name? Beachcomber! At the time they were polishing off a manuscript that eventually came out as the 352 page "Beachcruising and Coastal Camping" (1992).
Beachcomber led them to more adventures which were published as "The Thin-Water Alternative" (Cruising World Oct 1998) and "License to Play" (Cruising World Sept 2001). The latter article summed up their philosophy best: "We chose cruising as a lifestyle many years ago, intentionally selecting a life in the wild with enough leisure time to appreciate it...For me, a day of bird-watching is a day well spent." Sound familiar?
I was thinking of following in their sandy foosteps, but my wife and I got sidetracked with a multi-year move to Australia -- a daughter then soon appeared etc etc -- and we never left our simple canoe and folding kayak modes. With the years rolling by, I'd like to get back to a long-term cruise by boat but a) don't like to abandon my old VW campervan (I hesitate in dumping it for a new tow vehicle since we only run one vehicle and will not get a second one) and b) feel guilty about going to the dark side and using a "stinkpot" on the water (a nice stinkpot, mind you, but a stinkpot nonetheless). Our VW land-based stinkpot gets about 24 mpg on the highway -- or about 6 times the cruising economy of a fuel efficient powerboat. Add a folding boat or canoe to the equation and there are thousands of places to explore. But, yes, it ain't the same and you can't get to a lot of out-of-the-way anchorages. And, yes, we're getting older and it ain't as easy on the back/joints/fill-in-the-blank. Plus we're cheapskates and the thought of dropping $50,000 to $80,000+ for a used boat/used tow vehicle in these recessionary times is a bit offputting. Keep it simple? Hmmmmmm.
We've driven from one end of the continent to the other using VWs and still manage to find some great spots regardless of the great unwashed masses. A couple of summers back, we had the rare privilege of watching 45 orcas go cruising by us no more than 20 to 30 feet away -- and we weren't on a boat but a beach! All of them zipped by to rub their bodies on that pebbly beach, with three of them sideways abreast underwater at the same time. A humpback was trumpeting offshore while all this was going on! Again, the cranky old VW got us there and we had a folding kayak to expand our watery reach. Not perfect, but it works. And at the danger of being considered a sentimental flake, that old VW is considered a part of our family, not a mere vehicle.
Would I do the Great Loop in a kayak or canoe? Nope. Which is why a C-Dory is a consideration. But is it the simplest cruising/travel mode, keeping K.I.S.S. firmly in mind? Hmmmmmm.
Decisions, decisions.... |
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snal
Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 524 City/Region: Asheville
State or Province: NC
C-Dory Year: 1994
C-Dory Model: 22 Angler
Vessel Name: Thelma Lou
Photos: Thelma Lou
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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I agree C-Wannabe!
Years ago...I saw a C Dory in a hard copy of "Boat Trader". My jaw dropped on looks alone. Then I googled "c dory" and El and Bill's site was the first thing that popped up. I read for about half an hour, then ran to get the wife and show her what our next boat was gonna look like! (BTW El and Bill...I already have your journeys in book form...I printed the whole thing, and have it in a bound notebook).
I emailed El and Bill immediately, and got a reply the next time they had online service (I was on cloud nine...I actually got an email from these folks!)
We ended up purchasing a 22 Angler almost 2 years later when a super deal fell into our lap. We've owned many boats, but our C Dory is by far our favorite!
Our adventures thus far on "Thelma Lou" wouldn't be considered "grand" in comparison to the stories read here....but they have been extraordinary to us. _________________ Snal~
(Larry and Jo)
1994 C Dory 22 Angler (sold 2012)
Currently looking for a steal of a deal on a 25' "Thelma Lou II" |
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C-Wannabe
Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 47
State or Province: AB
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 8:14 pm Post subject: |
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snal wrote: |
BTW El and Bill...I already have your journeys in book form...I printed the whole thing, and have it in a bound noteboook. |
You, too? |
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snal
Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 524 City/Region: Asheville
State or Province: NC
C-Dory Year: 1994
C-Dory Model: 22 Angler
Vessel Name: Thelma Lou
Photos: Thelma Lou
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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C-Wannabe wrote: | snal wrote: |
BTW El and Bill...I already have your journeys in book form...I printed the whole thing, and have it in a bound noteboook. |
You, too? |
Yeah...I didn't see any sort of copyright notice...least my printer didn't print one |
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C-Wannabe
Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 47
State or Province: AB
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:20 pm Post subject: |
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Actually, I only copied the juiciest bits, in case the site happened to go down for some reason. My favorite is Chapter One which lays out a great how-to platform for wannabes.
More philosophical musings on small boats and Great Loops: When I read this article in 1988 in Small Boat Journal, it got me thinking of inland waters instead of offshore cruising ...
www.marine-concepts.com/history/history/shane.html
For a couple or family of three, I still give the nod to a C-Dory for a trip of that length. One recurring theme that I've seen ever since about the Loop is that the best sections are Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands and the Trent-Severn Waterway and/or Rideau Canal. Anyone concur? Perhaps I'll skip the tow vehicle and just relocate to Ontario's freshwater shores on Lake Huron. Then all I'd need is a boat and a trailer to store it on over winter (using a marina or tow service to take it out of the water at the end of season).
Hmmmmm....Thoreau's advice as mentioned by Shane St Clair: Simplify, simplify, simplify. Or K.I.S.S. |
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C-Wannabe
Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 47
State or Province: AB
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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If you added music and stunning color photos to Richard Cook's book "Cruising in a Big Way" (linked above), you'd end up with an effort like George and Penny's glorious, 41-minute travelogue "Inside Passage Slideshow". Highlighting what their C-Dory 22 Wanderer is/was capable of, this Maryland couple's scenic show is a must-watch for all wannabes. Supporting roles are capably filled in by three other cruising 22s: Halcyon, Naknek and Rana Verde. Beauty! Who said you needed a 25 to get to Alaska?
http://2wander.com/ |
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C-Wannabe
Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 47
State or Province: AB
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