Bow Access on 22' Cruiser?

[Karl]

I have never actually seen a C-Dory, and I'm having trouble interpreting photos and diagrams.

To move forward on the boat, is there ample (or, even generous) walkway space along side the pilothouse?

I would be doing mostly single-handed boating, with no assurance of anyone being at the dock, either.

I'm talking in terms of access to the bow cleat, and just as importantly, access to the anchor locker (assuming no windlass). I'm somewhat limited in mobility due to four joint replacements...

I'm assuming that if movement to the bow is difficult, there might be alternatives, like hooking a dock cleat with a boat hook out of the cabin side window, or even ducking up through the hatch?

Maybe a "walk-through" pilot house would probably be the ideal for me (like on the aluminum Hughescraft Ocean Pro, for exampe).

Thanks-

[T.R. Bauer]

Karl,

Ducking up through the hatch is very easy in my opinion. Walking along the outside of the boat can make me nervous when it is snowing, raining, cold, or the seas are just crap. At a quiet anchorage it is non-issue for me, but it might be one for you as it is a pretty good step to get up there. Of course this is no matter as going through the front hatch is very easy once again. Also, you can have somebody put a windlass on your boat. Many C-Dory owners have them and enjoy them. Me on the other hand, prefer to use my anchor float and just roll the line into my nifty milk crate by hand. As far as docking, acess to the front cleat is the last thing I worry about since I will securing it while standing on the dock when I do it. I normally tie the rear clear first, hop out, pull the boat back to the dock, get the middle one, and then finally hook one to the bow cleat if I am really motivated.....

The ocean pro is a nice boat and there are a lot of them in Alaska. Of course they have trade offs too....like having to sleep on some dang bench since there is bow area to sleep in, and they are colder than all heck since they are not insulated even with a stove. But, they are really good fishing machines that I think are good boats for the money.

[rogerbum]

For docking, there's no need to go forward at all. What I do is I have a 50' line looped through the bow cleat with two ends running down the sides and terminating in the cockpit. I have another 25' line attached to each stern cleat. Those come forward to where the other ends terminate. Then when you arrive at the dock, you step out with both lines from one side in hand. With 25' from both the bow and stern, you can tie one off while holding the other. Works like a charm. I also rigged the forward fenders from the hand rail on the roof so they'd hang at the right level. Then I tied 1/8" cord to the bottom of each and had that terminate in the cockpit. To stow those fenders, I just flipped them up on the roof, pulled the 1/8" cord through the hand holds and tied it off tight. Made it easy to deploy/retrieve the forward fenders single handed without ever leaving the cockpit.

[ghone]

C dory's are a piece of cake to tie up, can be a handful to dock however! It gets prettier with some practice. I fell in love with the practical looks first then when I noticed they came stock with mid ship cleats and bow rollers I knew it was a cruising boat. My procedure for solo work is always fenders over early, 3 of them one on the stern cleat one on the handrail and one midship. A 20 foot line on the mid ship cleat. a 20 foot line aft and I take a 25 foot line looped thru the bow eye, its kept snug while underway on the stern cleat or for short tuns tied to the bow rail securely. I tie it up this way to avoid chafe on the deck and avoid drilling holes for fairleads on deck. Open and secure! your door prior to short final approach, awful to be stuck in your cabin when at your spot, the wind will surely ruin your day. I open my windows too, I don't know why. I want to hear how it's going perhaps or wave to the folks? Once alongside in your spot, slam gear lever to neutral and step ashore with your midship line in your hand, it was tied on earlier in open water by leaning out the window or left snugged up tied to the handrail aft of the cabin. Once you have the midhip line tied to the dock you may have a look around as she ain't moving anywhere. At your leisure attend to fore and aft lines. We must do it this way as when you tie up your pretty c-dory you have to talk to the one or two people waiting to see you. We tend to gather admirers. One thing I like too is the thing weighs 3500 pounds loaded and not 23,500 pounds like lots of boats. Horse her around at will. Jump in, they're great boats George

[Doryman]

[richnkay]

Hi Karl,
My wife and I have our 25 cruiser in up-state NY, I see you are also from somewhere upstate. We purchased our boat in Virginia in Dec. 09 and last season was our first aboard. We spent most of it on the Eire Canal out of Rome going both east and west. We are in our 60's and although we have many years experience with boats it was nice using the time as a shake down cruise for the boat and getting our act together. Going through the canal locks can be done single handed but with 2 aboard a person on a bow line and one on a stern line is the way to go. I would maneuver the boat up to the lock lines where Kay could grab one from the cockpit and then I would leave the helm and go up through the bow hatch and grab the bow line. I found that to be the quickest and safest route. As others have stated the boat can be tied up to a slip or dock easily from the cockpit.
Rich

[richnkay]

Karl,
Almost forgot, you mentioned that you have never seen an actual C-Dory, just photos. I have stored our 06 25 cruiser at my home for the winter and you are welcomed to take a look. It will be here until things thaw out next spring. We are located in southern Oneida County if you are ever in the area.
Regards, Rich

[hardee]

Karl,

Learned from the crabbers who think time is money
A single line from the midship cleat, run it aft to the handhold on the aft cabin wall. C-Brats would use a fender for and aft, and after making the dock approach, and just as the boat touches the dock, step over the rail onto the dock taking that single line, tie it up short and you are there. Takes most of them 30 seconds or less. After the tie, then you can do the stern and fore lines at your leisure.

There are times, that with an off dock wind, I have tied the stern line first, then putting the propulsion into idle forward, that will hold the boat next to the dock long enough to get onto the dock and forward to get a midship or forward line on.

Single handing the 22 is not a pice of cake, but it is as easy as pie

Harvey
SleepyC

[Matt Gurnsey]

I'll second the mid ship cleat comment. In my ind, the mid ship is the most important cleat on a boat.

The advantage over the bow cleat is that pulling the line taught does not force the stern out, which a line tied to the bow can do. When singhle handing, one can tie the mid ship line to a cleat, turn the helm away from the dock and engage the engine in forward at idle, and the stern will be sucked into the dock allowing easy attachment of teh stern line to the dock. Voila- you're there!

[Tug]

I always have done things backwards, i like leaving my dock lines and fenders tied to the dock.I just touch-up to the dock, grab the line that is already tied to the dock and loop it thru the cleat that i installed midship by the cabin rear bulkhead .Than i just step on to the dock and tied the bow and stern lines .I have all my lines set to the correct lenghts with loops at the end of the lines ,that way i can just loop them thru the boats cleats.Having the lines tied to the dock gives me something to grab hold of when i dock,i do carry extra dock lines and fenders for times when i may dock else where. I have been told that this is not the correct way to do things but i usually boat/fish by myself and it works good for me. Tug

[JamesTXSD]

Tug, that technique works fine if you're always coming back to the same dock... and we do the same at our home dock. When out and about, the mid cleat or one long line tied between the bow and stern is our preference for handling the boat at the dock. We have never gone out the forward hatch, always go down the side hand-over-hand to get to the bow. A windlass makes anchoring easy, as well.

Welcome aboard, Karl.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

[Doryman]

[Karl]

All these ideas are great, thank you for them, and also for the PM suggestions, too.

I have not been out on a boat in several years...during which time I have had hip and shoulder joints replaced...so, I'm not really sure what I am capable of doing regarding single-handing a ~22' pilot-house boat, with no assured help at any dock (including my own!), much less marina fuel and transient docks...

Hydraulic steering is a minimum, and I suspect I will also appreciate or actually need power steering, which comes at a very significant expense, and is not a typically-available option on 22-25' boats of this class...

I have time to consider (and to hopefully heal) before I make a boat commitment...I will retire in two years, then will live in a house with frontage on Lake Champlain if all goes right...

The call of the Hewescraft Ocean Pro is keeping me awake, though:

[Doryman]

[Sea Wolf]

Some accommodations that will make the D-Dory much more friendly:

A properly installed windlass and ground tackle will keep you off the bow, and the hatch closed as well, usually, 95% of the time!

Add handholds/handles/rails all over the boat as needed to assist you in secure movement about. They're cheap, easy, and efficient. Also add non-skid tape, padding, etc.

Add cleats on the boat as necessary to gain easy and secure docking/mooring, as per advice above. More cheap and easy solutions. (I like that!)

Add steps/ladders/platforms to the boat as necessary to gain entrance and egress into and out of the boat in a secure manner. I'm 68, and cannot easily step from the gunnel into the bottom of the boat or even onto the provided ~1/2 level step. A Cosco 3-level step-stool makes it and easy 1-2-3 process!

If any boat will meet your needs, this one has the greatest chance!

Joe. teeth