New Dory, New user, Unbelievable story!

[Waterball]

Congrats and welcome to the club. Its great to see the zeal of a new owner coming into the C-Dory fold. I'd like to add to the great ideas already posted here. Every year when I put my boat in I usually avoid going into the open ocean and actually look for a nice calm lake. The first cruise is normally the most likely for problems and I like to be somewhere comfortable if anything does go wrong. Lakes normally have low traffic, fewer hazards, and offer a great place to concentrate on your boat and not all the frieghters, ferries, fishing boats, pleasure boats, ect. around you in the ocean.
I like to call fish finders, depth sounders. I usually bottom fish and the ability for them to located fish on the bottom is highly unlikely. Finding the depth and underwater ridges is the single most important aspect in catching halibut IMO. So depending on what your use of your boat may be you might consider a better sounder. My monochrome Foruno depth sounder has a max depth of 1000' I believe and I have no problems finding and keeping a solid picture at LOW speeds, even beyond 600' range. As mentioned before the transducer which sends and receives the signal in normally mounted on the transom so "noise" is common at cruise speeds or when in reverse. Also the sounders as mentioned before have many different setting and a manual is handy if not a must to use to its full capabilities.
I hope you enjoy your boat,
Shaun

[robl132]

I have the 16 cruiser. I have the humminbird matrix 27. I like it. I already had a garmin handheld GPS and the matrix can use the GPS data when I plug the handheld into the fishfinder. It is so nice to have a breadcrumb trail of my travels. I mark hot spots as waypoints etc. It also functions as a compass. Too sweet. Wifey made some nice storage covers in plaid (stole the idea from Chuck S. on the amelia ann) that cover up the spaces under the seats. Velcro'ed on. I leave my fortress anchor on the bow roller, fluke's up. I bungee it to the cleat. My anchor rode and line is neatly rolled and bungee'd to cockpit hand rail. I leave the tag end in the cockpit and walk the connecting end to the anchor and over she goes. I also installed a cigarette lighter type 12V socket in the dash to power various equipment. I laugh now but I was frustrated that I could not turn the co-pilots seat all the way around. My wife just moved the little table one socket forward and had the seat swiveling around like it should. Why I did not see that, I don't know. Yeesh.
I am very surprised how the little boat can take a chop. Sometimes it makes you want to push it just to see how much it can take. We have taken some water over the top into the cockpit. Neither of us are too adventurous, but the scare factor is way down. We hope you enjoy your boat as much as we do.

[Redƒox]

lupette wrote:

I plan to store Island Fox

Now why is that name so dear to me... Great name it's about time there was another "Fox" on this site Really fits a C-Dory don't it. Foxy little boats they is mon

Nice story! Looks like there are no more "dummies" out there I will be tryin ta buy a used one from everyone that has a C-Dory knows better. Cult boat I tell ya... cult boat

[lupette]

Hi to all of you who have posted such wonderful advice here. I have already used many of your suggestions and plan to use many more.

Just wanted to let you all know that Island Fox is a GREAT boat! We took her out again today. We went to Pitt Island where the native littlenecks and crabs were plentiful and we got ourselves a wonderful dinner! We also stopped at Wickfield (sp?) Shoal and a small island near Raft Island who's name I don't know but that sports a great sandy spit at low tide. It was a fabulous day and the Fox was the BEST!

BTW - We already got good use out of the anchor buddy that we made this morning by following the great directions on this site. It worked perfectly! Thanks to all of you who explained that system so well!

Hope to meet all of ya someday out there on the water! Until then . . . happy cruising javascript:emoticon('')
Teeth

[Byrdman]

I too traveled a bit for my C-Dory's... and the worst mistake I made with my 16'er was selling her. That is one tuff, great boat that is way simple to drag around anywhere, and needs little water and less fuel to operate. I was in one of those wonderful touchy-feely courses the Army made me go to... they thought I was too direct with others.... wow.... I thought I had joined the military, not the ballet. anywho..... drove from Cocco Beach Fl to about 70 miles north of Daytona beach, laid down cash for the boat, finished my sweet little course, still too direct but retired to fix that.... drove home to Alabama to get my tow vehicle, drove full circle in a day to get Jabez home. Then, sold her the day I was leaving AL to go to Oak Harbor WA to pick up FreeByrd, and drive her back across our Great Country. ......and have been known to travel a bit to be around some gatherings too.... You will love your new vessel. Take advantage of the other owners so close to you. I almost teared up a bit when I saw Brave Heart pulling from her slip on departure from the Blakely Gathering we just enjoyed..... Must have been a combination of the love I had for Jabez, that great couple I had just met that were loving life on their 16' C-Dory....and that lovely 3 weeks in touch-feely classes in Cocco Beach FL.....which is what got this whole C-Dory life of mine started.... that class was good for me...
Byrdman on FreeByrd in Bama
TC24, Hull #51

[dotnmarty]

I would suggest that you check the NOAA weather on your marine radio before leaving the dock. Pay particular attention to wave height and the chance of fog. When in doubt, wait it out! Make sure your horn works (does a sixteen footer have a horn?) and have an extra compressed air horn and a whistle available. Always wear your life vest. Make sure your running lights work. Take your charged cell phone with you and load the coast guard's phone number in it. If an expensive GPS is not in your budget, get the cheap one, less than $100. It will give you your longitude and latitude and you can then find out where you are by marking them on your chart. Enjoy that great little boat

[Guest]

Picked up a Garmin 188 GPS/Sounder on clearance at Gander Mountain. Overhead mount in the middle of the windshields. Works great. Lights up the cabin at night. I fish in 60-200 feet of water, and the sounder works great at a pretty quick speed. Gives you speed and water temp also.

[Rabidfish]

Terri,

I'm so glad to hear your boat is working out well and that you're happy with it! ( For those who may be interested... I own the dealership she bought the boat from in Indiana. )

If you're still having trouble with the drain plug, let me know. I'll be happy to send you one. If you need anything at all... lets us know!

I'm glad to have caught your post... It's considerably harder to keep track of our customers when they're 3000+ miles away...

Good Luck!

[lupette]

HEH! It's really a small world online! Nice to hear from you . . . and yes we luv the boat! No problems with the drain plug. . . we just bought a couple more so we'd have a spare. We've had a blast so far with the boat. The title arrived yesterday so next week I'll get her registered.

Hope things are well with you. BTW - this would be a good place to advertise those other two C-Dory's that you're selling. A lot of people monitor this site looking for a Dory to buy.

Catchya later! Terry

[Rabidfish]

Thanks for the endorsement! I do appreciate the plug... However, I do not have a C Dory for sale... They're all gone!

At this time, we are not a C Dory dealer... Triggered by the success we have had with the used boats, we have contacted C Dory for information about becoming a dealer. More on that to follow...

[lupette]

Oh . . . WOW! Good luck with that. I hope it works out for you. If you need an endorsement let me know. Terry