SO WHAT DID YOU DO WITH OR ON YOUR C-DORY TODAY??

hardee · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2020 12:49 am Post subject:

Thanks Phil, Really great shots, and something a actually recognized Laughing

Harvey
SleepyC Moon

thataway · Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2020 12:35 pm Post subject: Gigi's first boat ride

This is about my second boat, the Caracal Cat. She is an 18' single engine center console catamaran with a 140 hp Suzuki. We are having some nice days (between hurricanes). The Caracal was not high enough on the boat lift to fully avoid the 9' storm/flood surge we had with Sally. I had removed the tubing from the live bait well overflow, and not replaced it. The stern of both hulls filled with water, but the bow floated high with the full foam floatation. The water got up to the EMC which is potted epoxy in the Suzuki, and all of the fuses looked OK, but were cleaned and checked anyway. The start battery and positive cables were toast and were replaced. The engine started up and ran fine.

Great time to introduce the newest member of our boating family; "Gigi" to a boat ride. The breeze was about 6 knots and a little ripple in the water. The trip also involved photography of waterfront damage from Sally, and searching for several missing PWCs from the hurricane. We are probably have to use the drone to find those which have not yet been found. There was a 22' boat driven about 30 feet into the pine forest wetlands, and it was barely visible. The missing PWC's could have been pushed even further back.

Gigi is a miniature poodle, who is 6 months old, and still growing. She will be an inch or so shorter and a couple of lbs lighter than Angel, who is now 14 1/2 years old, blind and deaf, but still enjoys a good run and tussle with the new pup.

Gigi on the seat in front of the console (over the live. bait well). Note the Torpedo electric 3 hp "kicker" on the floor.

Gigi on the helm seat/leaning post, where she rides when we are at planing speed snuggled next to me.

Gigi is going to the "beauty shop" in two days for her second grooming...
We have not let her swim yet--She has been inquisitive when I have been in our pool. So that is next. Generally poodles are good swimmers.

hardee · Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2020 1:49 pm Post subject:

Bob, What a cute little bundle of fur. Didn't know poodles were swimmers. Sure don't like to hear "between hurricanes", sounds ominous.

Harvey
SleepyC Moon

BBlalock · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:04 am Post subject:

I'll add my .02 to this thread. Back in March I decided to detail Finale. The green trim looked way over 8 years old so after about 12 hrs. it didn't look that good. So I paid a detailer $650 to do it and after about 2 weeks it looked just like after my free job.
I accidentally got some grease on the trim in the cockpit and when rubbed off the spot looked almost new. A month later the spot still looked great. A little research and petroleum jelly looked like a good option. A total of 2 hrs. of labor and the green looks almost new. That was Oct. 1, 2020. If it doesn't last but 2 - 3 months it will be well worth it. Maybe I'll give monthly reports.
Benton CoolSmile

thataway · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 11:36 am Post subject:

Not sure what "grease" you put on, but it will adsorb into the pores of the gel coat. It will attract dirt with time. If this is a silicone compound later painting will be difficult. It may look good for awhile, but in the long run, it will be an issue.

A 2013 25 should not have problems with the green stripe. Mine is a 2007 and the black keeps polishing out very well. But it has been kept up thru the years.

You probably will have to have the gel coat wet sanded--that is a progression of very fine abrasives ending up with 2000 and then use Finesse it by 3M to do the final rub--polish, and then use one of the good wax: Colinite Fleet Wax is the standard.

You should have got that detailer back and had it do it properly, before you put grease on it....

The latest range is ceramic coating the hulls after wet sanding and compounding. Expensive but lasts several years, and then a light renewal. There are other ways to skin the 25...

BBlalock · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 1:53 pm Post subject:

I did try the ceramic stuff too. That didn't last very long either. Weeks. I read about the dirt in the pores while researching it but it seemed to be not a big issue. I guess I'll deal with it in the future. Since I have completed the job we'll just have to see. I'll report on this.
The grease was an accident and a small spot. I applied petroleum jelly on purpose, rubbed it on, let sit overnight and then buffed it off by hand.
If I get a detailer in the future I will do a better job of checking the job they do.
Benton Shocked

Desert Dory · Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 4:04 pm Post subject:

The Mrs and I are heading to Lake Powell next week so I have spent the last couple of days trying to get some little projects done on the boat.

These were things I've been wanting to do for awhile but our summer heat has just been relentless this year. Since we had a cold snap and dipped down to the upper 90's it was time to get er done.

Added some LED pods to the inside of the galley cabinet. HUGE improvement for finding stuff in there when it's dark.

Also, added a dual LED light above the galley. Our boat only had the light above the cabin door and one in the v-berth. I had switched the bulbs in those lights to red LED's because they don't attract bugs (NOT a fan of bugs). It's temporally stuck to the ceiling with aluminum brackets and 3M automotive tape until we see if this is indeed where it's going to stay. This new light is like having the sun inside the cabin. It's SOOOO bright.

Also added a reading light in the v-berth for the Mrs. She likes to read a bit in bed before conking out.

Awhile back I added a couple of red LED's to light up the cockpit. The only way to turn them on/off was the switch on the main panel. When I installed them I ran a wire up under the gunwale to eventually add a switch in the cockpit. The time is now!

I was also getting a tiny bit of water seepage into the cabin through the bulkhead/deck joint. Being 31 years old, the caulk had seen better days. Cut it all out, cleaned it with acetone, and recaulked with 3M 4000 UV.

I figured this was also a good time to go ahead and drill and epoxy fill the screw holes holding the bilge pump, float switch, and pump cover.

I was thrilled to find nothing but clean, dry, balsa when undercutting the holes.

Awhile back I had added this grab handle to the port (swim ladder) side of the splash well to assist in getting back onboard the boat. Not long after installing it I thought it would be a great place to attach a rod holder, which kind of defeated the purpose of having it there in the first place.

So, I ordered another one and mounted it to the starboard side and moved the rod holder over there. Much better!

Then, back in early July the boat name and matching registration decals I had ordered arrived. Another one of those little things I wanted to get done but it was just TOOOO FRIGGEN HOT!!! Well, I finally got them on today.

So, that's what I've done to my C-Dory over the last couple of days.

Desert Dory · Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 6:33 pm Post subject:

ssobol · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2020 10:55 am Post subject:

Desert Dory · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2020 12:19 pm Post subject:

alainP · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2020 1:06 pm Post subject:

Hey Desert Dory, sorry we missed you on Lake Powell this time, enjoy your trip.
Where in Tucson are you? We live in the Tucson Mountains side of the valley,
Alain

Desert Dory · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2020 1:28 pm Post subject:

We're on the NE side.

Yeah, I was bummed we couldn't make the earlier gathering. The Mrs has a business (teaches baby's aquatic self rescue) that makes it tough to break away for more than a day or two without planning a few months ahead, so, until we both retire, it is what it is.

I'm sure we'll cross wakes one of these days.

Desert Dory · Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2020 4:35 pm Post subject:

Since we have only taken our C-Dory to inland lakes we tend to beach a lot, which means we track a lot of dirt and junk into the cockpit and eventually into the cabin. I also found that, while underway at 20+ mph, we tend to get a lot of mist/spray from the transducer sucked back into the cockpit area.

This combination of events makes for a muddy mess in the cockpit (not to mention constantly wet feet) that is a real PITA. I made a spray guard for the transducer a few posts back and now I'm trying to address the wet feet part of the problem.

Thinking I want a solution that doesn't add a whole lot of additional weight I found these garage floor tiles on Costco online for a pretty good price (compared to Dri-Deck and some of the alternatives) of 40 sq ft for $90.

The only color choices were a box of all black or a combination of black and gray. I went with the black/gray.

I laid out the tiles in the cockpit to use as many of the gray tiles, and the fewest of the black tiles, as I could. They're a kind of rubbery, plasticky material and the install was pretty easy using just a utility knife to cut the tiles.

It was about a 100 degrees out there when I finished up the install and , yes, they do get a bit hot in the sun. But, they really don't feel squishy under feet when they're hot like I've read about some of the other products.

Overall, I like how they turned out and I'm hoping this will help with the mess we end up having to cleanup a few times a day when we're out and about. I'm hoping I can just spray them off a bit with our pump up sprayer/shower/dish-rinser and save the major cleanup until after we get home.

Also, our boat only has the one bilge pump up against the cabin bulkhead so, I have a feeling I'm going to have to add another bilge pump back there by the cockpit/transom drain to make this work the way I want it. We'll see.

I also had this Caframo 2 speed fan sitting in the shed. I bought it back in July and figured this was as good a time as any to finally get it installed too. Yay for cool breezes!!

Desert Dory · Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2020 5:45 pm Post subject:

Got a coupon in the mail for Bed Bath and Beyond so this morning I went looking for something to hold some squeezy bottles I want to use for olive oil and balsamic.

Found these bamboo caddies that fit my bottles perfectly and bought two of them. They were $8 each.

Mounted on the cabin bulkhead wall in the galley cabinet.

I'm not quite sure where to put the other one just yet. Most likely below the first one and will use it for some utensils, maybe?

rwist · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 12:41 pm Post subject:

Hi folks. This has been our first weekend with new to us C-Pearl, a 2003 22 Cruiser. We like her name so are keeping it as is. We spent day one underway on the lower Columbia River with a stop on Government Island to let the dog potty. Day two we took her over to Tillamook Bay for a little crabbing. Came home with crab and a punch list of things to explore... like how to switch from one fuel tank to the other with out loss of power, why the motor tends to shut off in close quarters when going to neutral. Lucky for us, my wife is handy with a boat hook and we didn't scratch anyone's gelcoat... including our own. We are now having crab eggs benedict so all is well!