Distant Lands & Faraway Places...

[C-Gypsy]

First let me say I am totally new to the C-Dory and have never even ridden on one. I pick my new CD 22 Cruiser up in 2 or 3 weeks (when all the accessories have been installed).

Next let me say this board & the information contained is invaluable. I have spent over a week of consecutive evenings reading the posts and using the search function to find what I am looking for.

I have a question though... How far has anyone taken their C-Dory to date? I believe the Bahamas are well within reach, but what comes after the Bahamas (not literally)?

At what point do you turn around because the C-Dory is a little 22' motorboat (no insult intended!)?

I am more interested in "coastal cruising" than I am in running rivers, so how far can I go and still maintain a good level of safety?

Yes gentlemen, I am a rookie when it comes to the C-Dory. On the other hand I am trying to learn...

[Captains Cat]

"Yes gentlemen" Quote from Al...

Well, we fooled this guy....Gentlemen? Oh well Al, thanks for the compliment, there must be one here somewhere!!

As far as how far you can take your C-Dory, it's pretty well up to you and the size of your gas tanks and your fear factor. You'll hold something less than 40 gallons of gas, which will put an automatic limit on where you go without refueling (can't cross the big lake to Europe) unless you find a helo to come out and top you off....

We've been well out of sight of land in the Chesapeake with 6-8 ft waves and felt secure, if not a little lonely....Wouldn't want to be 40 miles out in the ocean with 20ft waves but I think some of those expert fishermen on the West Coast do it regularly....

Welcome to the site Al, look forward to meeting you at Langford Bay in June.

charlie

[Valkyrie]

Al,

Charlie's response touches on the two big points: fuel and fear factor. Of course, the fear factor is tied into the big one: your experience on the water.

Your question about when to turn around in a 22 footer reminds me of when I bought my previous boat, a Jeanneau Tonic, a French sailboat that I had for nearly 20 years. The dealer explained that in France the boats receive a government rating for safety. Each boat is run into a regulation "rock" at a certain speed and must survive intact. Sailboats have a cable attached to the masthead and the masthead is then pulled into the water an the "righting moment" is timed to make sure that it could survive a knockdown in a timely manner and so on.

My boat was rated for 50 miles offshore and I remember wondering, "Okay, but what happens at mile 51? Does the fiberglass delaminate, does the boat implode like a blackhole?" Actually, mile 51 in the Florida Straits was uneventful and my worries were for naught.

Interestingly, the boat is now owned by a novice sailor who has Spirit "incarcerated" in a relatively small lake near Pittsburgh! Why? He's afraid that it can't handle Lake Erie's notorious storms, even though he knows it spent most of its life there and cruising from Erie to the Keys and Bahamas and back.

His experience level and comfort factor are keeping him in check. This is not necessarily bad. The old saying is, "There are old sailors and bold sailors, but no old, bold sailors." Get some experience, take a few classes, just take it easy and the rest will come along.

The longest trip? Check with El and Bill's site. Someone from the C-Brats went to the Bahamas last winter and a number have done WA to AK. Guys on the West Coast routinely go many miles offshore to fish.

Congrats and welcome aboard. Looking forward to meeting you at the
Gathering in June.

Nick
"Valkyrie"

[Not For Hire]

Hi Al,
You say new to C-Dory but perhaps not new to other boating? Your 06 should hold just over 50 gallons fuel. Enough to go 150 miles with a good reserve in flat conditions. Open water crossings in these boats always deserve some forethought. As well as the fear factor (if the windows are closed any your lap is wet maybe you should turn back) there is the comfort factor. To me steep wave poundings are exhilirating for about two minutes, but then it just becomes work and after an hour or two it becomes exhausting and dangerous because you are tired. I don't enjoy the pounding as much as I used to. In the CGAUX we had sea limits about when the Auxies could go out. The regular Coasties would still go out of course, the difference - young bodies and metal hulls.
I think I brave more water than most, yet I don't take risks nor do I deliberately set myself up for a beating (beyond a couple of hours). So I think it is true that the boat will take a lot more than I will.
So no real answer. Lots of days you could do that 150 to 200 miles but some days not even one. But take a rainy, chilly day and the sea is flat and go have a cruise on your private ocean with the others left in port.

Congrats on the new boat,

Mark

[starcrafttom]

As far as coastly cruising goes I think you can go as far as you want as long as you can find gas. we have done a few 10 hour days in the susan e trying to get some place on time. as long as the waters flat and you can get more fuel. More then a few people have been to ak from the seattle area. El and bill have done the inter coastal all the way form texas to maine I think. I think that you could do the west coast by port hopping from seattle to san fran if the weather was right and you had the time to hang around if it was not. I dont know what the longest stretch is going that way. question to the board .. Could you go from seattle down the west coast to panama and up to texas and then around to maine?? are there enough fuel stops on the route to even make it possible??? brake out the chart book boys and lets plan the longest flotila on record....wait the wife just said no.. maybe next time.