07/16 - 07/18 - Bellingham, WA CBGT

Sunday morning, Patty is sleeping, JC Lately and Plan C just pulled out, I suppose hoping for a calm early morning return. Factory tour was interesting, pix a bit later. New Pelican Pursuit kayaks indeed do float, and we both were able to get in and out of them on the dock - not gracefully mind you, but without getting wet! The potluck was super as always, I naturally fell asleep in my chair. The new Ranger 27 Traveler is awesome, Russ and Toni got a fantastic boat. We also toured Lyle and Shelley's West Coast 46 Bessie, and BIG is the main word to describe it! I think we may need to change the name from C-Brats to Sea Brats or something, quite a few of the folks here are not in C-Dorys any longer. The Marinaut 21.5 is indeed very cool, Dave and Ben did a great job, now lets hope the Great Recession comes to an end some time soon so they can sell a bunch of them. Thanks so much to Ruth and Joe, who run around like crazy people making sure everybody and everything is taken care of! Now we will be off after breakfast for a week of San Juan cruising and relaxing!
 
Thanks to all our C-Brat friends for a warm welcome during our brief but eventful visit on Saturday even though we are now on the Dark Side. (What do you expect from a "pink" Floyd?)

The smiles on the faces of Russ. Toni, Joe and Ruth showed that "C-bratdom" lives beyond the purchase of a different boat. Thanks to all of you for showing us your wonderful new toys and allowing us to drool.

:beer :beer :beer To Oldgrowth Dave for finally finishing his labor of love and producing a very smart looking boat. Just hope that the economy picks up for you (and the rest of us).

Special smile for Baxter's new toys. He really has got you guys trained well :lol:

Take care on the trip home/onward, the weather weasels have fog and gales for tonight. Looks like we went straight from Junuary to Fogust.

Hope to see Y'all out on the water

Merv & Kathy
 
Had a wonderful time at Bellingham. Thanks so much to Ruth and Joe, to Larry and Nancy for providing the "banner hanger" so we would know where to meet, to Jeff and the factory for a peek into the C-Dorys new digs, to Roger (Sensie) for the ride to the factory, and to OG Dave for bringing the Marinaut, (a beautiful show piece) to the party.

Some thoughts, in no particular order, ('cause that's the way they come sometimes.)

Thanks to some special brat friends for being there. Thanks for the hugs, smiles and invitations. You all are great.

Dave, the Maninaut looks wonderful. Well planned, and executed. You must feel a huge amount of satisfaction to see it on the water. I'm sure the effort has been huge, but the timing is looking good, and here's hoping for a huge success.

Jeff and the C-Dory factory. Thanks for taking the time to show off the new place, processes and products. You do really need not a l6, but a 22 Cruiser Full size on that roof. What a cool trick. Another thing you need is those lazarette hatches have got to be changed, to the proper size and function ones. Will try and find that info for you. A step into the cockpit modification should also be looked at as a necessity. Consider your market. We (the mouse in my pocket and I :oops: ), are glad to hear that production is still happening, and that you are paying attention to Quality. That will take you and the product a long way.

The Ranger Tugs. Oh My, Russ, Thanks for the tour. Beautiful, functional and classy. Fits you two to a tee. Hopefully we will get an update next year after all the personalization is applied.

Larry H for the look at the new GTX AIS receiver. I think it may be a useful tool, and to Merv for sharing on AIS also.

Pat and Patty for showing off the Pelicans. Look like a very functional scouting tool, and in the case of some very warm weather, a good way to cool off.

And to the four leged boater friends, Ginger, Sarah, Teddie and Baxter for their addition to rounding out the C-Brat family, and bring theirs to say Hi.

Dave and Margi, and Paul and Verla for trying to make my other trip possible. You all are greatly appreciated.

Weather, or not, it was worth it. Schedules are a bummer.

And to all the C-Brats, (no matter the transportation) for showing up, saying "Howdy" and sharing about boats, dreams and blunders. Life is real. There are both the up-side of the waves, and the surfing side. Glad you came, fun sharing, and see you next time.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Joe and Ruth come thru again with a great gathering. I can't say how much I appreciate there effert to make it a gathering not to miss. It was nice to see all the old friends.
I left this morning at 05:30 and Bellingham Bay was a sloopy mess. Plan C, JC Lately and C-Reinty were a few minutes behind me and they were heading back to Port Townsend. I tucked over in the lee of Lummi and Guemmes, the rest of the ride was pretty flat all the way to Twin Bridges.
Thanks again to everyone for a great time.

Fred
 
Thank you Ruth & Joe for another great gathering. We are on the hook now with Pat & Patty on Matia Island enjoying a quiet evening on the water. Wonderful to see old friends again and meet new people that share our love of boating.
 
To all the C-Brats,
We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed meeting everyone. Thanks Ruth and Joe for all the hard work. We made a lot of new friends and hope you stop and see us in Coeur d' Alene. We did try the new boat out on the rough seas and it was a great ride and handled it very well. Thanks everyone for all the help and for all the great ideas. The food, the laughs and especially the company were a great time. We are so glad to have been a part of it. See you soon.
Marti and Jim
 
Thanks Ruth and Joe, again...and again...and again. What a nice time. Thanks for setting up the factory tour, it was good to see the activity and to learn that they are making C-Dorys (but not Sea Sports). It was also nice to learn that they are doing repair and service work, might save me hours on my back fixing a gel coat gouge way down under the bow, still have no idea where that came from. It was nice to meet new people, chat with old friends and just enjoy life. As others have said Bellingham Bay was sloppy but once you got out of the shallow water things smoothed out and the trip back to Whidbey Is. was easy. Congratulations to Dave for getting the Marinaut to the gathering. Some really nice ideas and boy is it White!! The mix of boats proved once again that C-Brat gatherings are for C-Brats, even if they no longer have a C-Dory and the C-Brats are one of the big reasons we got a C-Dory to begin with. See you all at Montague and Powell!!
 
It was a wonderful gathering, as usual. Thanks Ruth and Joe, your hard work and extra effort is really appreciated by all. The potluck was incredible, the beer was great, the company superb, The Marinaut is a beauty, the factory tour informative, the "Tugs" a sight to behold, the Yakima cherries yummy, (didn't get to see the delivery vessel, but I heard it was cool) and Trawler Home Base was a great place for a 7am party! :mrgreen:

Oh, and the new Brats that came. A perfect addition!

Robbi
 
The people we get to spend time with at these gatherings are indeed the greatest justification for us to own a C-Dory.

Pat's comment about renaming the group 'Sea Brats' to downplay the fact that some are no longer in C-Dory's are indeed wise.

Barry's echoing of similar sentiments to Pat's in his comments on the fact that those that have moved on from C-Dory's (but previously were valued 'parts of the group') are still indeed heavily valued could not be proven more accuraate after spending time w/ Larry H. and Nancy, Toni and Russ, and other former C-Dory owners especially Ruth and Joe who hosted another wonderful Bellingham Get-to-Gether.

Thanks again to all for letting us spend time with you.

Take care,
Dan & Tanya
 
Hey C-Brats I hope those of you who attended the Bellingham event had a great time. I made it down to the docks on Friday night and shared a beer and chat with the beer guys, but I guess the rest of you were at dinner.

Anyway, I did enjoy seeing many of you at the factory tour on Saturday. I truly appreciate the support and encouragement from you all. I commented on Saturday just how difficult our economy has been on our industry in particular and how fortunate that I have felt that we have been able to sustain the C-Dory line.

We are a smaller operation, but we have structured our business to what current market conditions justify. We are currently building 3-5 boats per month and we are doing service work as well: engine work and fiberglass repair. If you have any work that you are looking to get done give us a call (360) 939-3283 or send me an email jeff@tritonmarine.us. Also, if you are looking for parts send me an email as well. We are not stocking as many parts these days, so you may have to be patient, but I want to be as helpful as possible.

I have already talked with our production folks about making the aft hatches larger. I appreciate the feedback on that. We always want to be looking at where we can make improvements.

Again, on behalf of all of us here at the factory and on behalf of all our dealers, thank you all for the encouragement and support. You are great representatives and advocates of C-Dory and we appreciate all of you. I hope that you all enjoy many more days on the water with your boats this summer.

Best Regards,

Jeff Lindhout
 
We really enjoyed getting to see old friends again in Bellingham on Friday. Ruth and Joe are great people and they make everything warm and friendly at this gathering. They also run it like a well oiled machine and take care of everyone and every detail.

I was impressed with Ruth & Joe's Ranger 25 and Russ and Toni's Ranger 27. The attention to detail, the clever design and the great service are really evident in their boats. They have proven that people will still spend money for a great product with great service in this economy.

Pat Anderson made a great crack about the "faux brats" in describing those of us who had C-Dorys and now have different boats. Maybe there could be a faux brat forum.

We look forward to seeing many of you out on the water.
Lyle
 
Ruth & Joe – thank you for a great get together. As always, you did a fantastic job of organizing this event. I also want to thank all the Brats that contributed to making this an unforgettable experience.

If I tried to remember everyone and thank them individually, I know I would forget many, but I do have to thank Dave and Pat as always for the great beer and thank Russ & Toni for the tour of their beautiful 27 Ranger and the tour on Joe & Ruth’s 25 Ranger. I can see why so many C-Brats are buying them. Also I really enjoyed the tour of Tom & Susan’s 27 C-Dory and to see the many additions he has made to make it a great fishing machine.

The response to the Marinaut has been unbelievably great. I think just about everybody there checked out the boat and some came back for a third or fourth look. Now that it is back in Olympia, I will finish the wiring; add lights, compass, house battery and navigation gear to the boat. Then it will be ready for a real test cruise.

Dave dlt.gif
www.tolandmarine.com
 
Dave,

I wished I had made it up there if for no other reason than to see the Marinaut (of course seeing all the brats would have been nice too). Once you've got the boat ready for a cruise, come on up to Seattle via water and we'll do lunch. Also, if you want to demonstrate that it catches fish, I'm sure that Tom and I would be all too happy to go out and get some fish blood splattered all over it. :wink:
 
Don and Brenda":1hhg6384 said:
Fishing on the Marinaut sounds like a photo op for a new brochure to me.
Click to expand...

Exactly. As long as Dave does the driving, brings ice and pays for the gas and bait, Tom and I probably won't even charge him an appearance fee. Of course we'll have to speak to our agents first. :wink:
 
Joe and Ruth thank you for a great time again. We only wish that we could have gotten there sooner or stayed longer. We are envies of all the folks who are starting their cruise for the week.

Dave what a nice boat. I think that the saddle tanks and the room they open up is a great idea. If some one was to produce tanks and install them in c-dorys as a up grade they could make a few bucks I'm sure.

As always the beer was good the food was good but the company was the best. see you all at the next one.
 
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