09/06 - 09/09 - Mississippi River 2018 Gathering

Well unfortunately the Serendipity with C. A. and Bettie will not be attending the gathering. We will miss seeing old friends and making new ones. We're just not ready. Have a great time and we hope to see folks soon.
 
Hi Folks,

I have a CD 16 named OPA and part of the CBRATS family.

Is it possible to join you for the gathering on Friday Sept 7 only? This is the only day of the three I have off.

I live in Springfield, IL; about a 2 hr drive to Grafton. If OK to join you for the one day, I was thinking of leaving at 0darkthirty and trailering OPA to Grafton for your 0800 social and spending the day with ya'll.

If I understand your Sept 7 schedule correctly, ya'll will be staying the night at Alton Marina. Since I'm leaving after dinner on same, I guess the best logistics would be to launch OPA at Grafton, and park my ride at Alton Marina. I'll need to figure out how to get a ride to Grafton after I drop off my tow vehicle in Alton Marina.

The main reason I'm coming down is to meet other CDory enthusiasts like me, of which I've only personally met once. Secondly, I'll be selling OPA this fall, and moving up to CD22 sooner than later, and it would be nice to actually see a CD22 in person and how ya'll set your boats up.

Cheers to all.
 
I'm sure someone more knowledgable than me will answer, but I'm sure everyone would enjoy your presence, even if for only a day! I am confused about your launch plans however. The 8am social event is at Alton Marina. At 10am, according to the schedule, we'll motor up to Grafton by boat, unless weather dictates land transit. I'd suggest if you are bringing your boat, go ahead and tow it down to Alton to join the group up and back. Otherwise you could just leave the boat home since you are only coming for a day, and then just drive to Grafton to meet us for lunch. If you wanted to just drive to Alton with out your boat, you'd be welcome to ride with me and my wife on Midnight Flyer up and back, getting to see how the 22 rides. Colby
 
Many Thanks, Colby.

Sorry, I misunderstood the up and back logistics. thought ya'll were going one way. Thanks for clarifying.

I think I will take you up on your offer to ride with you and leave OPA at home. I would LOVE to ride in a CD 22 that is set up as great as yours. Fished for salmon out of a CD19 near the IL/WI border a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with that boat as well.

Cheers.

Dimitri
 
I'll plan on you coming along with us then. Just you, or two? If you think about it, bring along your PFD's. I have 4 total, but 2 of them are inflatables which only count if we are actually wearing them. If you bring your own, then we don't have to wear the inflatables. If you forget, no biggy. One or two of us will have to wear the inflatables. lol. Colby
 
Many thanks.

Thank you, I appreciate your gracious consideration.

Will be attending with my bride of 30 years. She's not much into boating/cruising/fishing but we need a date day and this is a great excuse.

We will be happy to wear an inflatable PFD as I am accustomed to the units. #2 rule aboard OPA is everyone wears a PFD or we don't leave the dock (#1 is no bananas on board). Inflatables are preferred as we fish a lot and they provide the freedom we need to work the gear.

See you on Friday Sept 7.
 
In that case, we have enough PFD's. :wink: We look forward to meeting you and giving you a boat ride! Um, about the bananas... we may have to take some food off the boat if you're really concerned about it. (We use them in our breakfast.) LOL. Colby
 
Sounds good then. :lol: We're looking forward for our time down there next week. Hoping for good weather, and safe travels for all! Colby
 
Doing some final preparation for our trip down to Alton. Regarding the Friday excursion up to Grafton, where will we be docking specifically? I did see there is a nice marina, Grafton Harbor, and more or less figured out approximately where it is located on my charts. Or are we docking somewhere else? Also, I notice that there is a Floating Winery at Grafton Harbor. Thanks. Also, still planning on arriving/launching Wednesday late afternoon. My wife and I will be staying for a few days after the gathering, most likely cruising out somewhere for Sunday night, then planning to return back to Alton Monday evening and loading out on Tuesday morning. Colby
 
Hi all,

Colby, we will be traveling to the Grafton Marina on Friday. The marina is located at the confluence of the Mississippi River (mile 219.1) and the Illinois River (mile 0) There are a bunch of wineries in Grafton. One at the marina and we will be having lunch at another winery. You will be given a detailed map of Grafton (and other tourist info. for the area) when you arrive at the gathering. We got you covered.

dgeorges, anytime you get there is just fine with us. Come early and stay late. All you need to do is show up. If by chance you get to Alton and can't find anyone, call Pat Frey at (815) 303-2154 and we will come and get you. The docks are behind locked gates so you need a key to enter.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Alton.

Ken & Pat (Pelican)
 
Greetings from Alton Marina, Illinois on the Big Muddy!
We splashed Monday, making us the first to this Gathering. A first for us. Easy tow compared to Key West or I-95 in the Chesapeake/DC corridor, cheap diesel (under $3), no 95 years olds driving 10MPH on the interstate with a bottle of ether on the dashboard (careful, this may be us some day). Great marina. Take the guided tour to the top of Mel Price Lock, an engineering marvel. The towboat captain simulator is a hoot, you WILL crash in all 3 scenarios but damage only your ego. Fast Eddy's last night is a piece of Americana we'll never forget. We hiked the bridge because Eileen wanted to see Missouri.
Safe travels, and don't forget to put the pin in hitch receiver (only did that once, for a 120 mile tow).
John
 
Thanks for the heads up on the logistics message (above). I'm comin armed and dangerous with a bunch of questions about the CD22's as I'm in the market for one. Sorry in advance for all my pestering and multiple questions.

Cheers. :roll:
 
Getting ready to head out in a few minutes. Be there later this afternoon. Got 360 miles of highway I believe. John, not to bruise your ego, but I got that big tow thru the bridge and the locks twice without damaging anything. lol! :mrgreen: Colby
 
Ahoy OPA,
You might be interested to know there is a very clean '98 CD22 for sale at Northwest Outlet in Superior, WI. Ask for Dave Miller. 715 392-9838.

Yep, C Brats, we finally made the hard decision to sell the Joni Lynn after 19 years of fun boating and great fellowship with the C Dory family. But, we have fun plans for the future, and it was time to let go of the boat. I'm sure we'll stay in touch. We hope you all have a fun time at the gathering !
Paul & Joni
 
Paul & Joni, sorry to hear you are selling your boat. Enjoyed seeing you guys at the gatherings. In any case, good luck with your future endeavors!


DaNag or Tyboo, can we get a photo album for this thread? Thanks. Colby
 
Another great C-Brat gathering in the books. The Alton Marina is a great gathering place, and we have some very gracious hosts in Ken & Pat off the Pelican. While some have already pulled out to head over to join the group going down the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, a few others will probably be pulling out soon for home. I'll be joining Tully-B and C-Otter and maybe some others heading up the Illinois River a ways today. Outlier (SNT) are enjoying their new to them 22. (They had Bouhause 16' earlier). Opa's Demitris got a ride on Midnight Flyer and Intuition, and is now really ready to buy himself a bigger boat! Bill, (Mystery Girl) friends were pretty impressed with this whole C-Brat gathering thing. In all, I think we had 15 boats. I'm still waiting to hear back from the local Ford dealership about my F150. It broke down on the way back from Fast Eddy's Thursday night. Engine light and some other nonsense. Hoping it's just a sensor! Was hoping it could go in the shop Friday, but they didn't get to it, so having faith it'll get in tomorrow and it'll be a quick fix! I've got a few pictures of the gathering to upload. (As soon as I get Tyboo or DaNag to open up a photo album here! :wink: ) Colby
 
Eileen and I are planning to launch C-Casa at Wehwap Wednesday the 19th, and make our way to Oak Canyon Friday or Saturday.
Is there anything specifically we should bring for the Potluck?
 
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