C-Dory 26 Venture vs. Lakes Michigan and Huron

I don't believe a deep-V hull is available on a down east lobster design boat.
Deep V and down east lobster style hulls are at loggerheads.

The deep V is usually for speed and takes lots of power. Lobster boats don't
need either. Down easters usually have a V'd bow to cut waves at slower
speeds then flatten out going astern. This shallower dead rise astern allows for
easier planing and efficiency. Two different critters. Bet your clams on it.

You may want a fast trawler, like a Nordic Tug or such which planes and cruises
in the mid to high teens and has a modified keel. Just expect to spend 2 -3
C Dory's cash for one (but you'll also gain 2 - 3 timse the cruising speed of
your Hallberg-Rassy). Lots of X-sailors go this route.

I still feel you are best off looking and chartering for a bit.

Aye.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I guess I was referring to the bow configuration of both of these designs. Your information helps. Here is a link to a design that I think would work well around here and still be affordable...used of course. Our budget will probably top out at around $100k which also limits our options. But there are some tremendous used boats out there if one just takes the time to look. I will be taking a couple of years off from boating because of (5) new grandchildren, so I'm in research mode which is almost as fun as buying...:)

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1998/E ... 7AkYmhKi00
 
The Ellis looks like a Rosborough on steroids, may be a nice slow cruiser type. Many boaters have left the inboard market going to outboards. Primarily because of lower maintenance costs. I had two of those ad41's in the Commander I owned. They are a good engine, but parts are CRAZY expensive. A 12" long oil cooler is $ 4500 dollars ( this part has a corrossion history at the mounting flange) and the coolant heat exchanger is more money than the oil cooler ( unlike most exchangers can NOT be opened up and rebuilt). Just be aware how expensive some systems are to maintain.
 
Yep...engine maintenance has been one of those things caught in the back of my throat...and I am very aware of the maintenance cost difference, along with potential engine replacement, labor, etc., etc.. Thanks for reminding me...:) :P :P
 
One big advantage of the Great Lakes is fresh cold water for little corrosion.
Great looking boat but engine compartment looks like tiny maintenance hands would be a big big plus.

Jay
 
HARDEE: The great lakes water is sooooooooo different than the ocean, the gulf, or a smaller lake. Having boated out in the Pacific for many years chasing salmon and rockfish, most swells are predictable. The great lakes water is totally unpredictable. I've been in wave events that beat me up for a few hundred meters, and then flatten completely out for a few hundred and then go back to high waves again. Crazy. You gotta stay focused.
 
Off the top of my head, a few reasons the Great Lakes are soooo different
than coastal ocean cruising include

* No salt - this means about 15% more $$$ when you sell your boat and also
"square waves" (or no swells like ocean waves). The different density of the
water creates a shorter wave period (distance between wave crests).

* Lake Michigan has been dubbed "The lake of 1,000 moods" and for good
reason - it's strewn with shipwrecks and notorious for sudden severe storm
conditions.

* Above is why Skipper Bob doesn't publish a guide here or suggest these lakes
are suitable for the average cruiser.

* Cold water - this speaks for itself, or should. Lake Superior is known as
"the largest, deepest, clearest, coldest freshwater lake in the world."

* No tides to speak of. No seals, walrus, penguin or sharks. But we do have
salmon and many tasty others..

Aye.
Grandpa used to say, "Vive la difference."
 
Yes, it would seem you are correct.
That Siberian lake is the
Largest - yup
Deepest - OK
Freshwater - you betcha
Cleanest - seems so
Coldest - not stated, so Lake Superior may
still be the winner with an average
water temperature of 40*F ...

Aye.
 
I always found claims about the Great Lakes being extra-treacherous boating waters to be kind of funny. Like claiming that Virginia has wilderness or Tennessee has mountains. If you can walk out of the "wilderness" in two days, it ain't wilderness. If you can climb the "mountain" without crampons, it ain't a mountain.

I've been in huge waves on Lake Superior. If there had been tidal changes, narrows, and reefs, it would have been scary. But there's no lake that has "Roaring Hole Rapids" or the Skookumchuck Narrows ("strong water" in chinook jargon). Skookumchuck will ebb at 12 knots today. There will be nasty waves and I guarantee that it will be every bit as scary as anything that can happen on a lake. The difference is that Skookumchuck does it twice a day.

Fresh or salt, it drowns the same. And on that note, Happy New Year!!

Mark
 
Marco Flamingo":1dqfh0sw said:
.. If you can climb the "mountain" without crampons, it ain't a mountain.
...
Click to expand...

You can drive to the summit of Pike's Peak. At 14K+ feet almost anybody would call it a mountain.
 
Above is why Skipper Bob doesn't publish a guide here or suggest these lakes
are suitable for the average cruiser.
Click to expand...

Skipper Bob and his wife Elaine published the guide: " Skipper Bob Great Lakes & Chicago to Mobile Guides". where the harbors and anchorages of Lakes Ontario
Ontario, Erie and Michigan are presented along the route of the "Great Loop".

Skipper Bob was a friend of mine, and he did not particularly venture into Lake Superior--but it was not because he did not find it suitable. Before his premature death, he tried to revisit as much of the area covered by his publications at least every other year.
 
Marco Flamingo Fresh or salt said:
No experience salt water boating myself but I did have the pleasure of knowing Derek Hatfield - Spirit Of Canada - Open 60. He was the first Canadian to sail singlehanded around the world twice. Placing 3'rd in the Velux 5 Oceans Race 2011. I remember him recounting stories of encountering waves estimated at 80' green with another 20' white on top (Rounding Cape Horn.) During the winter Derek often trained not far from me on Lake Ontario. He claimed that concurring conditions on Lake Ontario was good training for his Ocean voyages.

I enjoy attending Tall Ship Festivals every year. One time in Port Colborne I had the chance to talk with the Captain of a Tall Ship. He had sailed this ship extensively around the world - lakes and oceans. In all his years experience he told me the toughest conditions he had ever encountered anywhere was on Lake Erie.

Hey this ocean v/s lake debate is almost as much fun as the "Twins v/s Single/kicker" debate!!

Regards,

Rob
Click to expand...
 
[/quote]
No experience salt water boating myself but I did have the pleasure of knowing Derek Hatfield - Spirit Of Canada - Open 60. He was the first Canadian to sail singlehanded around the world twice.SNIP
Hey this ocean v/s lake debate is almost as much fun as the "Twins v/s Single/kicker" debate!!
Regards,
Rob[/quote]

Yea, well, I met the skipper who wrote the cruising guide to Narragansett Bay
who circumnavigated solo twice on a Catalina 30. So what? There are those
out there cut from a different cloth and it simply doesn't matter to me. I don't
compare, ever.

That's why I like dogs. They don't complain when you call them another dog's
name.

Aye.
 
Why do I get the feeling we are, like, comparing private parts here,
with numbers and all?
(my wife says that's the best way to stop male arguements)

I do not compare (tho I could and, probably, be in the upper 10%, or so)...

Waves, their heights and destructive power are under Mother Nature's
control.

All we need to do is respect that and plan accordingly.

Aye.
 
But my wife wanted to sea trial an Aspen CAT. We were looking used C90. $159,000 range. The one we wanted to look at was sold. Thought we’d be able to go in it. Instead Nick took us on a one year old C107. Basically the 32 with outboards. Ummmm.. hang on here... $400,000 and some change.

It was freakin amazing. My wife absolutely loved it. Of course. If.. and it’s a big if I had the funds I would go with the Aspen Cat without question.

That said... I really want a c-dory 25 or 26. Simple as that. Might be able to go new. No way on a new Aspen. What a dream boat for us. We all have “that” boat:-)

We’d be 100% in the PNW, day trips and long over nighters.

Good look in your search. Love to hear what your decision is.

And no, I probably won’t shut up for awhile about the Aspen.
 
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