C Dorys at Shows

My thanks to everyone for your input about the size of boat for the different trips as well as the links to the Nauical charts web site and the Raheigh boat show. I know it will certainly require a lot of planning for all three trips that I want to take over the next few years. It may not be possible to do everything I'd like to do: Bobs example of running the Tennesse River system on the way to New Orleans for example, may be the way that I plan the trip instead of running the Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi all on the same trip after I dig into the mileage's and fuel required for each leg of the trip. That's the thing I really like about this web site. There are so many of the members that have a ton of experience in long distance boating and are willing to share their ideals. It's great fun to see all of the possibilities. :D Jim
 
Hi Jim,

Go for it, sooner than later!

Dr Bob - thataway - is right on. No doubt the CD25 is more roomy, and has creature comforts not found on the 22, but:

We started out with a CD 22 Cruiser, and it really has the ability to take you just about anywhere coastal (well, not across the gulf of Alaska, or all the way down the outside of the Baja and back). After a few years of learning, and working our way further north in the Pacific NW, we spent a summer in SE Alaska. Not sure how much we'd like that in anything smaller.

If the right 22 Cruiser is available, and you can't swallow the cost of a 25 and tow rig, I'd support starting with the 22. You could move up to a 25 later if you loved extended cruising and though it was worth the investment.
 
Hi Richard, thanks for your input on the CD-22. Like Bob and some other folks have said, I'll have to get to a show or dealer where I can compare the boats side by side and see which one will be the best option for me. Given my age and the fact that the trips will be solo (unless my son retires early and wants to go with me), I think a used 22 in great condition would be a good option. So many boats, so little time! :D
Richard, with your experience in SE Alaska, would a trip starting with launching in Bellingham WA and hauling out at Skagway, AK be a neat trip? Thanks to Bob's link to the Gov web site, I see it's around 965 NM according to the charts plus any side trips. My plan is to put the truck and trailer on the Columbia and have them off-load it in Skagway so it would be there when I arrived. Jim
 
Hi Jim,

We've done WA to Glacier Bay and back in a single summer once. Pretty long trip for three months - 4,000 nautical miles. One way could work. Lynn Canal, from Skagway down to Juneau, could easily be the roughest part of your trip - watch the weather/waves forecast.

You might find launching at Prince Rupert and spending the summer in SE a good alternative. I've also really enjoyed launching in Bellingham and going to PR and back. Any of these turns out to be a lot more than 965 miles - that's more like how the crow flies. Figure on twice that many miles, or a good bit more with side trips. Our average 2-3-month SE AK cruise runs 2000 to 2500 NM. Bellingham to PR and back 2500+.

I'd very much recommend at least a couple of shorter trips up into BC first. 2-4 weeks, getting accustomed to the challenges of living aboard, managing your boat, getting used to the weather forecasts and what they really mean for you, and dealing with sea conditions. Make it at least up to Queen Charlotte Strait for while, and test yourself, your boat and its equipment (including backup and spares), your coping strategies.

If you spend 2-3 weeks and everything seems pretty well checked out, and you've made it up to where you're positioned to head north around Cape Caution, I'd think it could make sense to continue north from there. The weather and remoteness are far less challenging in BC from Port Hardy southward than anywhere north of there.
 
Richard, thanks for your advice on a possible trip to Skagway. My thinking is that after I made the trip from Bellingham one way to Skagway I could drive the rig back on the Columbia and sit in those nice comfortable chairs on the observation deck and watch the world go by. :D
I know what you're saying about the weather in Lynn Canal. Kathy and I've traveled on the Columbia from Skagway to Bellingham on two occasions and as luck would have it, the last time we came down Lynn Canal the weather was bad and would have been really rough for a small boat to handle. Of course, the Columbia hardly moved in all of the weather. I haven't studied the prevailing winds, currents, and tides (I know there's a big tide swing from low to high in several areas) for the trip, but, do you think going South from Skagway to Bellingham on the trip would have any advantage over going North from Bellingham to Skagway?
 
Maybe which way you go should be related to when you go. Not last year for sure, but often the weather up north can be relatively undesirable in early summer. True in BC as well, but generally a good bit less so, it seems to me. I'd probably start from WA and head north, rather than the other way around. Get off the water in Skagway by roughly the end of August, and the last part of your trip, way up north, could be timed pretty well. I like the weather odds in SE AK, especially the northern part of it, after roughly the end of June.

Unless you're sailing, I don't think prevailing winds have much to do with your choice. Often the roughest weather comes from the SE, but prevailing winds (in settled weather) are from the NW. You can avoid much of this NW wind by doing much of your traveling earlier in the day, rather than mid afternoon, when the NW wind is usually the strongest. Prevailing NW may be 15-20 knots, but a front coming through often creates SE winds of 20-35 or more, especially in certain places.

Where you are, and as a consequence how much fetch the wind has in which to build up waves, is a key factor. That's why the big open crossings and long straight channels tend to be a challenge.

You could learn a good bit more of what to expect from the Douglass cruising guides, one for SE AK and two more for BC: www.fineedge.com
You might as well get them sooner, because you're going to need them anyway when you go.

For more recreational reading that's also educational, look up the books of Joe Upon, particularly Alaska Blues, and Journeys through the Inside Passage.

Also there's "How to Cruise to Alaska Without Rocking the Boat Too Much" by Walt Woodward - old, but some pretty good information.

and of course my book....
 
Jim

Think the 22 CD Cruiser is perfect for what you have planned from Bellingham to Skagway and like your idea of taking out at Skagway with a relaxed ride on the Columbia back south. Skagway is our preferred place to launch for exploring the Inland passage from Wrangle north and the section from Juneau to Skagway is one of the more beautiful stretches of water on the Inland Passage. It is the one place we had to do an about face when trying to go south in 30 plus knot winds, but we were pressed for time and willing to press the envelope. Normally the weather for cruising this stretch I feel can be picked and pleasant.

Having a goal to cruise from point A to B like you plan is great, but we have found the areas off the cruise routes to be much more enjoyable. With making a one way voyage you should have the time and I would suggest using it to make many side trips along the way. Along with the cruising books recommended by Richard I would suggest reading the Inland Passage accounts by those that have written of them in the "Grand Adventure Forum" to find places that really peak your interest. After our first adventure in 2003 from Skagway to Juneau, exploring the upper Yukon River and several lakes in the Yukon we spent hours coming up with a list of "must see" places on the Inland Channel off the main cruise routes.

Look forward to possibly seeing you up there in the future.

Jay
 
Richard and Jay, thanks for your input on the Skagway trip. With the information everyone has supplied on the web site, I can see that planning would and should take up a large share of the overall prep tme for the trip. Richard, I think your time fame for the trip is right on. I think from my experience of being on the inside passage during the months of late June and late August even though I was on the Columbia, will play a part in when I schedule the trip. I have the freedom of time to allow side trips and many of them mentioned on the web site really sound like fun. I just want to be home before the snow flies. :D Jim
 
Lots of great information above. We have made 3 round trips on our sailboat, a Cal 46, from Wa to Juneau area and back--each time we also went to Sitka, and some of the outside, including the Queen Charolets. A 4th trip was around Vancouver Island. We would leave Sequim in May and be back in Oct.

We made several trips in the lower gulf Islands in the C Dory 22, to the Broughtons and from Prince Rupert around 1200 miles in SE and back in the C Dory 25. There huge difference in the speed of the motor sailor and the C Dories made all of the difference in the world in trip planning. Because of the speed of the C Dory and being able to handle the passes at moderate current levels, we could make 3x or more the distance on a single day. With the displacement speed boat, we had to "time" every rapid for slack water. Not so with the faster C Dory.

Agree, that although the prevailing winds on the coast were NW, the more difficult winds for the C Dory was out of the S. Over 20 knots was enough to make it un-comfortable going into the wind--and if against current even 15 knots could kick up some chop.

As you know the cost of the ferry for a rig is significant--and not sure how you would have it unloaded and stored unless you were going along.

I would do a round trip--because there are so many different "reaches" to explore, and you will have the chance to cover different areas with a two way passage. You can easily do 1000 miles a month--and with 3-4 months really cover things. I also think that putting in a Prince Rupert is a great idea, and what we did last summer with the C dory 25 (and saw Richard along the way). We did one run between fuel stops close to 300 miles on the C Dory 25--and this involved some displacement speeds, and we did carry 10 gallons of extra fuel, "just in case". I cannot say that you would have quite the same range with the 22, and it may not be necessary, unless you are visiting some out of the way (and spetacular places)...

On the other hand, in our prior trips in the sailboat, we had pushed right on through several areas, like the Broughtons, which are worth a month's exploration alone.

Too many places to go--not enough time!
 
On sending the rig (truck and boat trailer) on the ferry to Skagway, the cost of doing that is $50 additional for a vehicle without a driver, at least according to their web site. I would have to check to see if at Skagway they would unload the rig and park it at their lot or arrange for someone to drive it somewhere else until I arrived with the boat. The trips you mentioned sound like a lot of fun: of course I found out on my two trips to Alaska ( 1 cruise, drove Alaska Highway) that there's not any bad spots :D Thanks, Jim
 
A much smarter man than I wrote:

Go small. Go cheap. Go NOW.

denny-o
 
Hmmm... $21 for that 16 above seems kinda inexpensive. 8)
 
JamesTXSD":1phfdr4i said:
Hmmm... $21 for that 16 above seems kinda inexpensive. 8)
Click to expand...

Yup, you can buy a CD-22 for that (or less!) if you're careful!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Sea Wolf":3u056qgb said:
JamesTXSD":3u056qgb said:
Hmmm... $21 for that 16 above seems kinda inexpensive. 8)
Click to expand...

Yup, you can buy a CD-22 for that (or less!) if you're careful!

Joe. :teeth :thup
Click to expand...

According to the ad, it was $21, NOT $21k. I'd take a couple dozen of those. :roll:
 
Denny-o, I like that go cheap, go now thing. Thanks for the links Brent. The 22 looks like it's a pretty nice boat, but, the motor looks like a 2 cycle and I hope to get one with a 4 cycle motor if I can fit it into my price range. Joe I'm thinking your way on the price of a used 22'. There are some things that I can fix on a boat and there are also some changes I'm thinking about in regards to fresh water storage, electronics, and some other things. I like to tinker around with things and I'll bet that there will be something on the boat that will get changed around. That's the fun in it I guess. Thanks, Jim :D
 
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