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cocohatchee

New member
Hello everyone,

Let me apologize ahead of time for the long post. I’m new to this website. I have never owned a boat or ever planned to. During our last vacation in Florida my wife and I bought a small vacation/retirement place on the Cocohatchee River in Naples Florida. We are surrounded my mangroves, pelicans and dolphins and only 5 min. from the Gulf. One of our neighbors took us out on his 19’ BW and it was a real treat. My cooperative offers dock space on the river for only $20.00 a month. Guess what? I now have to have a boat. After much research, I came to the conclusion that a C-Dory 16’ Cruiser would be a good choice for what I “think” I would like to do on the water. Bought a used 2004 and will pick it up next week. After reading most of your comments on this website and all of the customizations you have done, I see that my new boat will be a work in progress for some amount of time. I have taken the Coast Guard Boating Safety course. My new neighbors in the cooperative all have boats so I’m sure they will be a big help for advice and give me some hands on training. As C-Dory owners, what is your experience on the important customizations you have done? I’m talking about the basics such as safety and handling. I can read what you have done on the website. My request is this, could you please give me a short list (in your opinion) of what modification you think are the most important in order of importance. I will use you knowledge of these boats to start my new project. Thanks and all the best to you and your families.

2004 C-Dory 16 Cruiser, 2004 Yamaha 40HP 4 Stroke, Garmin 182C Map & Depth, ICOM M402 VHF Radio, Aluminum Trailer Float On, (Life Vest, Horn, Fire, ETC.) and let’s not forget the potty.

A short list please. Five(5) would be great but no more than ten(10).
 
Just a couple comments that may be worth storing away. The CD 16 is a beautiful little boat, but, it is little. You will probably have the most fun by thinking simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. Keep the weight down, down, down. A ditch bag, small emergency first aid kit and good fire extinguisher, an anchor, life preservers and a small cooler and those are about all the customizing you should need. Of course, some fishing gear and a couple paper charts. Nothing is more disconcerting to me on any size boat than having to step around all the bits that get taken on board. The extra stuff is also a safety hazard.

So, if you are going to do any customizing, it should probably have to do with getting those few simple things up and out of the way. "a place for everything and everything in its place."

Good luck with the new boat. Boats of any size are fun.
 
Welcome aboard.

I suspect you may want a couple of fans with the Florida Temp. Not sure where you are going to be using the boat (ICW, Gulf?)--but watch your weather very closely. You want to get as much experience as possible in calm water, and practice maneuvering.

The one area I would suggest beyond what you and Potter Water have suggested, would be a small tool kit. In my ditch bag, I keep a small crescent wrench, a small pair of vise grips, combination tool (I prefer Gerber), with needle nose pliers, knife, screw driver blades--plus a 4/1 to 8/1 screw driver. Also a pair of diagnal cutters (dykes). I also carry a simple spark plug wrench and a set of plugs. Carry some monel wire, electrical ties and a small amount of silicone rescue tape and duct tape.

A hand held (water proof) VHF and GPS are excellent additions.
 
If it has manual wipers, you won't be able to reach them without getting up from your seat.. Get electric wipers, at least on the driver's side, both if within your budget. Also, pivot the driver's seat and see if it hits the ignition key on the way around. It took us a while to figure out why the engine always shut off when I looked backward! It's easy to jury rig a stop to prevent the seat from hitting the key. Carry a fish gaf (an iron hook with a 2 or 3 ft. handle) next to the driver. If you are alone on the boat, when docking it's easy to lean out the open window and grab a cleat on the dock. If you have your own dock you can rig a permanent line and grab it with the gaf and hook it to the cleat just below the window, all without leaving the driver's seat. Enjoy that boat.
 
I agree with keep it simple, use it lots, and don't bolt stuff on till you're sure. It seems well equiped. Think safety first. First aid kits, water supply, blanket, fire ext, you'll need a good fan. Unlikely radar or kicker needed. Keep it light. It's small and capable just dont overload. Enjoy!!
 
One additional item. I liked having these hooks. one on each side just below the open window.
599019.jpg
It made it easy to place and retrieve bumpers thru the windows.

the hooks in action..
LIZZIE.jpg
 
Welcome. Hope you have a great and safe time. I would encourage you to get inflatable life jackets for you and your wife. They are light weight and comfortable enough that people actually wear them. Test wear different brands as some, as some are uncomfortable at the back of the neck. Ours are Mustang, Sospenders, and Helly Hanson brand and we wear them at all time on the boat often forgetting they are on. Get a chartbook of your cruising area and learn how to find your location (latitude and longitude) on the charts. Make sure your Garmin 182C has charts for your cruising area in it. Get a good anchor and chain/line for your area and learn how to use it. Finally, I suspect you took a one-day boating safety course called "ABS". If so consider taking (both of you) a longer course such as the USCGAux Boating safety and Seamanship (BS&S) or an equivalent Power Squadron course. Those courses take a few hours for a few days to complete but offer a whole lot of good information.
 
I like organized storage compartments for food and books (such as maps/charts, safety/manuals, etc).

If you plan to fish, I really like the roof mounted rocket launchers as they keep the rods out of your way and organized.

we prefer larger docking bumpers for those rough docks to protect the boat.

and as mentioned above, a good ditch bag with safety gear, floating rope, etc. flares, what have you.
 
Thanks for your time and response. The information you gave will help a lot. Many things I would have overlooked.

Many of the post on your website talked about permatrim VS no permatrim VS hydrofoil or trim tabs VS no trim tabs. No one has yet talked about this for my boat. Is it important or should I just enjoy my boat as is? If this subject is played out, don’t answer, I can read the old post on this subject.

Thanks Again
 
Bottom paint if you are leaving the boat in the water. Maybe a windless if you plan on anchoring a lot. Not a requirement but really nice to have.
A back up hand held VHF. Something to provide decent music. Cell phone with a weather app to look at live radar forecast. Another app on the cell phone for a backup GPS. A positive lets make this fun attitude. Two batteries. Some way to make hot coffee or tea.
D.D.
 
It’s a small cooperative community (mobile home) located on one street. Forty units total. Since we are a cooperative, we charge ourselves the dock and maintenance fees. For it to go up a majority of owners would need to OK it. Would you charge yourself more? Mostly snow birds with a few full timers. I live in NY so this will give me a little break from the snow.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UT ... 19&vpsrc=6
 
Binoculars are one of the most over looked and use full tools you can have in a boat. I have three or four on my boat and use them all day long.

Some one above told you to concentrate on safety but said that a kicker is not needed???/ So how are you planning to get back to your dock, or any dock, right at dark ( the favorite time of day for engine failure ) when you main gives out and you have no other means of moving the boat??? Get at least a small kicker. I have had to use mine twice over the years and that alone paid for it. Towing is not cheap and is at least a hour or two away. You can pick up a used kicker on craiglist for under $500 almost every day of the week. GET ONE
 
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