Hello - We're in love

W

willhave1day

New member
Hello. My wife and I have been looking for a good camping boat for the Puget sound for 3 or 4 months now when last Monday a Friend at work with an Arima told me about the Dory. Oh my we are in love, this is the perfect boat for what we want to do! Yet we are still young (we're 32) so it will be a year or 2 before we can even think of owning a Dory, the 22 is what we're aiming for. After finding this we don't even want to bother with a lesser boat sooner; it's worth it to us for wait for the good stuff.
I am amazed at the utilitarian, ruggedness, and towable behind our new 4L 4x4 Ranger; learned that nothing in a 19' common boat can touch the 22 in that fashion. Combining that with our desire to take up kayaking in the future ..Oh we are excited like children wanting the Xbox for christmas in August. a C-Dory Christmas is SOO far away for us, but we will dream for the next year or 2; and live vicariously through your stories and pictures if you don't mind. :embarrased
We figured we should introduce ourselves since we are lurking around your humble pub and I think I've read most everything there is to read already in 5 days (are you coming to bed?? she asks...).

We are novice boaters - she's only been on a lake once, but I grew up skiing on lakes and sailing a Lido, later a Catalina 22, with my Dad. Traveling the sound is a daunting task for a new ones. The C-Dory seems the only correct choice now that we know. I hope you don't mind these 2 newB non owners occasionally asking dumb questions soaking up all the info we can think of in anticipation of our purchase. The pictures of your cruises around the San Juans and Alaska make our hearts flutter. But that gives us time to take the boating courses, learn up on Dusty's good Radar school; prep for the finals, so to speak. Of course at some point we have to go to EQMarine and actually see one with our own eyes!
Thank you very much for the space to allow us to drool and learn. Oh yes, we will have one to share with our 4 legged child! We can not contain our excitement! I have dreamed of sleeping in Deer harbor with the rain gently falling four nights in a row. What a wonderful site and a wonderful boat!
 
we will dream for the next year or 2; and live vicariously through your stories and pictures if you don't mind.
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We don't mind at all!

Welcome to the Pub, we're glad you signed up. A lot of us know exactly what you're feeling, and several others are still in the same boat, so to speak.

Be sure and watch for the talk about the next Seattle boat show coming up in January. You will want to fit in a trip to the annual Seattle Boat Show C-Brat Get Together (SBSCBGT). It is quite a treat.

Don't rule out finding a clean used CD22 so you can get started a little sooner. The best finds, I think, are 10+ old hulls with new four stroke motors. We bought our first CD used in 2001. It was a 1987 with 2000 Hondas for $22,700. Three seasons and 900 hours later, we sold it for the exact same price. We had added some things to it, but essentially for the price of the useful stuff, we got a free boat for two and a half years. You find deals like that every so often, but they don't stay on the market for long.

Good luck. Have fun. And don't be bashful with the questions.
 
Welcome welcome welcome...
I know just what you are going through.
I shopped for 5 long years to get my boat and I have never been happier!
I had no fewer than 5 deals fall through at the last minute... heartbreaking... but I wound up with a boat that was far nicer than I thought I could get. It was a bit of a stretch on the budget but it has done everything I have asked it to do an I could be no more pleased. I am very proud of my boat... I love it.
Please feel free to come to any of the functions that are put together. You can check out what folks have done to customize their boats and put together ideas for your own. I am sure you could even get a few rides...
Hope to see you in the docks. Never stop dreaming..... Soon you will be the one welcoming new folks to the pub and inviting them along....
 
Don't rule out finding a clean used CD22 so you can get started a little sooner. The best finds, I think, are 10+ old hulls with new four stroke motors
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I agree with Tyboo on this point but I would suggest that you don't limit yourself to a 4/stroke only. I'm still running my original Johnson 70(2/stroke) and am very happy with its performance and dependability.
 
TyBoo Mike --Don't rule out finding a clean used CD22 so you can get started a little sooner. The best finds, I think, are 10+ old hulls with new four stroke motors. We bought our first CD used in 2001. It was a 1987 with 2000 Hondas for $22,700. Three seasons and 900 hours later, we sold it for the exact same price. We had added some things to it, but essentially for the price of the useful stuff, we got a free boat for two and a half years. You find deals like that every so often, but they don't stay on the market for long.

Good luck. Have fun. And don't be bashful with the questions.
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Yeah, what Mike said! :lol: We bought Captain's Choice in Dec 2002, it had been unused for 5 years, it's a 1994 and had twin 1994 Honda 45's on it with only 240 hours. Got it for only $16,000 :thup including the trailer. Of course I put several $ into rebuilding carbs, water pumps, adding electronics, etc, etc. Figure I've got about $21K in the boat now but it's good for many, many more years and we love it...

Have fun in your search, keep in touch and keep asking questions. Remember, there are no dumb questions, (maybe a few dumb answers but not questions) :roll: We're generally a pretty good bunch, at least here on the right coast! :cry

Charlie
 
Thank you all for the warm welcome and suggestions!
Work permitting, we would love to stop and see your boats sometime.

We are certainly considering used for when we are ready. Is there a list somewhere that details all of the years and their upgrades?
 
Welcome to the pub -- pull up a chair and ask any questions you want -- you'll get more opinions than there are members in the pub! We would suggest you touch base with some of the local CD-owners and see if somebody would give you two a ride -- then you can really be hooked! Certainly come to any of the Gatherings that you can drive to -- you'll enjoy seeing the different ways folks have modified their boats. So -- welcome aboard and enjoy the looking ...
 
We sure will at some point see if we can mooch a ride in exchange for gas at least. My wife pointed out how life can be a stinker when here we are just bought the first new car we've ever had, but for a few dollars more we coulda had the boat we were looking for BEFORE we decided to buy a truck. Of course the instant it rolled off our lips, as we were finishing each others sentence, the condundrum became apparent to the both of us... LOL Progress is slow, she says.
Matt and Iva
 
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