Murky Dregs
New member
My wife and I are retiring to Maine and I've actually somehow managed to pull off a miracle... she's agreeable regarding the idea of a boat!
A boat that we can have little adventures with.
Now, I have a tremendous amount of sea miles under my belt... the problem is I was an aircraft mechanic, on aircraft carriers; needless to say my seamanship is wanting and most of my salty crustiness revolved around liberty and bars all over the Pacific.
Anywho, I've bought some books... there's a text by the Auxiliary Coast Guard, and Chapman's Piloting & Seamanship so I plan to dig in. One of the first things I plan on getting involved with up in Maine is availing myself of some hands-on courses and such as well as hopefully making some friends...friends with boats.
It doesn't hurt that my brother just screened for command of an SSN either so, great resource there right in the family.
I found this website because my search for what may be the ideal boat pointed to all things C-Dory.
I'm kind of shocked at how they're such a succinct expression of so many creature comforts in what seems to be a small and relatively affordable package.
It's easy to see why these boats generate such enthusiasm and loyalty among their operators.
Our new house will be less than 5 miles from one of the more popular marinas on the Maine coast, Buck's Harbor. There's also a plethora of maintenance services and such in the area not to mention the Maritime College in Castine.
We see us bopping up and down the Maine coast for some beach camping, some light fishing, I can get a recreational lobster license, we already have friends in Rockland & Belfast, etc.. So Daytrips, overnighters, and short multi-day excursions will be the order of things. Ideally, we'll be immersing ourselves in the lifestyle of the area, and who knows from there... these little boats can go anywhere, and I have a boating friend who owns a house in the Keys... but a jaunt of that nature is way down the line.
Still, it's extraordinary that such a seemingly humble vessel possesses the capability to enable such trips.
My thinking is the 23' will be ideal, as long as I can get one of those Airhead toilets installed on board- a definite requirement for the Missus. We could go bigger, possibly entertaining the idea of the 26' but that's a lot more dough to lay out for a toilet and shower.
Ultimately fuel efficiency and operating cost is a big driver for me and I've been wondering which hull offers the best.
This isn't going to be an impulse purchase. It is on the timeline potentially for 2023. A new build may be in the equation if I can't get lucky and score something used in ideal condition, so decision time would be late 2022 considering factory turnaround time.
In the meantime I have a lot to learn and hopefully I'll be getting some good experience during next year's boating season which will inform me even further.
I see a lot of talk about these boats and trim. Seems to be there's a very rewarding art in finding the right configuration for given conditions in order to maximize travel with these craft. It also strikes me that they punch well above their weight in terms of safety and potentially more adverse scenarios than many other boats of this size...
Nevertheless, I'm just a noob and I know it!
A pleasure to make your acquaintances,
Murky
A boat that we can have little adventures with.
Now, I have a tremendous amount of sea miles under my belt... the problem is I was an aircraft mechanic, on aircraft carriers; needless to say my seamanship is wanting and most of my salty crustiness revolved around liberty and bars all over the Pacific.
Anywho, I've bought some books... there's a text by the Auxiliary Coast Guard, and Chapman's Piloting & Seamanship so I plan to dig in. One of the first things I plan on getting involved with up in Maine is availing myself of some hands-on courses and such as well as hopefully making some friends...friends with boats.

I found this website because my search for what may be the ideal boat pointed to all things C-Dory.
I'm kind of shocked at how they're such a succinct expression of so many creature comforts in what seems to be a small and relatively affordable package.
It's easy to see why these boats generate such enthusiasm and loyalty among their operators.
Our new house will be less than 5 miles from one of the more popular marinas on the Maine coast, Buck's Harbor. There's also a plethora of maintenance services and such in the area not to mention the Maritime College in Castine.
We see us bopping up and down the Maine coast for some beach camping, some light fishing, I can get a recreational lobster license, we already have friends in Rockland & Belfast, etc.. So Daytrips, overnighters, and short multi-day excursions will be the order of things. Ideally, we'll be immersing ourselves in the lifestyle of the area, and who knows from there... these little boats can go anywhere, and I have a boating friend who owns a house in the Keys... but a jaunt of that nature is way down the line.
Still, it's extraordinary that such a seemingly humble vessel possesses the capability to enable such trips.
My thinking is the 23' will be ideal, as long as I can get one of those Airhead toilets installed on board- a definite requirement for the Missus. We could go bigger, possibly entertaining the idea of the 26' but that's a lot more dough to lay out for a toilet and shower.
Ultimately fuel efficiency and operating cost is a big driver for me and I've been wondering which hull offers the best.
This isn't going to be an impulse purchase. It is on the timeline potentially for 2023. A new build may be in the equation if I can't get lucky and score something used in ideal condition, so decision time would be late 2022 considering factory turnaround time.
In the meantime I have a lot to learn and hopefully I'll be getting some good experience during next year's boating season which will inform me even further.
I see a lot of talk about these boats and trim. Seems to be there's a very rewarding art in finding the right configuration for given conditions in order to maximize travel with these craft. It also strikes me that they punch well above their weight in terms of safety and potentially more adverse scenarios than many other boats of this size...
Nevertheless, I'm just a noob and I know it!
A pleasure to make your acquaintances,
Murky