Went on the "maiden voyage" of my 22 yesterday. Whoo, I"m so excited! First thing I wanted to do is come share it with the C-Brats (who are a big part of why I wanted a C-Dory to begin with). I don't know if others get this feeling, but for me, after a boat has been "on the hard" for a certain period of time, it starts to seem like, "So this floated once upon a time, right? So it still should float... right?!?" It just seems so improbable, and one gets so used to it as this fixed object on a trailer that you work on. Also, I've never launched (or retrieved) a trailerable boat before. What could go wrong? :wink
So anyway, I (well, we, as I have a buddy with me who is visiting from the UK) was a bit intimidated by the "well oiled machine" of pro launchers at the nearby salt water ramp. I had visions of being "that guy" and holding up a growing line-up of impatient fishermen at the ramp :disgust I'd tested as many of the new/existing systems as possible on the trailer, and had a checklist for getting ready in the prep area, but still.... we both felt a bit rusty in boating, and completely inexperienced in launching/retrieving a trailerable. So, we decided to try something different. We looked around for a freshwater lake to launch on. Lake Crescent (on the Olympic Peninsula) looked interesting.
I read up on it via search engine and then called the ranger station to ask about the ramp. The ranger informed me that there are two park ramps (both free, one at Storm King ranger station and one at Fairholme on the west end) and one other ramp (IIRC, at the east end, a private/pay ramp, which I have since heard is pretty shallow). It is permissible to boat on the lake at night, but not to sleep over on the boat afloat. I didn't find a map/chart of water depths, but the ranger said that basically unless you are right at shore, it's super deep.
Tuesday, we drove over (sans boat and trailer) to scope it out and to explore part of the area we wouldn't do on the boat. It's a beautiful setting - clear blue water surrounded by forested mountains. The lake is very deep (measured at 1,000' in places, but that was the limit of the instruments, so even that may not be the ultimate depth). Also, because the lake is a closed system, basically, there is no "stuff" in the lake and the water is super clear. I had read about the lake previously, through diving, because there was a mystery wherein a couple disappeared between Port Angeles and Forks in the 1930's and were never found (leaving two children wondering what ever happened to them). A few people worked the mystery and kept records, and then around ten years ago divers (partially because diving/scanning technology has advanced) found their car and remains deep in the lake (everything points to no foul play, just that the road past the lake was narrow and unimproved back in the day).
I searched here on the forum and read that a few other C-Brats had launched and boated on the lake, so that was encouraging.
The beauty is apparent from first glimpse as you drive westward on Highway 101
101 runs along the south side of the lake, and the Storm King ramp is about halfway along from east to west. In addition to "regular" parking and restrooms (plus a ranger station that is closed for the season), there is a dedicated ramp parking area with around 20 spaces. Storm King ranger station is also the trailhead for trails to Marymere Falls, Storm King mountain, and a couple of other trails. The ramp looked pretty good to me (although at this point, what do I know
), except that the surface you back down on is offset from the dock by about 12'.
But at least its easy to see!
The ramp parking lot was empty save for one rig, so it looked like a great launching area for a "low pressure" first time for the next day (i.e. Wednesday). Whew! We later went to look at the Fairholme ramp, which is next to the park service campground (nice looking campground). It didn't appeal as much for launching though, because it was much smaller and more cramped, and it looked like one would have to launch with the vehicle and trailer somewhat "jacknifed" from each other - in other words, the part of the road just above the actual ramp wasn't straight for very long. Probably not an issue for those more experienced (on the other hand, might conceal "drunken" path down straight approach by beginner :lol
.
After the ramp check, we decided to walk up to Marymere falls. It's a nice path of about 1-1/2 miles round-trip through the forest - some truly immense cedars - with a couple of bridges over Barnes Creek. There was one nice gravel bar to walk out onto and be next to the creek. Mostly level trail with just a short section of steep "steps" at the end near the falls. Very pretty.
We decided to make this the maiden voyage destination, so yesterday morning saw us getting the boat ready to go (!) and checking our lists (once, twice... three times). I couldn't help being nervous that after all this time somehow something wouldn't work out. But off we went. It was a beautiful day, sunny without a cloud in the sky, very warm, and not much wind. Traffic was light on the way there and we pulled into "our" nice deserted ramp to find.... the parking lot packed to the gills with trucks/trailers, even to the point of some parked on the grass, and a buzz of rigs at the launch ramp ?! Ha, so much for our weekday, deserted ramp scenario :cry
I steeled my nerves and we found an out of the way place to pull over and get things ready. More checking of lists, and "okay let's walk through how we're going to do this" ensued, and then there was nothing else to do but.... back down the ramp and give it a whirl. Amazingly, it all worked out, my camper van didn't slide into the water, the boat drifted easily and lightly over to rest dockside, and before you know it I was listening to the wonderful clatter of an empty trailer being pulled back up the ramp behind me (while my buddy lined the boat further down the dock and tied it up).
I parked the van and walked back down to see..... she floats!!
We proceeded to start the engines (they purred) and get underway. Boy did that feel great The lake is so clear and blue/turquoise that it felt almost like magically floating on air. Reminded me a bit of diving. It was funny to be on such a (relatively) small lake and yet glance at the depthfinder to see 400+ feet.
The lake is gorgeous. The rocky peak is Storm King.
![>)](http://Buddy%20is%20enjoying%20it%20too%20(I'm%20making%20mental%20note%20to%20wash%20windows%20%20<img%20src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif"%20alt=":wink:"%20title="Wink"%20/>))
Water clarity is so neat -- makes it easy to see that Permatrim is still there (actually it was hard to tell how deep in the water it was - sort of disorienting.
And boat is still afloat.
We cruised around enjoying the boat and the day and the lake, plus testing out various systems and making notes.
We made a few runs at WOT. The engine ran perfectly, although I think I may need to change something as - although the RPM are within the prescribed range - I think it might be better to be a bit higher at WOT. I'm not sure what to change to though, so will start another thread with specifics. I also tested with just the kicker. As Rich (C-Nile) posted, I was able to steer with the main just fine once I had some way on (I have no tie bar). There is a tiller on the kicker for close quarters maneuvering. I was glad to have installed the Mini Jacker as even with that 3" rise the kicker's lower unit was in the water slightly at some speeds while running under main. Main is now up to 57 hours.
Couldn't have asked for much more on a first run - beautiful scenery and glassy water (would have been fun to add another C-Dory or two though).
Zoom!
A sailboat ghosting along at the west end, near the Fairholme campground/launch.
Every direction was beauty. I was a bit sorry we couldn't anchor and spend the night.
Finally we figured we'd better head back since we didn't want to retrieve in the dark.
At the ramp we then had to figure out the best way to load the boat since the trailer would be so far from the dock. I don't have a boat hook that long. I also wasn't keen to "power load" at this point in time. There was a fellow retrieving when we got there and he just waded over to his trailer, stepped up onto it, and pulled his boat over into position - so that's what we did. I can see this might be tough in any wind, but it was mostly calm. Also I can see guide-ons would be nice because the trailer was pretty much underwater at the rear; but with the super clear water we could see it fine (probably not so easy in murky water). The boat lined up easily and we winched it back up (glad I got a new winch to replace the original - the new one has much lower gearing). I think what got to me the most was that for the retrieval I parked the van on the ramp vs. staying in it at launch. I put it in "Park," plus parking brake, plus chock - and then glanced around for a fourth possible safety system - then got out and left it there while we got the boat on the trailer. It stayed obediently in place though.... whew!
Pulled up to the recovery lane, got everything squared away, and hit the road. I really didn't relax until we were back to our starting point, the boat was pulled in and detached, and I shut the van down.
Most of the things that I upgraded or added seemed to work great - that made me happy. I have a list of things to attend to now, but nothing too "big."
In case anyone is curious:
1) WOT RPM could be higher - change prop? To what? Engine height okay?
2a) Trim tabs: Switch wires going to indicator lights to they "match" the switch labeling (I know that in real life, it's the opposite tab that controls the bow, but maybe just to my mind, the switches are set up as a "show me the result of my action" system vs. a "tell me what's actually being done" system, and the way the lights seem to be set up by Bennett, it's a clash of systems (maybe just to my brain though!). Easily changed though, I believe.
^^ This is now done. Switched red and green wires at relay (these come from the actuator arms).
2b) Trim tabs: Not sure I love the auto retractor.... might prefer it to be wired to a toggle instead of working whenever engine is shut down. It works fine though so no rush to "fix."
3) Clean/lubricate side windows so they open (whew, it was a greenhouse in there! Guess I forgot to exercise these while I was refitting the boat.)
4) Get front/center opening window working (see greenhouse note above).
5) Do something so that it's comfortable to sit at the helm (seat did not agree with me in height or angle).
6) Wash windows.
7) Get a waterski type mirror for view aft from helm.
8) Why doesn't it seem like the house battery is being charged by the ACR? (Judged by looking at the Victron battery monitor.)
^^ Already figured out and I believe fixed #8. The ground wire on the ACR was not hooked up to the proper terminal on the ACR. It's supposed to be on the ground (left) terminal but it was on the start isolation (center) terminal instead which meant the ACR would only ever charge the start battery. Moved it to the ground terminal which should have fixed that problem.
9) Find/meet some C-Brats and have a cruise in company :thup
Sunbeam :hot
So anyway, I (well, we, as I have a buddy with me who is visiting from the UK) was a bit intimidated by the "well oiled machine" of pro launchers at the nearby salt water ramp. I had visions of being "that guy" and holding up a growing line-up of impatient fishermen at the ramp :disgust I'd tested as many of the new/existing systems as possible on the trailer, and had a checklist for getting ready in the prep area, but still.... we both felt a bit rusty in boating, and completely inexperienced in launching/retrieving a trailerable. So, we decided to try something different. We looked around for a freshwater lake to launch on. Lake Crescent (on the Olympic Peninsula) looked interesting.
I read up on it via search engine and then called the ranger station to ask about the ramp. The ranger informed me that there are two park ramps (both free, one at Storm King ranger station and one at Fairholme on the west end) and one other ramp (IIRC, at the east end, a private/pay ramp, which I have since heard is pretty shallow). It is permissible to boat on the lake at night, but not to sleep over on the boat afloat. I didn't find a map/chart of water depths, but the ranger said that basically unless you are right at shore, it's super deep.
Tuesday, we drove over (sans boat and trailer) to scope it out and to explore part of the area we wouldn't do on the boat. It's a beautiful setting - clear blue water surrounded by forested mountains. The lake is very deep (measured at 1,000' in places, but that was the limit of the instruments, so even that may not be the ultimate depth). Also, because the lake is a closed system, basically, there is no "stuff" in the lake and the water is super clear. I had read about the lake previously, through diving, because there was a mystery wherein a couple disappeared between Port Angeles and Forks in the 1930's and were never found (leaving two children wondering what ever happened to them). A few people worked the mystery and kept records, and then around ten years ago divers (partially because diving/scanning technology has advanced) found their car and remains deep in the lake (everything points to no foul play, just that the road past the lake was narrow and unimproved back in the day).
I searched here on the forum and read that a few other C-Brats had launched and boated on the lake, so that was encouraging.
The beauty is apparent from first glimpse as you drive westward on Highway 101
101 runs along the south side of the lake, and the Storm King ramp is about halfway along from east to west. In addition to "regular" parking and restrooms (plus a ranger station that is closed for the season), there is a dedicated ramp parking area with around 20 spaces. Storm King ranger station is also the trailhead for trails to Marymere Falls, Storm King mountain, and a couple of other trails. The ramp looked pretty good to me (although at this point, what do I know
), except that the surface you back down on is offset from the dock by about 12'.But at least its easy to see!
The ramp parking lot was empty save for one rig, so it looked like a great launching area for a "low pressure" first time for the next day (i.e. Wednesday). Whew! We later went to look at the Fairholme ramp, which is next to the park service campground (nice looking campground). It didn't appeal as much for launching though, because it was much smaller and more cramped, and it looked like one would have to launch with the vehicle and trailer somewhat "jacknifed" from each other - in other words, the part of the road just above the actual ramp wasn't straight for very long. Probably not an issue for those more experienced (on the other hand, might conceal "drunken" path down straight approach by beginner :lol
.After the ramp check, we decided to walk up to Marymere falls. It's a nice path of about 1-1/2 miles round-trip through the forest - some truly immense cedars - with a couple of bridges over Barnes Creek. There was one nice gravel bar to walk out onto and be next to the creek. Mostly level trail with just a short section of steep "steps" at the end near the falls. Very pretty.
We decided to make this the maiden voyage destination, so yesterday morning saw us getting the boat ready to go (!) and checking our lists (once, twice... three times). I couldn't help being nervous that after all this time somehow something wouldn't work out. But off we went. It was a beautiful day, sunny without a cloud in the sky, very warm, and not much wind. Traffic was light on the way there and we pulled into "our" nice deserted ramp to find.... the parking lot packed to the gills with trucks/trailers, even to the point of some parked on the grass, and a buzz of rigs at the launch ramp ?! Ha, so much for our weekday, deserted ramp scenario :cry
I steeled my nerves and we found an out of the way place to pull over and get things ready. More checking of lists, and "okay let's walk through how we're going to do this" ensued, and then there was nothing else to do but.... back down the ramp and give it a whirl. Amazingly, it all worked out, my camper van didn't slide into the water, the boat drifted easily and lightly over to rest dockside, and before you know it I was listening to the wonderful clatter of an empty trailer being pulled back up the ramp behind me (while my buddy lined the boat further down the dock and tied it up).
I parked the van and walked back down to see..... she floats!!
We proceeded to start the engines (they purred) and get underway. Boy did that feel great
The lake is so clear and blue/turquoise that it felt almost like magically floating on air. Reminded me a bit of diving. It was funny to be on such a (relatively) small lake and yet glance at the depthfinder to see 400+ feet.The lake is gorgeous. The rocky peak is Storm King.
Water clarity is so neat -- makes it easy to see that Permatrim is still there (actually it was hard to tell how deep in the water it was - sort of disorienting.
And boat is still afloat.
We cruised around enjoying the boat and the day and the lake, plus testing out various systems and making notes.
We made a few runs at WOT. The engine ran perfectly, although I think I may need to change something as - although the RPM are within the prescribed range - I think it might be better to be a bit higher at WOT. I'm not sure what to change to though, so will start another thread with specifics. I also tested with just the kicker. As Rich (C-Nile) posted, I was able to steer with the main just fine once I had some way on (I have no tie bar). There is a tiller on the kicker for close quarters maneuvering. I was glad to have installed the Mini Jacker as even with that 3" rise the kicker's lower unit was in the water slightly at some speeds while running under main. Main is now up to 57 hours.
Couldn't have asked for much more on a first run - beautiful scenery and glassy water (would have been fun to add another C-Dory or two though).
Zoom!
A sailboat ghosting along at the west end, near the Fairholme campground/launch.
Every direction was beauty. I was a bit sorry we couldn't anchor and spend the night.
Finally we figured we'd better head back since we didn't want to retrieve in the dark.
At the ramp we then had to figure out the best way to load the boat since the trailer would be so far from the dock. I don't have a boat hook that long. I also wasn't keen to "power load" at this point in time. There was a fellow retrieving when we got there and he just waded over to his trailer, stepped up onto it, and pulled his boat over into position - so that's what we did. I can see this might be tough in any wind, but it was mostly calm. Also I can see guide-ons would be nice because the trailer was pretty much underwater at the rear; but with the super clear water we could see it fine (probably not so easy in murky water). The boat lined up easily and we winched it back up (glad I got a new winch to replace the original - the new one has much lower gearing). I think what got to me the most was that for the retrieval I parked the van on the ramp vs. staying in it at launch. I put it in "Park," plus parking brake, plus chock - and then glanced around for a fourth possible safety system - then got out and left it there while we got the boat on the trailer. It stayed obediently in place though.... whew!
Pulled up to the recovery lane, got everything squared away, and hit the road. I really didn't relax until we were back to our starting point, the boat was pulled in and detached, and I shut the van down.
Most of the things that I upgraded or added seemed to work great - that made me happy. I have a list of things to attend to now, but nothing too "big."
In case anyone is curious:
1) WOT RPM could be higher - change prop? To what? Engine height okay?
2a) Trim tabs: Switch wires going to indicator lights to they "match" the switch labeling (I know that in real life, it's the opposite tab that controls the bow, but maybe just to my mind, the switches are set up as a "show me the result of my action" system vs. a "tell me what's actually being done" system, and the way the lights seem to be set up by Bennett, it's a clash of systems (maybe just to my brain though!). Easily changed though, I believe.
^^ This is now done. Switched red and green wires at relay (these come from the actuator arms).
2b) Trim tabs: Not sure I love the auto retractor.... might prefer it to be wired to a toggle instead of working whenever engine is shut down. It works fine though so no rush to "fix."
3) Clean/lubricate side windows so they open (whew, it was a greenhouse in there! Guess I forgot to exercise these while I was refitting the boat.)
4) Get front/center opening window working (see greenhouse note above).
5) Do something so that it's comfortable to sit at the helm (seat did not agree with me in height or angle).
6) Wash windows.
7) Get a waterski type mirror for view aft from helm.
8) Why doesn't it seem like the house battery is being charged by the ACR? (Judged by looking at the Victron battery monitor.)
^^ Already figured out and I believe fixed #8. The ground wire on the ACR was not hooked up to the proper terminal on the ACR. It's supposed to be on the ground (left) terminal but it was on the start isolation (center) terminal instead which meant the ACR would only ever charge the start battery. Moved it to the ground terminal which should have fixed that problem.
9) Find/meet some C-Brats and have a cruise in company
:thupSunbeam :hot
