new article on Examiner.com, includes C-Dories

L

ldraker

New member
I have just published an article titled "Camping on Water" on Examiner.com, an online news source. Obviously, in most cases, that would involve sleeping on boats, as MANY C-Brats do, but there are a couple of other ways to do it, so check out the article to see the possibilities.

I've included a slide show with several good shots, a couple of which include OUR boat, See-Saw. There are photos of C-Dories and/or other types of boats at C-Dory gatherings at Friday Harbor; Lake Powell; and Oriental, NC; and other shots on the Mississippi River; the Dismal Swamp in NC; the Erie Canal; the Everglades; Rochester, NY; and the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence, NY. (We've camped in all of those in our C-Dory or from our sea kayak.)

Here's a link to the article and slide show -- http://exm.nr/1c2FRQE .
If you enjoy it, please share it with others.
(You can see my previous articles by using the link below.)

Janda Raker

www.Examiner.com--JandaRaker
 
I've camped on a chickee, and you can see photos and journal on a kayak trip through Everglades National Park last winter here:

http://smittypaddler.com/cds/cdx/ec2013 ... 130301.htm

The chickees can be used by a kayaker, but in my opinion they are more designed for the power boater. They're wooden platforms about 4 feet above the water, with a vertical wooden ladder nailed to one side. It's partly because I'm 71, but I found it very difficult, first to get out of the kayak onto the ladder, then to get gear out of the kayak and on to the platform. You either have to hang headfirst over the side of the chickee, or hang with one hand on the vertical ladder while you grab gear from the kayak with the other. It would be so much easier with a small floating platform on the side that you could get out on, and stand on while you unload gear.

BTW, `gators don't use the platforms, but they've become sensitized to humans as a food source, since so many folks have foolishly fed them from the chickees.
 
Thanks for the nice comments on my article "camping on water." SmittyPaddler, I read your blog and looked at your photos--a fun read. I love the details--the blood, sweat, and tears! Thanks for sharing that. It's definitely easier to debark onto the chickees with two people, one to pass things from the kayak to the other person. And the tides must make a difference; at high tide, it would be much easier to do all that.

To Starcraft Tom, obviously I'm glad the alligators DON'T get on the chickees. I'm happy to see them, but from a distance! We saw one on a little beach that had "biceps" as big as my thighs! We gave it a wide berth.

To Marty and Harvey, for y'all in the Pacific Northwest, it's a LONG ways to the Everglades, but we love your area too. Our trip out to Friday Harbor for the gathering last May was a great treat. There are some advantages to living in the "middle" of the country; we can get to any of the THREE coasts in a short time! I hope some of you decide to make the trip to the Everglades; it's well worth it!

Janda
 
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