SO WHAT DID YOU DO WITH OR ON YOUR C-DORY TODAY??

Colby,
King Starboard has been arourd the marine industry for a long time and is used in many applications, that would have been previously made of teak or other wood products. The material is a high density polyethylene, that is UV stabilized. It required zero maintenance and is easily workable with standard woodworking tools.
The link is the manufacturers brochure and there are now competitors of this type of product.

https://www.kingplastic.com/wp-content/ ... rature.pdf

Steve Baum
Homeport of Portsmouth, VA
OSPREY (Ex Mister Sea) 2000 22 C-Dory 2010 - Sold 3/19
OSPREY (Ex ADITI) 2007 26 Cape Cruiser 2018
 
The new bunk surface should prove to be a huge improvement in future evolutions.
Click to expand...

I have used "slicks" on several of my C Dorys (Tom Cat, second 22 and current 25), but only on the front half of the bunks. The latter two I have only covered part of the forward bunks with the slicks. The disadvantage is that the boat will slide off much easier..so be careful! The product I used was not touted as being "Starboard"--but is a high density polyurethane. (Just like cutting boards are HDPE, but not "King Starboard".

The biggest advantage I see is in getting the boat back on the trailer.

I might caution about making the bunks themselves with "Starboard"--which I suspect was not done in the above case. The HDPE will sag unless supported by wood, or some metal structure.
 
Thanks Steve. I did a little more homework researching. I just have to wonder if it's as gentle on the hull as the carpet and wood during long commutes. I replaced my carpet a few years ago, but have a few tears on the forward edge of the inner bunks again. (I suspect caused from when the boat gets a bit sideways loading in wind or current, and the bow center strip and screws hit it, rather than the roller.) I wonder if it would be worthwhile to just use the starboard on the inner bunks, or even mill the bunk 2x4's to allow the forward couple of feet to be lined with the starboard? Colby
 
Colby,
Your question regarding scratching was a very big concern for me. All of my big boat trailers were EZ-Loader multi-roller type trailers. If you unhooked the boat from the trailer at the top of the ramp, the boat would be on the concrete, long before you began backing down.

The new Cape Cruiser trailer has been a bear to load and unload, due to friction from the carpet. In order to get the boat on or off of the trailer, the boat HAS to be 100% floating. The down side of this is if you are at a ramp that will allow a trailer that is 30' long to submerge, you at out of luck. Usually it is the last few feet that are very difficult (and I have a very powerful 2 speed winch). If the boat is floating at the stern, then the bow is too low at the bow stop. when you pull the trailer up the ramp and the stern comes down, then the boat is aft of the bow stop on the trailer by about 1'. You have to refloat it to make up the difference, by messing with it several times.

My buddy's Melonseed Skiff is badly scratched on the bottom, where it rubs the carpet, when being loaded / unloaded, due to impregnated sand, dirt, etc. The Cape Cruiser also is scratched / well polished on the bottom from the carpeted bunks. When I removed the carpet from the Cape Cruiser trailer, I vacuumed up over a quart of dirt and sand that fell out of the carpet, (I did the work over the driveway and used a shop vac to clean-up, so that is why I know).

Two things are going to happen at the ramp with the Cape Cruiser... 1. The boat will not need to be completely floating to come off or onto the trailer. 2. Sand/dirt when the trailer is underwater will for the most part wash away and the King Starboard has a raised / bumpy profile, so minor stuff should have little to no impact.

Steve Baum
Homeport of Portsmouth, VA
OSPREY (Ex Mister Sea) 2000 22 C-Dory 2010 - Sold 3/19
OSPREY (Ex ADITI) 2007 26 Cape Cruiser 2018
 
Steve's reply is interesting, one of our biggest gripes with the Ranger Tug was the 35' trailer, carpeted bunks, and 30" draft. It was so hard to launch and retrieve, it wasn't too bad at our steep Monterey ramp but at some of the shallow lake ramps it was a bear.
Our CD 25 trailer is much shorter, has guides and rollers. Wow, what a difference, so much easier. I did put on the heaviest duty winch and strap after I realized how easy it could roll off the trailer and I keep the safety chain on until the boat is in. I banged my wrist pretty good when I lost control and the winch handle spun out as the boat rolled down and off. I only made that mistake once! Overall I even though more things can go wrong and you need to be aware, I like the rollers.
 
Thanks Steve for sharing your experience. I've only owned one roller trailer, and found the bunks much easier to center the load, and not have to worry as much about the boat coming off the trailer prematurely. :shock: I started with a bunk under a Pontoon boat, which was quite easy to load and launch. Then came a 1988 Searay 268 Sundancer on a roller. Old trailer and doing a lot of research to replace it I decided to go to a bunk. Much preferred the bunk as I was somewhat surprised to learn that it really was easier to load a bunk than a roller. Mostly due to the centering issue. Now the CD-22 which has always been on a bunk. Of course it's a fairly light weight boat and I've done both power loading and just walking it on and then a few turns of the winch. A few times at really low water launches I have had to winch it on as much as 3 feet, but again with it's relatively light weight, not an issue. Now that I think about it, I do have scuff marks under Midnight Flyer where it sits on the bunks. And I believe you about the sand and stuff getting into the carpet. But I also like the more secure holding of the carpeted bunk, especially with all the long distance trailering I do. I've maybe only had half a dozen times where shallow water made it a real PITA to get the boat off the trailer. But that's just a fraction of my launchings. None the less, I think I am still going to look at replacing the front part of the inner boards carpeting with the Starboard or equivalent. That's the only place where my carpet seems to wear out the quickest, and is where most the friction is going on between the bunks and the boat. BTW, I have occasionally sprayed some silicone on the bunk carpet to help with loading and launching. Not often, and not sure if it has really made a difference or not. Thought process was to keep the dry carpet from sticking to the boat after it's sat on the trailer for a while. Colby
 
Getting the boat lined up for the new year: Two major projects (for an old guy). Cleaning and polishing/sealing the gel coat: I am experimenting on the black hull stripes: I wash with Blue Coral, then clean with Colinite cleaner/polish. If any "bad spots" use McQuires rubbing and Then polishing compound. The last coat of wax was McQuires Flagship wax. Generally the hull is in great condition and just a coat of wax is sufficing. But on the black stripe, I am using: RejeX, NuFinish, The McKees 37 Hydro Pearl SiO2 coating. McQuires boat wax, and Coliniite Fleet wax (the old standard). I am also doing parts with Zep floor finish--somewhat akin to Polyglow, but a lot less expensive, and seems easier to use. 3 areas on both sides of the boat.

We also washed the Cockpit slant back (we do this once a year--same for the Biimini Top. Had to do some hand scrubbing on the North side of the cover--due to Florida mildew types. After dry, treat until soaked with 303 fabric conditioner (recommended for Sunbrella).

Ran the engine and generator, to be sure all is well in those departments. Only 3 weeks until we are on the road to Hontoon--made slip reservations...
 
Our little F150’s were due for 500 hour annual service, and the starboard engine has mysterious overheating issues on the hose since the Canadian Lock Wall Incident (which I am sure you all remember). Solving this mystery involved dropping that lower unit 3 times. Fossilized remains of a tiny Canadian muck dinosaur were found in the thermostat and block and removed with a wire brush. Tiny leak in the SeaStar liquid tie bar required special tools and skills.

My involvement in all this consisted of writing the $2,822.73 check, which I found very difficult although it only took about 30 seconds. (I had informed the service writer that we hoped to be cruising the inside passage of British Columbia this summer and to be proactive in fixing any issues).

So that’s what we did on or with our C-Dory today.

Happy Annual Servicing!
John
 
John, glad you got that stuff fixed. The Inside Passage is not somewhere you want to be with issues. Then again neither is Hontoon! See you there in another two weeks! Colby
 
since the Canadian Lock Wall Incident (which I am sure you all remember)
Click to expand...

John, you had more than one canal crash? You must be a specialist..! I remember one on the Tennessee river which you commented on:

At one lock on the Tennessee/Cumberland river adventure last year we had serious gouging of an engine cowling scraping up a rough lock wall despite 2 lines and 5 fenders in a lock. A single F150 cowling is $1,200 and the decals are another $300. Yamaha is very proud of these cowlings.
Click to expand...
.
 
Bob,

Not all of our Lock Wall Incidents involved crashes, only several dozen. In fact, of the last 170 locks, we experienced no serious (over a Boat Unit) problems at all with 12 of them (OK, 8 of them).

So there.

This Lock Wall Incident refers to my Aug 17, 2019 entry under this thread:
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?p=334426

And involved the starboard engine overheating mystery when we were directed by lock staff to tie up to the end of the wall in shallow water. They refer to the ‘wall’ as being the long extensions leading into and out of the lock pits where you can stay overnight for a fee (or better yet, the season pass if over 10 nights) as well as the ‘blue line’ area which signals lock staff that you want to lock through.

I feel a little bit vindicated in my hypochondriac whining about kneeling bothering my knee in that post by the later Ortho diagnosis of a torn medial meniscus (which I suspected) but also it being past time for a total knee replacement for me. But, I remain a determined, skilled and imaginative hypochondriac whiner. It’s such fun! You should try it.

We reserved B-8 at Hontoon and suggest that whoever is next to us have at least 12, 36 inch diameter fenders out when we approach. We carry chunks of concrete in our rub rails as a badge of honor!

To stay on topic, tonight we are ensconced in a MacDill AFB suite enroute to our pre Hontoon Hoot side trip to Marco Island.

Happy pre Hontoon Hoot adventures to all!
John
 
After replacing the 13kBTU Coleman rooftop AC with the 15k BTU model, the height increased to 14.5 inches over the roof.

After my home-made PVC pipe Home Depot radar mount broke off at the base after 5 years of sometimes rough waters, we needed a new radar mount and found a 16” Seaview model (with a rear lightbar extension at 1 inch under the top plate that cleared the 14.5” AC by 1 inch). The lightbar pivots down by 90 degrees, or otherwise would exceed the the Federal hgt limit of 13.5 feet by 4.6 inches. Such are the issues of owning a TomCat.

Today we mounted the new radar mount by drilling four ⅜ inch bolt holes and ‘picking out’ the foam sandwich for ¾ inch in circumference with dental pick like tools.

We filled the voids with West Systems (not related to West Marine) Six Ten epoxy, which hunts out voids, is neat and clean in a perfect metering nozzle, and can be capped for future use. It has the consistency of honey, searches for and fills out tiny voids, and is super neat and clean. Has a plug for later use. Tech support told me for my purpose of ‘sticking the nozzle in a ⅜ hole to make an epoxy plug for a ⅜ bolt’ was ‘ideal use of this product”. No “neat’ epoxy side lines needed. This has become my ‘go to’ product for this purpose. Just cut the nozzle for the stream you want.
For many C-Brats, I think this may be a reasonable alternative considering how neat and clean and precise and injection-friendly it is compared to all alternatives. As always, your milage may vary.

The instructions regarding drilling into your deck to install this mount did not mention anything at all about how to deal with a ‘foam cored deck’ which many if not most are. I recognize Dr Bob for making us all aware about the ‘oversize Epoxy plug’ needed in all through- cabin drills and others.

Thanks again, Bob, for your constant helpfulness in all C-Dory things and issues!
John
 
One clue, to save epoxy cartridges, or other sealants, is to put them in the freezer enclosed in a sealed plastic bag, If we are not going to use this for a while. I have not used the 6/10, but it is a great product. I prefer the neat epoxy, to seal, and then a thicker epoxy to fill, and keep from running.

It may well be easier and quicker to use the 6/10. Sorry that the commode mount, incorporating toilet flanges eventually gave out.
 
Back
Top