How far do you go?

M

Major Buzz

New member
First time on C Brats. I actually was on a week or so ago but never did see my post so not sure I did it correctly!!
Have a 1959 19" Fairship my dad just gave us but love the C Dory. Am debating fixing up the old boat or looking for a C Dory. Just found out about the Marinaut also.
Met some CD folks (SEA3PO and C Hawk) at Dangling Rope a couple of weeks ago and loved them and their boats.
Finally to my question. What is the farthest anyone has taken their CD? Alaska?
Panama Canal?
Just curious. Thanks for responses! Major Buzz
 
Maj Buzz. Lots of CDs in Alaska and many have made the cruise. Several to Mexico. Some are in Hawaii too. At least one in the Caribbean. Check the Brat Map at the top of the page.

As for your Fairship, saw your post on iboats and one of the responses showed a picture of a restoration by someone else. NEAT but it sure looks like a lot of work. I'd buy a C Dory to use while you were working on it, otherwise you'll be boatless for a long time unless you have nothing else to do!

Charlie
 
Maj Buzz-

C-Dorys of the 19 & 22 foot variety and up are routinely taken up the Inside Passage all the way to Juneau, Skagway, out to the Icy Straits, and down to Sitka via the passages.

It is generally agreed that they are too small to cross the Gulf of Alaska safely in the event of a storm.

There are many many of them in central Alaska, on both sides of the mainland, cruising and fishing from Prince William Sound all the way up to Nome.

C-Dorys are also capable of crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas, given careful timing and weather observation, and quite a few have done so.

They also cruise the Inter Continental Waterway, the Great Lakes, and do The Great Loop just fine.

Many C-Brats cross the 22 miles of the channel to Catalina for the weekends in Southern California.

There are even a few in selected places overseas and in Hawaii. Check out the Brat Map on the Home Page to see the distribution.

Members who have been trapped in storm conditions generally agree that the C-Dorys will safely take harsher weather than their owners are comfortable to be caught in! BUT they lived to tell about it!

Hope this helps to answer your question!

Welcome aboard the C-Brats!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
They really are very capable boats and can take far worse conditions than really any of us will find ourselves in. Think about the range of the boats (roughly 150-250 medium speed miles) and that gives you an idea of what is in reason given prudent choices related to weather forecasts and sea state. Smaller boat = better required planning. Many choose not to take them off the coast but they are entirely capable and even more so than many larger vessels of different design.

I like to relate the conditions to sea kayaking, "would I be comfortable in a sea kayak in those conditions"? And that sets my acceptable level of roughness.

Disclaimer: I have been paddling for many years and will go out in some terrible stuff but I know our 25, even poorly skippered, can take at least equal harshness as a sea kayak in my hands. Works for me.

As wind waves pass the five foot mark, I start to think of other options. Swells over 8 feet would a trigger for me these days as well because Cindie is really not used to them. She has smaller numbers in mind but they are getting closer to mine.

I am pretty sure none of those Hawaii boats made it there under their own power if that wasn't obvious enough aready.
 
Thank you all for your responses. What a great bunch of folks with a wealth of information! We are really enjoying reading all the back posts!
My wife and I live in Spokane and snowbird to Las Vegas in the winter (I am a Southwest Flight Attendant based there.)
We actually ran into a guy a couple of years ago at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon who was sleeping on a boat in the campground. HAD to check THAT out! Really nice guy who told me about the boats and the C Brats.
Never heard of one before but remembered the name and finally decided to look it up.
We'll stay tuned to C Brats and look forward to participating!
Major Buzz
 
Many of us have "trailer boat" camped. So far I have not been denied a spot in a campground--but some "resorts might object".

The range of the C Dories is somewhere in the 200 mile category--so things like a trip down the Baja coast, to Panama would be almost impossible. (You can make it down to Acapulco OK--but beyond there, there are stretches which may be more than the C Dory can make even in Mexico.
 
Mark Toland, the original designer/builder of the C dory told me he delivered the very first one (22 angler I think) to Alaska i.e. piloted it himself from seattle to Alaska.
 
thataway":3mes2gzw said:
The range of the C Dories is somewhere in the 200 mile category.
Click to expand...
Or even somewhat less. Think with many their range on a 22 foot C-dory to be closer to 120 miles. On past cruises with no extra fuel in containers and loaded heavy we would average about 3.5 mpg and with 40 gallon tanks and using the rule of 1/3's it makes for only a 106 mile range. Now if one has the time and enjoys going much slower and with some added containers, the 40 gallon tanks topped off with an extra 5 gallons, (found in ours it will fit and we have ran both tanks empty and all the gas is usable) the range can be extended to over 500 miles. On one leg last summer between Sitka and Juneau, Alaska with much exploring between we made 405 miles averaging 5.4 mpg and still had 25 of our original 100 gallons so could have made another 125 miles. Store two five gallon containers between the main fuel tanks and eight, six gallons containers fit just right sitting side by side in front of the main tanks. Have not found weight distribution to be a problem having encountered 30 kt winds on the Lynn Canal while towing our Mokai and when it got to rough was able to do a turn and go with the waves back to a safe harbor and also while towing the Mokai have been on the outer coast of Chichagof and Baranof Islands, Southeast Alaska in some fairly rough seas and our 22 foot C-Dory loaded even this way handled these conditions well. Of course when encountering the more severe condition I would prefer to be lighter with a more even distributed load but think with the miles we've made and conditions encountered its been proven doable and the pay off of extending the range between fuel stops to be well worth the negatives to us.

Jay
 
I thought I read about a C-Brat that had his vessel transported across the Atlantic (in a vessel carrying ship) and then cruised the canals in France.

Am I remembering correctly or just sharing my personal cruising fantasy? :lol:
 
matt_unique":pr608euo said:
I thought I read about a C-Brat that had his vessel transported across the Atlantic (in a vessel carrying ship) and then cruised the canals in France.

Am I remembering correctly or just sharing my personal cruising fantasy? :lol:
Click to expand...

I remember reading and viewing pictures of a couple doing that. I can't remember if the took a C-Dory. I know my wife would LOVE to see France from that perspective.
 
I finally found the thread by Chris aboard ORCA. He traveled in some extremely remote country and, I believe, got close to the Arctic Ocean by way of Great Slave Lake! The adventure starts Here
 
I think there was a Rosborough that was shipped across the Atlantic, but I don't remember any story of a C-Dory (but I could be wrong). I think the only barrier to shipping a C-Dory to Europe would be the cost.
 
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