I have been reading on this forum for awhile, signed up a couple of days ago and and decided to come out of my shell and post, having the temerity to ask for something right out of the gate.
By way of background, a year or so ago, our little family moved onto one one of the islands, sometimes referred to as the "Discovery Islands" scattered between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland. We are not part of the "Gulf Islands" about 100 miles south, but in a group lies mainly east and north of Campbell River, stretching from there to Desolation Sound in the east, including - among many - Quadra, Cortes, Maurelle, Sonora, the Redondas and the Thurlow Islands.
We are water or floatplane access only. Off the grid. No ferries. So just about everyone has a boat. We have a small open boat and it's less than ideal for doing anything other than local fishing, setting prawn traps, etc. Time for something more substantial perhaps.
Observation tells me that the boat of choice hereabouts seems to be welded aluminum in the 20-25 foot range, with a range of power configurations - no clear winner there. We see inboards, sterndrives, outboards, twin/single, gas diesel, the lot. The majority of these boats are made locally. There seems to be no shortage of decent aluminum boat builders on Vancouver Island. New, most sell for well in excess of $100k and used, not much less.
For some time I was convinced that I would have to save my pennies and pony up for one of these fine tin tubs, if I really wanted to fit in. Recently, I have become somewhat less convinced, particularly since poking around on this site.
I was led here by seeing a 16-foot C-Dory offered for sale on craigslist. I looked around a bit more and found this site and, in the last day or so, corresponded with a member just across the border in Washington who had advertised his 16-foot for sale. He told me he had a deal just about in the bag and perhaps that was good news; otherwise I might have done something impetuous by closing on it myself. On more mature consideration of the matter, I think further research/reflection is called for. As part of that, I read the informative thread about boat-buying considerations that is on this forum.
So all of the foregoing gets me to - in a roundabout way - asking for the thoughts/insights, etc. that anyone here might have to offer for someone in my situation. To that end, I'll try to add just a touch more detail to what that situation entails.
First of all, while we live in a somewhat isolated, water-access only location, it can probably be said that we do not absolutely NEED a boat. We can hire or beg transportation to get to Campbell River where we do a major provisioning every couple of months. That's how we have managed thus far. When the weather is fair, we can take our little runabout to one of the nearby islands that have stores - about 25 minutes travel time, one way. These stores offer less selection and higher prices than Campbell River, but they are OK to fill in between major provisioning runs. If the weather turns while we visit these other islands or en route, well.... In the winter, the weather can get a bit challenging. The SE wind is the one to watch, and to go just about anywhere from our location we have to navigate water where the SE has a fair fetch and the seas can get rough. On some winter days here, even the beefiest of the aluminum crew boats stay home. But those days are the exception.
The welded aluminum boats seem to enjoy popularity for a few reasons. One is that you can pull into a rocky shoreline and not worry much about doing damage. Another is that they seem pretty much impervious to the elements. I have never seen a cover on one. No one worries about what UV rays will do to the finish. You can run over a deadhead in one and probably not go to the bottom. Overall, the basic hull seems to be low maintenance.
Maintenance might be an issue in that any boat we acquire will be used year round. It will always be on the water. We have our own dock and I suppose we could keep the boat covered most of the time when not in use. But from my reading here, a lot of C-Dory owners trailer their boats, and they spend a fair amount of time in nice cozy garages. Any boat we acquire won't enjoy that luxury.
My initial inclination was to buy something like a 16-foot vessel with a small cabin that would allow us to get to the next island in most weather without getting soaked by spray as we do now. Then I read the comments by a forum member who had his 16-footer for sale, explaining why he decided to move up to a 19-footer. From what I see here, it seems as though many have made the 16-19-22 foot progression. Maybe I should spare myself and just start at 22 if I go C-Dory. In some ways, it might be overkill. But maybe not. It might provide a further margin of safety in poor weather. We would probably use a 22 differently than a 16. We are in the middle of a boater's/cruiser's paradise here and more boat would likely lead us to go further afield and enjoy more of what's out there. Might not be all bad.
So that's where we are at. Should we join the C-Dory fraternity/sorority (lest I appear sexist), or should I acquiesce and buy a big aluminum crew boat from Daigle Welding in Campbell River?
Comments, please!
By way of background, a year or so ago, our little family moved onto one one of the islands, sometimes referred to as the "Discovery Islands" scattered between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland. We are not part of the "Gulf Islands" about 100 miles south, but in a group lies mainly east and north of Campbell River, stretching from there to Desolation Sound in the east, including - among many - Quadra, Cortes, Maurelle, Sonora, the Redondas and the Thurlow Islands.
We are water or floatplane access only. Off the grid. No ferries. So just about everyone has a boat. We have a small open boat and it's less than ideal for doing anything other than local fishing, setting prawn traps, etc. Time for something more substantial perhaps.
Observation tells me that the boat of choice hereabouts seems to be welded aluminum in the 20-25 foot range, with a range of power configurations - no clear winner there. We see inboards, sterndrives, outboards, twin/single, gas diesel, the lot. The majority of these boats are made locally. There seems to be no shortage of decent aluminum boat builders on Vancouver Island. New, most sell for well in excess of $100k and used, not much less.
For some time I was convinced that I would have to save my pennies and pony up for one of these fine tin tubs, if I really wanted to fit in. Recently, I have become somewhat less convinced, particularly since poking around on this site.
I was led here by seeing a 16-foot C-Dory offered for sale on craigslist. I looked around a bit more and found this site and, in the last day or so, corresponded with a member just across the border in Washington who had advertised his 16-foot for sale. He told me he had a deal just about in the bag and perhaps that was good news; otherwise I might have done something impetuous by closing on it myself. On more mature consideration of the matter, I think further research/reflection is called for. As part of that, I read the informative thread about boat-buying considerations that is on this forum.
So all of the foregoing gets me to - in a roundabout way - asking for the thoughts/insights, etc. that anyone here might have to offer for someone in my situation. To that end, I'll try to add just a touch more detail to what that situation entails.
First of all, while we live in a somewhat isolated, water-access only location, it can probably be said that we do not absolutely NEED a boat. We can hire or beg transportation to get to Campbell River where we do a major provisioning every couple of months. That's how we have managed thus far. When the weather is fair, we can take our little runabout to one of the nearby islands that have stores - about 25 minutes travel time, one way. These stores offer less selection and higher prices than Campbell River, but they are OK to fill in between major provisioning runs. If the weather turns while we visit these other islands or en route, well.... In the winter, the weather can get a bit challenging. The SE wind is the one to watch, and to go just about anywhere from our location we have to navigate water where the SE has a fair fetch and the seas can get rough. On some winter days here, even the beefiest of the aluminum crew boats stay home. But those days are the exception.
The welded aluminum boats seem to enjoy popularity for a few reasons. One is that you can pull into a rocky shoreline and not worry much about doing damage. Another is that they seem pretty much impervious to the elements. I have never seen a cover on one. No one worries about what UV rays will do to the finish. You can run over a deadhead in one and probably not go to the bottom. Overall, the basic hull seems to be low maintenance.
Maintenance might be an issue in that any boat we acquire will be used year round. It will always be on the water. We have our own dock and I suppose we could keep the boat covered most of the time when not in use. But from my reading here, a lot of C-Dory owners trailer their boats, and they spend a fair amount of time in nice cozy garages. Any boat we acquire won't enjoy that luxury.
My initial inclination was to buy something like a 16-foot vessel with a small cabin that would allow us to get to the next island in most weather without getting soaked by spray as we do now. Then I read the comments by a forum member who had his 16-footer for sale, explaining why he decided to move up to a 19-footer. From what I see here, it seems as though many have made the 16-19-22 foot progression. Maybe I should spare myself and just start at 22 if I go C-Dory. In some ways, it might be overkill. But maybe not. It might provide a further margin of safety in poor weather. We would probably use a 22 differently than a 16. We are in the middle of a boater's/cruiser's paradise here and more boat would likely lead us to go further afield and enjoy more of what's out there. Might not be all bad.
So that's where we are at. Should we join the C-Dory fraternity/sorority (lest I appear sexist), or should I acquiesce and buy a big aluminum crew boat from Daigle Welding in Campbell River?
Comments, please!
