My Heaven - Maiden voyage

B

bshillam

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Joined
Aug 21, 2007
Messages
783
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C Dory Year
1981
Vessel Name
Heaven To Me
Finally - after several months of research. Selecting engines, electronis, and the list goes on...She is home. We took her out only for about 45 minutes of a sea trial but this Sunday is going to be her day out with us. A little fishing, spending time with the wife and my two best friends - it doesn't get any better than that. And, hopefully the weather will hold, but that doesn't matter much. A few minor things to catch up on during the first service - but what a great experience so far. I'm sure that it only gets better from here! Hope to see you all on the water soon. Thanks for your help and suggestions. God bless, Bryrick and Casey Shillam
 
Hi Yall,
I know the felling of having a new C-Dory, it is different.
We have enjoyed ours a lot just come from a C-Dory Cruise of North Carolina great time.
Jim & Sandy
 
Congratulations to both of you!

You are correct, it does not get any better, and yet it gets better every time you spend time on the water.

I agree, selecting electronics, etc. is very exciting!

Don't forget to buy yourself a decent cruising logbook. Take notes every time you are out on your boat. Silly notes. They're the best kind.

Take lots of pictures. Dreams are what life is made of, and recording those dreams is so very important!

Again, congratulations on your new vessel. Now the fun really begins!

Al
 
Congratulations to you! Yours is a great looking boat. We wish you all the best. Mike and Vicki
 
My heaven is home now too - She just got off of work! I can appreciate the fact that you also have a cool boat. Right after my wife and son, the boat's that thing in my life that I enjoy the most. All of them can bring a smile to my face just by looking at 'em!

Congrats!
 
Bryrick & Casey - Congratulations on your new boat. I can feel your happiness when I look at your smiling faces in the photos. Hope to cross wakes with you someday on the Mighty Columbia or Puget Sound.

Plan on making some of the CBGT’s.

I do like your tow vehicle. Or was that the dealers, because in the other photos, it is obvious they were not taken in the St Helens area.
________
Dave dlt.gif
 
My Heaven , thats a nice looking boat ! Captain Bryrick is a Jeff Messmer look a like........Keep your life jacket on ! tucker
 
Hello Byrick & Casey,

CONGRATS!!!!!! What an exciting time when you bring home your new floating recreational vehicle!

Amy and I can't wait to meet you both since we're always buzzing around here and there! Hopefully we run into you (not literally :wink ).

Launched at Scappoose last Sunday and ran just below Longview with some friends for an afternoon picnic...roamed around the beach. You too will enjoy the same.

Looks like you purchased from Sportcraft in Oregon city...recognize their dock and launch vehicle.

Welcome, Congrats and Enjoy!!!! :smiled

John
 
There's no doubt from the smile on your face that you are one happy captain! I like the color of the Bimini it's a nice contrast to the burgandy. I think you'll be real happy with the radar arch also I'm looking for one myself but I'm unsure if I have room in my boat house. Here's to calm seas gentle breezes and many happy hours aboard your new vessel!
 
Looking at your tow vehicle, it looks like you can get into the race to the coast with Caty Mae.

Congrats -- beautiful boat!

Ed Gallaher
 
Congratulations on your new boat, Bryrick & Casey. We know just how you feel. There's just something about C-Dory's, I still get that feeling two years later everytime we take the boat out.

Beautiful boat. Enjoy it! You might want to plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time if you're planning to tow the boat to the San Juans and beyond... :wink
 
Glad the days of on the boat are here for you both!! Fantastic and great to see another happy C-Brat!!

Now...go enjoy the waters and great times!!

Byrdman
 
Sunday was the day. We ventured down to the local marina, put her in the water and started out for the day. This being the first trip I really wasn't sure where the day was going to lead us. I knew somehow we'd end up in the Columbia.
The channel was shallow, 4-7-9 feet in someplaces - we made our way slowly to the Mulnomah. We followed this to the Willamette and then to the Columbia. Along the way we enjoyed seeing the many house boats and various other boats - they sure were impressive. Found a couple of new camping spots - Coon Island, looks like a nice place to enjoy for the night. New dock and very private feeling - we actually practiced a few dockings there with the help of my friend from grade school. With his explanation and large fenders it made it much easier and more comfortable for both the wife and I.
The Northwest weather provided us with a sample of the season upon us. Rain - some sun - more rain - overcast - more rain - and then back to overcast. Did I mention it rained, I was happy to have a chance to use those wipers. With the rain brought some moisture into the cabin and it began to fog up the windows. We wiped them down occasionally to keep the fogging down. (Today I ordered a 12v/battery powered fan - Camframo, thanks to help from other links)
With all the moisture we decided to fire up the Walas - wow - it really kept things warm and dry once it started blowing. Once we got to a no wake zone we increased the rpms and watched the speed increase. It was at this time the cabin started to smoke - the Walas was letting exhaust back into the cabin. We found that at greater speeds it sucked exhaust back into the cabin - this will be fixed. A small issue to address. We kept a little note to write things down to hammer out with our first service. I thought - great opportunity to test out the equipment. Such as the trim tab button being reversed for the port/starboard side. Even with the cabin door open that little Walas keeps things dry and warm. I can't wait to REALLY test this out. I think we'll be spending Thanksgiving on the boat so we'll see how she keeps us warm as we get closer to the colder weather!
We tried to fish - but found out how much we didn't know. But, then again, that's what friends are for. I've got a buddy that's going to show us the ropes. That's going to be another adventure by itself, learning how to fish the Columbia and offshore!
After about four hours of taking in the sene we made it to the Columbia to find several very large ships anchored. Under their shadow we drifted in the Columbia enjoying our sandwiches and chips.
We decided to turn around to have enough time to again enjoy the ride home. Some docking practice and we were back at the marina. It was great to have my grade school friend there to help the wife and I with docking, learning how to better handle the boat and tieing eyes for our fenders.
We've already made plans for next weekend, we're talking about Thanksgiving on the water - (that sure would be fun and a first time holiday on the water!) the experiences we are going to have as much as the one we just did. You know - It's kind of like the sticker says,
"It's a Jeep thing." Maybe we should have one, "It's a Dory thing."
Thank you all for your help and support over the last few months. God bless and may this reach you well and in good health!
 
Glad your had such a great first adventure!

Sounds like you've got your feet "firmly on the ground" with your new C-Dory.

This is just the beginning!

Joe.
 
Such as the trim tab button being reversed for the port/starboard side

Hey Bryrick, the switch may not be reversed. Think of it as making things happen on the starboard side when you push the starboard button! It controls the port tab but the starboard side does stuff. It just takes some getting used to. If you prefer it to work the other way, you can always do that! :thup

What do other Brats have?

Charlie
 
Great to hear you're playing around with docking practice, drifting,etc..

Re: the Wallas exhaust, several things could be happening that don't necessarily mean there was an installation problem:

1 - Traveling with the cabin door open and not much opening in the cabin windows will cause a "station wagon" effect, sucking the wind that passes around the cabin back into the open aft cabin door. You have to either close the door, or allow large enough cabin window openings to prevent the reverse flow, sucking of air, inside thru the open aft cabin door. If you put a small flag on the stern, you can see it unfurling 'backwards' when the station wagon effect is active.

2 - Under heavy winds, maybe 20 plus knots, blowing directly into the Wallas exhaust, some of the exhaust will be driven back inside. You may have to turn up the Wallas to increase the exhaust pressure, or tack at slightly different angles to keep the wind from blowing directly into the cabin side exhaust. Or, you could turn the Wallas off for a short while - it still blows hot air for quite awhile during cooling - and then turn it back on when in a more favorable wind pattern.

Keep posting your adventures! We all need new ideas for using our boats.

John
 
Captain's Cat":2n8kng7i said:
Such as the trim tab button being reversed for the port/starboard side
What do other Brats have?
Click to expand...

It seems like this came up in a thread a while ago as I recall confessing that I had to reverse the wiring when I installed my trim tabs. I found it was easier than trying to reverse the wiring in my own noggin! And I remember there were a few others who had done the same.
Al
 
Exciting times! Congratulations on the new boat; we look forward to hearing about your continuing adventures with her.

It seems that trim tabs are not intuitive... push the top of the rocker switch to make something go down, the port switch runs the starboard tab? In time it makes sense... I think. :?

Enjoy!

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
bshillam":3rfb1b1o said:
the Walas was letting exhaust back into the cabin. We found that at greater speeds it sucked exhaust back into the cabin - this will be fixed.
Click to expand...

Re. this issue, last spring I purchased a suitably sized clamshell vent and modified it with a bit of filing and squeezing in a vise such that it would bolt on to the Wallas exhaust flange using the back two fasteners. I can't say that it has totally solved the backdraft issue, but it sure hasn't hurt anything. The worst conditions for blowback seem to me to be when travelling with a strong wind blowing directly into the starboard side of the boat; the clamshell seems to have helped. I worried about perhaps scorching the fiberglass with the redirected exhaust gasses, but they are not hot enough nor of sufficient volume to do any harm to the side of the boat.
Al
 
Your new boat makes me feel a loss for selling the Hunky Dory. The Ranger will start to grow on me, I hope. ( not like a tumor). I will miss parking the boat for the night on a sand bar and having the tide go out leaving us high and dry for a good night sleep. :(

Congrats on your new boat. enjoy. :thup :D :cocktail
 
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