New 23 Venture on order

Thanks folks for the great commentary...really appreciate all the imput.

In reference to the water in the cockpit I have e-mailed Marc at Wefing's Marine ( who by the way is a great person to deal with) about this matter and he is going to contact Triton for me. It appears that this issue was before Triton took control of the C-Dory line.

Is a battery charger a good idea to also purchase with my boat? I will be having the electromics package which will include GPS combo, am/fm/cd. VHF, spotlight and an aft cockpit light. Without sounding D--B, how does the charger work?

In reference to the diesel Wallas heater/stove...how good is this unit for cooking and heating the boat? Mark tells me that he has had no problems with the ones he has sold, but advised this as all a personal choice...either you love them or hate them!

Jim L
 
Hi,
Your boat comes standard with an on board battery charger or they did! The on board charger works thru your shore power hookup. Your boat should come with a 30amp shore power cord. Once both ends are plugged in you look at your circut breaker panel and flip the the shore power breaker on then the battery charger and wala you are charging your batteries. Before I turn on my battery charger breaker I make sure my battery switch is switched so both batteries are on so both charge. If you want to plug into a standard 120 volt outlet you will need an adapter to go from the the 30 amp plug to what they term as a 15 amp plug for a regular 120 volt outlet. This will come in handy if you are going to use a genereator while you are anchored out. We leave our boat hooked up to shore power in our driveway with the batteries on charge all winter with a small electric heater running to keep the interior of the boat dry and mildew free. As far as the Wallas heater thing goes, we wanted a separate heater and cook stove so if one broke we did not lose everything. We also plan to carry a propane barbacue so we have a back out in case the Kenyon Butane conks out. I can't really see that happening. The Wallas can generate a lot of cabin heat in the summer cooking. That and the idea that they are expensive to repair along with three thousand plus to join the club were the reasons we opted to go another route. Enjoy the process.
D.D.
 
The Venture series had an automatic switch system for the batteries- no more switching bewteen one or two or both. The house battery and starting battery are always isolated, unless the switch is put in the "emergency start" posistion which brings the house battery inline for starting the engine if the starting battery is dead.

At least, that's what the boat had.

Even if the old style switch is used, the battery switch can be off, and the batteries still charge because the charge leads go to the batteries independant of the switch. The wires may go to the switch, but they are connected to the lugs for the batteries. If the boat is plugged in, and the battery switch is in the "off" position, the 110V charger still charges the batteries.
 
Hi- congrads on your new boat, you picked the best dealer in the area as far as I'm concerned. These guys/gals really try to make it happen. I use to take my 16' to them for service even though I was in Ca. & on the east coast of Fl. and a lot of time in N.E. These are real boat people and work on the water, not inside salesmen looking for a commission that don't know their product. If I ever buy another boat in Fl. it will be through Marc, and no I'm not a stock holder and they probably don't even remember me. Just good people you need to know in the panhandle. Rich
 
Hi folks and Happy New Year from St John's, Nl Canada,

Well the count down is on until I pick up my new Venture and my mind is always thinking how my new boat will be diffrent from my old one which was a walk-through. One thing that I was wondering was about the windlass...
my previous boats did not have a windlass so I used grapling hook anchors which where very easy to unjam. Now with the windlass I was wondering how to unjam a stuck anchor without burning out the motor? Also, the bottom up here is rocky and I'm wondering what would be the best anchor to use and what would be the best windlass. Finially, how much chain and rope to use?

Once again I rely on your insight and wisdom.

Jim
 
Well, Jim, I thought I'd get my opinion in before every one else did, cause you're going to get a lot of advice. And by the way, you're getting a great boat.

First, the windless is wonderful. You just push a button from inside the cabin and up comes the anchor. However, never use the windlass to unstick an anchor. Try getting the anchor rode almost up, and then drive over the anchor, or go around in small circles. If you're smart, you can tie a bouyed trip line and float on the front of the anchor when you set it and use that to pull a fouled anchor forward and out. Attach the trip line to the crown, where many anchors have an eye for that purpose.

I prefer a Danforth for rocks, mud and seaweed. For rocks and mud I use a Bruce or equivalent, since they're strong but they don't set in seaweed or grass. I've tried a Manson Supreme, and they're good for seaweed/grass/sand, but have trouble holding in mud. I use a 25# anchor on Journey On.

Boris
 
The wallas combination heater and stove two burner is used in some C Dory 22's, so there should be room for it in a 23. My wife is not happy with a single burner (she prefers 4)--but does OK with the two. The heating is from the surface of the stove, and then blow out of a cover by a squirel cage blower. We find that in colder weather, you need to have a second fan to circulate the air--but in your neck of the woods you may want more of a heater for winter use. We find that the Wallas is OK in the summers in SE Alaska and the winters in Panhandle of Florida.

Windlass: most use the Lewmar 700--you may want the pro angler, which allows free drop of the anchor. Chain: G4 or Hi test 1/4" is appropiate. Some have used the Brait line, I use 1/2" 3 strand nylon. The chain should be at least 30 feet, and I prefer 50 feet, and then the line depends on the depth of water you will be anchoring in--usually a total of 7 x the water depth is adequate.

Anchors--bottoms vary--mud in one place is different than others (particulate size, cohesiveness, shear factor etc). The Delta Quick set is a popular anchor for many bottoms, but I do not consider it good for mud. The Fortress is very good in mud. (there are two angles that the flukes can be set at). If you are rock or wreck anchoring, then a grapel with bending tangs may be your best answer--but this type is only when you are fishing--not for overnight anchoring. In the testing I did locally, the Manson Supreme out did all of the other anchors--and the bottom was a mixture of mud/shell/sand. I am very impressed with the Manson Supreme--but again--it depends on the bottom. In our area, the Bruce or Claw is rarely used, and does not work in the type of mud we have.
Check to see what commercial fisherman are using--that gives you some clues-many commercial use a variation of the Northill pattern. Unfortunately no one makes these for yachts, but many welders can build one for you.
 
Jim,

I could not give much better answers than Thataway Bob, but I think it's good to think of a windlass as an aid in raising and lowering an anchor, more than as a means of holding the rode in place under heavy loads or overnight, etc.. The best thing to do is to tie off the anchor line on that cleat next to the windlass for that.

As to the Wallas, I love mine, and I think Dr. Bob has touched on the weakness of the Wallas as a heater - it is located high in the cabin and that heat will basically be blown to the front of it and then rise to the ceiling, leaving anyone in the forward berth pretty cold. If you are standing, the double burner Wallas will get the place so hot you'll have to open a window or two - even in sub-freezing temps, but one needs some way to force that heat down and forward into the forward bunk for comfort down there.

Some times, I just convert the dinette and sleep up there on really cold nights. I use the boat all year long, even into the 20's degrees, but much colder just forms ice everywhere from the water droplets.

All of the C-Dory, Venture, etc., style boats have little quirks in finding the most comfortable/pleasing performance ranges, but they are all extremely sea worthy and solidly built.

Congrats!

John
 
What we use on Journey On is a Calframo Ecofan 800. Look around on the internet for the cheapest one.

We leave the lid up, put the fan over the cool end of the Wallis, point it at the v-berth (or anywhere else) and you get heat. However, the v-berth is hard to get heat in there. Sometimes we use a small 12v fan to really give us a blast up there.

Boris
 
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