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

Took off this morning at 0830 from Kiptopeke State Park on the lower Eastern Shore for Tangier Island, 56 nautical miles one way. Chesapeake Bay was wonderfully calm, took us just over 2.5 hours up. Enjoyed walking the island, eating crab cakes and browsing gift shops. The bay stayed nice and calm, in fact it calmed down more as the day went along, and we made it home in just over 2 hours. Highly recommend Tangier Island as a fun day trip for other C-brats on the bay or up the Potomac. Pics posted in Litl Tug album.
 
We just spent the weekend tied up to the pier. I had put in a stand up a/c unit. We finaly had the time to test it. The temp was about 80 to 85 degrese. First was with the curtains up.It froze my wife out. Then with out. it took longer and would not cool as well. IT was nice just to spend the day on the boat.
 
We did nothing on the boat but had a great Saturday. Got up early and drove to spanaway. Meet my client and her husband for the inspection of a home I found for them. Nice young couple, shes air force hes in school, looking for their first home. I sold a home for her father and found him another home a year later so Iam getting to know the whole family. Susan got to baby sit their two year old while we did the inspection. Not sure who tired out first but they both had a great time.

After we where done it was lunch time so we headed to the Anthony's next to the point defiance zoo. the water was glass smooth and the view was wonderful with a mix of rain fog and sun all at once. good food and a great view.

from their it was two hours of on and off showers while walking the zoo. never been to this one and it was really nice that the weather left a lot of people at home. No crowds at all. not a big zoo but worth the price. even got to see the feeding of the arctic foxes.

well from there you can drive home thru Seattle or thru vashon island. the vashon way is slower but worth the drive if you have not been there. we took the ferry thru the fog and then head for a light house on the east side of the island. just great view's from the beach. glass smooth water at slack tide looking east and south back into the fog. The old light house keepers home is for rent by the park system. would make a really nice get way weekend spot. after our walk it was a drive to the north end of the island and back on to another ferry. we stopped for some sodas and re-fried beans to go at a little restaurant next to the ferry. Based on the beans alone I would be willing to go back for diner next time on the island.

after the ferry ride it was a drive in the dark back home from west Seattle. Gone from home 13 hours and had a great day with Susan. love living here, and for those of you who have lived here your whole life and don't understand how good you got it, try 29 palms in august for a week some times. I did 3 years there and never want to see a desert again.
 
Dragged the Tomcat and trailer over the Gary Estes mobile trailer repair yesterday to get the electric over hydraulic brake system installed. Picked it up today. I'm liking the brake system. Definitely could use the boat to stop the truck now and none of that forward/backward jerk in the hitch when you slow down and take off.

Also did some work on the 22. Decided to use fiberglass tabs to re-attach the cabinetry to the hull floor. Similar to what Dr. Bob did on his 25. I thought that once I took the time to fill the holes in, there's no point in putting screws back in (even if they would go into expoy now).
 
Roger,

Let me know how that fiberglass tabbing thing works out and what you used to do it. I have some of those corroded "L" brackets also and want to do soemthing about them next season. I have some galvanized brackets to put in but I like the tab idea better.

Jack
 
Launched at Oyster, VA and headed out to Great Machipongo Inlet to meet C-Song on his trip around the Delmarva. Had a nice trip out and will go out to dinner with Gary and Mary this evening at Stingrays, an Eastern Shore iconic restaurant.
 
Launched EARLY Sat morning, before light, and did a bit of a warmup. Everything worked, Seems like it has been eons since I was on the water this season. Then parked the boat until I could get together with some friends for an afternoon ride. Spent the afternoon bird watching and drove around to Port Townsend, through a moderate tide rip, and then heard a call for vessel assist. In describing the boat, it was a C-Dory 22, that was not that far away, I got back to them on the radio after they were through talking to Coast Guard and offered if I could assist. They said they had a VA membership and preferred that way. I missed on the phone number was unable to reestablish contact, and they were taken care of by VA. Sorry I could get to help another Brat.

Stayed at the Sequim Bay State Park dock Sat night. Frost on the dock in the AM. Toasty in the cabin with the Wallas on. Another beautiful day, say tons (Literally) of seals, with this years pups. Some as close as 20 feet, popping up al around me. Fishing and playing. (Sorry Jim, no dolphins), a couple of Bald Eagles out at Protection Island, when Paul, JC Lately was with me.

Ran the auto pilot route into Sequim bay about 10 times this weekend, adjusting waypoints and getting comfortable with the ride through the slot.

Had a great time on the water. Hope it never ends.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

HH_Cal_09_03_Mar.thumb.jpg
 
We put over on Saturday and spent most of the weekend Cruising Back Bay Biloxi. We stopped to eat at several of the waterfront (Accessible by boat with docking) restaurants, fished a little and explored around Deer Island.

All in all it was a stellar weekend, couldn't have asked for better weather and temperatures. I absolutely love this 16 Cruiser! :mrgreen: Perfect boat for the wife and I to leave the dock in our back yard and Cruise the waterways and Islands of the Mississippi Gulf Coast!
 
Over the past few days I have continue to make progress on reading the 22 for sale. After Saturday's gel coat course, I overheard Warren talking to Scot about what to do for screwed in snaps that pulled out of the fiberglass (fill the holes with Duraglass and re-drill/screw was Scott's recommendation). I realized I had 2 or 3 of those on the 22. I also asked Scott about where to get the color on the floor - Pellican grey. He recommended that I get gel coat for it but I wanted to pain with an epoxy or polyurethane paint.

Sunday I went down to FIsheries Supply in Seattle. I bought 1qt of duraglass (the smallest container it comes in), 1 qt of Interlux brightsides polyurethane pain in the Kingston gray color, some sand for the floor (in case I needed it for non-slip), some acetone (final cleaning before paint application) and a few other misc. supplies. I returned home and completed drilling out and filling the remaining floor penetrations on the port side. Then I ground down the excess epoxy on Monday evening and did a test paint job Tues night (I painted the floor section under the drawers in the cabinet under the helm seat). The Kingston gray is a pretty close match to what was on the floor already - perhaps it's a little lighter blue. I let that dry overnight and it looked pretty good.

Given that we don't have too many more semi warm days left, I decided I need to pain out the rest of the floor this AM as I knew today and tomorrow would be sunny and that then I could get the inside of the boat up into the 70's for most of the day (with my small heater inside). The original factory paint job on the floor had taped off the edges to leave about a 3/4" white border around the edge. However, given the uneven floor, there were several places where the paint had wicked under the tape and left a slightly uneven edge. I decided I could do as well or better than that by just cutting in the edge with a brush freehand. It came out pretty nice looking and it was drying when I left this AM. It will probably be dark by the time I get home tonight but I'll get some pictures of it tomorrow. I'll probably leave it drying through tomorrow and then will go about re-installing the cabinetry that I took out to access the L-brackets in the floor.
 
Well, I finally finished fixing up SeaDNA for sale today. It took longer than I had anticipated since I took the time to replace all the L-brackets that were screwed into the floor with fiberglass tabs. The process was as follows:
1) Rough up the floor and wood with 200 grit sandpaper.
2)First mix up some duraglass putty and push it into the corner where the tab will go later. Used either my finger or a rounded end of a stir stick to create a fillet (rounded corner out of the duraglass). Let it cure for a day.
3) Cut 2" squares from fiberglass tape. I used a 2" wide tape and I cut 2 squares for each bracket I replaced.
4) Mix West systems resin as directed on the containers after I did the first few, I mixed some white pigment in to make it look a little prettier.
5) Coat two pieces of the fiberglass on both sides with the resin an press the two pieces (one on top of the other) into the corner. Smooth out the glass with a putty knife (or you fingers if wearing gloves).
6) Allow to cure.

After painting out the floor with the grey paint here's one a fiberglass tab looks like. This is a top view of one that is under the water tank (under the aft port side seat).
FiberGlassTab.jpg

I also got around to fixing the wobbly table. I bought two pins that are 1/8" in diameter, 1/2" long and which have a spring loaded ball bearing in one end and a split ring on the other. I then drilled out the angle bracket on both sides of the table to allow the pin to slip in. The ball bearing retains the pin and the pin retains the table in the mounting brackets. Here's an image of the system.

FixedTheTableWobble.jpg

I've now fixed everything that was either wrong or which annoyed me over the past 8 years. Amazingly, I could over look these little things for a long time but one I decided to sell, I had to fix them. Of course, Joyce asked why I didn't fix the darn table years ago... :lol:
 
Spent the weekend prowling thru the boat and installing electronics bits and loading safety gear and all the stuff one needs to cruse, it's all going away and room leftover. Very impressed with the insides of lockers all very neat and tidy, no sharp things. Got my hammock nets in the vee berth and dri deck under the throw rug in the cabin. Gps, Vhf and compass and sounder are permanently installed the stereo is a trial fit as not sure where I want it but it produces tunes. Get a few clear days and Kerri On will be Rockin'. George
 
Just a little busy this past couple days.

Friday had 3 - type #24 batteries replaced. They had been in service since Sept 2004... don't owe me anything there.

The interesting discovery was I did not have a #27 House battery, but the #24. How was I so blind not to to recognize this. The 2 output battery charger had both outputs wired to the House battery which was a cranking batt. and the deep cycle batt was on my STBD engine as a start batt..

SO, Now it is all straightened out. There appears to be a weak link in boating electronics/electricity knowledge.

Monday follow up on the work rack to verify functions:
Till I replace my 2 output charger that was supplied with a 3 output, I am taking advantage of the Battery Management System from BEP. I have wired 1 output leg to the House Batt and 1 output to the Port Start Batt.

How this SHOULD work with shore power is:
Charger : ON
Parallel Sw : ON
VSR will energize when Port Start Batt goes to 13.7V, or more and allow
both outputs to charge all batteries. Till then the 10Amp charger will only supply 5 amps to BOTH Start batteries. The VSR will remain energize till the Start Batt goes below 12.8V. The parallel switch is only used to charge the STBD Batt.

All batteries came up to indicate Green on the charger and the terminal voltages were correct after turnig the charger OFF and sitting 20mins.

I may change this to charge each Start Batt and then let the VSRs do the House. I tried the above method Monday and it worked fine. It would be more convient to only charge the 2 Start Batts. with using the Parallel Switch.

I finished making a 130' 1/2" tow bridle and checked its fit.... OK

Here it is Tuesday, 2010 Election day:
We came back from voting at the local school and it seems like there is a lot more interest in this years 2nd Congressional race here in VA. I guess I/we will all know just how much tonight.

NOW,, what was it I was supposed to do next???? AH yes, fill out the USCGAUX "..OFFER FOR USE FORM".

Have a great day, from the 'Right Coast'.

Art
 
Took CD22 out on the Mississippi River

Trailered the boat from Milwaukee, Wi. to LaCrosse, Wi. Launched and went up river to Fountain City, Wi. going through 3 locks along the way. Stayed one night anchored in the back waters. Neat. Woke friday morning to lots of shotgun sounds from the duck hunters and frost on the windows. Also saw fishing boats in the area. The second night I stayed at a Marina across the river from Winona, MN. Was not as cold the second night. Thinking of installing a heater.
Went up a small river at Trempealean State Park and while trying to anchor from the stern in the currant, somehow, as the anchor line was going out it got caught on my dock line pole and pulled it over board. Could not retrieve it before it sank under the surface. Then a tree branch over hanging the bank caught the anchor light and pulled the base off the cabin top. Should have pulled the anchor light out before getting that close to the overhanging branches. Did'nt lose it...will have to rescrew the base back on.
At Fountain City Dock I stopped to buy a soda from local gas station. Back at the dock a city worker looking at the C- Dory said that the high river levels and the high winds they had a few days ago pushed the dock up further against the shore and that they were going to push it out and resting it some time. I did'nt think much of it at the time but as I shoved of and put it in forward gear, the prop hit something and stalled the engine. I restarted the engine as the currant was drifting me down river. Well, guess I will have to get the prop repaired as all the blades of the prop have rough edges now. Was not bad enough to warrent putting the spare prop on.
Saw only one house boat under way the whole trip. Saw a number of tows under way. Had great sunny weather and 50's temps in the daytime. All in all I had a pretty good time. It was nice to get away from work for a few days. I will return to do more of the Mississippi River again.

Mike Moser
 
Well it wasn't exactly on or to the C-Dory but I took Wed off (a beautiful day in Seattle) and installed Firestone RideRite air springs on my Tundra. The rear end was sinking a tad more than I like with the tongue weight of the TomCat trailer. With these air springs added I can keep the truck level with up to 5000lbs in the bed or on the hitch (in theory, according to Firestone). The air springs add some additional stiffness to the rear when inflated but can be deflated (down to no less than 3PSI) to get back to the standard softer ride when not needed.

I had a pair of these on a previous Isuzu Trooper that I used to use to tow the 22 and the worked quite nicely in the same application for the same problem. The quote to get them installed at Les Schwab was around $650. I bought mine at AdventureRV.net for $254.48 including tax and shipping. Installation took about 3 hours total but if I were to do it again, I could get done in about 2 hours. I'll test them out tomorrow with the trailer attached as I plan to go fishing on the Tomcat tomorrow AM.
 
rogerbum":2j72gqhc said:
I had a pair of these on a previous Isuzu Trooper that I used to use to tow the 22 and the worked quite nicely in the same application for the same problem. The quote to get them installed at Les Schwab was around $650. I bought mine at AdventureRV.net for $254.48 including tax and shipping. Installation took about 3 hours total but if I were to do it again, I could get done in about 2 hours. I'll test them out tomorrow with the trailer attached as I plan to go fishing on the Tomcat tomorrow AM.

Roger, I had air bags on my previous truck, a Dodge. I learned later that those are of most use when carrying a heavy load in the bed (e.g., a camper) although they did help some, but at the cost of a rougher ride. The mod that made the biggest difference for me was an equalizer hitch. I've trailered to Lake Powell twice and to Florida once, and I would not like to do those trips without an equalizer.

Thanks for the pointer to adventurerv.net. I plan to install a set of airbags when I buy an Arctic Fox camper for the truck, in a couple of years.

Warren
 
Warren,

The key is to inflate them when needed and to deflate them to the minimum pressure when not needed. If you do the latter, they have very little impact on the ride. However, it sure is easier to just leave them at a constant pressure. I almost bought the expensive compressor to go with them so I could adjust the pressure with a switch on board just to make it easy on myself.
 
Launched out of Everett this AM. Took awhile to get going but were on the water around 8:30. Ran down past Jeff Head and did some bobber fishing for Chum Salmon in a zipperlip location. Too early in the season fir this chum run but did catch several dogfish sharks. Kept one just for the heck of it. I've heard for quite awhile that these are actually quite tasty so I thought we'd try one. Kept one about 4'. My buddy Brad took it home to clean. I'll probably get a piece of a fillet from him sometime this week. We'll see what it tastes like.
 
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