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

It can seem like it will never end ... It's not a fun feeling.

After all the repair work (from our being rear ended less than ten days after we took delivery in early November) was finally completed on our CD-25 a bit more than two weeks ago, now we're into the warranty stuff to be addressed while at the marina for our 20 hr service. We trailered it up to Cutter Marine this past Monday morning.

The warranty work includes: fixing a crack at the top of the bow (Cutter Marine said it was just the gel coat); extremely leaky cockpit hatches (they won't use the fix cited in the c-brat thread so I'll likely have to do that later), a fuel gauge and transponder that both work intermittently, and very light gasoline fumes in the cockpit bilge.

We hoped to get it back Friday but the weather may be too cold and damp relative to the gel coat and/or fiberglass work at the top of the bow.

I can appreciate how you feel. We only had it back long enough to put 20 hrs on the engine and use 3/4 tank of gas. Now it's back to the boat doctor. The good part was we had it it long enough to identify the other problems.


Bill
Edgewater, MD
 
I'm tellin' ya Bill, check everything before you accept the repairs. Splash the cockpit lockers with a bucket of water, watch the gauges for half an hour, and ask the tech to inspect the bilge using a match for light.
 
We launched last monday 3/26 at oak harbor. Nice folks, free launch, free parking. Ran up the inside to deception pass and across to friday harbor. Spent four days and nights on the boat. I never realized it but state parks pulls out the docks for the winter at some of the smaller islands. We spent a night at jones a night at prevost, and two nights at sucia. We saw a total of four boats in four days. Really felt great to be out on the islands by ourselves. Then back to oak harbor on friday. The ramp at oak harbor is really flat so launching is challenging.
 
Put the boat in the water and everything worked!!! The weather was perfect and we had a grand time. Dropped the hook in a small lagoon for lunch, had sushi with wasabi & pickled ginger, yum. We dodged deadheads, took some photos, and enjoyed the scenery 8)
 
mikeporterinmd":32meai2z said:
Installed the fuel line related components for a Lowrance EP-10 fuel flow probe. A bit difficult because the Lowrance uses 3/8" connections and the Honda is rigged with 5/16". But, I used elbows and barbs to do the conversion.
Mike

Mike, where did you find the 3/8 to 5/16 barbed conversion connector? I scoured auto parts places and the usual marine suspects but had to settle for (would you believe) a barbed hose conversion connector made for the home brew beer guys. It works but it certainly isn't certified for fuel. At least not petroleum based fuel....

Don
 
Dotty and I took a nice little cruise from Everett down to PointNoPoint. I proudly explained how chromer and I caught our salmon the other day. The water was flat calm, the sky cloudless blue(!) the horizon rimmed by snowcapped mountains. I figured I'd stretch the day a little bit so stopped at the gas dock on the way in to Everett Marina. $15 fills her up. I love my Honda 40 . By the way, I could not get the gps to show my location while passing the Navy base. I don't know if it was me or 'those guys', but after getting half way to Mukelteo the correct screen came back.
 
Interesting. Sounds like a fun cruise, Marty. I managed to grab a three hour late afternoon spin around Lake Washington today. Met Yon and Stacy at Andrews Bay. Very nice couple.

Fred was kind enough to have called me at work today at 9 a.m. to say he was launching Little Buddy at Sand Point, and I was not. Dang, thought I. A warm spring morning with flat calm water. One of the best days of the year for boating. But he'd planted a thought in my mind that grew for hours until a harvest spent with Bambina skittering about. Thanks, Frederick.
 
Dang. I did nothing on my C-Dory today. Sounds like I missed one of those wonderful spring days on Puget Sound and Lake Washington. I picked the wrong time to come to the right coast and visit my sister in Baltimore. Chance of snow in the forecast. Oh well. There really is not a wrong time to visit with your twin sister. :love :love We are having a great time. I am happy for those of you that got out and did some exploring in the calm and sunny weather yesterday, wherever you were. Robbi
 
Sneaks":2tfaorb9 said:
mikeporterinmd":2tfaorb9 said:
Installed the fuel line related components for a Lowrance EP-10 fuel flow probe. A bit difficult because the Lowrance uses 3/8" connections and the Honda is rigged with 5/16". But, I used elbows and barbs to do the conversion.
Mike

Mike, where did you find the 3/8 to 5/16 barbed conversion connector? I scoured auto parts places and the usual marine suspects but had to settle for (would you believe) a barbed hose conversion connector made for the home brew beer guys. It works but it certainly isn't certified for fuel. At least not petroleum based fuel....

Don

All parts from West Marine. I needed a pair of 90 degree bends
anyhow, so I used 1/4" NPT threaded elbows and bought appropriate
sized barbs to screw in. I just managed to find the parts; their
stock was a bit down. I took a picture yesterday; I'll try and post
it today or tomorrow. Don't know if leaks or not. The carbs are
dry, so I don't want to fill them up. Come to think of it, though,
I guess I pump up the bulb with the hose disconnected from the
engine. That would pressurize the system somewhat.

Mike
 
Hey Brock, glad to see you were able to get Bambina wet. I launched at Sandpoint at 9. The lake was void of any boats and I spent a wonderful 2.5 hours sitting on the back of Little Buddy running the kicker all the way to Chandler Cove. Had a great lunch with my old Navy buddy at Dukes in 78 degF sunshine.
Many more boats on the lake on the ride back to the launch. It is very apparent when the fairweather boaters arrive. Why are people in such a hurry?
Had a nice visit with Jon, Cynthia and Erin who stopped by our house on the way back to Port Angeles. All in all a great day.
 
Friday was such a nice day that Stacy and I decided to take the afternoon off and spend it on C-CHANGE. We went out to Seward park and anchored in Andrews Bay.... with about 25 other folks with the same idea. Had a nice afternoon lounging in the sun and tried out the new BBQ that a friend gave us for Christmas. What a nice evening... After dinner, we were sitting in the cockpit when Stacy noticed another C-dory cruising around the bay... well a few minutes later we met Brock in BAMBINA. We had a nice chat with Brock for a few minutes before he had to get back to Coulon. Earlier, a couple walking in the park yelled out "C-Dory" and we waved. Not sure if it was anyone on this site....if it was, thanks for saying "Hi".

This morning we motored around Mercer Island and headed for home... Brock, you were right, there is a lot of stuff floating in the lake.

Jan & Stacy on C-CHANGE
 
It is now 0215 HRS and I just came in the house after washing "Sea Shift" from a days' cruise out of Everett. Launched yesterday afternoon and had some friends on board that had never been out on a C-Dory. We cruised to Langley, down towards Possession (saw and spoke with "Miss Mirth" briefly), then back to Everett, where we tied up to the "party barge" in front of Anthonys Home Port. Our spouses then arrived and we had a "dock party" on the "party barge" until our 2015 HR dinner reservations became available at Anthonys. After dinner we cruised back to the Everett Launch and pulled "Sea Shift" out of the water and headed home.
 
C-Change,

Yes, that was us, Caryn & Peter of C-Dancer. We live in the Seward Park neighborhood and Caryn walks the Seward Park loop daily and I went with her on Friday, what a glorius day! When we saw a C-Dory out in Andrews Bay, we had to find out who it was. Glad to know now that it was you.
 
Removed the old depth finder. One of the screws was corroded (appeared
to be a crevice corrosion in a SS screw). Snapped off about 1/8" below
the gelcoat. I guess I'll need to clean out the area and epoxy it. Glad
I found it. Would have probably leaked. Whoever installed the transducer
did not use (much, any?) caulk. Not a very nice installation.

Got the LMF-400 gauge installed. It's pretty cool. The so-called mini-NMEA
network that came with the LMS-337C DF is working with it. I don't have
a choice until I get new cables. It is a pretty cool setup. When you
dim the chartplotter, the LMF-400 dims, and vice versus. You can disable
this behavior, too. The thing is pretty customizable. But, if you get one,
update the software in your Lowrance head unit (assuming you have one).
This will allow you to add "custom gauges" to pages on the head unit.
Custom gauges are really neat. You can define the type, size, range
of many different things you might want display. Anyhow, I've been a
bit negative on some issues related to Lowrance, but the do have some
pretty neat stuff.

When I cut the hole for the gauge, I ran the saw blade backwards until
I was through the gelcoat. Made a nice clean hole with minimal chipout
in the gelcoat. Needed to use my 1/2" hammer drill from Harbor Freight
since the hole saw mandril only worked in a 1/2" drill!

Mike
 
Today was not a grand adventure, but it was a truly grand day on the water. Easter weekend was chilly and rainy here; today made up for it: gorgeous sunshine and 80º. The wind was howling over the weekend; 5-10 today. We took Wild Blue out our canal, through the swingbridge on the ICW, across the Laguna Madre, and out into the Gulf. The water was still a bit green from the norther, but was a delight... 3 foot swells with about an 8-10 second period. You could run any speed you wanted and the ride was like a magic carpet. BIG fun.

Gulf1e.jpg

As soon as I shot the photo above, the low-battery indicator on the camera came on... and no spare batteries onboard today. We ran out 12-15 miles, just enjoying the motion of the boat and the crisp blue sky. On the way back in, I took this shot of the highrises on South Padre Island, pointing the way to the entrance of the jetties...

Gulf2e.jpg

And then the camera quit. I have nothing to show you of the dozen or so dolphins who escorted us into the jetties. No record of the relaxing time at anchor... we listened to some music, watched the pelicans dive for their supper, took in the sunshine, and discussed our plans for the upcoming trip to Lake Powell. Not a single image of the sparkley water as we cruised up the nearly flat water in the ship channel. Can't show you the tugs and shrimpboats we passed. You'll just have to take my word for it... it may have been the gentle rocking at anchor that nourishes my soul (something I've really missed since we left Florida), but if you looked under "Grand Boating Days" in the dictionary, there would likely be the photos I missed today. It was that good.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Beautiful day on Lake Martin. Fourty thousand acre lake, up to 200 feet deep, on the Tallapoosa River with 700 miles of shore line.
Fish were biting but not enough.
Cathy and her Dad did well, I got skunked. Had a hard time getting the anchor up but wasn't about to leave it ! :amgry Finally broke loose.
Tucked C-Pearl in right before the clouds let loose @ 6:00 :smiled
PIC00006.thumb.jpg
 
Sea Angel here, .. Rear Camera / Monitor System Added..

Monday after Easter weekend was the beginning of my first 'uncommitted week' in retirement. I took advantage of this by installing a gift of a camera system from my co-workers at the TV station from where I retired.

I now have what is called a "CAR REAR SYSTEM", model: CH-564CR-1N. It is made up of a 5.6" LCD color monitor & color CCD with IR camera (NTSC). It draws only 990ma of power. The field of view is 20 degrees vertical and 90 degrees horizontal.

I have experienced several near hits by other boaters cutting behind me while I was backing into our marina's finger docks for retrieval to the 'barn'. With the a typical strong 2-3kt cross current it can be very exciting when you add a cross wind and another boat coming down current, trying to cut between you and the dock. The CD25 has a bad blind spot behind the helm, due to the rain closet, with anyone closing in on the starboard qtr. Thus, my answer, in addition to my lookout, is a rear camera.

The installation has the camera above the rear door with its cables routed along the harness on the port side to the monitor mounted at the helm to the left of my Garmin 2006C. It took abt 4 hrs to install and align the setup. The power can from a cigarette lighter plug or hard wired. I have it hard wired. The camera draws its power through the monitor.

The toughest installation factor was setting the correct vertical angel. The standard mounting bracket allows for the brace to be mounted on a horizontal surface, not a vertical; thus a wedge had to be added under the mounting 'U' brace to allow for the vertical mounting surface and the adjustment needed. I have a camper back and looking into the cockpit or at the camper back inside top only was not practical or beneficial. The wedge angle was set to a 30 degree angel, was made from a cider shingle and formed to fit by hand. This allows enough adjustment to cover all aspects needed. I did have to replace the original mounting screws with longer stock (SS, 1 1/2", #10-24, with nylon locking nuts), but that was a none issue.

The work rack test were very encouraging. I could make out the details of vessels 150' ft behind me traversing the creek with plenty of detail. The on-the-water testing will be done this week, I hope, along with some pixs to be posted. From what I have seen, this is a great safety addition for close quarter working areas.

The price for such a system varies by the options selected, but I think this unit ran abt $345 with a single camera. The monitor can accept a second A/V input. Yes, there is a mic built into the camera head so I can monitor the sounds in the cockpit through the monitor. This suppliments my hailer's forward speaker,till I add the rear speaker to that system... Another thing to do, along with the 2nd antenna for the Ham and added VHF Marine radios.

Happy and safe boating to all.
 
I know you :wink:

Jim Dugger n4mxz
Director of Engineering; chs 33 Norfolk, 35 Richmond, 22 Raleigh, 45 Winston-Salem- TVX broadcast Group 1979-1986
 
Another gorgous weekend in the San Juans. Shan and I went out Saturday morning, made it back to Anacortes Sunday night. Left the rain in Seattle behind and never looked back. Spent the weekend exploring Orcas Island. Some spots more crowded than others, but still hardly anyone out on the water.
april_boating1.jpg

Can you spot the C-Dory in the crowd?
Little easier in this shot.
april_boating2.jpg


Cheers,

Tom
 
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