We just picked up a 2004C Dory 22 cruiser.

[Ripdotcom]

My wife and I were considering a sailboat for sometime. Not that we sail (even though I am experienced with smaller sailboats) we just wanted something that we could camp out on the water in. So we were locked in on a (don’t laugh) 26m Macgregor. I already knew it was not a very good sailboat and was going to purchase it as a coastal cruiser. I also had my eye on a Boston Whaler customs vessel with a nice sized berth but it looked like it needed a bit of work that was out of my scope. Then this C Dory popped up out of the blue. I had never really researched them and assumed that a pilot house was just simply out of our price range. Well we got this one for a song and it has a nice Suzuki Df70 with under 100 hours. Of course the boat only has 100 hours on it too since it was never really used. So we made a 12 hour and 1 minute round-trip from Tallahassee to Savannah to pick it up with a site unseen offer. We do a lot of camping and boating. I currently have a small Boston Whaler and a McKee Craft, as well as some nice kayaks and canoes. We probably spend about a month camping out of the year and will certainly spend more when we retire one day. Most of our time has been out on the Apalachee Bay, Saint Joe bay, gulf islands national seashore. We will probably take it to dry Tortuga as well since we missed out on our last trip down there due to a hurricane. Anyway, we are very excited. It’s getting registered today. We are going to Germany for a few weeks on Friday and I’ll be planning planning some boat trips for when we return. Also, that’s “Willow” my Catahoula, and she loves the water.

 

[KC99]

Congrats!! You'll find this forum is the next best thing after sliced bread! And... woof!

 

[thataway]

Congratulations and welcome aboard! First time I have seen a Catahoula on the dash of a C Dory--probably the first time I have seen a Catahoula ib a C Dory. Dogs and C dorys go hand in hand, as to kayaks! Now the Catahoula in a Kayak....that might be a different story.

From the photos and discription, you got a very clean and nice boat! There are all sorts of adventures here on the Gulf Coast. Drive over from Tallahassee to exit 7 on I 10, our house is only about 15 minutes down toward NAS Pensacola. We are on a protected canal of Bayou Marcus, and there is a great launching ramp onto Perdido Bay about 2 miles from our house. It is a great place to start exploring Orange Beach, Lulu's, The Wharf for civilization--as it is for exploring the several rivers which empty into Perdido Bay, Mobile Bay, Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast and even New Orleans. In the other direction are several bayous in Pensacola Proper, as well as Escambia Bay, Bagdad area, and even East Bay. There are great anchorages along the barrier Island mosty protected waters, and dog friendly anchorages. When You drop by, we can point you in the right direction.

As you noted Apalachicola Bay, the ICW, The Apalachicola River, and Carabelle--and on toward the big bend. are also areas with a lot of boating adventures. There used to be a great gathering hosted by Marc Grove, who owned Wefing's boat sales and repair. That has been sold, but Marc is still there. The gathring was either on the ICW or at an area called "Riverview". The town has some great resturants.