What to do on a Cruse?

J

JohnIrish

New member
Hi

This is my first post here. I do not have a C-Dory yet.. just looking. I live in the NW (Spokane) and I am looking to buy a C-Dory .. probably a 22. I am doing some research on boats and trying to decide what would be best. I was thinking of going to the Seattle Boast Show next January to look at some.

I was curious what you do on a longer cruse? Does anyone have Internet or Satellite TV? My wife does not like to read books so I was wondering what keeps you busy? Do you ever get bored?

Also, the wife is a "clean" person.. she likes to shower twice a day (morning and night). Is the C-Dory 22 a totally bad idea since it does not have a shower?

thanks
 
I think a lot of C-brats like to stay clean and take showers .When my wife and I go out we usually stay in a marina so there are showers and electricity to our boats. So we take a DVD and watch a movie or just take a walk on the beach or read a magazine or book . The c-dory 22 or venture 23 are more like camping which is a good thing .You can take up water sports tubing skiing with kids or grandkids ,fishing ,diving , or just going out . Try to make it to one of the cbgt (C-Brat Gathering) around seattle or some where in the northwest .Good Luck in your Quest
 
John, Welcome to the site.

With respect, from what you said in your post, no small boat may be the right boat for you nor may cruising itself be an activity for you.

Cruising offers different rewards for those who enjoy it and a "long" cruise means different things to different people. For us, a long cruise would be at least three weeks and preferably three months, for some of our boating friends a long cruise is anything more than 2 days. Different strokes...

Some enjoy the serenity of a slow cruise itself, going at hull speed or thereabouts watching sealife, birds, the geology, the weather and the peaceful timeless relaxation of being at anchor as the sun goes down or comes up. These people relish the ability to get away from the hurly burly rush around having to "do something" life that many of us lead when not on a cruise and the journey itself is the reward.

Others enjoy the cruising as a way to get to desirable stops, interesting towns, harbors, shop in new and interesting places and stay mainly at marinas. These folks enjoy meeting other boaters on the docks, enjoy gentle happy hours with others on the docks, gossip about boating; all in all a cruise for them is a more social activity. Some people take computers along to keep in touch, watch a movie, converse on this site, etc. The boating part of the cruise is the getting from here to there, the real pleasure is after getting "there".

For many of us a cruise is a mix of the two. On C-Cakes we rarely spend much time at 6 knots and even less time at over 15 knots, sometimes we anchor out, sometimes we enjoy a new farmer's market or a quaint town. We always enjoy happy hour with boating friends either rafted up while at anchor or sitting on the dock at some neat place.

In virtually every case a cruise is an opportunity to slow down, reduce stress, enjoy doing little or nothing for a while. In any small boat keeping clean much less showering twice a day can be a challenge. With little space, no shower nor head a 22' would not seem to meet your requirements. Certainly you would have to spend your nights in a marina. Even if you had a boat large enough for a shower and head you would quickly exhaust your water supply with twice a day showers much less cooking and personal ablutions anchored out. Having said that, we have boating friends for whom cruising means using the boat to travel to a resort or hotel that happens to be near a marina and they enjoy themselves thoroughly. Again, different strokes...

Try making a C-Brat get together where you can get on the boats and hear how people use them. Good luck.
 
Russ here, we don't get bored on long cruises. We have a dinghy to get to shore, we like to hike, explore, and get oysters and clams, we also like to fish. We do have internet with a sprint air card that works most places and some nights we have "movie night" and watch a movie on the lap top. Its also a great way to meet new and interesting people that share your interest in boating, we not only swap stories, we swap books and movies. We also like to just sit and talk over a drink in the afternoon or play cards or other games. As far as staying clean, there has to be some trade offs, on the 25' we have a shower, but we don't use it every day. We do wash with hot or warm water every day and several times I have walked or taken the dinghy to shore to fill our 5 gallon sun shower to refill our water tank so we can stay "out" longer. We usually go to some facility every 3-5 days to get ice, do laundry, shop, pump out, and have a restaurant meal.
Toni (wife) here, You have to love your husband and boating, enough to take showers every 2 or 3 days. I take baby wipes and wash up every night. I love being out on the boat. It is so relaxing. We have a different view every night, mostly beautiful sunsets. I do love reading. I purchase books at local book stores about the places we are going to. Then I can tell Russ all about the Island we are hiking. I love to hike the beaches for sea glass, fossils, and rocks.
And I enjoy meeting new people and hearing their boating stories. I can live on our 25' C-Dory for 4 weeks at a time. I look forward to that restaurant dinner!
The more we travel on our boat, the more I fall in love with my husband and the boat!! Hope to meet you and see you on the water soon.
 
Wow, Patti and Barry really covered it well, since the wife is still being convinced to spend the night on the boat, Toni said it well and I read that last sentence to my wife.
 
We have taken one 2 day cruise on our boat. Never was bored plus younger child joined us. The best part was the time spent talking with the Admiral. Both of us work and ride together to work so we can talk but at work we are too busy. to me long drives and boating allows time to just talk. After 30 yrs we still have alot to talk about. on flip side, if she falls asleep, I listen to an audiobook. She gets the best sleep being the co-pilot!
 
I am one of the newest members. As has been said before, a CD22 is more like camping. Laurie and did camping over 24 years ago when our kids were growing up. We then graduated to a cabin in Wisconsin and I never thought we would be able to go back to camping.

Little did we know. We both fell in love with our CD22 from day one but I always had my reservations about her reaction without a shower on board. For our first outing to the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior (8 days) I had done my research and had thought of breaking up the boat thing by staying two nights in a B&B on Madeleine Island. We were very fortunate to dock at the Apostle Islands Marina in Bayfield (hot showers and shore power), within walking distance of restaurants and shops. After our first night at the marina, Laurie said: "why don't we stay on the boat the whole time instead of the B&B?" Okay! Each day we cruised to different islands at 9 to 12 knots...so peaceful. We would always return to the marina for our shower and some dinners out. Other days I cooked, which is something I enjoy. A lot of planning and precooking at home prior to departure.

The third day we decided to venture out to Stockton Island, which has a dock (just the dock with no electricity or running water). It has camping sites so there are out-houses (again, no running water and no electricity). We were under our house power. The following day we hiked through the island and rested. To my surprise, Laurie asked me: "why don't we stay here tonight?" Boy, I could not believe it--two nights in a row out in the wilderness. Beautiful! That day we met a couple from Minneapolis traveling with their 6-year old granddaughter in their sailboat. They invited us for sundowners that night and we had a good conversation for a couple of hours.

While at dock, we read or use the laptop, or just plainly enjoy our new surroundings. We also plan our next outing. We love it.

During this first trip I also found out that the two best days in a boater's life are:
1. The day you buy the boat; 2. the day you sell it...strike that out; 2. the day she says: I love boating!

Our second outing (Door County, WI) was another success. Both Laurie and myself can hardly wait to our next outing this coming Friday. I guess there is a lot of give and take.
 
If you are looking for satellite TV and two showers a day, small boat cruising may not be the ideal fit. Please don't get me wrong, I would never try to talk someone out of this wonderful lifestyle, but it is not for everyone. There are as many ways to cruise as there are people out there cruising. Our boat is our magic carpet to take us to endless destinations. We have satellite and cable TV at home, but there have been months at a time when we had no TV reception on the boat... and we rarely missed it.

In the past three years, our C-Dory has taken us to Florida, the Pacific Northwest, Canada, San Francisco, Lake Powell, the Gulf of Mexico, Yellowstone, the Erie Canal, and many other places; we're currently across the Hudson from Manhattan (New York City). Our CD-25 has a shower, but limited water capacity. We suppliment that with a 5 gal solar shower. I like to shower/wash hair/shave everyday, and we have had no problem conserving and meeting our sanitary needs. You just do it differently than when you're at home.

You might want to start out by chartering a boat. Pick a fun place, like the Erie Canal where there are plenty of boats available and the navigating is easy. See if it's something you enjoy. THEN go buy one of these great little boats and see what cruising opportunities open up for you. :D

Good luck with your decisions. This forum is a great place to find the answers to your questions.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
John,
Toby and I are embarking on our longest trip to date on the Comfy Dory this Friday morning. We will be leaving our home on the ICW on Merritt Island and cruising down to Key West. 15 days til we have to be back home. We too like to shower twice a day while on dry land, but we have to modify that some while on the boat. Once a day just before evening cocktails, a warm shower cleans the sunscreen off and makes for comfortable sleeping. We use a Zodi Camp shower which heats the water with a gas fired heater. I place the water tank and heater on the fish table over the engine well and then one of us stands on the swim deck while the other hands the shower head/hose to the showeree. We have learned to shower with about 2.5 gallons of water for each of us and find that is more than enough. We carry 2-7 gallon hard plastic containers of water for our showers which lasts us 3 days before we have to refill.
We do not stay overnight at marinas, preferring to hang on the hook, but must stop every 3 days or so for fuel, ice, water etc. Laundry stop about every 4-5 days when we find a marina that has transient facilities. Catch up on e-mail via wi-fi when we make our marina stops. And yes...we do take the opportunity to hit the marina shower if available for transients. Marinas like St. Augustine Municipal Marina let you tie off to their dock for $4 per hour and for another $5 (not per hr.) you can access the showers and laundry.
Since it approx. 350 miles down to Key West from our home, we will have to average about 50 miles per day for the entire trip. We'll run hard for the first 2 days to get us south of Miami and then we will spend some time in Biscayne Bay and then move on to the Keys. The routine seems to be that we run for a day or two to get to a specific spot and then stay and play there for a couple of days. We like to swim and fish and Toby has to take a good long walk every day or two. We just got an inflatable kayak to take with us on the trip so we will see how that improves our access to land. During the hotter part of the day, we will read, nap, fish, simple boat maintenance and make updates to the log. Evenings after dinner and clean up, we read, listen to music, play a game of chess or just sit up on the foredeck and watch the starry night while massaging a glass of cabernet. Since we will be bringing our laptop for the first time on this trip, I suppose we will be able to watch DVD's if we want.
As others have said, the ways that we use our Dory's are as varied as the personalities of the people we are...not right for everyone, but if you like them, you really like them! I can think of no better stress reliever than to cruise these boats to places that we would never be able to access from dry land and to see things from the perspective of the water. The Boating Community in general and the C-Brats specifically are a pretty interesting group of people and you will no doubt meet your share of unforgettable characters.

Anxiously awaiting Friday's departure...Tad and Toby
 
I'd second the opinion of renting to see if it fits. There's is at least one Nimble Nomad for rent on the Erie. It is ABOUT the same size as a C-Dory 25 ( I KNOW it's a different configuration) and it will give you some idea if it's right for you - or not. AND it if the answer is no, the lesson will be much cheaper !
 
Thanks for all the replies!

We have camped before.. and she does enjoy spending the day out in a boat.

My wife is Thai so she really enjoys cooking (yum!) and it seems like a Thai custom to take lots of showers! The head for the CD-22 does not seem to be an issue. Thanks for all the good advice!
 
Even if the 22 had a shower, there is limited water supply. In our 22, we only showered at a marina, swam, and soaped off in the water (Joy in salt water) or used the "sun shower". In the Tom Cat we shower more often. There is more water (and we have the option of a second tank, but have not put it in yet). The shower is usable for us. The C Dory 25's shower is a bit cramped for me (height wise). We usually showered every other or every 3rd day in the PNW and sponge bathed the other days.

As for "activities"--it is well covered. We usually spent at least 3 to 6 hours underway each day. We try and hike or walk daily. We both read a lot. Music and news/talk via Sirius radio. Zero TV or DVD. We have spent over 3 weeks at a time when crossing oceans and never ran out of things to do. But we have had a very rare guest aboard, who was "bored". The boating life is not for all. Even the larger C Dory boats are not as "luxurious" as our 30 foot RV is.
 
Hi John
like yourself, this is my first post. We got our CD22 this spring and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute aboard. It instantly became our new camper. I'm afraid I can't add anything that hasn't been posted here already other than the old adage we used when my wife and I lived/worked in the backcountry of Banff, and that is to "make do and do without".

Right now C-Saddle is in a slip on a local lake, catching lots of lakers, has become our lake front cottage, and provided us several cool nights sleep aboard when the nights are too warm at home. We are planning a trip to the Kootnays later this fall and plan to camp on the boat. We plan on taking a solar shower along but I have a question for Bob (or anyone) In a few years we plan on retiring to the coast where we own a place and plan on doing lots of fishing and camping on C-Saddle. My question is, is it possible to shower with salt water and rinse quick with fresh water? We have a power wash down which can be configured to provide some sort of a shower. I've also heard that Selsun Blue lathers well in salt water.

Aside, I am really enjoying this site with all the great insights from all. Keep up the good work.
 
Hi Mark and Sue,

Yes, you can shower or bathe with salt water, then rinse with fresh water. Put a couple drops of fabric softener in your solar shower with the salt water and it will help with the stickiness. Best bang for the buck when you're REALLY conserving fresh water: we used a garden sprayer on our sailboat. Better pressure than a solar shower; pump it up a few times, then press the button on the sprayer to get water. A one gallon sprayer will get you a couple showers; paint it black and it will be warm if left in the sun. Joy (dishwashing detergent) lathers up decent in salt water, to use as soap and shampoo.

We have used a variety of showering devices over the years; we have a Zodi (at home) that uses propane and a couple D-batteries to get a hot shower. The solar shower is the easy solution on our 25 where we have a separate room. I've rinsed off on the swim step with the wash down pump on our boat, but that isn't heated.

Hope that helps.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
If we are in the mid west to east and south where the heat and humidity is high no matter how many showers don't feel clean or comfortable. In the northwest including here in Wyoming and especially where we have boated in Alaska the lower temps and humidity make for like Dr Bob suggested a shower every three days either by solar or at marina work well. Have found with solar its easy to heat some of the water on the stove and then add to the bag to make it very comfortable. Originally used this method on long horse pack trips in the high mountains. Like Jim and others have said it doesn't take much water this way.

I've been known to just dip my hind end over the side while under way for a quick clean up. In the process trying to keep the image of shark or sea lion eyeing the bait out of my mind.

Never have been bored on the boat. Read allot but have never found the time yet or inclination other then cruising guides ect to so on the boat. Will be different I imagine when retired next year. In the past, time I would be allotting to reading has been spent on the log and planning for the next day or days. Jo-Lee does spend time reading, but she wouldn't be bored without a book.

One thing for sure as others have mentioned we C-Brats have a very wide variety in the way we use our boats and the majority by far seldom if ever seem to be bored. You will never know if it can work for the two of you unless the risk is taken to find out.

Jay
 
Hunkydory":2hf5x08g said:
I've been known to just dip my hind end over the side while under way for a quick clean up. In the process trying to keep the image of shark or sea lion eyeing the bait out of my mind.

Jay
Click to expand...

Now there's an image that doesn't come to mind readily! :cry

Thank goodness! Hope you weren't alone, or maybe I hope you were!! :roll:

Charlie
 
Hunkydory":2313j1jb said:
I've been known to just dip my hind end over the side while under way for a quick clean up. In the process trying to keep the image of shark or sea lion eyeing the bait out of my mind.

Never have been bored on the boat.
Jay
Click to expand...

With that comment Jay, I can sure understand why you are "NEVER bored on the boat". It seems that if you sense boredom approaching that you just start trolling for ......whatever? :roll:
 
There's plenty to do on the water. I tend to read a lot, explore towns along the way, hike when there are good trails nearby, watch movies on the laptop, swim in lakes, mess around with photography, enjoy the views, and just relax. If we have a dinghy or kayak along, it's nice to explore with those. The boat is a great place to get away. Once we cross the border into Canada the cell phones turn off and we rely on WiFi at marinas occasionally and satellite radio to stay connected to the world.

We've found showers easy to find at marinas, although they vary in quality. Once you get up to Desolation Sound there are also a fair number of fresh water lakes and streams within walking distance of anchorages which make nice places to bathe.
 
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