How We Got a C-Dory

OK, bear with, a bit of an epistle here...we got our C-Dory because Patty ill-advisedly insisted on going crabbing in Birch Bay one last time in 2001.

It all started in the fall of 2001, when we had a little 13' Featherlite, used for crabbing in Birch Bay, WA. Last day of the season, Patty wants to go out. I protest - "Too rough out there! Not worth it!" She says "Oh, please, its the last chance." I cannot say no, never have been able to. At the launch, we notice another little boat - swamped, with a bunch of guys working at getting her out of the water. I back down the primative ramp at Birch Bay, and as soon as the boat is in the water, the wave hits, and WE are swamped. Gas cans, life jackets, buckets, crab pots, the flotation stuff from under the seats - all floating all over the beach now. One of the guys in the other boat says "I thought you knew something I didn't, but now I see you don't!" They graciously helped us retrieve OUR swamped boat, which we half destroyed in the process (David from Anna Leigh restored it, but that is another story).

So in January 2002 we go to the Tacoma Boat Show to get another little boat - but end up buying a 16' Smokercraft with a 50 hp Yamaha. We loved that boat, we called 2002 our "summer of fun" - little did we know. I always looked out longingly at Patos Island, which is 15 miles across the Strait of Georgia from Birch Bay (LOOKS closer!). Every week I would say "Let's buzz over to Patos." Patty would say "Too rough" or "Too far" or "The boat's too small" or some other reason why we couldn't go. Last day of the crabbing season (again), out of the blue Patty says "OK, let's go over to Patos." So we head out.

Uneventful crossing of the Strait (thank goodness!), into Active Cove. We beach her, and Austin plays on the sandstone rocks, says "This is my happy place." We were absolutely taken with the place too. I always was trying to get Patty to go out and stay overnight, not sure how we would accomplish that on the Smokercraft, maybe take a tent and sleeping bags. Anyway, as we were leaving Active Cove, we noticed THIS BOAT on a mooring buoy. We circled it a few times, pulled alongside, had a good look-see (apparently nobody on board). Patty says "I could stay out overnight on THAT boat." The name on the side said "C-Dory." At THAT SECOND I knew there was no point in looking at or thinking about any other boat. Just didn't think we were going to get one any time soon, since we had this brand new Smokercraft.

So we went to the 2003 Seattle Boat Show with our friends David and Kate McKibben. No idea we are getting one, I at least did not go in with the idea of buying a new C-Dory. Patty crawls all over Laurna Jo, sits at the dinette, sits at the helm, pokes and prods around every corner. She comes out and says "Well, lets just go over and see what the deal is..." The hook was set, and trust me, it was not hard to reel us in - and David and Kate made that sale a "two-fer" for C-Dory. Two pretty much identical cabernet trim 22s coming out of the factory. The secret is, it doesn't matter if the financing is 3 years (Smokercraft) or 15 (C-Dory) - the big question is "How much is the monthly payment?"

Two years of fabulous fun and new friends with our C-Dory 22! So, fast forward to January 2005, Seattle Boat Show. I had no idea we needed a C-Dory 25. Again we go with David and Kate. Its deja vu all over again! Patty crawls all over the C-Dory 25 on display, sits at the dinette, sits at the helm, pokes and prods around every corner. She comes out and once again utters the immortal words "Well, lets just go over and see what the deal is..." This time it was a three-fer. David and Kate and jim and Laurie and Pat and Patty, all happy 22 owners, bought 2005 C-Dory 25s. I will be 80 when the boat is paid for, but who cares!

All because Patty wanted to go crabbing one last time in 2001...

What We Do for Fun

A wise man once said "I spent most of my money on women and boats. The rest I squandered."

We are seriously into boating. Not just any boat, but a very special boat - the C-Dory - supported by a very special owners group, the C-Brats. Virtually everyone who buys a C-Dory finds the C-Brats first. Some 3600+ members strong, it is one of the most active boating sites on the net. I tell folks the C-Brats will become your new best friends. We have quite a few get-togethers all over the country, and an annual "C-Brat Convention" in Seattle in January.

Our C-Dory is a 2005 25 foot cruiser named Daydream. It has everything we need, including a vee-berth, full galley, dinette, cabin heat and the all-important stand-up head! The full camper-back canvas turns the cockpit into another room.

C-Dorys have a flat bottom toward the aft, which means they can plane at a low speed and are very economical to operate. With their shallow draft, they are perfect for exploring places the deep vee boats simply can't go. Daydream is powered by a Honda BF150 main, with a Honda BF15 kicker. Dinghy is a Gary King Alaska Series. Dog is a Lhasa Apso named Baxter, who pretty much goes where we go on the boat.

Patty and I love this boat. We cruise mostly in the San Juan Islands and the Canadian Gulf Islands, but because it is a trailer boat, we have cruised a lot of other places too, like Lake Roosevelt in Washington, Lake Pend Oreille and Priest Lake in Idaho, and our new favorite - Lake Powell in Utah. in 2005 we cruised Desolation Sound in BC, and in 2006, I cruised from Blaine, Washington, to Ketchikan, Alaska, and Patty flew in to cruise around SE Alaska. Pix are here. The album highlight is a picture that appeared in Motorboating magazine.

From May through September, Daydream lives at Hilton Harbor in Bellingham, Washington, for easy access to the San Juans and Gulf Islands. During the winter, it lives in our driveway. In the winter, we get our boating fix with quick over-nighters at Andrews Bay in Lake Washington. A recent trip to Andrews Bay with our neighbors, Garry and Vicki Anderson, is documented here. Garry and Vicki have a Trophy, and we had a great outing together.

In September, we will be heading back to Lake Powell to meet up with a group of C-Dorys from all over. It was such a great trip last year. Weather in the 90s, water temps in the high 70s, swimming every day. Here are the pix on C-Brats of the 2008 Lake Powell trip.

In fact this blog is really only a trial canter for when I really have something to blog about - my great aspiration is to take a year, more or less, to cruise the Great Loop, a circumnavigation of the eastern portion of the U.S. and Canada. Right now work keeps getting in the way. But in a couple of years, look for a blog called The Voyage of Daydream or something like that.

By the way, this is my first post using ecto, great blog authoring software for the Mac. I guess we we will save the glories of Mac (and the evils of Windoze) for another day!

A Delightful Day

Yesterday was a delightful day, we had a visit from Barry and Patti Daniel, who were down from Oak Harbor to celebrate Barry's birthday. Barry and Patti are members of our C-Dory boating community and Barry had graciously offered to build a motorwell table for us, so he came by to take some measurements.

After Barry had taken the measurements, we went to lunch at our brewpub. I am founder and Da Prez of Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Company in hysteric downtown Snoqualmie, WA. After a great lunch and a tour of the brewing operation, we set out on tour of Snoqualmie Valley, as Barry and Patti had never been more than a few miles east of I-5 except on the I-90 freeway. I was born and raised in Snoqualmie Valley, and really enjoy showing off its natural beauty.

We went first to Snoqualmie Point Park, which is the jewel of the Mountains to Sound Greenway project. In my day job, I had a significant role in making Snoqualmie Point Park a reality, and working with Jim Ellis was one of the highlights of my career.

After Snoqualmie Point Park, we headed for the Cedar River Education Center, at Cedar Falls. This is a wonderful facility, with a water drum garden outside and lots of information inside. The Chester Morse Reservoir at Cedar Falls provides about 2/3s of Seattle's water supply. The most interesting part to us was how Rattlesnake Lake came to be - it was "accidentally man-made"! It seems the soils below the masonry dam creating the Chester Morse Reservoir are very gravelly and wouldn't hold water. The water from the reservoir worked its way down thorugh the soils to the nearby depression where the former town of Moncton was located, slowly innundating the town. There is a great photographic record of the town going underwater, people sitting on the roofs of their homes. It took many years to settle all the claims!

Finally, although Barry and Patti had gone to the Snoqualmie Falls observation platform before coming to our house, I thought they would find a trip to Plant 2 interesting. Well, not actually the power plant, because you can't tour it. But there is a wooden boardwalk that goes along the Snoqualmie River to the base of the falls - around the last turn, you are treated to an absolutely stunning view of the falls up from the base.

Back at our house, we wished Barry a happy birthday with a little card that read "Let's all get older...you go first!" and sent them on their way to their hotel in Issaquah and we trust a fun birthday dinner out.

What a great way to spend a Saturday in Snoqualmie Valley!

Pat and Patty's Place - A Blog with No Point

Like Everest, because it is there!