After an enjoyable boating season, we sold the C-Dory late September, 2016

We have left this webpage in place as originally created to remember this great little boat

We had been wanting to pick up a small powerboat to augment our enjoyment of the lakes and rivers which we travel to with our beloved Anne Marie, our Catalina 22 sailboat. There is nothing like the sport of sailing free and silent in the wind toward new horizons. But there are also some major limitations. Since it takes a couple hours to rig and derig our sailboat when we take it somewhere, we just won't do it for a day or two. We normally go to lakes where we can secure a marina slip for a month or more and keep the boat in the water. But at a max speed of 7 mph, we can only travel so far to see the full scope of the lakes we visit. A small powerboat that we can launch in minutes for the afternoon, at any boat ramp, on any lake, is just the ticket to extend our explorations! Enter the C-Dory.

On Saturday March 13, 2016, while wintering in Florida, we were enjoying a luncheon cruise on the St John's Riverboat sternwheeler. Suddenly, a pair of C-Dory boats zipped past us. My wife Libby thought they were adorable and looked them up on the internet on her iphone. Lo and behold, there was one near us in St Petersburg, Florida for sale... a little green and white 2005 C-Dory 16' Cruiser. Turns out these capable little craft have a sort of cult following and the 16' models, in particular, are extremely hard to find. People have been known to travel thousands of miles to buy one. We called, drove over early next morning, and as luck would have it, this one was absolutely perfect. On its own Load Rite trailer, tow weight is just 1900 lbs. We bought it on the spot.

This adorable little fiberglass micro-cruiser is just 16' long and fitted with a 2005 50 HP Honda 4-stroke outboard with electric start and power tilt and dual hydraulic trim tabs. It has two 6.6 gallon fuel tanks, dual batteries with 4-position selector switch, Lowrance M56 combo fish/depth finder with GPS mapper, Uniden VHF marine/weather radio and a 400 watt DC to AC inverter. It has a swim/fishing platform with entry ladder, electric windshield wipers, automatic bilge pump, porta potti, bow anchor lift and comes with a galvanized Load Rite trailer with spare tire and loading guides. Plus a full complement of accessories (PFDs, anchor, lines, fenders, fire extinguisher, boat hook, etc.)

Make no mistake, the little C-Dory 16' Cruiser is a full-on micro cabin cruiser. It has a v-berth in the bow with mattress for sleeping in the little overnight cuddy cabin, a comfortable tall dry pilothouse with sliding windows that open, and is fitted with bulkhead curtain (plexiglas, screen & privacy) with zippered entry, full camper back with screens & privacy curtains. And it comes with a matching storage/mooring cover. It features interior lighting, 400 watt (800 peak) DC to AC inverter to power 110v accessories, a forward opening hatch and a porta potti. With a comfortable cabin and bimini top we can go boating all day long and stay out of the sun, to the delight of our dermatologists.

We found the C-Dory over in St Petersburg on Florida's west coast through an ad on Boattrader.com. We raced over there next morning on Sunday, inspected the boat and immediately fell in love. She is a gem. We gave the owner a deposit, spent the night in the area and met him Monday morning at our bank to complete the transaction. Then we hooked her up and towed her back over to Wekiva Falls where we're staying for the winter in our motorhome. Our first choice for a boat name at this point is C•Scamp.

Watch this brief one minute video of a similar C-Dory cruising along an open river. She zips right along with our 50HP Honda outboard. And she sips fuel sparingly... using barely more than one gallon of gasoline per hour cruising on a plane at around 18 mph. We hope to have some similar video footage of us cruising on C•Scamp soon! Some additions I made right away include a Hydro Tail Stingray by Marine Dynamics and a Garmin echoMAP 53dv chartplotter with the US LakeVu maps preloaded.

The C-Dory 16' Cruiser is a unique little boat, built in our home state of Washington. With just a 7 inch draft, she is at home in shallow rivers, yet stable and quite comfortable out in the blue water as well. See the boat specs here. The boat weighs less than 1000 pounds and the economical 3 cylinder 4-stroke 50 HP Honda outboard is a reliable workhorse, which is capable of pushing the little C-Dory at speeds well in excess of 20 mph with 2 persons aboard, with a comfortable cruising speed of around 18 mph at 4500 rpm. And whether on the water or on its trailer, nothing we own draws as many comments or admiring glances than the li'l Scamp.

Here's Libby after just launching C•Scamp for our maiden voyage on nearby Lake Dora in central Florida. We had the pleasure of going out with a local C-Dory afficionado, Cliff Harbin, from Mt Dora. Cliff was able to show me some of the subtleties of operating the C-Dory. The boat handles very well and the Honda 50 motor purred like a champ. We were out running for 3 hours and burned just 4 gallons of fuel. We launched at Gilbert Park and cruised across beautiful Lake Dora, took the Dora Canal to Lake Eustis and then up the picturesque cypress tree-lined Haines Creek Canal to the Haines Creek lock and then back to Gilbert Park again. It was a very pretty ride.

We are very excited to add the C-Dory 16' Cruiser to our arsenal of water toys. We will be able to enjoy greatly extended explorations in all our travels this spring and summer... Lake Murray SC, Tellico Lake in TN, Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, Lake Muskoka, and the 1000 Islands on the St Lawrence Seaway. Plus anywhere in between that we want to stop and spend a couple days to explore smaller lakes and rivers on our route north like the Cumberland River near Nashville, and Chautauqua Lake NY. The C•Scamp was a real find, and one toy I am sure we'll have a lot of fun with.