As we sit here in Hollywood, waiting on the Miami Boat Show to open this Thursday, I thought I would try to fill a request we had some time ago from a reader. They had asked if I could give them a virtual tour of Cbay because they felt like they were aboard and wanted to see the areas where we spend our days and nights. So here is a poor attempt at best to do just that. It will be in two parts, the ins and outs of Cbay you might say.
Part I-Out on deck:
We begin at the first thing you would see as Cbay comes around a bend in the river.
This is what is called the bow pulpit. It is so named because it resembles where a preacher or priest might stand to address the congregation. It cradles the Rocna anchor and is carrying two fenders or bumpers in cages on each side. We store them outboard like this to give more room for the deckhand(me) to move around on the foredeck when docking. Just behind the bow pulpit is the anchor windlass or wench. It is operated by two foot switches located just to port. There are covers over the switches so that you cannot accidentally deploy the anchor by stepping on one. Additionally there is a master power switch for the windlass inside the boat which is never turned on unless we are ready to anchor. Just to starboard is a tripline and buoy to use when you think the anchor could get stuck. You just cannot leave a $600 anchor and many feet of chain behind because you hang a sunken tree. There is a chain locker just below the windlass which contains 150 feet of chain and 200 feet of rope so that we could put out a pretty long anchor rode if needed. Access to the chain locker is behind the mirror at the head of our bed in the master stateroom. Finally there is a small anchor locker on the starboard side where we keep our bollard lasso for locks and a cheater bar for manually raising the anchor, something you do not want to do.
Moving back we find a Bowmar hatch. It serves two purposes. It can be raised for ventilation but more importantly it is an escape hatch should fire or rising water prevent crew from exiting through the salon. This hatch is directly over the bed in the master stateroom.
Surrounding the Bowmar hatch is a sun pad for those who wish to take in the rays. With our skin Jan and I do not use it much.
Down each side is a narrow gunwale to get from bow to cockpit. There are three cleats down the sides for tying lines and we keep lines available at each one. After our experience with one getting kicked over and wrapping up a prop in Fairhope, AL, we now keep all lines coiled and in a line holder at all times when not tied to the dock.
Next we move to the cockpit which can quickly become a catchall and must constantly be rearranged. Here we keep a cooler for drinks at all times in order to save opening the fridges while underway. The folding Port Runner bikes are here in their crates. These have been invaluable in our travels and we do not know what we would do without them. It is nothing for us to take off and go to see something 8-10 miles away and come back with a load of groceries too. Also here is Jan’s innovation which is a hanging shoe rack. Generally it is no shoes policy inside the cabin area.
Underneath the cockpit is a large storage area called a lazarette on the starboard side and under the port hatch is an 8 kilowatt generator to provide our electricity when not hooked to shore power. It can run everything at once including two AC units, two fridges, ice maker, stove, and microwave. So if you ever wonder why we have such a big genset that is why.
The rear of the boat is called the transom and there is a door through it out onto the swim platform. We do not do much swimming but there is a built in ladder off the port end if needed. I forgot to mention there is a shower head behind a small door inside the cockpit. It has hot and cold faucets and a long hose that pulls out. I have used it many times to shower on the swim platform. Naturally this is a bathing suit shower unless we are way out in the boonies.
Also on the swim platform are the dinghy davits that hold our inflatable dinghy with it’s 3.3hp Mercury outboard. Truthfully we have made little use of it this trip but that may change later.
From the cockpit you climb a ladder up to the flybridge. This gives us a tremendous amount of exercise as we are up and down dozens of times each day. The next year’s model changed to a built in fiberglass stairway but I cannot imagine giving up that much space for the convenience. I have never seen one with the stairs. Just next to the ladder is a hose bib or faucet which is fed by a pump that supplies raw water from under the boat to a hose used to washdown a dirty anchor and chain. It would have been far better to have this up forward in the anchor locker. I could do that but it would be a major hose routing problem. Perhaps one day.
The flybridge is the command center. It is large and comfortable. The view is great from this height. When you are standing on the flybridge your eyes are approximately 15-16 feet above the water. Here are chart plotter, iPad, VHF radio, SPOT and all instruments to monitor systems. There is storage for life jackets and all sorts of equipment under the seats. We are still flying our bon voyage banner out the rear window though it is beginning to show signs of wear. It gets a lot of comments and since our dinghy covers our name on the transom this banner allows boats approaching from the rear to see our name and hail us.
I fervently hope I have not bored you to tears with all this detail. If so just skip part II, which I will post in a few days, as it will be the same thing on the inside and below decks. But you will have to wait on that as I am worn out and we are biking to Dania Beach in the morning.
