16' Cruiser's Ride

[yankeefan]

After browsing through the archives of old posts, I have to admit that we have some concern about how the ride will be in a 16' Cruiser. We understand that w/a dory hull, the boat will tell you the right speed to avoid pounding.

As noted in my earlier posts, we plan to cruise the FL Keys & the ICW as well as some lakes & rivers. At this point, we don't plan to "go outside" into open Atlantic waters or the Great Lakes, except on rare occasions.

So, since we are likely to encounter lots of chop, but not much big water are there comfortable speed ranges to cruise our kind of water in a 16' Cruiser? What are they? What's the fuel economy @ these speeds? Will we need trim tabs to be truly comfortable on long cruises?

At this point, we are only interested in the 16' Cruiser. We've taken to heart earlier suggestions that we go for a 22' now, but that just doesn't fit our current budget. Naturally, we'd rather be boating in a 16' than saving for a 22'.

Thanks again,
Sandy

[Chuck S]

I came into the C-Dory community wanting a 22 Cruiser but soon determined that the demands of private college tuition were going to place this boat out of reach for several years. And I had no real idea of the acceptance of a "stink boat" into a family wedded to sail for several generations!

As you've realized the Dory hull pounds in chop. We cruise probably the worst body of water in the world for chop: Lake Erie. The Lake doesn't exceed 100 feet deep in the entire western half and averages about 40. Water chops up fast! Our speeds are restricted to about 18 to 20 mph much of the time because of this. Small craft warnings used to be fun in the sailboats, they're not anymore! Ocean waves in deep water, though, are much farther apart than on Lake Erie and you should be able to bump the speeds well up in the mid 20s outside in the ocean without pounding.

Forcing the bow down not only helps, it's a requirement. Center of gravity on the 16 Cruiser is well aft. It's 2 feet aft of that point in the 16 Angler which doesn't have the berth. Motor trim will push the bow down at the expense of a poor angle for the propeller. We tried the Honda-OEM-packaged SST Hydrofoil for a season but I thought it forced the boat into some weird fixed roll angles and turning behavior and replaced it this last season with a Permatrim foil (from New Zealand). The boat handles more normally with this on the engine.

This handles fore and aft trim but not lateral trim. The boat is very light and my 190 pounds overbalances the boat to starboard with my lighter passengers.

I'm almost to the point of fitting trim tabs -- but I've yet to find another 16 C-Dory with them to use a point of reference. These will fix both trim issues.

I'll probably relocate the 12v battery to under the passenger seat to aid normal trim. At present the battery and 13+ gallons of fuel sit right at the stern of the boat making the bow even lighter.

On flat water, however, the boat moves very fast for the power required. In excess of 30 mph as we're propped at present. Inland lakes, "the Lake" on truly calm days, and most rivers we can burn plenty of fuel in a short period of time. We tow a tube sometimes and I guess we could ski but don't have the equipment.

Are you limited in speed on the ICW? With 3 aboard, good trim, and the phase of the moon right we can run flat out right about 30mph over the bottom for several hours as clocked by the GPS.

The C-Dory website shows fuel consumption. Shows "economy cruise" right around 5000rpm and 25mph with the Honda 40. We have the Honda 50 and too few hours to get a better feel than that but it seems accurate. I'm trying to find a spot on the dash to mount a fuel flow meter to keep track of the gallons used. The little dash doesn't offer much space for the gage.

After a couple of short seasons we're quite happy with the boat. We've not yet used the berth -- or the porta potty -- but it's nice to have them. The 16 Angler is probably an easier boat to trim because the seats and crew weight are 2' farther forward, but sleeping on board seems impossible and I'm getting too old to camp on the beach.

Email me if you want, I've got lots of photos I can send ya of Amelia Anne in several stages of fitting out. She came with manual wipers and I determined the need for electrics the first weekend.

-- Chuck

[Catman]

Informative post, Chuck. Your points about center of gravity represent my experience as well. Partly because of pilot placement I find my 16' Angler rides like a dream machine. I like sitting more forward for the reasons you stated. My weight can offset 125 lbs. of fuel and battery which are well aft, and gear can be stored in the cuddy. By the way, I burn 1 GPH mostly no matter what speed I travel.

Some time ago you asked where in an Angler one sleeps. In the cockpit! Yep, with carpet, a fat Therma Rest mattress and camper back, I'm like a bee in a begonia. Course, a V-Berth would bee nice...

[Chuck S]

Trawler styling and reliable Honda outboard power were the first things which I saw in a Trailer Boats ad about 26 months ago. Coming from a sailboat background the Vee Berth was a literal "given" on any motor boat since I wanted the ability to sleep on board if we did any travelling. Berth and Honda-power were sure to appeal to my wife. As noted I've not spent a single night on board! Several naps, though.

I also like the seats over lockers on the Cruiser vs. pedistals on the Angler. As noted the battery may go under the port seat this spring.

One thing I really like about the 16s is the ability to single hand them from home to lake and back again. Before we started pushing the bow up creeks on the Ohio River last summer I figured a spare propeller was a good idea and the dealer recommended I try a 4 blade rather than 3 blade. I install it and just zipped up to the lake to try it out one evening. 20 minutes up to Lake Erie, slide in, run around inside and outside the breakwall for a hour or so, and back home before dark. (I left the 4-blade on the boat and carry the 3-blade as a spare.)

Many times the water inside the breakwall is rougher than that outside. This is especially true on weekends when lots of big power boats run at very high speeds in the outer harbor where's there's no speed limit. Wakes crossing wakes and bouncing off the inner and outer walls makes some killer chop.

I'm still not sure if I got the right boat -- Cruiser vs. Angler. The 16 Angler has more cockpit space -- more day space. But there's that much larger cabin on the Cruiser.

Amelia Anne is a crowd gatherer on the water and fueling on the highway. "She's just so cute."

-- Chuck