CD-22 Anyone ever add a hot shower or marine head

roydawn

Hi all, Been in the market for a CD-25 for a while here in SW Fl. none under $65K are close bye. [ ie 1,500 mi.] Like the C-25 in Ca. for 40K, but would have to buy a truck & trailer. So wondering if anyone has added a hot shower to a CD-22? or a marine head with a holding tank? looked at a CD-22 & it could fit the need with a few mod's. Just thinking, is it possible? Roy

starcrafttom · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 5:24 pm Post subject:

If you see a boat that you want on the other coast you should look into having it shipped. Cory is a guy that does all the shipping for c-dory and others. I cant remember his company name but if you search this site you will find it. he has shipped a lot of used c-dorys for Brats over the years.

BrentB · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 5:28 pm Post subject:

Wefings has a CD 25 close to price point
see
http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2009-C-Dory-25-Cruiser-101821375

PaulNBriannaLynn · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 5:31 pm Post subject:

I had a coleman propane water heater with shower attachment in my last boat. It worked pretty well and was around $150, and was portable so I could take it out for more storage when I didnt need it.

JamesTXSD · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 5:36 pm Post subject:

Someone on the forum did that a few years ago: removed the dinette to allow room for an enclosed head. It seemed kinda drastic to me. The head is the "room" in the boat where we spend the least amount of time in any given day... but, when you need a potty or want a shower, nothing else will do.

What would you give up to have an enclosed head/shower in a 22? Dinette? Galley? Both of those are very important to the way we use the boat. Put up walls and remove either the dinette or galley, and you have really changed the functionality of the 22. Bye-bye all around visibility in the cabin. No place to cook or eat? You have to be realistic: there is only so much square footage in a 22' boat.

We decided on a 25, not just for the enclosed head... the extra foot of beam is part of what makes it work: room for the water heater, fridge, and more storage. Room to pass each other in the aisle. The design of the 25, with covers for the windows in the head, allows you to have visibility and privacy.

Lots of people spend extended time cruising on a 22... with a porta-potty and sponge bathing. You just have to understand and accept what the space will allow. I would like to have an island bed, and room in the salon for a couch and a couple comfortable chairs... that's not going to happen in a 25' trailerable boat. So, we accept the dinette as our inside seating - one of the compromises we all make on a boat. For us, the 25 is the minimum we feel we can comfortably spend extended time on.

If you buy a boat that is a long ways away, you can always have it trucked/delivered to your destination... you don't have to buy a truck and trailer if they don't figure into the way you will actually use the boat. There is a reason, though, why most folks with a 25 DO have a trailer. I think it is one of the best features of the boat.

Decisions, decisions. I first started looking at C-Dorys, thinking the 22 would be adequate for us. No doubt we could have made it work, but our usage would have certainly been different... I don't see how we would be doing extended time on the boat - neither of us are enamored with schlepping our stuff to marina showers. Certainly, Bill & El did it for a decade; others are still doing it. Realistically, it isn't going to be for everyone; we all have different minimum requirements. I don't think I would be interested in renting a motel room for a night without a bathroom in it.

Good luck with the decisions. I am absolutely NOT trying to talk anyone out of a 22. Many people buy boats for the way they think they will use it... boats with two cabins because "family, friends, and neighbors will probably want to cruise with us." If having an enclosed head with a shower, more storage, hot & cold pressure water, a fridge, and some elbow room (don't discount "the shuffle" of getting around each other in the aisle) sound like what you'd need to be comfortable onboard, you might want to figure out a way to get a 25 instead of trying to redesign a 22.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

JamesTXSD · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 5:41 pm Post subject:

Sunbeam · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 5:48 pm Post subject:

The owner of DORYME, a 22 Cruiser, constructed a head (room) in the port after corner of the cabin. It looks like the forward co-pilot seat was retained, and the dinette table and after seat removed. If I remember correctly the owner of DORYME said that they ate in the cockpit with a table and chairs there (even before the conversion). There are photos in DORYME's album here:

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_albumName=DORYME&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

Here is one image from the linked album:

starcrafttom · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 6:00 pm Post subject:

Note that his hot water heater is electric only. There was a post this summer about other gas fired instant hot water heaters.

DaveS · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 6:43 pm Post subject:

When the factory was in Auburn, I remember seeing a new 22' that the factory was custom installing the head on the starboard rear corner of the cabin. Personally, I wouldn't choose to have a designated head in lieu of the standard features of a 22' (ie: galley, dinette, etc.) and am satisfied with a porta potty.

I have to admit that the install shown in the picture of the head installed in the previous post looks good.

However, as Jim B. alludes to...different strokes for different folks... Wink

El and Bill · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 7:05 pm Post subject:

Roy -
There are advantages and disadvantages of both a 22 and a 25, as discussed with many postings over the years on this site,
El and I originally were backpackers. So a port-potty worked just fine for us on our 22. As to showers, we were well-adjusted to a solar shower (hand held, backpacking type, rolls up to a small space). We would find a secluded cove, fill the solar shower with fresh water, and after warming in the sun, hand hold it overhead for each other in the cockpit. The soapy water drained out the drain hole of the cockpit, we'd rinse in fresh warm water (which would rinse the soap out of the cockpit) and we'd be fresh and clean and so would the cockpit. It was easy for us on the 22. However, maybe others not used to backpacking life, would find it too difficult. Just an idea -- we found no need to put up with the inconveniences of a boat larger than our 22' -- simply in order to have a shower or a marine head.

Spike · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 7:23 pm Post subject:

Roydawn
When we had the camperback canvas made for our 22 we had them make a 4 sided wrap around privicy curtain that hangs from the support bows in the cockpit area It goes from sole to the top and has a zipper up one side for a door. At night we move the porti pottie out there, and though we don't have one there is no reason a person could not rig up a solar water heater for a shower. The whole thing weighs 2-3 pounds and folds up tight for storage.

bcassal · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:50 pm Post subject:

Bixby's Cub, a C-22, has a very ingenious and simple hot shower.
Search Bixby's Cub or Texair.

Carpy

Jake B · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 10:01 pm Post subject:

I wouldnt right off the other coast. buddy just shipped a 22' seasport from florida to washington took 4 days and cost about 4k driveway to driveway.

thataway · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 10:28 pm Post subject:

Roy,
As you see in our sig, we have owned a 22, 25, TC255, and now another 22. The head in the 25 (which we took to BC one summer and Alaska another summer) is slightly smaller than the Tom Cat, and we rarely used the shower. We find the porti potty to be easier to use than a pump out type of head (lack of pump out stations, or maintenance of the macerator)

If you are going to trailer, the C Dory 22 is far easier to trailer--and we have trailered both many thousands of miles--you really need a 3/4 ton truck for the 25.

There is also a 3' x 3' enclosure made for the sun shower. We have 3 different sun showers--from 2 quarts up to 2.5 gallons. Any one of them gives a great bath--as good as you will get in the "shower" of the 25. Just how much water you use!

In your part of the world (and ours) Air conditioning is more important than an inclosed head or shower, if you are going to sleep on the boat!

Good luck hunting.

texasair · Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 1:08 am Post subject:

We use our makeshift shower on our 22 quite often.

I mounted a hot water heating element in a 6 gallon Portable ice chest.

It will heat up off of marina power or the EU 1000 on the boat. takes about 10-15 minutes.

I use a small 12 volt compact pressure pump from Northern Tool with spring loaded battery clips and a trigger controlled spray head from Home Depot.

She likes the pressure for hair washing. If you don't have a generator, the ice chest holds the temp well enough that we can heat it up at the marina, head downriver and it is still hot enough for a shower the next morning.

We shower in the cockpit with a shower curtain and let the bilge pump pump it out. Out in the boondocks we shower on the shore or swim step.

I would guess that you could use the same pressure set up with a solar shower bag. I don't know how much water the solar shower bag holds, but the 6 gallons in our set up will do showers for both of us.

We like the simplicity, lighter weight, shallower draft of the 22 and would not trade it for a 25. I notice that you are in Florida, We do have a 5,000 BTU window unit mounted in the boat and it works well on the EU 1000.

Good Luck.