Potential C-Dory owner with a few questions-

[tleaf]

Hi all,

Looking forward to interacting with you folks...this is a really nice place.

I do have some questions if you don't mind:

-Would a 5000lb tow rating be enough for a 22 Cruiser?
-Any major items to look at, besides the power plant, on a mid '90s 22 Cruiser?
-Can bottom paint be removed?
-Is the Cruiser fishable for 3?

Will try to be more specific when I have the boat.

[Sea Wolf]

tleaf

1. The boat weighs about 3000 lbs or so all up, and a trailer can weigh from 1000-1300 lbs, so with a combined weight of 4000-4300 lbs, you can get by with a 5000 lbs rated tow vehicle. However, if you're going to tow in steep mountains or very hot terrain, you may want to look at your specific powerplant / transmission capacity carefully. The other part of towing is stopping. It's one thing to tow a boat, another to stop it in an emergency. How big are your brakes? What kind of towing are you going to do?

2. Look closely at the transom and around thru-hulls for water penetration into the plywood and balsa core. Look up water penetration and balsa core with the search engine on this site. Don't panic, we have very little problem with the balsa cores. Transoms can be fixed, some quite easily. If you find a boat you like but are unsure of this aspect, get someone familiar with the issue or a marine surveyor to obtain an expert opinion.

3. You can remove bottom paint, but usually the hull has been barrier coated with an epoxy paint which, in turn, would have to be repainted to be aesthetically pleasing. (The barrier coat has probably been applied with a roller or brush, and the color chosen for contrast to the bottom paint)

4. You can fish with three, but you'll start having to use a little ingenuity to be sure to keep lines separated. Two can do any type of fishing on a CD-22 Cruiser, but some types of fishing require specific plans to keep things in order. What type of fishing are you planning on doing?

Others will add their 2 cents. This a great boat and a wonderful community online. Good luck! Joe.

[CAVU]

tleaf,
On the question of fishing three people out of a 22 cruiser, it all depends on the type of fishing. I just returned from my annual Vancouver Is salmon fishing trip. I had one very interesting day. I always invite some friends up to fish with me and this time I ended up with five guests who all wanted to fish the same day! Amazingly it worked great! I trolled two downrigger lines and everyone took turns and all had a good time. So depending on who and how you are fishings three could be very doable.

[thataway]

I tow a 22 C Dory with both a Honda Pilot and a 30 foot motorhome. The Honda is rated for 4500 boat and 3500 trailer towing--I would say it is marginal. However I do have a two axle trailer with disc brakes--and that is very important.

[starcrafttom]

I tow my 22 dory with a ford ranger with 198,000 miles on it. I have the 4-liter v-6 and four wheel drive. My only problem with the 5-speed stick and over sizes tires is getting off the line. gears are pretty high in a stock ranger and worse with the tires. as far as stopping I really love my four wheel disc surge brake trailer. the boat never pushes me around at a full stop or rolling down hill. I have not towed over the pass yet but i think on cool day it would be fine. Oh my tow rate is 4000.

[Captains Cat]

tleaf

I tow with a Dodge Ram truck with a V-10 that doesn't even know it's there, so I can't comment on that part.

As for the bottom paint, depends on the type. Complete removal will almost certainly require much sanding, scraping and labor. Watch out for copper ablative paints, use masks etc. You'll probably scuff up the bottom in the process so it would probably behoove (I think that's a word) you to paint it again with something, just for the asthetics. I've got bottom paint too, keep my boat in salt water and plan to put in a lift next year. Will probably put on a hard, blue paint, just to make it look good after I remove the ablative paint.

Good luck...Welcome to the site!

Charlie

[Sneaks]

[Brooks Cooper]

I tow with F-250 powerstroke, but my cruiser full of fuel,water,gear,poles,clothes and a salt king tandem trailer weighs in at 4800 lbs. so use a scale before you tow.

I have bottom anti-fouling paint, wish I didn't but it came with the boat, I think I'm just going to let it wear off.

90 honda 8 kicker transoms nice and tight no leaks.

Fish 3 all the time, 4 is a bit much but can be done. I fish four poles on 2 downriggers all the time just watch your distance between lines.

Good Luck Brooks

[tleaf]

Thanks for all of the input. The trailer is a little old and has some rust, but it is a tandem w/ brakes.

I have an Arima now, so I will likely have less cockpit space, but the bulkhead will be a nice trade off.


Coop's is sort of what I hope to end up with. I like the way the Columbia river anchor is mounted. What type of flooring do you have under that vinyl- it may be the route I go as well.

[Brooks Cooper]

tleaf

What I used on the flooring was 25/32 cdx plywood with that plastic deck wood for support runners and all stainless hardware. no rot yet and has been there two plus years. The sides sit right on the bottom of the deck the runners are about two feet in from the sides. It's two piece for removal and cleaning. It's nice to have a flat rear deck. Brooks

[rogerbum]

I originally bought a CD22 as it was light enough on the trailer (4000) to tow with my Isuzu trooper. The trooper was only a couple years old at the time and talking the wife into both a new boat and a tow vehicle was not something I wanted to attempt. The trooper tows the boat OK but I did add airlifts to the rear to keep things more level with the boat on. My experience was similar to others, it tows OK but up hill over a long range would not be so good.

Eventually, I decided to just buy a cheap used pickup. I found a 1984 F250 in very good shape with only 117k miles on it for $2500. It has a 351 cleveland and a much lower gear ratio. It still lugs a bit going up hill but in general tows much better than the trooper. Since I don't tow that often (once per 2 weeks on average), the cheap, dedicated tow vehicle was the better route for me. Now the trooper will go on sale as we'd rather have a sedan for commuting.

We regularly fish 3 for salmon fishing in a 22 cruiser. In fact I think 3 is the optimal number. With 3, two can be in the cockpit with a fish on - one on the rod and one on the net with the 3rd at the helm. I run 2 lines off the down riggers and a 3rd out the center with a cut plug on a banana weight. Not too much problem with lines tangling if the person piloting the boat knows what they're doing and pays attention. Usually, I leave it in gear when a fish is on and only bring in the center pole. Unless the fish is over 8-10#, I find we can generally land the fish and leave the other rod out to keep fishing. This takes a little practice and occasionally a boat turn or two to keep things apart but is manageable. Also, I find that leaving it in gear increases the # of fish we land as it's easier to keep some tension on the fish when the boat's moving a bit. Of course sometimes we get a double or a triple and then it's usually take the boat out of gear and things get interesting .

Another thing I usually do when fishing with 3 and trolling for salmon is to troll in the natural direction of the drift with enough power to go 1.8-2.5 kts relative to the water. That way it's usually possible to leave the helm for brief period with the engines in gear and still have the boat track a relatively straight line. OF COURSE I wouldn't do this in traffic or near shore but generally at a couple of knots (in reasonably calm seas) you can keep track of what's out front while standing in the cockpit and be back at the helm in PLENTY of time (2-3s) to deal with things if needed. In addition, if you're going the natural direction of the drift and have to take it out of gear and leave the helm for an extended period of time to help land a fish, the lines stay out the back of the boat and it's easier to keep tension on the fish. In this situation it's really helpful to have high speed reels (eg. Penn GT 310s or better) so you can keep tension on the fish when you take it out of gear.

Other thoughts -
I have found that running two lines off the same down rigger is more trouble than it's worth. I know a lot of people do this but I find it to be a pain when you really get into fish. The lines tangle more easily and if the upper line comes off it's not fishing until you bring the lower one in. If the lower one comes off, you can't re-set it with out reeling in the upper one....

Bottom fishing with three in the cockpit is also doable if the currents or winds are not too fast. We just jig with one on either side and one out the back.

If you do get a 22 with a camper back, make sure you have it designed with a zipper in the top near the bulkhead so it can be easily dropped or removed for fishing. The top can be pushed back for fishing but things are easier with it removed. Also, have the side walls fitted AFTER you mount the bases for the down riggers or better yet designed so you can leave the down riggers on with the camper back. Someone on the site has a camper back that goes clear to the back of the cockpit instead of the std. design that ends at the motor well. If the sides had some "pockets" with re-inforcements at the corners of the down riggers, you could leave the downriggers on all the time. On mine, I wind up taking them off to put the camper back on and then I have to store them in an already crowded garage.

I'd recommend Scotty electric downriggers with the extendable booms and a single rod holder mounted on the boom. I have the dual rod holders from the initial purchase but since I don't like to run two poles off the same downrigger, I replaced them with the single rod holders.

Also, get the white plastic holders for the down rigger balls and install them just inside the rear cleats at a position such that they are just below the booms when you swing the down riggers to point straight out the back. That will allow you to easily pick up the riggers and run to the next fishing hole or back to port without fiddling with the clips that hold the weights on (they're hard on the fingers).

I learned from Gary (gljjr) this past week that it's a lot easier to deal with things if you buy releases with 48" or 60" leads and cable clips. That way you can reach out with a de-hooker (which I didn't have on board) or a gaff to pull the release into the boat without leaning over or without tilting the down rigger up. Gary uses 60" leads on Scotty releases. Of course those weren't available at Neah Bay but I did stop in at Sekiu and get two with 48" leads. I'm making a de-hooker (a stick with a cup hook on the end) today.

Roger on the SeaDNA

[teflonmom]

I will tell you about our new experience towing our new C-Dory.

We purchased the dory because of the light weight for towing. We have a small motor home called a Roadtrek that can tow about 6000 pounds. We took our 22 foot dory to a truck scales with about 1/2 fuel and 1/2 water plus our normal boat gear. The weight including the single axel trailer was 4230 pounds.

The combination works very well and gets good mileage. No sway on the expressway and a joy to launch and retrive. We can load faster than many 14 foot john boats. We also use a Jeep Grand Cherokee as a tow vech. and it works fine. The tow rateing for the Jeep is 5000 lbs. Just a 6 cyl.

Good luck with the buying a dory.

Fred and Pat

[jimandlaurie]

Just another testimonial, we puleed our old 22 with a Dodge Dakota 4x4 with the small V-8. with everything known to man loaded in it , it pulled pretty good!

[Not For Hire]

I echo the comments that the 22 when fully wet may weigh more than you think. Still very trailerable although I use a full sized pickup with thirsty V-8, sigh.
I often use three downriggers to troll for salmon. Then I add on two dipsy diver rigs and if it is slow with flat seas I may add on another dipsy or slide diver or lead core line. Now remember this is Great Lakes fishing so it may not apply to you. The two gunwale mounted riggers have four foot booms and the center transom mounted rigger has a five foot boom to clear the twin 40's.
I can run the lnes okay. If it gets bumpy you simplify the rigs. I don't stack lines (two rods, same rigger) any more. However, I will sometimes add a slider rig to a downrigger line (two baits one line).
Biggest problem with two or three in the cockpit, for me, is landing/netting the fish. Typically I continue trolling while playing fish (with a Sportpilot or human pilot). Need a long net with the bow of the netting secured by bungie so it will not flow backward when you go to net the fish. I was used to a bigger cockpit and haven't figured out yet the best way to get a good "swoop" at the fish in between the other lines, etc. in the 22. It helps to have some empty rodholders so you can move lines from one side to the other. August - September is adult king time here. We use a lot of spinning attractors with herring or flies and also spoons and j-plugs while trolling. Any of you west coast types want some action try it this month. Doubles and even triples are not unusual.
Mark

[tleaf]