"Feet are under the waterline"

Hoop · Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 8:20 pm Post subject: "Feet are under the waterline"

Hi folks,

I'm doing fairly extensive (and potentially multi-year) research on my next vessel, and there's no question that the C-Brats site is TOP NOTCH.

In perusing the postings, I read that a number of you speak favorably of a C-Dory 22, et al, characteristic which is that "feet are under the waterline". My question, what is it about having your feet below the waterline that is good?

Safe boating,
Hoop

17' Whaler owner in San Jose, CA, and Friday Harbor, WA

DodgeRam · Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 8:32 pm Post subject:

Fact high % of male find drown by coast guards are find with there zipper down an half of them have some kind of alcohol content in there blood?

Gary SEARAM

starcrafttom · Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 8:39 pm Post subject:

From a fishing stand point is makes life easier. I can stand up in the boat and lean over the side and rainse my hands, check baits, handle fish..etc.. with out getting down on my knee's. It also lowers your personnal center of gravity in the boat when in bad water. If you are in a boat with raised decks, like a bayliner or trohpy, your center of gravitiy is now 2 or move feet above the water line and the boat has more leverage to toss you around. With a c-dory you are not just standing right on the water but 6 inches below it. now that same wave has much less leverage to toss you around. i really love this feature. I would like a little more of a toe kick so when I lean over the side I am not leaning forward so much.

Sneaks · Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 8:46 pm Post subject:

I really love the fact that without floorboards, I can very safely lean over the gunnel and reach down and into the water. Very easy to get used to, especially while fishing.

Don

Sea Wolf · Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:03 pm Post subject:

Aside from "Taking the Big Whizz Over the Side in Perpetuity, R.I.P.", the big deal about having your feet below the waterline the rest of the time is that your body's center of gravity is well below the gunnels, or 8-10 inches below where it would be with a typical raised false floor on many boats.

This gives one a sense of security being down much further in the boat, and less likelly to be ejected over the side in heavy weather.

As a matter of fact, once you get used to sensisng yourself down in the lower position, going out on another boat with the raised floor seems to put you in a vulnerable position up much higher in the boat. With really big boats, this sensation is lessened proportionately.

Those of us who have raced sailboats where lowering the center of gravity of the crew and evrything else in the boat is of paramount importance for both speed and safety considerations understand this relationship intuitively and value it highly.

Often C-Dory owners who have "moved up' from a CD-22 to a CD-25 with a raised floor lament the loss of the lower COG of the 22.

What's kind of funny considering all of this is that we occasionally get someone who wants to add a flying bridge to a CD-22, but usually just to get a better view of the fishing conditions nearby. Not much of a place to be when the weather acts up really bad!

Joe.

Papillon · Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:14 pm Post subject:

Hello Hoop and welcome the the pub.

I know your concerns, and I think you are suffering from the " The Unsinkable Legend " hipe. Now don't get mad yet! I am speaking to you as one who has two Boston Whalers at my dock now, a 13 sport and Revenge V-22 right next to my 22 C-Dory Angler.

I have owned 7 or 8, I lose count Boston Whaler over my boating lifetime. I love them and have lots of respect for the design. But when it comes to seaworthiness, the C-Dory can hold its own with Whaler any day of the week. When it comes to keeping me in the boat, ( unlike a Whaler, I can sink) I prefer the C-Dory.

When it comes to my boating needs, the C-Dory wins the race, based on I want to do some long range cruising with lower horsepower and tighter budget and liveaboard along the way. I want to be able to trailer to the inland streams and lake and the weight differents between my Revenge V-22 and the 22 C-Dory is 2000lb. That is a big chunk in real money I can have left over to put in my truck tank.

Just one mans opinion...a Whaler Fan and a C-Dory Fanatic.

Hoop · Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:23 pm Post subject:

Ahhh! Yes, of course!

Those are all benefits that I enjoy in my Whaler, it's just that my feet are arguably exactly at the waterline, so the "below the waterline" threw me.

Though even in my boat, my whizzing solution preference is the Little John Portable Urinal. You can land in the briny blue if you're not careful even if you are whizzing and your feet are 'below the waterline'.

WhalerGoFar, yes, I've owned a Whaler of one sort or another for 30 years now, I figure. First the Harpoon 5.2 sailboat, then a 15 foot Dauntless, now the Montauk. Great boat, and with canvas up, terrific for the waters I boat in. But neither it, nor any of the other Whaler models, has what the C-Dory's have: completely enclosed cabin and optional heater. So those are the attributes I'm shopping for.

Thanks everybody!!! Question answered!

Safe boating,
Hoop

Sea Wolf · Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:41 pm Post subject:

Hoop-

Just for the fun of it:

Low Center of Gravity:

(El Toro sailboats on Pinecrest Lake, Ca.)

and High Center of Gravity:

(Moose hunting in Alaska)

Joe.

Hoop · Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 10:25 pm Post subject:

Joe, Now that lower photo is a really HIGH COG! You couldn't catch me up there! Hoop

DodgeRam · Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 10:46 pm Post subject:

Sorry if some of you got a little touchy about whizz over board when in a boat, but those facts are not from SEARAM making, the are COAST GARD facts .

Gary SEARAM

El and Bill · Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 12:33 am Post subject:

For us, low center of gravity equals stability -- for the crew and for the boat. Take waves broadside in a high COG boat and then in a low COG boat and you'll sing the praises of the 22' C-Dory.

Dora~Jean · Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 2:29 am Post subject:

El an Bill (and others) say it perfectly. The lower the CG (and people) the safer and easier the ride in big seas. I've owned 7 sail and now 8 power, all trailerable. My CD25 is by far and away the best of all of them in big weather. You just have to compare, like El and Bill said, you'll immediately feel the difference, it's that significant!

BTW, the floor in the cabin of my boat is the bottom of the boat, just like the 22, while in the cabin you're below the waterline about 10". The cockpit is about 14" higher than the cabin -- but still better than most 'conventional' powerboats.

During my first 6 months of ownership I also found a very neat and safe feature of my boat -- in big winds if your motor(s) fail or you want to just stop for some reason (the whiz discussion comes to mind), my boat turns tail to the wind and gently settles and smooths with the waves. Much better than most all other boats that turn sideways to the waves putting you in a brooching situation. I've even cooked soup in 5-6 ft breaking waves far offshore in 20+ knot winds!

Steve

Hoop · Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 12:45 pm Post subject:

Steve,

Great observation there about boat characteristics while lying ahull. That's a great C-Dory feature.

Hoop

SEA3PO · Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 2:06 pm Post subject:

Hoop it is funny thing how many of us had Boston Whalers... I had a 17' montak and moved up to the 22 cruiser to get out of the weather.... I feel safer in my C-dory than I ever felt in the Whaler.... plus I am warm and dry.

Joel
SEA3PO

Hoop · Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 2:30 pm Post subject:

Joel,

Last summer my wife and I spent quite a few afternoons in our 17 Montauk, with full canvas, looking for wildlife around San Juan Island. The canvas helps a lot. Still, about half way through the summer, my wife turned to me, and relatively out of the blue, said, "I think we need a bigger boat." So, not to be one who ignores such sage advice, I've begun my quest for an enclosed cabin, heatable, popular boat that attracts a great community of people ... aka the C-Dory!

If money was not a barrier, then at the moment that boat would be a Tomcat 255. Money being what it is and the fact that I have just taken my "first retirement" last October after 32 years with a high tech company, could mean that it makes sense for us to look at the C-Dory 22. Researching, for me, is half the fun though. So I figure this summer will be extensive research ... asking for rides, taking photos, and generally clambering all over boats of all kinds.

You are in Chester, as in Lake Almanor? We vacationed at Lake Almanor for many years when our kids were growing up. I had a BW sailboat Harpoon 5.2 at the time and would take it up there. Beautiful place.