Best boat show to check out C-dory

[Gavin17]

I've only recently heard of C-dory and think they may be a good fit for our next boat. We stumbled on them looking at Ranger Tugs and Cutwater. We don't have a local dealer so I think our next step would be to travel to one of the boat shows. Which boat show will be best? They're all PNW companies so should we go there or Florida? Is there another brand we should check out?

We don't fish, we just like to travel by boat. We're looking for a cruiser that can sleep 3-4 for 2 weeks at a time. I'm ok Marina hopping to use facilities and resupply so we don't have to be completely self sufficient. Ideally we'd have main + kicker or twin outboards, a generator and A/C. We boat on Midwest lakes and rivers, great lakes and Florida. We tow with a 3/4 ton truck but if I had to get a 1 Ton I would. I'm comfortable with inboards as long as we can cruise at 15 knots+. I think we'll have to save the 8 knot boats for after we retire.

[colbysmith]

All the C-Dorys (except for a rare few) are outboards. Top speed around 30mph, but most cruise comfortably at around 15-25mph. I believe the Seattle Boat show has some C-Dory boats. However you could always attend one of the several gatherings around the country. The largest two are the one at Friday Harbor in the PNW that just happened in May, and the one at Hontoon State Park in Florida, in March. (Those are annual events.) Otherwise many C-Brats would be happy to show your their boats, if you give a location you'd be willing to look. (You mentioned boating in the midwest. I live in the Madison, Wi area, and while I travel a lot with my CD-25, I am planning a trip to Door County next week. There are no generators on the boats, other than portable ones that folks add. Mostly the Honda 1000 and 2000 types. A/C can be an RV type on the roof, or some will get a small window air condition and put in the forward center window while on a dock. A 3/4 ton would be plenty to tow any of the C-Dory boats. I've towed my earlier 22 with a Toyota Highlander and my 25 with a Ford F150. (The 22 on trailer weighed in just shy of 5100 lbs, and the 25 anywhere between 7100 and 8400 depending upon how I have it loaded.) Also, while I know families that have slept 3 or 4 (one is in Alaska right now doing the inside passage with 2 adults and 3 kids in a 22), it can be a little tight for some. But still doable. Colby

[JamesTXSD]

Finding a C-Dory in stock at a dealer isn't a given. Three Rivers Marine in Florida may have a couple boats in stock, but it would be good to contact them direct. The production of these boats is a fraction of what it used to be in the 2006 to 2009 era, with ownership of the molds and name changing hands a few times. Many feel the current factory is making the best boats.

What you may have to do is look around to see one of these boats, whether at a dealer or from an owner here, and then go to a dealer to order one. Then wait while the boat is built.

Your 3/4 ton truck will handle anything in the 22' to 26' range from C-Dory. If you're thinking about a TC255, you may want to consider a one ton, but there are folks out there towing that cat with a 3/4 ton.

You may also hear that these boats are designed for cruising couples. That's how we used ours. There is a thread right now on the the forum about a couple with 3 young kids traveling to Alaska with their boat. It all depends on the size of the people and how much "cozy" everyone can tolerate.

Look down in the lower left of the home page and click on El & Bill's Halcyon Days. Their cruising on that 22 was truly epic. We joked with them about their ability to "live small" (minimalist) on that boat, while we "lived large" on our 25 (and we didn't travel light). You need to decide on how much boat is enough on these efficient cruisers. You can see how we used our boat in Grand Adventures and click on "The Cruising Adventures of Wild Blue and Crew."

Good luck with the search.

[gulfcoast john]

Gavin,

Welcome to the C-Brats!

Many couples search for a ‘trailerable pocket-yacht’ that can be hauled out to your goal cruising grounds quite cheaply on a trailer (we get over 11 MPG with a F250), then put into the water where we get only 2 MPG combined…but hey, we’re now 1,500 miles from home!

Agree with above, except my good friend Colby again forgets that the official Boat Test.com 2006 review proved the TC255 WOT top speed to be 47 MPH (not 30) and there are other reports with optional Suzuki 175’s of over 51 MPH, though we have no idea why your crew would want to go that fast over water as opposed to over I-10.

Agree with Colby that 4-5 adults on any C-Dory including our TC255 would be tight.

Based on your ‘cruising grounds’ of FL, rivers, and Great Lakes, you are basically addressing ‘segment Looping’ of the Great Loop on a trailer boat.

We wrote an article on this on the AGLCA website here, pages 14-21:

https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.greatloop.org/resource/collection/F1C462C9-A648-43A1-9A9B-6E27279F6026/Great_Loop_Link_December_2021.pdf

Of all the competing trailerable non-oversize boats we’ve looked at, the REAL take-home WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) is that you can NOT get a flushing separate head in any under 25 ft boat, and many Wives will not accept a Porti-Potti or (Eileen's pejorative) ‘Head by the bed’.

Our Adventures are also under the Home>Forums> Grand Adventures on C-Brats.

Hope this and our Loop Link article are helpful in your search. If you find other competing non-oversize brands in your search that I have overlooked, please let me know.

John

[kaelc]

Seattle boat show is worth the trip. When I bought my used one, it was from a broker in Seattle and they gave us boat show tickets. Climbed all over Ranger tugs and Cutwaters. NMI only had 1-2 C-Dory’s at the show that year 2018 or 2019. Lots of other boats to check out as well.

Several cutwater and Ranger tugs we’re at the show. I personally think NMI boats are better built Sea SPorts and C-Dory’s.

[Shaun77]

[Gavin17]

[Gavin17]

[colbysmith]

Hi Gavin. Just sent you a pm. Colby

[thataway]

Welcome aboard.

Great information in all above. As far as max sleeping, the Tom Cat 255 wins there. Mine was rigged so that I slept fore and aft on the port side of the boat--extra cushion in the foot well of forward facing "navigator--port side seat) and then my daughter and 2 grandkids slept athwartship on the rest of the huge forward bunk. This still leaves the dinette which can be converted.

Some boats do put in Marine AC--but we feel that either the window--if only occasional, or the RV type on the roof is the way to go. A 9200 BTU works fine for the TC--OK 'Gulf Coat John likes sleeping in a refrigerator, and has a 15,000 BTU unit. Most use a 2200 Honda generator on the motor bracket on the 255 or a splash well/or swim step bracket on the Venture 26 or C Dory 25.

The newest outboard ranger "tugs" do have more sleeping accommodation, if you like the varnish, and plush interior. Most of use like the utilitarian, where you can hose out the boat if necessary.

There have been 22's where there were 2 adults, and 3 big teens, but usually 2 of the teens slept ashore.

One other boat would be the Rosborough 246. These are semi displacement boats--but can get up and go with enough HP. Economy and range is better with C Dory type.

There are also some catamarans which are under 30 feet which might also qualify. You can visit my photos and see the variety of boats I have owned. At one time I had a boat I kept on the West Coasts along with a van to tow it, and we would fly either to Vegas or S. Calif. Now my son has a early C Dory 25 cruise ship in Dana Point harbor, CA.

The presence of C Dory boats at boat shows is a bit hit and miss. Some years they are shown, other years not. Also very few dealers at this point. Most boats are custom made, or there are some fantastic used boats.i

As you see there are a number of our extended C Dory family (a real feature of the group) who gather all thru the US for cruises and gatherings. There used to be one on the upper Mississippi River, but that stopped with the passing of one of the organizers. That would have been Ideal. There are several 25's in your area. Maybe one of the owners will speak up and invite you to see their boat.

[Gavin17]

[thataway]

[Gavin17]

[Gavin17]

John's writing and extensive photo Library have pretty much sold us on the Tomcat. My wife is already thinking up Cat Pun names.

It looks like our next steps will be to visit some owners/ boats and hit the Seattle boat show. A boat show / ski trip sounds like a dream vacation for me.

I'm curious about all the recent price increases though. It seems like a new Tom Cat will cost about as much as a new to 2 year old Ranger or Cutwater while including a lot less "stuff" Maybe there's more too it than that, I don't have official quotes but I expected them to be cheaper than ranger due to the simpler designs. Some of the tugs are beautiful but I think the Tomcat may be a better fit for us. Does anyone have a photo of a tomcat with a bike rack on it? I think we could get by w/o a dinghy for a long time but we'd like to bring bikes and the roof of the tomcat looks like it has plenty of room.

[JamesTXSD]