Power a C-Dory 26 Venture

forrest · Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 11:43 am Post subject:

Morning Star,
We are describing two different situations. There is never any adults standing in the cockpit crossing the bar unless they want to get totally soaking wet. Also I have a freezer up in the v-berth that has processed salmon/bottomfish. That adds weight to the bow. When you're crossing a river bar with a 5-10 swell and wind chop on top of that, I find the last thing I want to happen is have the bow dig into the wave in front of me while being pushed by a following sea. There also could be differences in construction between Cape Cruiser and C-Dory versions. Is your water tank under the v-berth? I also have an anchor with 20 foot of chain and 300' of water soaked rope in the anchor locker.

haakebecks · Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 12:33 pm Post subject:

Since Morning Star's boat is a 2008, I'm pretty sure it is after C-Dory took over the molds and the water tank is not in the V-berth like it is in the later CC models.

That being said, I wonder if the additional weight of your freezer isn't compounding the weight up front issue.

I'm running 35 feet of G4 and 300' feet of rope so we are similar there.

I don't find the bow to be nose heavy at all. In fact I bought permatrims to help keep the bow down and this is with the water tank up under the vberth.

forrest · Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 10:47 pm Post subject:

haakebecks,
It's not a problem. I just like the bow lighter in a following sea. Following seas on a river bar can be really squirrelly. A lighter bow helps. The bow under normal conditions for cruising Puget Sound is perfect with a full tank. I have trim tabs and rarely use them. The exception being the two foot wind chop I usually encounter from Seattle to Everett while visiting my son. Trim tabs are really nice when you want to make time.

Morning Star · Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 8:05 am Post subject:

Forrest, I agree that bow up crossing a bar is a good thing. My comment was aimed at the balance of my 26V, not the technique for approaching waves with a following sea. I, too, have the water tank under the V-berth, 30' of chain, and 300' of rode. My description of loading the boat--with people or cruising gear--pertained to the balance of the boat in general, not bow trim crossing a bar. I find, like haakebecks, that the boat is light in the bow. It may be due to the Reynolds built 26V is different than the CC. For one thing, it is foam cored; I don't know if that alone would make a difference, but the glass layup schedule might have varied from the CC layup. It could be due to your freezer or other differences in how the boat is loaded. Anyway, I take no exception to your point about bow trim crossing a bar or that your CC26 lies heavy in the bow. I'm just offering that my experience with my particular 26V (hull #1) leads me to recommend light-weight motor rigging.