How about...a Marinaut 25?

[starcrafttom]

What is gained in a 27 that is not gained in a 25? well as a owner of a 27 c-dory I will tell you. DECK SPACE. yes its as easy as that. My cabin ,head, berth are all close to or the same as a 25 but I have a lot of deck space. this is not a little thing my friends. It allows us to entertain 6 adults on the back deck with out stepping on each other. 25 only has room for 4 and your still right on top of each other. I allows Susan and I a little breathing room when we are on anchor or fishing. It allows me to fish 4 in comfort on the back deck with out the captain in the cabin driving wandering what the hell is going on back there.

With the canvas up its like a great big sun room on the water with lots of room. I like to stretch out and read with my ft up on a ice chest. Never could do that in a 22. I also allows me to run with half the canvas up to stay out of the rain and the other half down so the deck is open to fish. In the 22 or a 25 its always a argument about having the top up if its raining and I'm fishing. I hate a top up when I'm fishing. gets in the way a lot. now we can meet half way with the top half up and miss prissy can sit out of the rain with out being in the cabin.
Don't just make everything bigger, spend the length where it is needed, on the back deck. Ranger saw that this was a need and that's why they went to a 27. Their 25 was two tight for 4 adults to sit in the back in comfort. the 27 allows a little more room and its great.

Just for scale, my 27's rear deck it 9 ft long.

One more pitch for the bigger dinette. I would much prefer a off set cabin and get a larger table and more leg room in the head then have more pass by room in the walk way. my table is not as big as Rogers on his 25 cruise ship but its a lot bigger then on the tom cats. When in the cabin I will be sitting not dancing, i need the room where i sit not where i stand. just my opinion.

[Chester]

Oh, and heated marble floors in the head...

[starcrafttom]

I will agree with Roger bum about the 27 pilot house. I really liked that boat and the sea sport 27 pilot house. large table and a raised captains chair with a co pilot seat. The one draw back to my 27 is not forward seat for susan. but I would go with a outboard OR a one level rear deck. I hate the raised motor hatch.

[rogerbum]

[Rob & Karen]

[Bess-C]

Wow Les,
Did you ever stir up a hornet's nest. My suggestion is to skip all of the intervening steps over the next 15 years and just build the 45 footer now. That will allow you to have berths for 8 and 2 heads with showers. You can cruise with your extended family and have a table for 8 on the sun deck. You can also add enough fuel to go to Alaska and 200 gallons of water.

The commercial license might be a little inconvenient, but if you keep the height low enough and the beam under 15 feet, a used Peterbilt will take you all over America.
Lyle

[localboy]

[Bill Uffelman]

Here's the 28' that may do what you want in the M27 dream boat.

http://oceanlines.biz/2009/03/north-pacific-28-is-an-affordable-pocket-trawler/

http://www.cmdboats.com/trailertrawler28.htm

Bill Uffelman
Las Vegas NV

[rogerbum]

[Rick from Maine]

Hi Les,

I really appreciate that you are soliciting, considering, and analyzing comments from C-Brats for a future design.

For what it's worth:
1. I like the concept of the existing Marinaut being just large enough to have an enclosed head. The head issue is important to the distaff side, while still maintaining the smallest possible size for performance, portability and maintenance. Porta Potty is preferred to holding tank. Shower is not that important.

2. A dinette that seats 4 would be our choice. When cruising with other C-Brats we frequently get together for meals (Day trips with other couples, too.). Our 22's make it tough to feed 4 in the cabin.

3. A single engine with a kicker is my choice for reliability, redundancy, and lifetime cost.

4. Increasing the side decks to 7-8", would be preferable to increasing the Cabin width. Many C-Brats are Middle Aged, going forward we need more foot room for stability, as our balance isn't what it used to be.

5. Having the copilot seat able to face forward is good but not a deal breaker.

6. We always use the convertible dinette to sleep on. It's important to keep that dinette easy for one person to convert to a berth and back to a table.

Thanks for getting our input, Rick from Maine

[KickerDRB]

[Grumpy]

Les,

At this rate you can just take the plans for the 215 and read them in metres

M

[Will-C]

I'm in Rob and Karen's corner. I think their are a lot of folks retired or getting ready to retire and are planning on being loopers than people realize. Two of the folks I cruise with who formerly owned C-Dory 22' are in this category. One has already purchased a new truck and a new 27' Ranger Tug. The other guy is looking at Rossies and American Tugs. I plan to try it on our 23 if we ever get around to making the trip. The additional time spent living on a boat has people looking for something relatively fuel efficient,a decent ride with the room to have amenities along to make the trip a little more comfortable for the women that are a part of the crew as Rob mentioned. Usually longer boats ride a little better. I would not be for going over the 8.5 beam as permits road limitations might be a deal breaker for some. Why not draw up a 27 concept see how people react. Stretching a 215 just enough to add a potty/shower would not make it that much more attractive to potential loopers IMHO.
D.D[/quote]

[SENSEI]

from the response you are getting here it looks like one of the most important items after a enclosed head is a table for four. there have been several references to my 25 interior
I am throwing it out to you Les, to come over and have a looksee at her.
she sits here in the Barn and is out of the weather.
I like the Idea of the offset door.by having an offset door you can then use a sliding door and that gives you more room in the cockpit for chairs or crab & shrimp pots, or Ice chests or fish lockers ,etc.

[Les Lampman]