looking at repowering the Madrona

[mpdownie]

Hi,

I am a long time visitor but first time poster to this site. I used to be a member of the C-Dory Owner's Group many many years ago. I purchased my C-Dory in 1995 when I lived in Northern California (in Petaluma) but currently reside in the northern part of San Diego County. I am interested in repowering my 1987 Angler 22' from its original and well-maintained Johnson 70 2-stroke with 877 hours to the new Honda BF90. I believe I have read that some here have had good experience with Specialty-Marine in Oxnard, CA. I have already been in contact with Scott who may be the new owner of Specialty-Marine. I am wondering if I should be looking at other shops as well. I don't mind trailering the boat up to Washington State or Oregon or elsewhere. Does anyone know if the current C-Dory factory in Bellingham, WA is doing repowers?. I have visited Marben Marine several times over the years since 1995. And I really liked those guys. This lockdown is making me stir-crazy and a road trip might be good for my mental health. I want to be as happy with this repower as I have been with the Madrona over the past 25 years. So getting it done right the first time is really important to me. I like this boat so much and so do many of my friends, two of whom purchased their own C-Dory's; one out of Bodega Bay (a 1985 Classic 22' Angler and the other out of Solana Beach ( a 16' Angler. On the transom to starboard, I have the C-Dory stock swim-step purchased and installed in about 1995 and to port I have a Honda BF75L kicker motor from 1988. It is my salmon troller and my insurance policy. in case I ever need to return back to port on my own without the main. In about 1995 I purchased and installed a stern stem cover /transom cap rail from Marben Marine, so the transom core should be nice and dry, I hope! Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I am looking forward to a quieter main motor without the 2-stroke exhaust. Oh before I close, feel free to post this message in another area of this forum if more appropriate. Thank you kindly in advance for your wisdom and guidance! Mike,

[Robert H. Wilkinson]

[kennharriet]

Mike, I repowered our 22’ cruiser a couple of months ago. The thread is:

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=29127&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

In short, we went local with Riverview marina in Lewiston, ID. Hope this helps, Ken

[DayBreak]

Mike,

Welcome to C-Brats.

Many people go to Sportcraft Marina in Portland, Or. because they do a great job with their motor installs; you will pay no sales tax and they tend to beat all other dealers with their prices.

We had them do our motor installs and the electronics when we bought our boat. They are detailed and the quality of their work shows.

[hardee]

Mike, another Welcome here. Also another vote for Sportcraft in Portland Ore. No sales tax, and great people to work with.

Harvey
SleepyC

[thataway]

Mike, Welcome back--or over--from the "C Dogs",

Wow--keeping that boat for over 25 years. Dedication and obviously satisfaction. I saw my first C Dory in Alamitos Bay in 1982. I said then when I get "too old to sail" I will get one of those...and I did.

The one item you are doing to notice is that weight is going to be more from the 70 hp Johnson. (Johnson probably about 258# vs New Honda BF 90 at about 100# more: 359#.). Many of us put a "Permatrim" foil on the antiventillation plate, which helps to lift the stern and push then bow down so the boat runs better in chop.

Is the C Dory going to be "boater homing" along the way? That keeps in the spirit of COVID 19 safety!--and another great feature of the boats!

[T.R. Bauer]

I think you will be very happy with a Honda 90. Most people feel they are a perfect fit for the boat and I agree it is a very good choice. Both of us seem to hold onto thing a long time - I have a 45 year old Ford pickup I have had for around 35 years....and have had the CD 22 forever too. If you take care of them, and keep putting money into them, they last and last and last. Almost every day people say to me they would like to buy my old ford. And people would never guess my 22 is from the mid 90s as it looks like it was put together last week.

[mpdownie]

Wow, I drafted a reply but it somehow disappeared from my screen. Here it goes again. First off, thank you for all the warm welcomes, tips and recommendations with my repower project. I understand that the new 4 strokes are about 100 pounds heavier than my Johnson 70. It may take me a bit of time to get used to that extra weight on the back o the boat both under way and at anchor. I have always had a doelfin on the Johnson 70 and when used in combination with the power trim it was quite simple to keep the bow down in the chop. Yes to boater homing and no to hotels. Th C-Dory's are RV's both on and off the water. I have a question about shaft length with these motors on the back of the C-Dory's. My transom measures 20 inches, but I have a 4 inch keel that runs down the centerline of the vessel and terminates about 20 inches from the back of he boat. This I believe contributes to prop wash or cavitation in tight turns. On the newer model C-Dory's the keel fin may not be as long and may terminate further from the back of the boat, having less of an effect on cavitation under tight turns and close maneuvering. When this happens to me, I just drop the RPM and take her a bit easier. Do the extra long shaft motors perform better on the C-Dory's? I better finish up this reply before it disappears too. One of the other questions I had dealt with gauges that read the engine performance data from the Honda BF-90 which I understand includes fuel consumption. Do the standard Honda gauges read and store this data? Lastly, does the troll control come standard or is this an add-on? Thanks everyone.

[thataway]

Have not owned a new Honda 90, but I believe the "Troll Control is extra"

My first C Dory 22 was a 1992 and the keel was similar to the 2006 boat. Your boat must be one of the very early current hull boats with the deeper keel.

There is an owner selling his boat from just down the coast in San Diego, and he put a 25' shaft with a jack plate on the boat--claimed that it was less likely to have the exhaust ports flooded when trolling.

My personal feeling is to stick with the 20" shaft. Boats do not perform as well with a prop run deep, and the drag of the lower unit. They are made to run with the anti ventilation plate right at the surface..

[Desert Dory]

My' 89 cavitates pretty good in turns also. Even before I raised the engine 2 holes to get the anticavitation plate up where it should be.

Nature of the beast I suppose. Throttle it back a little bit and it's fine but it would be nice to just power thru the turn.

[Hunkydory]

[Robert H. Wilkinson]

[starcrafttom]

https://www.mercurymarine.com/en/us/v12/

Just do it. two props two speed tranny and independent steering lower unit. whats not to like?

[Pat Anderson]

Wow! Another C-Brat dating back to the C-DOG days!

If you ever wondered where the name C-Brats came from, I got it right from the source and wrote it up in a blog post that you might find interesting! Also, you may enjoy the Grand Poohbah Fishwisher Dale's comment on my blog post!

Also, note my photo in this blog post has shown up here a couple of times!

For our re-power, we also chose Sportcraft, but we are still waiting for the new outboard to arrive, we are hoping it will be completed for Friday Harbor!

http://pnpsplace.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-in-name.html

("pnpsplace" was shorthand for Pat and Patty's Place!)

[curioustraveler]

Pat,

Interesting history. Thanks for sharing.