Observations on my non C-Dory Trawler

[DavidM]

The following are some observations about how my boat works for me. It is not a C-Dory and I am not trying to put down the comparable C-Dory 22, although if I could have found an Angler 22s it would be very similar to mine.

So many of these comments would apply to the Angler 22 or the Cruiser 22 and are some of the things we have to do and compromises we have to make in order to cruise and stay overnight in such a small boat.

My newish boat is a downeast style, Atlas Boat Works Pompano 23, powered with a 70 hp Yamaha outboard. Its cruising features are very limited: a small cuddy cabin V-Berth, a 6 gallon water tank with hand pump into a tiny sink, a porta potti, no shower and no galley or refrigeration. It weighs about 3,500 lbs sitting on its trailer so it can be towed by any mid to full size SUV.

Performance

The 70 hp Yamaha will top out at about 20 mph and it cruises nicely at 15 mph where it burns about 4 gph. At that speed it handles seas up to about 3 feet after which you need to slow down or stay in port. I would like a little more power to be able to cruise at about 20 mph, but 90,115 and 150 hp engines are all 100 lbs heavier so I am happy with 15 mph.

Cruising Grounds

I live in Punta Gorda, Florida where I keep the boat at a slip at our condo which connects to Charlotte Harbor. This is really a bay about 25 miles long and 3-5 miles wide. I usually head south down Charlotte Harbor and anchor out at places like Pelican Bay at Cayo Costa state park which is about 20 miles away. I never plan to go more than 20-40 miles from home.

Navigation, steering and no autopilot

The boat has a small Garmin chartplotter mounted at the helm, maybe 5" diagonal which works ok. I supplement it with my iPad running AquaMap which lets me scroll forward to see what's ahead and zoom in. I don't carry any paper charts. I figure I can get home from almost anywhere by following the bouys and my memory if both of those and my iPhone fail.

Steering is cable, which I wish were hydraulic but the cable works fine. No autopilot. If I were going further than 20-40 miles I might think about an autopilot but hand steering for a couple of hours is ok. The only thing that an autopilot would help with is when I am underway and work the chart plotter or iPad. It is hard to keep on course while distractedwith navigation.

Anchoring

I have about 20' of chain followed by 100' of nylon attached to a 10# Danforth. I never anchor in any water deeper than 10' so the final weight I have to pull up is about 25# so I have no windlass and don't want one. A pair of gloves is all I need.

Actually anchoring is really easy. I have dropped anchor, hung out, raised the anchor and gone into a fish house for dinner or a bar while tied up at their dock, then headed out into the anchorage for the night and dropped the anchor. Very easy up and down.

BTW, the 2' draft of this boat lets me go to some interesting places that I could have never considered with my prior trawlers or sailboats.

Dinghy storage and use

Given its small size there are a few places I go where I can just pull the boat in and tie up to go ashore, so no dinghy required. A few of these are Boca Grande's public boat slips near the Pink Elephant (as well as the PE's own slips), Bert's Bar at Matlacha and Barnacles on the north end of North Captiva Island.

But in some cases I do need a dinghy to get ashore and I also want to use the dinghy for fishing. On a recent trip to Cayo Costa State Park my 25 YO roll up dinghy turned out to be too much work to blow up, too bulky to launch and I almost fell overboard with the O/B motor while loading it. So forget a dinghy for that size boat. I got a short kayak that just fits in the open cockpit to serve this need. No more outboard and heavy/bulky dinghy for me.

Pilothouse/Cabin Length

My boat has a very short pilothouse, just enough length to cover the two helm seats. The other boat I looked hard at was the C-Dory 22 which has a much longer cabin which includes a dinette and a galley behind the single helm seat (although newer models have a flippable companion seat). I liked the layout at first but then thought that all of my time would be spent in the open cockpit under the bimini, not in a cabin, particularly here in sunny SW Florida. That is when the benefits of the Pompano 23's long open cockpit and limited pilot house jumped out at me. The Angler 22 would probably work as well.

Pilothouse Sides- hard vs soft

This boat has a short pilothouse with just small corner side windows. Others like my neighbor's boat have full fiberglass sides. Mine has canvas panels I can put up when needed. That works well for me. Only once in several cruises did I need some spray protection while heading into 2' seas with the wind coming in from starboard. In that case I put up the canvas on the starboard, helm side to block the spray. I like the benefits of an open pilot house which also makes it easy to go forward from the port side just by stepping around the passenger seat (the helm and throttle blocks going from the starboard).

Cooking on Board

I have a round Magna propane grill mounted on the bimini frame, a one burner Coleman stove, a skillet and a coffee pot. With those set up in the cockpit I usually grill a burger at night, brew some coffee in the morning and heat up a pastry for breakfast. Just like we do while camping- no multi pot meals. It would get boring for more than a few days, but for one or two overnights it works. The little water tank and sink let me wash up everything.

Showering

I usually go one night overnight, but if more (and probably never more than two) I have a solar shower that I will use. I have done that many times before and you might be surprised how you can get clean with just 1-2 gallons of water.

Sanitation

Ok, here goes the unpleasant part- the boat has a porta potti. 95% of the time it is just over the side like every male cruiser. I did use it for #2 once and it worked ok, but lets leave it at that. My wife refuses to consider the porta potti so she doesn't go with me overnight. A more adventuresome couple could deal with the porta potti ok- it is down below between the Vs and there is a hard door to the cuddy cabin for good privacy. But midnight use by the female will take some accomodation from her partner.

Bimini Design and Use

My dermatologist convinced me years ago to stay out of the sun so a bimini is essential. Mine folds forward and can be folded up in about a minute which opens up the aft cockpit for easy fishing. My neighbor's bimini who has the same boat folds aft which really blocks fishing. The supports on mine are mounted further forward than his which makes it hard to get in and out at the dock or go forard to pull up the anchor. Everything is a compromise so consider what is important for you when specing a bimini.

With a 7' beam the afternoon sun easily gets underneath the bimini so I have a 9'x7' nylon beach blanket that I tie up on the sunny side to give me some shade.

So there you have it, some of the things that work for me and compromises I have to make to stay overnight reasonably comfortably on a 23' tiny trawler. I can probably go for two overnights ok, but any longer I would want a bigger boat with more systems that make life easier.

It generally takes at least 25' to begin to get the things that would make longer trips and stays possible. The 25' C-Dory, Atlas Acadia 25, Rosborough 246, etc all have enclosed head and showers, a real galley and some with DC refrigeration. That is what it would take for me to go more than 1-2 days overnight. But they are lots heavier and would take a full size pickup or big SUV to tow them safely.

But so far the Atlas Pompano 23 works well for me.

David

[Catman]

David, thanks for sharing all that information about your Pompano 23, and your practices and procedures. That sounds like a sweet little craft, and I bet you have large fun cruising and exploring your favorite waterway. I'm a long way away up here in Seattle, but most everything you shared more or less mirrors my experience--without as much sun, and a little bit colder water. Thanks for a fun read. We love our little boats, don't we?

[localboy]

I've always liked the looks of the downeast style boats. I don't know, maybe it's the big bow, the soft, gentle lines of the gunwales or the round yet nearly vertical bow entry...they just look "salty". Never been a lover of the "go-fast" look...too modern and sleek for my tastes.

[Sheepshead]

My girlfriend and I are fairly adventurous.
We are new to cruising, but my 22 Angler has been great fun for us!
We don't anchor overnight anywhere, just hop from marina to marina and usually uber to restaurants while there. Our biggest cruising excursion so far was our recent trip from Hilton Head down to Fernandina beach, FL.
Its not luxurious, but we can grill up a breakfast and make coffee in the mornings and explore some new to us places! Cruising for us has just been nice surprise, and a whole different side of boating.

I needed the larger cockpit for my other passion....diving;)

I also admire the look and the cockpit space on the Atlas boats.
Maybe that will be my next step up.

Thanks for sharing your experience with your boat.
Id love to see pics.

[DavidM]

[Sheepshead]

I would like to try some overnight anchoring.
Our large, sometimes 10 ft tide swings make me nervous though.
I don't want to fall asleep in a good position and wake to find myself in a different situation.

Beautiful boat you have!

[BillE]

Very pretty boat, David. Does it have any sort of keel? Wondering how it tracks at low speed?

[gulfcoast john]

David,
Thanks for a very informative and succinct summary. I think you nailed why, overall, this group of 22 ft or so similar boats are the most popular, most sought after, and most cost-efficient for a vast majority of users.

You described well your reasons for your 1-2 night stays. Colby, Harvey, Hunky-Dory and others have described well how they embark on 6-8 week, 1,000+ water miles adventures (although typically solo) on 22 feet. With some notable exceptions (Bob knows their names), relatively few couples stay happily for many months on a 22 ft boat with a Porti-Potti.

If life were fair, for roughly twice the price of a CD or equivalent 22 one could buy a CD 44 footer. Alas, life is not fair, and then you die. But enjoy your fine boat in the interim!

Cheers!
John

[hardee]

David, Thanks for sharing about your boat. I too, love the "DownEast" salty look. And they are functional. As to anchoring, its easy. Start with simple. Drop the hook and have a lunch. Do that a few times and you will learn how your boat reacts to having the hook down. Maybe start by anchoring at low tide, then calculate in the rise to high tide, (easy to get off the BoatUS app or any of a dozen other places). Anchor at 10' depth, and if the rise is 5 feet, for a 5 to 1, let out 50 feet of rode, plus the height from your water line to the deck top. Plenty for a lunch stop. (Make it 7 or 8:1 for your overnight. Be sure to back down against the anchor until you see the bow drop and feel the tug, then you are hooked. Enjoy.

Harvey
SleepyC

[WeekiTiki]

Wish...

Certainly looks to be made better than my C-Dory

But when it's just me and the dog going out

Don't have to worry about anyone beyotching about the...

Rattle and Ride

That used one in Sarasota for $90K sure looks nice

https://acadia25.com/preowned/2018-acadia-25-outboard/

My trouble is I've downsized to a six cylinder truck

And the C-Dory is about all I can tow these days

[DuckDogTitus]

What an interesting post, I see a lot of very cool features on these boats that are appealing, but in the end the thing that always draws me back to the c-dory (aside from weight) is the living space above water.

Nothing better to me than being in the warm cabin above the water line on a chilly morning making breakfast with a view of the water. That Atlas is pretty cool, but I just got so much use out of the cabin on my 22 C-Dory.

[Micahbigsur@msn.com]

We are coming down from a 38 foot boat, and we love to be anchored out with all the comforts, head, fridge freezer, watermaker full electronics, and storage inside. Also a perfect size for towing to remote places for months on end, so the CD 25 is an amazing cruising boat for what we like!

[DuckDogTitus]