General Impressions on Tomcat

pauls · Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:17 pm Post subject: General Impressions on Tomcat

I've had a Grady White and am looking for a trailerable boat with a reasonable cabin for family style boating. I also like to fish, and going offshore for salmon, halibut, and albacore. Economical operation is a definite bonus -- and I see the many benefits extolled by many for the C-dory design. Am curious as to the general impressions you folks have on the tomcat. Obviously bigger, not as easily trailered, and a bit more expensive to operate -- but more creature comforts, smoother ride, and more space. I know it's tough to compare, but I'd appreciate any comments/thoughts you can share!

rogerbum · Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:42 pm Post subject:

Paul,

Welcome to the board. I have a 22 and see it as a great "do anything" kind of boat. Good for cruising, good for fishing, have had it 25 miles offshore, easy to trailer, good fuel economy - actually great fuel economy about 3-4 miles per gallon on the water. Light enough that it can be towed with a reasonable tow vehicle - I use an old F250 but used to tow it with a new Isuzu trooper. It fits nicely alongside my garage.

If money and space were no issue, e.g. if I could buy another boat AND a larger tow vehicle (that would only get used for the boat) OR if I wanted to moor it, the TomCat is pretty sweet. I had the opportunity to ride in/drive one on a trip from Edmonds to Deception Pass and back in fairly rough water. The ride was exceptional relative to a CD 22. Much smoother in moderate chop and I was easily able to go 2-3 times the speed that I run my 22 at in similar water. The fuel consumption was also about 3 times higher and the purchase price out the door about 2.5 times higher (more if you count the need for a new tow vehicle and either a larger parking pad at home or monthly moorage/storage fees). Having an onboard head is nice, the cabin in the TomCat is way larger volume than in the 22, the berth is larger, the cockpit is larger etc....

But, alas, money and space are an issue so I'll stick with my 22 (at least until the kid gets through college).

Gene Morris · Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 10:52 pm Post subject:

Hi Paul;

I too am an avid fisherman. We fish for the same species and the albacore are sometimes 70nm out. We just purchased our Tom Cat in September. I was a little apprehensive about the cat hull, but now I'm sold. The Tom Cat has a small cockpit but it will fish 5 people, rock cod fishing. When I troll for salmon I don't usually run more than 4 rods and the Tom Cat will do that nicely. When I troll for albacore I'll run 6-8 rods, and that will be easy. 2 short lines on the transom, 2 angled holders for lines mid way back and 2 horizontal holders for lines way back. I'll run a fish trap from the rocket launcher way way back.

I have fished my 24ft Striper for the last 5 years and loved the boat. What it came down to was creature comforts. The Tom Cat is very very comfortable and a solid feeling ride. The economy looks to be about the same as the striper 2.2-2.7 nm/g. (I can live with that.) It runs very nicely at 25-30 kts. This is what I was doing with the striper but not as comfortably. I think the biggest test will be when I have troll at 8-10kts for albacore. There is a little slap at those speeds if you're running into a chop. I belive that just changing the boat's tack will eliminate the slap.

I tow the Tom Cat with a 3/4 tn Dodge diesel pick up. This tows it well. If you're looking for a boat that will fish the way we want to and still be comfortable in most situations I would recommend the Tom Cat. Mine is powered by Honda 150's. There are some photos in my album of us fishing for rock fish. I mounted my tuna bleed tube on the bracket. The live well could be used but that's for crab.

If you have any questions feel free to pm me or call 707-444-3918.

Gene Morris

rogerbum · Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 11:08 pm Post subject:

Gene,

The cat hull is great and the space for fishing is nice too. I'm more than a bit jealous of your boat and that of John's that I had the chance to drive in rough water for awhile. Sometime, I'll have to get out for albacore....

Gene Morris · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 11:01 am Post subject:

Roger;

There's only one problem with catching albacore. It's so exciting that all the other fishing is just a warm up for albacore. Very addictive sport, however, the season is way to short here. If you're down here in the summer we would be glad to take you for a tuna trip. We also like to travel and might get up to Newport Or. in 2007 for a tuna run.

Gene

pauls · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 11:58 am Post subject:

Thanks everyone . . . I rode on a friends glacier bay once, and was impressed with the ride and deck space . . . . the tomcat sounds like a good performer, if I can deal with the budget of the tow, storage, etc.

Tough decisions . . . it always seems to boil down to the $'s involved!

pauls · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:12 pm Post subject:

One last quick quesiton regarding the trolling off of the tomcat -- how does it track and steer while powererd by a single engine?

drjohn71a · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:34 pm Post subject:

You'd have to hear from Brent and Dixie on Discovery for long term single engine performance feedback since they've cruised on a single engine.

With both engines, the TomCat is locked in straight at pretty much all speeds. With only a brief trial of one engine at idle, the propwalk seems to take the stern toward the side of the running engine, but that effect wanes as speed increases. Also, you can turn the wheel to offset that movement easy enough. I have the Raymarine autopilot, so just set it and it seems to keep things in line, although in rough water, a slow satellite feedback delay can get you swaying from port to starboard if you are going too slow for the water conditions. I guess you could reset the autopilot to displacement mode instead of planing mode to help that.

John

drjohn71a · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 2:39 pm Post subject:

pauls, You also might want to consider a CD25, single hull with the single 135 or 150 hp Honda. You won't be able to run as fast in a chop, but it would cost less to operate one 150hp than it would for two.

As for me, i really wanted the stability and freedom from pounding in moderate seas that the TomCat has. Also, now that I've climbed in there and slept, read, snacked, etc., in that huge fore berth of the TomCat, it'd be difficult to go back to a smaller one. I'm not for sure, but I think there's even a bit larger cabin in the TomCat than the CD25. I've been in both, but much time has elapsed between, so it may just seem larger to me.

You could get a good buy on that Dive boat down in CA, for a good used TomCat.

John

Bob Cat · Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 9:49 pm Post subject:

Hi, Paul

If you haven't heard anything by the time I take Dive Cat out on her next maintenance run, I check out the tracking with 1 engine on autopilot and report, probably next week.

Bob Cat

rogerbum · Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:07 am Post subject:

The Tomcat cabin is definitely larger than the CD 25 if you include the forward berth which is HUGE in the TomCat and just nice in the 25. Other than that, the 25 cabin similar and the table a bit larger. As far a trolling from the cat goes, the ideal thing would be set up like John did with a 2nd helm in the cockpit and the 2nd display to the Raymarine unit that can be moved to the cockpit. It's only money....

Brock · Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:50 pm Post subject:

I've found it tracks very well trolling with one engine.

I would definitely recommend the aft steering to anyone who plans to fish from their TomCat (or any pilot house boat). Especially if you might fish alone. Wish I had gotten it.

Brock

Bob Cat · Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:29 pm Post subject:

Aft steering? Well, gee. Dive Cat has aft steering and engine controls. What a coincidence.

Bob Cat

thataway · Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:40 pm Post subject:

Although I don't have an auto pilot on the Tom Cat, I have use one's remote control for cockpit steering in a number of other boats and prefer this for running. It is not as good for docking--but can be used there--and as I recollect Dive Cat actually has a joy stick tied to the Auto pilot for the aft steering. The beauty of the auto pilot remote is it takes up no room in the cockpit.

drjohn71a · Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2007 2:17 pm Post subject:

I think Dive Cat has hydraulic "jogging" sticks built into the transom. I got the Morse/Teleflex electronic controls with the steering and all built into the aft head wall. I really like it = esp. for single handed landings in winds and unfavorable conditions. It is extremely expensive, but , at the time I decided to go ahead with it, I just thought I'd rather have the aft controls than a fancy electronics system. However, seemed to get both.... in the end.

I have the Raymarine 8002 autopilot control without the "g2", autolearning function. It works pretty well for my purposes. I was trying to find out more about the remote control thing and it seems to me that there is a very inexpensive one out there from Raymarine, but it is only for smaller engine setups than the TomCat. After recovering from the initial TomCat electronics, I plan on checking out what remote works with the 8002 autopilot system. Any info on that would be appreciated.

You can steer a TomCat using the large knob on the 8002 autopilot when it is engaged. However, at slow speeds, the delay on satellite or some other kind of feedback delay seems to hinder reaction time from the autopilot instructions. It responds well to turning the knob.

I was visiting with a guy who feels like that delay at slow speeds may be becuase I have the autopilot set on "planing hull" rather than "displacement hull". Trolling will probably work better in the "displacement hull" mode. I'll have to review that with the instructions when I get the boat to calm, warm water...

John