No Self Bailing Cockpit on CD-16 thru CD-22?

wealthywine

This March I went out and bought a 2006 Harley Davidson Street Glide.... without seeking the wife's permission. If you ever want to buy a boat and get the wife's permission, go out and buy a Harley! My wife HATES the motorcycle and has told a good friend..."If he bought a boat then we all could use it" (I also have a 5 year old daughter).
So..... looks like I will be putting the bike up for sale. While I try to figure out how to score a 22 on a 16 budget, my biggest concern for these boats is the lack of a self bailing cockpit. The boat would be docked on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake at a slip that is on 2 miles of open water facing North. My neighbors 17 ft center console has sunk twice at the dock due to heavy seas from a sudden Summer microburst overwhelming the transom and I would hate to have a similar fate become the CD-16/22.
Got any windy stories to tell me?

Chester · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:04 am Post subject:

If you wanna keep the bike, enroll your wife in a riders education program. I've seen this work before with people that are afraid of bikes. Thing is, when she discovers how much safer an educated rider is, you'll be shopping for another bike. Get a removable Tour Pack with arm rests for your (or her) bike and install it when the kid comes along.

Plan B;
If the dock has shore power put an AC bilge pump in the cockpit. If there is a power outage the DC pump can take over. Just set it up so's the AC pump kicks in first to keep from running the battery down. Or, just run the shore power to a battery charger, though that won't give you a backup pump.

wealthywine · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:14 am Post subject:

I did not mention - I live in a water priviledged community - been on the waiting list for a slip since 2003 and should be able to get a slip this year or next ($110/yr - no power). This tips the scale towards selling the bike.

drjohn71a · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:18 am Post subject:

Wealthywine...

Best to moor the boat with the bow facing the most likely heavy seas. Allow enough movement using spring lines, for the bow to rise. Excellent mooring covers are available to minimize water intrusion. Maybe a lift or floating dock arrangement could be done. Of course, as mentioned, good bilge pumps as a backup.

Even a boat with a self-draining cockpit could be overwhelmed by steep seas coming from aft while the boat is tied to avoid rising.

John

thataway · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:37 am Post subject:

Absolutely have the boat's bow pointing outward toward any prevailing seas. Also be sure it is in the center of the slip. You want to put in a second large bilge pump, with a second battery and a solar panel on the roof to be sure it is charged.

I have never worried about the non self bailing C Dory 22--and have been in some really heavy weather in many different boats. But you need to have a back up pump and charging source.

Good luck.

wealthywine · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:44 am Post subject:

Would the camper canvas help in similar fashion to a mooring cover?

drjohn71a · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:09 pm Post subject:

Yes.... However, I don't know how heavy a wave action you are trying to combat. The Camper Canvas is more upright and so would absorb more wave pressure than a would a sloping mooring cover.

John

thataway · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:24 pm Post subject:

If you have spray, both the camper canvas and the slant back cockpit cover will help to some degree. But if you have true waves breaking on the stern or side of the boat, some water will come up under the canvas.

I am not sure if a mooring cover means what I refer to a cockpit cover, or a full boat cover. The problem with a full boat cover, is that they are difficult to secure tightly when the boat is in the water (vs when on a trailer and straps can be secured under the boat/trailer). We used to have mooring covers on our wooden boats, which had sand bags along the edges to hold the cover down. A draw string also will help to hold a mooring cover down--but the mooring cover is difficult to put on when the boat is in the water.

dotnmarty · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:25 pm Post subject:

Years ago Dotty and I were out in the Chesapeake in our 18 foot boat. We were going from Trenton, NJ to Poquoson, VA. I had my $99 gps loaded with bouy waypoints. What fun until we were well south of the bridge. The wind picked up. I plotted our location from the gps onto the chart and we were actually going backward. We were, I remember, off a place called "Breezy Point." Got out the Waggoners and found a great safe harbor tucked away just south of there. On the way back north we pulled into a fancy marina in Annapolis. They put us into a corner and lent us a ladder to climb up to the dock. Spent some time in the airconditioned lobby of the fancy hotel next door. Now what was the question?

Spike · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:21 pm Post subject:

Hey wealthywine your story sounds alot like mine. I whined, begged, threatened,and made all sorts of promises to the WAR DEPT. to let me buy that new Harley Dyna street bob for a year and a half. After the last kid graduated from WAZZU she gave me the green light. But before I could get my car keys outta my pocket she hit me with " I would rather you use the money on a new boat" Traded a Bayliner Trophy in on a 22' C-Dory and Iam really happy with my choice. I think she thought I would waffle back and forth and forget all about it. HA fooled her! Actually she loves the boat as much as me.
Chuck and Kathy
Bootleg Hooch