A question for you 22' owners

Doryman":1aqr985j said:
Also, consider that you can never have too many boats! :mrgreen:

Warren
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Yes, and having owned quit a few, I can say that the CD-22 is the most versatile of any of the boats I've ever owned, including all those I own right now:

CD-22 Cruiser

Sea Ray 265 Sedan Bridge

Fisher Liberty 24 Pontoon Boat

505 Sailboat

Gregor 123 Aluminum Utility Fishing Boat.

Sea Doo GSX Jet Ski 3 seater

Avon 280 Inflatable

2 Kayaks

The hardest part is finding time to keep them all clean, serviceable, and actually use them!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Paddy111":3202fpv4 said:
As I try to make up my mind on whether to go with the 25' or the 22', I would like to ask all you 22' owners a question. If money was not an objection, would you chose the 25' C Dory or stay with your 22'? Tell me why... either way.
Paddy from Newfoundland
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If money is no object to overcome ( which I doubt unless you are Bill Gates), then why stop at a 25 ft boat. I down sized from a 25ft boat to the CD 22 and have not regreated my decision. The reason is simple, With less work required to trailer, clean, maintain and operate the boat, I use it more. I want to be on the water as much as possible and I am with the CD22.

As to comfort, my wife and myself find the boat big enough for us to overnight on. If I had a couple of kids, I would think about a larger boat, but for day trips the 22 fits 4 people just fine.

Did I mention fuel savings? With my old 24 ft, I would burn up $100 a day and now I don't even worry about how much fuel I will use. ( about $ 25 for a day).

Craig from the CD22 "Aegir"
 
The extra room the 25 offers is tempting to us and necessary for others.
The 22's simplicity with it's fewer systems and minimal maintenence makes it more reliabile and requires less money and work to own. The more I learn about marine heads the more I appreciate porta potties, though you could install a porta pottie in a 25.
The required tow rig issue has been mentioned too.
The first few times we took multi day trips on our 22' I wished for a bigger boat. When we learned how to organize things better the 22' became big enough.
Our boat has a cabinet under the drivers seat rather than a cooler. The 96 quart cooler we bought was always in the way in the cockpit. We decided to store the porta pottie between the fuel tanks at the rear of the cockpit and put the cooler under the berth where the porta pottie was. The cooler has a hatch on one end of the lid that is accessible at all times when stowed here. This simple change alone made a big difference in usable space and has the added benefit of improving the trim of the boat.
 
Oh my! I am overwhelmed with all the responses. I have to say, C Dory owners have to be one of the neatest crowds I've ever come across. The are giving, welcoming, inventive (just look at those albums), sharing and seem like a lot of fun. Enough of the platitudes.

Here's my take away. I can afford either but.....
- I'm listening when you say evaluate your needs closely
- examine your likes, how do you use the boat
- I love a portable boat, I like to tow it different places (22' or 23')
- I end up doing most of the moving and cleaning myself (my family are all fair weather boaters) (22' or 23')
- Cost of operating is considerably less (22' or 23')
- The space gets bigger as you get more organized. Good perspective as i have experienced this! (22' or 23')
- Less fuss with all the systems (22' or 23')
- Most of my boating are day trips, overnights are the exception (22' or 23')
- I absolutely hate bottom paint and a dirty bottom and i just love taking it out of the water during the week. (22' or 23')

And yes, I too have had several boats. And L
like many of you, I continue to search for the boat that will give me the best all around experience. I have had a 2452 Bayliner, an open fishing boat, a Boston Whaler 21 Ventura and a couple of inflatables but I have to say the 23' Venture seems like my baby. Many thanks to all of you for being so sharing.I know I will have a few more questions. Thank you!
Paddy
 
Paddy - you summed it up well. And, for our two cents, if we were given a larger boat, we'd sell it and immediately move UP to our CD-22. We've lived on her a goodly share of the past 9 years, cruised almost twenty-eight thousand miles, and she has been a good, uncomplicated, and trusted friend - simplicity and good design and construction have been the keys to her success. But as we have often said, and many others as well, it all depends on your use and needs. Good luck on your choosing.
 
Paddy,

If "money was no object", and "I can afford either", huh, I think you might be my long lost uncle!!!! :mrgreen:

Seriously, if money was no object, you could afford:
A larger tow vehicle,
More fuel to run it on,
Higher insurance costs,
additional license fees,
A larger garage and more property taxes,
More boat fuel,
Higher marina dockage,
etc;
etc;
And you would have a little larger version of the best little cruiser on the water.

I am infatuated with my 22'er. However, if and when my bride decides we need to move up to a 25, I'll try my best to be very supportive. :lol:

You are definately considering the right boats.
Good Luck.

Capt Dan
 
As has already been well stated -- it all depends on your specific needs. When I bought my 22 Cruiser I had two criteria: it had to be large enough to get safely out to our So Cal offshore Islands (Anacapa and Santa Cruz) and it had to be small enough to tow with a minivan.

The 22 does both admirably. Like any boat -- it always grows larger on the trailer and shrinks in the water. But, we've put many fabulous miles under her keel (OK, her bottom) -- making dozens of offshore trips with lots of folks on board. And, we just got back from our second summer of trailering the boat over 3000 miles. This summer we trailered the boat from So Cal to cruise the Willamette River in Portland, the San Juan Islands, and on our return trip Lake Tahoe. I suppose one can do that with a 25 as well -- but the 22 tows like a dream. And, the 25 is too big to tow with a minivan....

Matt
 
Folks keep talking about a 22 being easier to tow. A truck will or will not pull a boat. As long as your truck will pull a 25 its not harder to tow. Three feet and few thousand lbs is a none issue in towing. The road is only so wide. As long as you can keep your truck between the lines I don't see towing a 25 as being more difficult. My truck is a f350 now and it will tow a 25 just a easy as my ranger did the 22. My wife stresses over towing a launching all the time and I just don't understand why. As long as you are trained and prepared to launch a 25 is no harder to launch then a 22 or 23.

Now as far as which to get I would go for the 25 or cc26. I have really gotten in to anchoring out and not using a dock. If this is your goal than the 25 or 26 is the way to go. Yes I can use a portapotty but I hate having to move the thing every time.. Into the back at night and back again in the day time. I also hate walking up the dock a thousand yards just to pee at 4 am. To me the head even with out shower is well worth the bigger boat. Being able to shower, even a sponge bath would be better then paying 30 bucks a night for the dock space plus $1 to $2 for a shower. There is also a lot more storage and with the flat top roof. I would be able to take more gear on long trips. We would also be able to carry a raft for shore trips.

Yes if money was not a problem then the 25 or 26 would be the boat for sure or maybe a tug 29??

Now the 25 will handle tow and fish just as well as a 22. except for money (price, gas, truck, etc) the 22 does not IMHO have any benefits over the 25.
 
Trailering was not a factor in our decision. We do not own a trailer for the C-Dory. Perhaps our biggest factor was a 24 foot max length on our dock. Boats longer than 24 feet can use buoys, but it's much more convenient to be on the dock.

How you use the boat has a lot to do with what size you buy. If you just plan on day trips, storage space and overnight amenities are less important. If you want to cruise for a month, a 25 may be better, although plenty of people cruise for extended periods of time on 22's (I did a month last summer and it was fine).

Even if we could put a 25 foot boat on our dock we wouldn't buy a 25. I would, however, strongly consider a 255 Tomcat. That thing rides amazingly and would make very short work of our commute. I believe it is a lot more work to trailer that boat than a 25, however, and it costs significantly more.

If we were doing more serious cruising we'd get a bigger boat than any C-Dory (37 Nordic Tug looks nice!). Right now the combo of a cabin in the San Juans and a fast enough boat to get anywhere in the islands in short order works great.

What I really like about the 22 is it's value. It's not a cheap boat, but it seems like a lot of boat for the money. Combine that with low operating expenses, and it's a boat that you can use whenever you want and not worry about paying for it. It's nice not dreading the fuel dock!
 
Everything has been said but I want to put in my two cents.  I am new to C-Dories and I love my boat!  We went with the 22 Cruiser for two main reasons: 1. It is easy to trailer with my Explorer, and 2. It fits inside my garage (8 ft high clearance and the boat has the extended roof).  See pics in the Chiquitita album.  These two reasons led me to make the right choice for my wife and I.  During our first outing I thought there was not enough room for storage although I never admitted that.  We learned how to use the space better and for the second outing left some stuff that was not used at home.  Our second trip was fantastic.  We have used it for trips 5 to 7 days long and have been very comfortable.  We like the trailerability of the 22.  We mostly stay at marinas and do not mind the walk to bathrooms and showers.  If I were to start shopping all over I would go for the 22--no regrets!
 
Paddy, if you are married or plan to in the near future I would recommend asking your spouse which model they prefer. My experience with boat ownership is that the more your spouse enjoys the boat, the more time you will be able to spend on it. Even if your spouse is not on the boat with you, if they are comfortable with the choice, they will support the time you spend on it.

What good is a boat no matter what the size, options or whatever if you cannot get out and enjoy it or share it with your significant other.

So long as they approve, then pick the boat that most turns you on! Boats are not cheap and if you go cheap instead of buying what really turns you on, the money you save will not overcome the disapointment you harbor every time you think of the boat.

We went with the 22 seven years ago and to this day every time I walk up to it I'm reminded what a great looking, great handling and overall best boat it is for us. I'm not knocking anyone else's boat, but Chivita (like her namesake) is the best damn boat in our packed harbor. I can take her gunkholing in skinny water at one knot all day long and come home with a smile that takes days of work stress to wipe off. I've seen stuff from that boat that no built to the hilt Sea Ray even imagines exists and there is nothing like listening to other boat owners complain about their gas bills to remind me how efficient two little 40hp Honda's really are. The 22 really is the Jeep (or Series IIa Land Rover) of the boating world.
 
I HAVE TWO FOOT itice.

we have our wonderfull 22 because it was a shock to discover that we could afford it, we were looking at very old boats to keep the payment down

and because we had an older ranger truck that was just able to tow it. and no more. yes i stress about towing cause i dont want to break down on the road into tofino. teh truck did heat up on that last hill :smilep dont have that problem any more

and for the first 3 years LOVED it. WOW how lucky were we to get a NEW fancy boat.

but now that we love boating, our last trip was 15 days, and i want to quit my job and got to alaska for the summer in a boat. i really wish we had a bathroom. the porta potty gets too heavy for me to move on to the deck at night and back in the morning after a few days. i want a space to wash , spunge bath ect that i dont spend the next hour drying off the cushions, table, floor. a sun shower would be so dreamy in some remote cove in the discovery coast. so i would even be happy with a the 22 if i lost a seat and had a bathroom space for anchoring out

and you said money was no question. if we were so lucky it would be the 29 tug

i bought a lottery ticket :D
 
Hi Folks,

First, when I read a thread about the problems of emtying the head materials of a 25' C-Dory, I realized how lucky we are to have a 22' with the Porta-potti and its flexibility. It is easy to empty, just separate the bottom from the top, lug it to the men's room (this job is always ours),empty. When I had a Vanagon I had a small piece of tube that fit aver a faucet so I could clean out the Porti-Potti. (I still think a Porti-potty is the best invention since sliced bread.)

It is easy to move it from the place under the forward bunk to the cockpit and back, although it does get heavy as the cruise goes on.

As for the shower, I have a Sun Shower. What I hope to do is make a shower stall by hanging a round piece of plastic tubing from the cockpit cover frame, hang a shower curtain on the tubing, and use it for showering and evening bath room. I would store the Sun Shower full in the motor well during the day so as to heat up the water.

To clean, use liquid soap, a natural sponge, and a bucket. Lather up and use the Sun Shower to rinse off. I have Deck Tiles on my cockpit floor so the water can run to the sump in the stern. I can then pump it out into the motor well which can be blocked until I go to sea.

Really quite easy.

Fred
 
Yea, I agree with Fred,

The porta-potti is a very slick little unit. I am very impressed with the separation of the good and the ugly for dumping.

Though it may seem a little disgusting today, none the less, some of us grew up with a 3 lb. coffee can aboard!!! The can was used and rinsed as needed.

We have used and really enjoyed the ol sun shower as well. Fred has a good idea puting it in the motor well for the heat period. Care must be taken to use it before the sun goes down, though! It cools off pretty fast.

Dan
 
Amen to the praise of the Porta-Porti for it's simplicity and ease of operation and dumping.

Countless others,have said this over and over for years, but you won't really fully appreciate the KISS nature of that sweet little solution until you own a boat with a built-in flush type marine head and storage tank that goes kaput and you have to dig into the situation first hand, so to speak!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
We are almost turning the 27,000 nautical mile mark on our 22-foot Halcyon. Been to Alaska a few times on her so now heading north today from Bellingham to visit folks at the Nanaimo Gathering and then head to Pt Alberni and then we hope to 'spend' the next month along the West Coast of Vancouver Island.

Are we happy living aboard our 22 for months at a time? Well, the paragraph above can answer that question. Often said, and often true, "The smAllest boats go the greatest distance". We're surrounded by big ones here in Bellingham - tied to the dock.

The C-D 22 has given us so many marvelous experiences, and has introduced us to such great people - we just had a great weekend at the Bellingham gathering and look forward to Nanaimo gathering next weekend before heading out to Vancouver's west coast.
 
If money is no option, buy two used ones.... a CD22 and a CD25.... use them both for about a year or two... sell the one you use the least...or...just keep them both.

Man does not live on one boat alone... and different days/trips may drive a need for a different size/type of boat.

Byrdman
 
El and Bill":121x9wyt said:
We are almost turning the 27,000 nautical mile mark on our 22-foot Halcyon....
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You know that is just funny....imagine 27,000 nautical miles?!?!? I'm at about 1300 nautical miles on Napoleon....ha ha...look at me go! :smiled
 
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