Another New TomCat

D

Dreamer

New member
Friday April 28, Dreamer made the 117 mile trip home to Sequim from the factory. It was by trailer in the 4:30 commute traffic Seattle is famous for. It was a nerve wracking tow with unexplained braking pull and wandering over 55 mph. Today I found uneven tire pressure on the trailer which might explain some of it.

New to this model (no. 22) is a 6" shorter engine bracket and spray skirts on both sides of each bracket. The cut out bunks to allow sling launching and modified bow roller will be another month away.

I got a slow start today but got a triducer mounted and the E-80 Raymarine display installed. Lots of stuff left in the equipment pile, 8d AGM batteries, Outback inverter, discharge pump, washdown system, Radar, GPS and my Teak overhead console for VHFs and Outback control panel. I may be done in time for a June cruise!

Janet will be applying the Dreamer name transfer tomorrow so we will be officially Dreamer. The trim is Cabernet and we'll use grey accents even though we have no ties to WSU.

We were going to try to sneak over to Lopez for one day Friday but that's looking more improbable all the time. We'll see you at the next NW get together.
 
What he said! There are 39 signed up for Lopez, and David says we are offering some logo pint glasses for #40 - too bad you don't think you can make, but hey, there is always next time!

416rigby":2z3qfif9 said:
Congrats! Sounds like one well equipped boat!
Click to expand...
 
Congratulations, Roger

We'd love to see the mods to the engine brackets. My port side still sprays on the stb at certain speeds. Would like to see the solution.

It's a big tow, for sure. It got easier over the 4 days to SoCal as my confidence and experience increase. However, I still fear construction zones with narrow lanes and side-by-sides with semi's around curves.

Bob Cat
 
Congrats Roger and Janet !!! I feel sure you will love that boat, and putting a lot on the boat yourself may be a bit slower (or not)...but for sure when it comes time to find/fix/maintain something....you will know where to look...and all the cables/wires will be marked for identification just the way you want them. Yep, big ol heavy boat to tow around....but, with practice and time it will get better. I will never forget one of my 1st days towing FreeByrd, TC24 Hull #51 from Oak Harbor WA to Alabama. Had to jook over to the coast to outrun/hope to beat a snow storm....which did hit hard, and closed I-5 down on the CA/OR boarder for miles... That little jook offered Sherryl and me to "get to" tow FreeByrd thru the redwood forest with notches cut out of big'ol trees as to not allow the vehicles to hit the trees... Mixed with sleet, snow and fog...this made for a wonderful 12 hours of "daylight" towing with an overall moving average of 30 miles an hour. Suddenly, down a highway on a clear day was not bad at all. Yep, ya gotta check the tire pressures on ALL TIRES each day/trip. Little pressure differences make big towing differences..... sort of a NASCAR education thing for me... but worth listening to and learning from. Then again.....you bought that nice big'ol boat for use in the water...and the ride, room and stability will make you forget the road time. Congrats and look forward to some pics.

Byrdman
 
To The Wannabe Cat Crowd-

Don't want to appear a heretic, but for a very few of the Wannabe Cat Crowd who are not ventuing out on the open ocean or big bays, you might want to think about a pontoon boat as a less expensive alternative (about 25-35% of the big cat cost!).

We have a 24 ft pontoon boat which is actually about 30 ft long with the tongue and engine, and it tows w/o any reall difficulty, just as easy as the CD-22 which is even narrower (at least the boat). Just have to get used to the "no worries, mate!" approach and haul the sucker! (Easier said than done.)

Actually, the long pontoons are much more stable than a monohull in small chop on an inland lake or river, like a displacement cat would be at slow speeds. The hull is also very easily driven, with a maximum speed of 17 mph with a 40 hp 4s engine, and 8 mpg is a real blessing at today's fuel prices. Not to mention you have seating for 12 + other amenities.

The extra rooom and open air (we also have full canvas for camping) make for a very roomy feeling and party like atmosophere. I've never felt the boat was in any danger in any sea condition, and actually prefer the boat over the C-Dory from about mid-May to late October.

And did I mention you can buy a new one for about $25,000 instead of $100,000+???

Now string me up and burn me at the state for hereterical blasphemy!

(At least I didn't try to sell you a BAYLINER!)

Joe.
 
Joe, Couldn't agree more about a pontoon boat. If we still lived in CA, I'd probably have one. The 8mpg sounds good after our initial fill up at Costco, $ 2.79/gal. I didn't know the pumps shut off at $ 99, well, it did that 4 times! Ouch! I miss our houseboating days on Lake Shasta every time I see your posts.
Cheers,
 
Roger-

Thanks!

Yea, a pontoon (we call 'em a "patio") boat here in the summer is pretty ideal, unless you want to live on the lake for a week or so! Then you graduate to a houseboat.

I can imagine Byrdman on the roof of a 65' x 15' houseboat with is chair, remote control, and a sundowner going off into the evening. The big ones have a hot tub for 15 on the 3rd deck. Maybe that's why they call it "decadence"?

Joe.
 
Joe,
I am boiling up some tar and collecting feathers for you, but you make a good point, especially if one takes a minute to think about how to spend the extra $85,000 that remains in the pocket! The family and I took a ride on the new TomCat at Cutter Marine a couple months ago. From all our oohing and ahhing, Gary probably thought the hook was firmly in my jaw. That is one sweet ride. But we've decided to run the heck out of our faithful 22 this year put off any big purchases for a future when we will have more time to enjoy it. Everything that speaks to me about the advantages of that roomy cat runs into the reality that those durn bosses expect to work at least five out of seven days every week! It's outrageous, I know, but there you have it!
All the best,
 
Yep... our family has 2 of them, in the water, at the docks in the back yard. Yes, we have been on the roof of one of them with chairs....the other just has canvas top...and Mike owns it....and his C-Dory named Gypsy... You can not beat the hard top and sides of a nice C-Dory during our very frequent summer storms.... as Mike and B found out on the way home the very 1st day they bought the boat. You would not beleive they never made it home, but launched the boat prior to making it home, road around the ben to their dock, supplied the boat....and got home 3 days later. The best part was they had a nice little summer storm with 30-35mph winds....and rain....30 minutes after leaving the house/dock...and they truly love their CD22C. When C-Dory makes a pontoon..... with hardtop and sides over about 1/2 of a 28 foot pontoon..... I will then look at one .... You are 100% correct about getting a hole lot a boat for the money....and ya can run'm in shallows and beach them too.
 
It doesn't seem like a week has passed since we brought Dreamer home, but it has. As of 1800hrs Friday, we have working Radar, Plotter, Sounder, GPS, Compass, Loud Hailer, VHF and a pretty clean boat thanks to Janet's hard work.

Tomorrow is Opening Day ceremony at John Wayne Marina on Sequim Bay. We will have a boat parade of about 15 boats. Around 1500hrs, a cannon will sound and the club burgee will be raised at the marina pole. Then the serious part, Bar opens and dinner is served an hour later.

I'm sorry we couldn't make it to Lopez. We'll do Bellingham for sure. If you hear Dreamer on the VHF this Summer, give us a holler.

R&J
 
Roger..... Now there is another reason I need to head back to the west side.... No way in the world could I travel and not go to a Marina named The John Wayne Marina. That would be for sure un-American.

Hope your weekend goes great.... I know your boat will draw many on-lookers during the parade. Can't wait for some of those pics. Please post some pics of the JWM in your photo album.
 
I wondered where you are putting the 8 D AGM battery? Is this a house bank battery, and keeping the two group 27's which come with the boat?
Why did you choose an 8 D over the Golf Cart 6 volt batteries?

Thanks,

Bob Austin
 
Bob, The TC will get two 8d batteries squeezed into that space below the cockpit seat. To answer your question on another thread, Ours came with a 3" deep tray in that area. Thats now used for potting pansies.. I will build a shelf to match the height of the existing battery shelf. I traded off the OEM batteries with the factory for two Optima 34s. Like the Lifeline's they are AGM technology. It will admittedly be a tight fit.

We had Dreamer out for the first time today. Launch went smoothly, retreival was a little more work. Boat is amazingly stable. Send me a PM for details on the sales experience.

 
Back to work today on the boat. 2000w. Outback Inverter installed under the aft dinette seat. New 120v. panel installed for the Inverter pass-through circuits. Mounting block installed port side for the 400 w. inverter to run the flat panel display and computer while underway.

Found the overall height on the trailer is close to 14'. Too high for the free storage at a friends RV garage. :oops: Ouch! On to plan B.

Found too that this TC255 is about 32 feet long overall! So much for the cheap moorage this Summer! :(
 
Roger - if you are trailering your boat with it being almost 14' high, be very aware of the overhead lines on side streets. They don't mark the clearance like underpasses. I remember one time moving our backhoe, the boom was 13' 10'' high. My partner took off in the flatbed with me following and he took out four telephone lines, two cable TV lines and one power line before I could get him to stop.
 
I would appreciate any information on what brings the Tomcat 255 to 14 feet. I was hoping to keep the height to 13'6" (the min DOT height)--Some states are 14'-6" Washington is 14'. The AAA truckers atlas or the Rand McNally motor carriers Atlas both have low clearance and the state minimum clearances--plus a bunch of other stuff. Another book to have in the cab--and maybe it would be wise to mark these on a CD map for the laptop!

We are planning with the Coleman Polar Cub air conditioner, which will add 11" to the height. The Radar, lights and antennas can be folded down for travel. Spotlights, loud hailers etc should all be under the 11" extra height.

Definately wires can be a problem--even on my street!

Thanks!
 
Thataway,

We had a custom radar arch made that is 2-1/2" shorter than the standard TC255 arch. This allows us to park in a shed with a 12' high overhead door. The TC255 with the standard arch and a Raymarine radar (2 kw 18") is 13'-3" We had the Arch made at Rail Makers and it was handled by Scott Mathews from the factory. The header on our shed door is actually at 11'-11" and the radar just barely clears. If the boats have grown to close to 14', they must have taller radar arches.

Brent
 
Each day I thank God for the UPS trucks running thru the neighborhood as to keep the trees trimmed back.

I take it for sure you have considered the Mermaid AC units rather than adding to your vertical clearance???? Yes, several hundred dollars more and a bit more involved in the installation....but.... ya have everything inside the boat when going down the road.

I guess mount the AC on the roof with "planned know weak spots" as to "allow it" to be removed on a strike impact that is unforseen....? Stuff happens...and just when you relax or drive down a known good road....a new wire shows up... or....they change the awning of your favorite hotel in route.....that you have pulled under several times... (yep, I brought back a clearance sign in the cockpit of FreeByrd.....from a hotel between Oak Harbor WA and Montgomery AL... glad it was anchored with lead anchors into that drivit make believe concrete stuff... )
 
Will try again to get this distributed into the system.!
I am still making adjustments to my new Tomcat 255 hull #15 (Dotty D).
Had installed Raymarine A65 combo GPS/fishfinder. The transom mounted transducer blanks out at planing speeds; and will now try glue in shoot-thru-hull transducer. Has anyone had experience as to type and location of transducer on TC255??
Also FYI, I relocated the batteries from the rear bench seat to the port hull below the storage area just forward of the copilot seat. I also replaced the factory standard gravity head with a Vacuflush head and put the vacumn pump and 10 gal holding tank in port hull below the forward berth. Both these changes greatly helped the existing starboard list and the excess weight in the stern.
Will appreciate advice re transducer type and location.
Crady Davis Punta Gorda, FL
 
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