C-Dory 16 Cruiser...how cramped, what headroom?

K

Karl

New member
There is a C-Dory 16 Cruiser for sale almost within driving distance...I have never seen one of these up close and personal...

My use would be on Lake Champlain, which gets nasty at times in terms of chop (recently over 6' waves, but they were predicted...)

My primary concern with the C-Dory 16 Cruiser is personal...I'm 6'6" tall, with proportionate weight.

I would be using the boat 99% solo, and on that lake 100%...

I'm concerned about having to stoop in the cabin (and, smacking my head even while seated at the helm), and I'm also concerned about only having 50hp available if the chop picks up w/o notice...

I guess my question is: Is the 16 Cruiser basically just a toy for dwarfs on a "pond", or, should I give this some consideration, and travel to go look at it?
 
The 16 is definitely NOT just a toy and the 50 is plenty of power for it. You will cry uncle way before the boat does on the water.

Your other concern at 6'6" is a bit more real. I am 5'6" and can stand upright in the cabin, but I must duck to get into it from the cockpit area. I have installed pipe insulation along the knife edge of the overhead to stave of the bumps. But, that said I regularly congratulate myself on what a great idea it was because it serves its purpose well. If you are just driving the boat from inside and not moving about, then fishing from the cockpit, you would be fine. If you are crusing and moving about all the time, you may find it small. You would also be rather cramped in the berth at 6'6" if you try to sleep in it but it is doable if you are by yourself and you can angle in. If you are over 200lbs, the boat will heel when you move about, but it is still very stable because the deck is below the waterline.
 
Tivo,

Since you brought up the topic of heeling due to weight shift on the 16, I have a question.

First of all, Valkyrie is a 22 and although I have been on a 16 at a dock and on the hard, I have not been on one underway. I am very conscious of a boat not being trimmed right and I try to have Valkyrie pretty much balanced (side to side) so I don't have to use much more trim tab on one side than the other. Perhaps I am too sensitive to the issue. Who knows?

However, at one of the early Ches Bay CBGT's I saw a 16 coming into the dock with a rather large man at the helm, solo, and the boat was heeling excessively to starboard. Does anyone run trim tabs on a 16 to compensate for this? Has anyone else ever noticed this?

Thanks for enlightening me.

Regards,

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Valkyrie":3pknv036 said:
Tivo,

Since you brought up the topic of heeling due to weight shift on the 16, I have a question.

First of all, Valkyrie is a 22 and although I have been on a 16 at a dock and on the hard, I have not been on one underway. I am very conscious of a boat not being trimmed right and I try to have Valkyrie pretty much balanced (side to side) so I don't have to use much more trim tab on one side than the other. Perhaps I am too sensitive to the issue. Who knows?

However, at one of the early Ches Bay CBGT's I saw a 16 coming into the dock with a rather large man at the helm, solo, and the boat was heeling excessively to starboard. Does anyone run trim tabs on a 16 to compensate for this? Has anyone else ever noticed this?


Nick
"Valkyrie"
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Nick, trim tabs will only compensate if you're going fast enough. At rest or slower speeds, you need a first mate of appropriate size :disgust or some other ballast (forgive me Sally) on the port side to compensate. It's not a "big" boat but big enough for some. We've had one.

Charlie
 
We had a 16 and loved it. For two it was a great daytripper but it didn't have enough room for more extended cruising so we moved up to the tomcat. We ran the boat with a 50hp Yamaha and it was more than enough. At 5' 10" I couldn't stand in the cabin but there isn't much room to move around anyway. We had a full camperback and that made the cockpit a very nice addition to available room. We had the 16 in some chop but I wouldn't be going out if someone said there might be 6' waves -- hurts my back just thinking of it.

As far as trimming the boat, we didn't have trim tabs but we did carry some ballast [extra full tank] that helped.
 
Karl":2y2eoe0v said:
My primary concern with the C-Dory 16 Cruiser is personal...I'm 6'6" tall, with proportionate weight.
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We owned a 16' Cruiser (no trim tabs) before the purchase of our 22' C-Dory. To compensate the "trim" problems rather than do what Charlie suggested about having a first mate of similar stature, I would recommend a couple of svelte young bikini clad first mates :mrgreen: to trim the vessel out. Failing that, I used to push the heavily beer :beer laden cooler over to the port side. We likewise had a full camperback which helped keep the rain and occasional tempest seas out. The 16' will take rougher water that you will want to endure but I always remind myself that there are a lot of ships at the bottom of the sea, so obviously don't test the limits.... :shock:

The 16' Cruiser was a great boat for my wife, daughter (when she was younger) and me. We cruised a lot of salt water in Western Washington, but quickly found that the 22' was much more accomodating to us, so we moved to the 22' and haven't looked back.
 
Captains Cat":33s532n3 said:
...At rest or slower speeds, you need a first mate of appropriate size :disgust or some other ballast (forgive me Sally) on the port side to compensate. Charlie
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You DO know this is Saturday night, right Charlie? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 
I have never operated a CD16, but when I run my Nautica 13.5 Widebody RIB solo I slide to the center of the bench seat. You might look into convertible seating options that would allow a more centerline position.
 
C-Gypsy":2ilppwmy said:
Captains Cat":2ilppwmy said:
...At rest or slower speeds, you need a first mate of appropriate size :disgust or some other ballast (forgive me Sally) on the port side to compensate. Charlie
Click to expand...

You DO know this is Saturday night, right Charlie? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

I haven't had that kind of Saturday night in a long time! :cry:

Charlie
 
6'6", you might bump your head while sitting down. We have 40" from the seat cushion to the roof. Will that be enough if you hit some rough water. As for it being a toy, check out the photos in my album. I've turned ours into an ocean going vessel. Not that I can handle it, but the boat can take some big waves with some skill.
 
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