C-Dory Factory Questions for the Group

S

sjboysen

New member
I want everybody to know that both Jeff and I look through the C-brats pages almost daily, we don't often post, but we definitely read the questions and responses posted by you all. Now that we have completed the first couple of C-Dory's, a question has come to my mind while building and I will like to hear your responses. The molded interior that is currently in use is a true dilemma to me as it does not, in my mind, enhance the product value. It is labor intensive to fit and glass into place, so I am curious to know what the initial thought process was for this change, any feedback is appreciated. I also have a request, it would help me considerably if a few of you could shoot some interior photos of your boats and e-mail them to me, looking for TC25 interior shots, and pre-molded interior shots of the 22' and 25' Cruiser. You can reach me at anytime at scott@seasportboats.com, and I thank you in advance for your help.

Sincerely,

Scott Boysen
 
Scott,
Our boat is a 16C. We have the liner and, although I do not hate it, my preference would be to not have it. Simpler to build and more simple for the owner to customize and outfit.
 
Scott - boy I'm sure you'll get a LOT of feedback on this one as it was extensively discussed when the change was first made.

Here's some links to a thread or two in which this was discussed previously

A poll done in Jan 2007

An earlier poll

Overall, the group had mixed feelings. Personally, I like the idea of fiberglass in terms of ease of cleaning relative to the decraguard. However, I'd much rather have a high quality interior built like those I see in other SeaSport boats.
 
Man can you open a can of worms. The old company introduced the molded interior few years ago to the applauds and distain of all. Well long story short half ¼ loved it and the rest of us hated it. If you do a search you will find lots of debate both for and against it. Factory said it was a cost savings design, which is funny because you are indicating that it cost money and time. Of course you are still building boats and they are not.

I always believed that the wood interior was one of the main selling points of the c-dory. I fits in to the small, customizable, camper on water, do anything, utility boat that I was looking for. Most people that own c-dory’s are do it yourselfers that want to have a ability to change the stock boat into something that we can love. The cruisers want more storage while the fisherman want easy clean up and room to fish. I have added a fish box for my needs while others have added TV’s, microwaves, more storage shelves’ etc..
The great thing is that you could take a basic boat and make it into what you needed without too much fuss. Wood is a lot easier to for amateur to work with basics tools. Fiberglass is harder to learn, more time consuming, harder to master, and more costly to customize. Those that have the knowhow tell me glass is easy, well my wife tells me the piano is easy to, I prefer the radio. Sounds great every time I turn it on.

I would be thrilled to see sea sport make a change back to the wood interior. A look thru the albums will provide you with a large array of custom cabinets, over heads and seating arrangements all made by owners.
 
Hi Scott,

Our 25 is an early 2007 and does not have the molded interior. The factory sent me images of the boat while in production; those can be seen on page two of the Wild Blue album...

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... php&page=2

I had the opportunity to have a discussion with Tom Latham just after the changeover to the molded interior... his thought was that the molded interior would be considerably less labor intensive and contribute to "standardization" of the building process. At the time, the factory was greatly increasing production numbers. The discussion on this forum at the time was not particularly positive regarding the molded interior... mostly because it does not lend itself to owner customization.

We've had other boats with molded interiors; I guess I never had an issue with that at the time. Now, having used our boat a LOT over the past 3 1/2 years, I am glad to have the wood cabinet interior.

It's good to see some factory interaction here.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Quick observation , The metamorphoses of the 22's main cabin is the most dramatic and has the most versions to see in photos. The old 25 Cruise Ship was almost all wood laminate and some boats were hybrids from the start [think "new Tomcat"].I think practicality,affordability,and consistency are whats important They still have to keep em affordable !I am certainly glad they are asking !
Marc
 
On the practical side it would be nice to have:
1.WINDOW DEFROSTERS!!!
2.LESS CONDENSATION.
On the consumer side:
1.More of a finished interior.

my2cents
 
I have the molded interior and I'm happy with it. One of the problems I remember some speaking of with the wood interior was the L-brackets used to hold it in place no being properly sealed where screwed into the core and in some cases cheap non stainless brackets were used.
 
starcrafttom captured my thoughts pretty well. Wood is a little easier to customize. Perhaps a little warmer ambiance.

Besides, the Ventures offer a glass lining for those who prefer it.
 
Scott let me know if you need any specific photos of a Decraguard interior on a 25 Cruiser. Ours is currenlty in the drivway and I have not done any major mods since aquiring the boat in early 2009, so taking some digital photos is no problem and you can see what the "old factory" did in 2007.

It does seem to have some very cheezy (aka cheap) "L" brackets holding the cabinets that are NOT stainless steel. They appear no different than what you'd find at Home Depot, Lowes or similiar (nickel plated?), so I'm sure there will eventually be a rust issue. As far as the screws being into the core, I can see that POSSIBLY being an issue, but so far our boat is dry so it's not. I figured when it came time to replace the "L" brackets, I could properly seat the screws in expoxy resin.
 
Our 2005 22 cruiser has the wood interior and we wouldn't have anything else for customization, warm and especially ACCESS TO STORAGE AREAS. The original interior has much easier access to storage than the molded iteration. We were at the SBS when the new interior was introduced and it left us cold. I recently saw a new 22 and the problem still persists. Please go back to the old interior.

Thanks for keeping us in mind!

Regards,

Nick and Marcia
"Valkyrie"
 
You guys know how to build boats. Some of us here would have bought a Seasport if we could have afforded one (initial cost and the fuel to run one afterward). Why don't you put a Seasport personal touch on the ones you build to distinguish them from the Toland or Reynolds built boats.
Forrest
 
Scott,

First, thanks for asking. I have a 2005 22 Cruiser with the Decaguard interior, and I LIKE it. The molded glass is a dog that does not hunt for me.

I do have one suggestion on how to make the wood interior even better. Please add side access to the areas under the dinette seats. Here's a photo of a mod I put in our boat.

Steve

DSC_0052.sized.jpg
 
I've always felt that SeaSport boats are extremely sturdy and well built, so I would probably welcome any changes you saw fit to make. I'm very excited to see a SeaSport-built C-Dory, hopefully at the upcoming Seattle Boat Show. All the best in carrying forward the line! Mike.
 
Hi Scott,

About the interior, here is my story.

I live in Iowa; Being a cancer patient I can chill very easily (even in worm weather), my wife (Connie) one day saw this strange boat called a C-Dory at Landing 615 and suggested I should look into purchasing one so I could get some protection from the elements while out on the river (Mississippi).

I/we could not justify to pay what some were asking for their boats, since we knew nothing about them.

Fortunately, I ended up purchasing a boat that should have been listed as a project. We picked up the 1983, 22 Classic in Houston the third week of February 2009.

We completely gutted the boat and started over.

The interior was a mess but noticed the original woodwork was absolutely junk the day it was built.

I own a custom furniture factory (ronfisher.com) and had my lead man on a couple of weekends completely replace the interior and bulkhead and door.

Using the original interior pieces as patterns, the interior was replaced with proper building methods.

The original interior was held together with “L” brackets and poorly finished.

The new interior is simple, efficient and stained Maple.

Remember the boat we purchased in February was the first one we had even been close to.

Three and a half month later the boat turned out marvellously and we are very happy with the simplicity.

The newer C-Dories we have seen (plus we just purchased a 1990, 16’ Angler in Idaho Falls, Idaho last week end) have moulded interiors and seem to lack the charm and versatility that a interior constructed of wood offers.

The way we built the interior, in a manufacturing atmosphere was constructed/assembled in modules, jig built and finished outside the boat.

Regards,

Ron Fisher
 
Ron - I'd love to see some pictures of the interior remodel you've done. A remodel with something other than Decraguard is on my list of things to do (maybe this year, maybe next).
 
I have the glass interior and am happy with it. If one was to purchase a CNC Router you could build the wood interiors at the touch of a button. I could see a lot of labor savings there. just glass in some mounting rails so you don't have to screw into the core. Seats, Wallas, Sinks could all be put in on the shop floor carried in and anchored down.


Ron:
I would like to see pictures of your interior too.
 
Scott, I asked Heather your question. She said that she finds the wood interior warm, and inviting. From my standpoint its simpler to work with wood then with a molded fiberglass interior. We had to do some adjusting when we put the fridge in our boat and have added shelves and drawers, all simple when working with the wood interior, probably harder with a molded fiberglass interior.

I would avoid headliners etc - they simply make after market electronics runs etc that much more complicated. We used white Bentley Harris roundit to cover our radar cables etc and it all looks very tidy.

Thanks for asking
Eric
 
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