C-Dory Problems

T

toyman

New member
I am considering a 25 cruiser in the future. I've been lurking & looking at the photos on the C-Brats and have a few questions about the integrity of the core on the C-Dory. How many experience water intrusion into the core thru unsealed, or improperly sealed attachments ? How common are cracked transoms on the 25's, are they more prevalent on twin engine installations - or large singles ?

I presently have a Whaler Outrage and I've had experience with water in the core – it isn't nice.
 
It is my feeling that any of the C Dories need to have any intrusions of screws into the core, modified so that the place where the screw enters, is replaced with epoxy in the area where the screw would go, and then redrill the pilot hole and put in the screw properly sealed- an other, and in many places a better option, is to fill the screw hole with epoxy and tab the structure in place. Both techniques are described and illustrated.

There is little evidence of any long term damage from core water intrusion, but it does exist. The longer water intrusion stays, the more damage there will be. I assume that you have read my repairs of Frequent Sea.

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=5920&start=0
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t= ... equent+sea
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=5823&start=0


This is a 2003 boat, where the cockpit had rot in the balsa core of the cockpit deck. The water first entered from the hatch, and then the glass was cracked. The boat was left in the open and went through several winters uncovered. It was a fairly easy fix to replace the cockpit floor with Nadicore (PVC Hexcell).

The transoms of the 2002 through some early 2005 25's did not have a full plywood core. It appeared that the boat was designed to have the load of the engines taken by the edge of the splash well, but in my boat there was not sufficient glass cloth in this area. Again, the repair was fairly easy. The hull to deck joint along the transom (under the black plastic strip) was opened up, and the void filled with solid glass. We rebuilt both sides where there was cracking, and put in several times more glass. We have over 250 more hours on the boat with no cracking and have run the boat in heavy seas.

More transom weight would make this a bigger problem. However, I suspect that the first owner didn't take as good care of the boat as would be ideal The newest boats seem to have foam cored transoms, and apparently there is significantly more glass, so that the problem has not recurred to my knowledge. The cockpit floors are built differently in newer boats.

I would not reject one of the earlier boats. If the problem occurs, it is fairly easy to fix. If the problem has not yet occured, you can easily re-inforce the glass at the angle of the splash well and transom. A couple of layers of 12 or 18 oz triaxial glass epoxied under this area will strengthen it significantly.
 
Thanks for the replies. I looked at a LOT of the photo pages, "Thataway" and "Anna Leigh" were 2 of the real eye catchers.
 
Oh, I do look at the good along with the bad. I like your choice of twin 45's, seem just about right for a 22.

The good/bad thing comes from my association with the OLD GMC motorhomes. The concept was excellent, the execution left something to be desired, but the "community" that came with them was flawless!
 
toyman":18k0tnx3 said:
Oh, I do look at the good along with the bad. I like your choice of twin 45's, seem just about right for a 22.

The good/bad thing comes from my association with the OLD GMC motorhomes. The concept was excellent, the execution left something to be desired, but the "community" that came with them was flawless!
Click to expand...

The 45's were good on the 22, wish they had been FI instead of carb but we enjoyed the 22. They aren't made any more, '96 was the last year, now they're 40s or 50s and all FI. We enjoy the TC255 even more, the FI Suzukis are wonderful! Good luck with the 25, before you buy, take a ride on the TomCat too!

Charlie
 
I have a C Dory 22 and am considering moving up to a 25. Has anyone done this and if so what are your feelings on the subject? Was the result worth the cost? Are there any drawbacks?
 
Been a lot of people in the NW that have moved up from a 22 to a 25. Pat on Daydream, myself, Fred on Anita Marie, Jim on Laurna Jo and others both up here on the left coast and around the US.

The obvious is you have more room. Maybe not so obvious to some when they just look at the additional 3 feet in length. The boat is also wider and taller, so the additional room is much more apparent when you are inside.

I would say the two handle almost the same.The 25 is a little more stable in the water because of its larger hull. The 25 is heavier and so uses a little more fuel per mile than the 22. All of the above boats have Honda 135/150's on them. The fuel consumption varies of course, with speed. At hull speed of about 7 kts I use about 2.8-3.0 gal per hour. The boat planes at about 11-12 knots. At 14-18 kts I use about 4.0 to 4.5 gal per hour. Get it up to 22-25 and it jumps to 8.0-10.

I launch and retrieve primarily by myself on a ramp with no dock. The draft is maybe 6" more so it takes a little more water under her. The 25's bow when beached is higher off the beach and a little more challenging to board that way, but still doable to this almost 65 YO.

The 25 takes a larger trailer, larger tow vehicle, has a larger gas tank, and to me is one of the truly great trailerable boats. Not meant to be a go fast boat, but if you want to go anywhere in almost any water conditions, I would choose it over just about anything comparable in size. It will get you there safely.

The 22 was/is a great boat. I also (as does Pat, and Fred) have a 16. Now there is a boat that can be thrown in the water in a quick manner.
It all depends on your wants, needs and desires and disposable income.

Hope that helps, I am sure others will come in with more things to think about in your decision. But you are at the right spot for good information. No better boating site on the internet.
 
David did an excellent job of pointing out the difference between the two boats. We also went from a 22 to a 25 as our "West Coast boat" (after buying the Tom Cat). For us, the reason was bunk room--and ease of getting into the bunk. We could have cut out more of the foreward bulkhead, but that was not necessary. My son is 6'4" and he has "enough" room (would like more--but definately better than the 22.

When you go in the two boats, the increase of volume is immediately apparent. The enclosed head gets away from "what do we do with the portipotty" issue.

For us, the ride is much better, but we did not have either trim tabs or a Permatrim on the 22--and putting the bow down makes a different, as does the greater weight.

The towing was an issue--however we have modified our 30 foot RV so that it can tow the C Dory 25, and although it makes a long tow load, it is not that hard to launch. You definately need a bigger tow vehicle than for the 22.

There is also more storage room, and we find it a better boat for our style of cruising where we are out for one to two months at a time.

I don't see a lot of difference in launching--and we have launched both at Powell, which is one of the shoalest ramps we have used. I had no problems launching the 25 solo--even behind the 30 foot RV.

We have the 130 Honda--which is a smaller block than the 135/150, and our top speed is slightly slower. The fuel economy for 1500 miles last summer was almost exactly 3 miles a gallon--at planing speeds about 2.5 miles a gallon.
 
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