Cape Cruiser sold - Now What??

H

hank schneider

New member
Hi Brats
Didn't expect to sell the Ditch Witch until spring but ran into a nice guy (Andy) who was bitten by the C-Dory bug. Now to figure out what to replace it with. My hope/plan was/is to find a 25' Ranger Tug but I'm wondering about other boats to consider.
I'd like some additional creature comforts (AC and a Head) and would like a hull that has a deeper V so that it doesn't pound as much in choppy water. I plan to cruise the Bahamas some and wonder if I might be better off with with twin outboards rather than a diesel (or are diesel engines much more reliable?). There is a lot of shallow water on the Carolina coast and it is nice to be able to tilt the engine up.
Any comments about the "pound factor" for the Ranger, Venture 26, C-Dory 25, Tomcat 25 or some of the others Parker, Rosborough, etc.
I'm still a novice so if any of you old salts have opinions - I'd like to hear them.
Thanks Hank
 
hank schneider":x9j9n3t7 said:
Hi Brats
Didn't expect to sell the Ditch Witch until spring but ran into a nice guy (Andy) who was bitten by the C-Dory bug. Now to figure out what to replace it with. My hope/plan was/is to find a 25' Ranger Tug but I'm wondering about other boats to consider.
I'd like some additional creature comforts (AC and a Head) and would like a hull that has a deeper V so that it doesn't pound as much in choppy water. I plan to cruise the Bahamas some and wonder if I might be better off with with twin outboards rather than a diesel (or are diesel engines much more reliable?). There is a lot of shallow water on the Carolina coast and it is nice to be able to tilt the engine up.
Any comments about the "pound factor" for the Ranger, Venture 26, C-Dory 25, Tomcat 25 or some of the others Parker, Rosborough, etc.
I'm still a novice so if any of you old salts have opinions - I'd like to hear them.
Thanks Hank
Click to expand...

Deep V and shallow water don't really go together. If you're looking for a smoother ride and a larger boat with the above features, AND you want good shallow water capacity, I'd go take a ride in a Tomcat 255. The draft is fairly minimal but the ride is excellent - even in chop up to 3' or so. The fuel capacity is 150 gals so the range is a bit longer than a Venture 26 or a CD-25 and the ride is tons better in chop than either of those two boats. I had the pleasure of being at the helm of Dr. John's Tomcat for half of a 4 hour cruise in very windy weather a few years back and it wasn't until the waves were over about 3' that we had to slow our cruise down below 30kts.
 
Interesting dilemma; the only downside is currently being without a boat. :wink: Each of those picks (and Roger's suggestion of adding the TomCat to the list) has pros and cons. Of course, the best way to decide would be to get out on each of your considerations, and then decide what best fits the way you will use it.

Good luck with your search and decisions.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Hey Hank!
If ya want to sea trial a Rosborough come on down to Nashville area. Have both a wheelhouse (powered up and in the water) and the RF-246 Heads Up version custom boat that myself and Les (EQ) have been working on.
I have to say I have ended up really likeing the layout on the heads up custom boat....to the point that I may sell my wheelhouse and just rig out this boat for Sherryl and myself....

Send me an email or PM if you would like more info.
I do not want to hurt anyones feelings on this C-Dory/TomCat/Ranger Tug/Cape Cruiser... owners site by talking about a Rosborough... :mrgreen:

Byrdman
 
Byrdman":xr2l438x said:
...
I do not want to hurt anyones feelings on this C-Dory/TomCat/Ranger Tug/Cape Cruiser... owners site by talking about a Rosborough... :mrgreen:

Byrdman
Click to expand...

Hi Patrick,

"Hurt our feelings"?? Come on, Brother Byrd, you don't think we're that sensitive, do you? :wink: A lot of us here think that Rossi is an interesting alternative... and, Hank did ask.

I just got off a sailing forum, after participating in a thread about "the perfect boat." My take on it is: the right boat is the boat that gets USED. We all use our boats differently, so the best advice for Hank is to tell him how we use our boats... then, it's up to him to figure out how he will use his next boat.

How many of us have said, "Someday, when I win the lottery..."? That leads me to think that perhaps the perfect boat for any individual is the boat that they would keep AFTER hitting the lottery. :mrgreen:

Best wishes,
Jim
 
There are several other small "trawler" type of boats, including the Seaway,Atlas, Acacia, some a bit larger, such as the Albin 25, 27, TE 28 or 30, the Mainship pilot, the Nordic Tug 26, Sundowner Tug 30, MotorCat 30, MotorCat 29, Glacier Bay 2690, World Cat 27,Willard 30 trawler, Dyer 29, Prarie 29, Cape Dory 28, Carver Riveria, NorthPacific 28, Outer Reef 26 tug, Osprey pilothouse, Nimble Nomad, any one of several Sea Sport pilot houses, Shamrock Mackinaw, Skagit Orca, Aylward 25, which I would include in my search. I have been aboard and ridden in most of these and those already mentioned in this thread.

Definately the Venture 26 and C Dory 25, especially with trim tabs and Permatrims, are better riding than the 23, but they are both subject to some of the same short commings. Generallly diesels are very reliable, but some of the small trawlers have had some trip stopping (not boat loss, or serious damage type) of diesel problems. The latest generation of 4 stroke outboards are also very reliable, they do have the advantage of shoaler draft, and being able to get the running gear out of the water.

My personal choice is the Tom Cat--and this choice was made after looking at most of the afore mentioned boats.
 
Thanks for the thoughts
Forrest - I agree it is a great boat and already miss he - did I do the right thing??? I might be boatless for a while.

Bob - Those are too many options - could take forever to check them all out. Probably will not stray too far from the CDory line. The TCat came up in a couple of posts. It sounds like it would be less pounding than the CC, and I'd like twins rather than a single inboard for making the crossing to the Bahamas - looks roomy too.
Couple of questions. The CC was great on gas (~ 5mpg at a slow cruise) -How does your do on gas with twin 150's - how fast does it go? That seems like a lot of power for a 25 ft boat. What' the typical setup?
Thanks
 
Hank now the fun part again Looking and planning on which boat to purchase.You have all winter to make a good decision for your boating needs . Dr.Bob gave you lots of Boats to compare but if you want to stay in the C-'Dory fold .Go look at the Tomcat 24 , or TC255 with maybe smaller engines 115 -135 hp . These will give you twin eng reliability plus small head and shower and trailerbility . If these are not for you I would take up Pat's offer and go try the Rossborough 246 Good luck and Good Hunting . Jim
 
On our Tom Cat 255, the average planing speed/fuel consumption is 22 mph and 2.2/2.3 miles per gallon--just a little less than the C Dory 25, and 50% better than a similar sized express cruiser I had with an I/O which had 300 hp, and a bravo III outdrive. If you want to drop down to displacement speed: 6 or so knots, the boat will be very economical.

I disagree that the 115 are a good setup for the 255. It is a fairly heavy boat, especially when geared up for cruising. The max speed we have seen was 49 mph when the boat was new and not much gear aboard. Currently fully loaded, with fuel and water, generator, air conditioning etc, we can still hit over 40 mph, and cruise easily in the 35 plus mph. The information I have seen does not show any real advantage with 115 or 135 engines, and in my opinion the Suzuki is the best engine for this boat (I found it was more responsive than the Honda 150). The only advantage with 115 might be slightly less weight on the transom, but the boat runs perfectly with the 150's. I believe than only a couple of the 255s were set up with smaller engines.

The boat does better at high speeds when it does get rough, which seems some what paradoxical. However, with higher speed, opens up the tunnel and compresses the air in the tunnel more, which gives a smoother ride.
Yes, the 255 has more significantly more room for our purposes than the 25. The shower is much easier to use, with better headroom, and the bunk is considerably larger. The storage on the 255 is huge, with room under the bunk in the hulls.

I only mentioned the large number of boats, because there is such a variety; almost all of which will do the job. Don't discount any of these boats, if the oportunity comes along to look at them.
 
I may not have been clear in my first sentance, but 22 knots is about our "normal" cruising speed. The boat is on a plane from somewhere around 13 knots (some think they are planing at 11 knots, that is not a very effecient speed--and 18 knots is more effecient than 13, because of the large amount of upward pressure of the Permatrims, with the outboards trimmed down.

The "mileage" is about the same at 18 and 25 knots (by flow meters). I do find the flow meters very helpful getting the best fuel mileage.

I was including in an E-mail from a distant cousin who spent some time with us this last week. He has owned mostly sail boats, and currently a Corsair F 24. His comment was that after a ride in our Tom Cat, he wondered why he had spent most of his life at 6 knots or less. The features he mentioned included the quiet engines, the smooth ride and comfort of the pilot house.
 
Hank, Rob,

As Dr. Bob says, the higher cruising speeds are the most economical. We cruise at 21-22 kts with twin Honda 150s. Depending on loading, we use 11 gallons per hour at that speed or approximately 2 nautical miles per gallon. When we're in our cruising area, like the Broughtons, we use one engine only and stay at 6-7 kts. That nets us about 3-4 nmpg.

We feel the trade off is worth it for the ride, storage, shower and huge berth area. The TomCat is hard to beat!
 
Hank:

Here two more bits from another Tomcat 255 owner...

Once you are up on plane, the mileage does not seem to vary much at all regardless of speed- just above 2 miles/gallon. In smooth water we maintain about 30 mph. We have Suzuki 150s and have been happy with them. Top speed is around 43 mph.

The storage space in the sponsons that Dr. Bob mentioned is ENORMOUS. The space does collect 2-3 of ozs of water occasionally, probably coming in via the cable conduits from the cockpit. We have a couple of large waterproof laundry bags filled with sleepings bags, pillows, change of clothes etc. that we leave in the sponsons, so going cruising requires no preparation other than picking up some food!

We have kept the boat lean and mean. The interior is exactly as it came from the factory- no built-ins, no nothing. A couple of chart tubes bungeed to the overhead hand-rails; simple cooking utensils and cleaning supples under the sink in boxes. We have a Wallas- so far so good! A bag of tools, filters and flares and spares in the bosun's locker; fuses, flashlight, pocket-knife etc. in the drawer; life jackets and a spare Fortress anchor under the dinette seat. A small automotove rear-view mirror that we place on the "dashboard" in busy channels when going at low speeds so we can keep an eye on what's coming up behind- this doubles as a shaving mirror. A high-power blower fan for the summer, combined with a small window unit A/C when it is really hot. The A/C runs off a 2 KW Honda that we carry in a box in the cockpit.

With this setup, we have cruised comfortably up and down the intercoastal waterway in Texas. Lots of room and comfort!
 
We have not had any water in the foreward storage area under the bunk. I wonder if Alok's might be from the anchor locker as some have had?
 
Warren:

Yes, that is the space. "Bosun's locker" sounds so much more nautical than "the cabinet opposite the head" :D

Bob:

I had assumed it was coming via the cable conduit. Let me investigate it further...

Alok
 
Back
Top