CDory 25 low Transom

J

jheym

New member
Hello all. I have pretty much narrowed my boat search to a new or used 25 but the low transom is giving me great pause as I intend to have my new boat in the salt quite often out of Astoria.

Has anyone had difficulities with the low transom with following waves? Are there typical modifications people do to aleviate the issue? Offshore brackets?

Thanks for the help.
 
If you like the CD25, take a look at the Venture 26 (or virtually identical hulls on Cape Cruisers). These boats have the higher transom you will like.

/david
 
I had some concerns about that cutaway in the transom on the 25 when we ordered. After three years, 800+ hours, and plenty of waves, it is a VERY rare occasion that we've gotten any water in the cockpit. There was one particularly nasty occasion where the waves were very confused... we had the camperback on... I was concerned that the waves would bust up the camperback, but the hull shape really does ride up and over the waves. The camperback windows have gotten wet, but no damage. Also early on, I wanted to see how the boat does with power off in waves... depending on wind conditions, it tends to turn the stern towards the waves, and again rides right up over them.

Whether by design or by accident, it's pretty impressive to see the hull do what it does.

Hope that helps put your mind at ease.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
CD-25
 
Papillon":35yh6bo6 said:
Jim said:
There was one particularly nasty occasion where the waves were very confused...
Click to expand...

Is this to say...that the captain was not confused.

:smilep This I find hard to believe. :wink
Click to expand...

Ah, Mike ol' buddy,

I'll have you know that I have moments of absolute lucidity, times of wonder, occasions of assuredness, even small bursts of brilliance. Early on in my pilot training days, I was taught: "You are never lost. Perhaps a short time of spacial confusion, but not lost." I never admitted to any kind of confusion.

The waves, on the other hand, exhibited absolute confustion... those buggers couldn't seem to decide what direction to come from. I, on the other other hand, knew where I wanted to go... behind an island to get some protection. :wink:

So, let's not confuse the issue at hand: concern about the transom of the 25. Do not be confused, it hasn't been an issue.
 
Good grief, of all things to worry about. We just came downhill off the west coast of Vancouver Isle, and there were some good following seas. The last thing you need to worry about is the low transome. Remember, the C-25 is a light boat and the transome will rise to following waves, including breaking waves. Also since it is a light boat, you have to steer it. Just keep the power on and steer it down the waves. It's a busy trip
but fun.

Downhill does well. Uphill is different. Remember where it got its name: C-Dory. So it has a rounded entry, not a deep-v hull. That does have some limitations, but if you accept them it's a wonderful boat. If you want to go uphill in steep waves, buy a 26' deep-v hull (Seasport?) and throw 2 ea 300 hp Suzukis on the back. I saw one pass me and it just drove through the swell. The guy was a charter fishing boat and that's how he made his living: getting his customers out in any weather. He was out of sight in 5 min.

The more I use Journey On, the more it amazes me. Its a good handling boat, but remember it's a dory hull not a deep-v. and it's powered accordingly. You can also spend a couple of weeks on it and come out alive. All boats are trade-offs. With C-Dory, you're buying a dory hull. they're seaworthy, but not really fast in rough water.

Boris
 
Boris pretty well nailed it.
In seven years of halibut, tuna and salmon fishing out of newport the only times I have shipped water over the transom is when backing down into the drift while halibut fishing. We have shut down and made drifts in some very sloppy seas and its never been an issue or something to worry about.

Not the fastest boat out to the fishing grounds but on more than one occasion I have been extremely thankful for the toughness and seakeeping abilities of my C-Dory.

stevej
 
We have had our 25 in some good size following seas here in S.E. Alaska and never taken one over the stern. I am always amazed at how well she does in following seas.
 
We have had our 25 in some good size following seas here in S.E. Alaska and never taken one over the stern. I am always amazed at how well she does in following seas.
 
If you were in the habit of anchoring by the stern, or backing down hard in steep seas, there might be some worry--but the boat has a self bailing cockpit anyway, plus a large splash well.

In our over 3500 miles, mostly on the West Coast and followings seas up to over 6 feet we have never had a problem.

As Boris so well stated, the boat has a lot of bouyance aft, and rises very rapidly as the seas come under the counter. I don't worry about it--plus the transom is not really that low--the sides are fairly high!
 
OK, I found it. Here are some pictures of the <previous C-Dory owners> surfing down waves at I believe, the Columbia River outlet Columbia River Surfing . Whilst they obviously are better small boat drivers than I, it shows of what C-Dorys are capable. This is a C-22, but the transome design is common to the C-25 and other outboard powered boats.

Additionally, all these pictures are of the boat going downhill. What I want to see, and it took some time and experience to figure this out, is some pictures of that boat going uphill against those waves. I'd love to have the helicopter view of that scene. When Journey On goes up a steep wave, it goes over the top and just drops. That'll rattle your teeth. Remember, it's a dory.

Now, all outboard motor powered boats have to have low transomes on which to mount the engine. The motors come with a design transome height, and the boat builder builds his boat to match the requirement. Some (and that guy with twin 300s on the rear) use a bracket. So, if one insists on a high stern, get a inboard, or a boat which uses an Armstrong bracket.

Boris
 
To add one more data point to the discussion, I have twin engines, a little heavier than a single w/kicker. Still, no problems whatsoever in heavy following seas. It's actually somewhat entertaining to watch the waves hit the stern and how the hull just simply rises over them. Just not a problem.
 
Hi Folks
The Cape Cruiser (aka Venture) has a full transom which seems a little reassuring. I was wondering if the curtains would help or just get smashed by a big wave in a following sea. Is the C-Dory different from my CC - what does "self bailing" mean. The bilge pump would have to clear any water taken on from the stern - the well is self bailing
Leaving West End before dawn I opened the windows to get some air. I had no idea that the waves would be so large just out of the harbor. Dipped the front and had an inch of water in the cabin. Got to watch the front as well.
My 23 is not enough boat for the Bahamas crossing in rough seas. That is based on comfort - belly flopping - never felt unsafe in the +/- 5 foot confused seas.
Hank
 
"self bailing" means that the cockpit floor is above the waterline and any water in there, runs out by gravity through the scuppers. The TC255 is the same way, unlike the CD 22 which has a deep cockpit, bottom below the waterline and bilge pump(s).

Charlie
 
As the others had pointed out, the Dory hull is quite capable of rough water - which is why hundreds of years of fishermen use a dory...
Might I also point out that balsa rafts, ala Kon Tiki, have a six inch transom and ride up over the waves and don't tend to get boarded by following seas... OTOH, they don't have a stand up shower with hot water and are useless for powering into the waves to actually get somewhere. :) Make mine a Dory...

denny-o
 
Captains Cat":17ssj6no said:
"self bailing" means that the cockpit floor is above the waterline and any water in there, runs out by gravity through the scuppers. The TC255 is the same way, unlike the CD 22 which has a deep cockpit, bottom below the waterline and bilge pump(s).

Charlie
Click to expand...

This is all true, but I wonder if a cockpit were really fully dumped ("pooped") on and pretty full, if it would ever self-bail in really heavy seas once the transom was very low in the water, and the waves were able to come in at will?

Certainly, in calm conditions and when the water taken on is limited, the self-bailing feature will work, and does, but what about the above?

Certainly, keep the cockpit door and windows secured to maintain that part of the flotation.

What is the center of gravity and the flotation stability once the cockpit is heavily flooded? (There's some limited knowledge from a CD-25's demise in Alaska where the stern was flooded due to a line caught and tied to the stern, if I remember right. Was it an anchor line caught in the prop? If so, that would be a little different situation, being tied down astern.)

Will the boat remain upright or roll over with wave pressure?

We do know from previous discussions that once the cabin is flooded, the boats will roll over with only the underside of the bow/forward section of the hull remaining above water.

Hopefully the above will not happen and certainly it has been a rare occurance, but I've got a suspicion there is a POINT OF NO RETURN with too much water in the cockpit, the "self bailing" feature not withstanding. The bilge pump(s) functioning would be a moot point in such a flooding.

We had such a self-bailing feature on small racing dinghy sailboats, but there were buoyancy tanks along and inside the gunnels (or a significantly large double bottom) to render the boat very buoyant and unsinkable, like a surfboard, more or less.

I'm not trying to be an alarmist here, just point out that there probably is a limit to this feature in a C-Dory, IMHO.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Joe, obviously you're not too concerned about the transom height considering the way you were able to handle these seas? :lol:

Water coming in faster than it can get out will of course be problematic on nearly any boat. The skipper would need to take corrective action to prevent or minimize exposure to stern waves. Keep her moving to get the water out...
 
jheym - If this discussion has not been enough to allay your concern about getting pooped, it is possible to add a damn to the transom splash well and a number of C-Dory owners have done just that. Here is one example:

Splash_Well_1_Small.jpg
 
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