Considering a new C-Dory

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pmberman

New member
Hi - I am brand new to your forum. I currently own a Boston Whaler which I use off Cape Cod MA. My wife and I have thought about a boat which is a little larger that we could camp on as we expore the Cape Cod coast. Those of you who know about Whalers, they are great boats, but very expensive. I am attracted to teh C-Dory because it seems to offer a lot of value for the $. The trade-off is the C-Dory is more utilitarian and you don't get the unsinkable feature that Whalers are known for. Any opions or guidance for me? I'd love to hear from a member who uses their boat on the East Coast because a lot of you are on the West Coast.
Thanks,
pmberman
 
pmb,

Welcome to our pub!!

It would help us to answer your question if we had a few more facts. What size and type of boat is your Whaler? Open deck or cuddy cabin?

What size C-Dory are you looking at?

If your Whaler is an open deck model, then it needs to be unsinkable. The C-Dories in 16 and 19 feet must meet the USCG level flotation requirement and I think that makes them unsinkable.

The USCG does not require boats over 20 ft. to meet the level flotation requirement. I have owned my C-Dory 22 cruiser for 14 years and have never taken on any significant amount of water in the cockpit. My boating area is from So Cal to Alaska including runs to Catalina Island in the winter.

If your Whaler is the open deck type, you and your wife will really enjoy to comforts of a closed cabin(with heat)!
 
Thanks. Our Whaler is the 150 Sport. Just a little one. We are considering a boat with a cabin though so we can take longer trips. The Whaler I would consider is either the new 205 cuddy cabin or a 25' conquest. I have been considering the 22 or 25' C-Dory cruisers instead because you seem to get a lot more space etc.
pmberman
 
pmb,

That 205 Whaler weighs about 1,000 lbs more than a 22 C-Dory and requires a minimum of 135hp instead of the 90hp on a 22 C-Dory.

The 25 Whaler needs 225hp minimum!

Both of these boats are going to need a larger tow vehicle and trailer and are going to use more fuel.

However, the Whalers probably go faster. The C-dory is lighter, simpler, and the hull form requires you to slow down in a seaway for comfort.

As to safety and seaworthiness, the Oregon fishermen in 22 and 25 ft C-Dorys run up to 50 miles out into the open Pacific chasing halibut and tuna.
 
I've owned 5 Whalers, operated 3 commercially (dive boats). 2 of them were 21's similar in some respect to the 20 cuddy you're considering in that staying overnight required a camper canvas, and numerous other riggings to "make do."

Well I'm over that now -- camping and boating all over the US IN COMFORT (and heat) with a real fridge, micro, and no compromises (well -- OK -- the porta is a compromise). Heckfire -- I can even take a bath and stay clean in the thing . . .

As for floating -- the newer 22's have flotation in the fwd bunk, it's supposed to keep the nose out of the water if the worst happens.

I still have a 17 Montauk, probably will always have it for a bumaround boat, but for live-boating, the CD is tops (on a budget). My 21's took 200 hp to move them and the gas bills are worlds apart, as is the range of the CD vs Whaler. Just a different way of doing things altogether.

So as in most things, it's a matter of prioritizing what is most important to you at this stage in your life and going that direction.
 
The unsinkability issue is also one that I have wondered about. I recall a previous thread about this, but I don't remember if it was determined which C-Dorys, other than those mandated, are positively bouyant when swamped.
In Passagemaker magazine, there was a recent discussion about the Navigator 37, which indicated it was unsinkable due to its coring. Has anyone had an occasion to sink a 22 or 25?
 
well, the sinkability is not necessarily a show stopper. I think the cabin space and price difference is enough to make me choose the cd over a larger Whaler. I think the foam process is a big part of what drives up the Whaler prices. Let me ask your opinions of a 22 vs 25 if I were to go with a CD. I want a boat we can spend a few days on, maybe up to a week. The biggest difference I see in the catalog is that the 25 has a shower and pump out potty.
 
pmberman wrote:
The biggest difference I see in the catalog is that the 25 has a shower and pump out potty.
Click to expand...

Well, looking over the specs you can easily see that the 25 is a little longer, wider and taller than the 22, and the longer cabin can accommodate a head with shower. But, if you were able to see a 22 and 25 cruiser parked next to each other on their trailers you couldn't ignore the difference in size between these two hulls. And then there is the weight difference -- a 1/2-ton pickup might be fine for a 22, but the 25 would tow better with something bigger.

Corwin
 
The 25 has a much more roomy feel in the cabin at the sacrifice of more weight, draft, and complexity.

There are enough people on the website who have lived or are living on their 22's for extended periods of time to prove that it can be done. Just takes a little more planning and maybe more of a "camp-out" attitude when it comes to setting up solar showers or hot water bottle showers, etc. These little boats are pretty amazing, I lived on mine 3 mos last summer.

Good luck!
 
Besides the fairly obvious differences in size, towability, and cost, one other issue that sometimes weighs more heavily in the choice between the 22 and 25 is the enclosed head/shower availability on the 25, at least if a woman is going to be aboard for extended periods. Not all women see this factor as being critical, but those that do seem to really prefer the enclosed head, shower, and hot water system. So much so, even, that the additional $15-$20K is not much of a deterrent. Joe.
 
After posting the above comments, I have a question for those of you with CD-25's:

Just how difficult is it to take a shower in this multipurpose shower/head enclosure? How tight is it? How hard is it to get and stay dry and put your clothes back on? Could Houdini have done it? Joe.
 
I'm 6'4" and don't have a problem with the shower. Just sit down and do your thing. Drying off is another thing. We have curtains all around, so I just dry off and dress in the cabin. Since this is just a couples boat, the modesty concerns don't bother me. If you're traveling with kids, this might be awkward.
Having the water system makes it much less like camping. I added an extra 1" rigid foam insulation around the water heater, and found that I can leave the dock on an afternoon, stay on the hook that night, and still have plenty of hot water for a shower and breakfast cleanup the next morning. Very civilized.
 
thanks for the comments.....what am I supposed to make of the photos of Minnow....the crack along the bottom, the leaky hatches, the bent hose. Are those posted to show quality problems with the 25' Cruiser? My takeaway from this discussion thread is that for my purposes (comfortable cruising), the 25 would be a better choice than a Whaler and better than a 22' CD. I was just concerned when I looked at the Minnow photos.
pmberman
 
If you're in Massachusetts we have a C-Dory get together the weekend of 14 May in Meredith NH on Lake Winnipesaukee where you can see all the models of C-Dorys on the water, talk to some owners and get your questions answered...
 
This would be your answer: go to the CD gathering and look at them. You might find the 25 is way overkill for what you want to do and that would save many thousands you can cruise for years with on the economical 22.

Good luck!

PS: don't buy one of those "ugly motors." Stand apart from the crowd -- go Mercury!
 
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