20dauntless":3qn6du2r said:
Hello all:
After visiting the SBS I am very interested in ordering a new 22 cruiser. I am thinking of outfitting as follows:
-Wallas 2 Burner
-Ritchie Compass
-Spare battery w/ switch
-Hightop
-Hydraulic steering
-Interior Hand Rails
-Shore Power (including battery charger)
-Tall Radar Arch
-Trim Tabs
-Anchor Deck Pipe
-Single Honda 90 EFI
-Furuno 1824C
-Icom IC-M422
-Humminbird HDR 610
What do you guys think about this setup? What would be a fair price? Any other options I should consider? Thanks so much, I look forward to hearing your opinions.
Hi, let's see if I can add something to the mix here...
If you want counter space you can go with the standard 1-burner butane stove or have no stove. For heat you have many options including Wallas (furnace), Espar, and Webasto. All are better heaters than the Wallas stove/heater but don't offer cooking. The Wallas stove/heater is nice because it's a two-fer...both cooking and heat and it does both reasonably well.
Forget the compass, it's in the way of where you'll want your electronics and it won't work well with all the electrical and magnetic interference. You're better off with an electronic compass that works and can feed Fast Heading Update (10 times/second) to the nav system. Carry a hand bearing compass with you to check for dragging at anchor. It can also be used for a backup to the electronic compass but a battery powered handheld GPS is better.
There's no such thing as a spare battery; you either need it or you don't. Many boats are set up with a runabout system...two batteries and the ubiquitous 1-2-all-off switch. It works but is pretty outdated now (West Marine has a good explanation in their catalog). Most multi-battery boats are now set up with a cruiser system...two batteries with one specifically as the start battery and the other specifically as the house battery (and never the twain shall meet unless it's an emergency). There are lots of choices here and you need lots of input from a dealer that knows what they're doing to get exactly what will meet your needs.
The high top is personal preference. Some shorter folks like it because extra headroom is not detrimental and opens up the space; you also don't have to worry about tall friends and family and there's a wider market at resale. It costs extra and some folks don't like the looks.
Hydraulic steering is standard.
Interior grab rails are nice; they really provide lots of places to hold on and they're great from drying dish towels and wet clothing.
Forget the shore power unless you can think of something you specifically need to run that can't/won't work off an extension cord. It's expensive and doesn't work away from the dock and adds the most potentially hazardous system possible to the boat. If you gotta have it, you gotta have it; if not don't spend the money. Install a good battery charger if that's what you're after; the standard charger in the shore power package is barely adequate. You can use a "charger inlet" so that you can plug in the charger with a high qaulity extension cord. It's just like a shore power connection but designed for the extension cord plug.
The tall (cruising) radar arch was designed to answer several issues at once (I do know this one pretty well as I designed it). The primary thing that drove the design was the desire to carry a dinghy. Typically there isn't enough room aft of a cabin top mounted radome for the dinghy to fit without overhanging the cockpit. Also if the VHF and GPS antennae are mounted cabin top they were in the way and subject to damage. The arch was our answer to providing a location for the radome, the VHF antenna, the GPS sensor, and the anchor/all-round navigation light leaving the cabin top bare for dinghy storage. It also provides a great handhold for going forward and a place to install rod holders if desired. The tall arch allows 17" between the cabin top and bottom of the arch tubes.
You could put the dinghy ahead of a low (fishing) arch if you didn't have the all-round light in place at the forward end of the cabin top. The problem with the low arch is that it isn't convenient to put the all-round light on it since it's low enough for taller folks to hit in the cockpit. There are ways to accomplish this...just on a custom basis rather than off-the-shelf.
An arch isn't necessary at all; it's just a solution for a particular set of needs.
Trim tabs are good.
Engine choice is up to you...anything from 75 to 100 hp works just fine. I've done 115's but they're overkill and add weight. Lots of folks buy sportscars so if you want the horsepower buy it. The best handling C-Dory 22's have the least amount of weight on the transom since the boat was orginally designed around the Johnson 70 hp 3-cylinder 2-stroke and a 9.9 kicker (about 365 pounds total) and carried 36 gallons of fuel. We've added a bunch of weight in the ensuing years; even though they do alright with a lot of extra weight they still balance best with less on the stern.
Just do an integrated nav system with GPS, charplotter, fish finder and radar. There's nothing like crossing Rosario Straits on foggy day knowing exactly where you are and seeing the tugs, tows, tankers, fishing boats, and ferries on the radar (and the other leasure boats too). Doesn't make any difference if it's Furuno, Garmin, or Raymarine; they all do the same thing and do it well. Specific needs or desires will usually favor one or the other. If there's a budget constraint do the best you can but set up the basic system to allow for growth. Mount the unit smack in front of the helm seat and steering wheel; it gets used a lot and reaching overhead gets old really fast. And if anyone aboard wears bi-focals, tri-focals, or reading glasses they'll really appreciate not having to look up constantly...truly a pain in the neck.
In answer to some later posts...
The price is what it is. No two dealers are going to set up a boat like this exactly the same way so it's all but impossible to compare apples-to-apples. There are just way too many things that the dealer adds (the motors, the batteries, the gauges, the controller, the control cables, auxiliary wiring, electronics, and such) and there's such a wide range of quality and price points available that without a complete list of every component being installed it's impossible to figure out what the difference might be...not to mention the quality of the installations.
Just find a dealer that gives you the "warm fuzzy" feeling you're after, tell them what you want, and pay the price. Each has to be competitive and I can tell you that the guy down the road that's saying they can do it for $1000 (or even $2000) cheaper is cutting corners somewhere. It's all based on TANSTAAFL....There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. If that approach gives you the heebie-jeebies go find boats that come complete from the factory so you can shop them like cars. Otherwise, with the C-Dory, you're purchasing a semi-custom product and the price will vary with the equipment and quality. If you think the price isn't fair you want to make sure that decision is based on your assessment of what that dealer is providing for the dollars requested; not on some perceived "better" deal from the guy down the street (who may be using the cheapest stuff they can buy).
Part of the price is after sale service. Doesn't do you much good to find a seemingly great price from a dealer miles and miles from home only to find there's no one near home that services what you just bought or if they do it's lousy service. With no trailer and the boat at Twin Bridges you're faced with figuring out how to get the engines serviced. There are limited choices so find out what they are ahead of time.
Hopefully some of this helped you (or others). Best wishes for a successful conclusion.
