OK ...before I sell the boat, or end up in Divorce Court

S

Stanley-J

New member
Tell me I'm not alone
First, a little background. We have been sailing for over 15 years. My back problems made it impossible to sail anymore so we had to sell our Tayana 37. After researching power boats & trailerable trawlers we found this sight and eventually found our CD-25.
Next -Looking at a boat vs owning and using it.
This past week for the first time since we bought it 9 months ago, we went up the locks to Lake Champlain for a week long little boating vacation. So with that said, is it us or do some of you have some of the same problems? My wife said it's obvious the manufacture never consulted a women when they designed the cabin / galley for family cruising.
I know it was originally designed for fishing and as such with a few guys and a case of brew it's a great boat. But the 25 is advertised as a "Family Cruiser"
Example, after I put my fishing box, tool box & spare emergency parts in the cabin. There is little room for provisions for a week. There is no real storage for clothing so it goes into the V-berth durning the day then out to the table at night then back in the next morning. The 360 glass is nice until you try and add some more wall storage cabinets for extended cruising. The head is a joke unless your either a midget or an exhibitionism. The toilet is to low. The head needs a sink, yea I know I could buy one but you know for the price we all pay for the boats ( which is just a bare fiberglass interior) many of the optional equipment should be standard. US auto manufactures found that out the hard way. 2 people fishing from the stern is fine, anymore and it's crowded. The scuppers let more water in the boat than out and that leads to a wet deck. I looked a the CD photo albums and found that except for Anna Leigh most 25 are sitting low in the water when looking at the water paint line. I have a smile stain that's 3 inches above the water line. (and it was just my wife and I onboard) when the boat rocks strong gas tank fumes comes out the gas vent. It's not that safe walking along the coming to access the bow and forward fender cleats, which you have to do a lot when going through the "locks" Yea I know about going in & out through the V-berth hatch as well as putting fenders out through the side windows, That's a joke also.The window screens should be on the outside not inside.
I THINK ? I found out finally were the water leak in the cabin is coming from, it's the seal around the shower drain.
Bill & El, How Do You Do It ?????
 
Something does not make sense here.
All your previous post were generally positive then all of a sudden this.
There is more to this than meets the eye. I am not trying to cause a problem or make things worse, just curious why the 180 degree turn around???
 
Maybe mercenary - but I'd say that's not the right boat for you. Sell her while she's still holding a ton of her original value & spend this winter searching for the "one".
 
I looked a the CD photo albums and found that except for Anna Leigh most 25 are sitting low in the water when looking at the water paint line.
Click to expand...

I sure haven't done anything to make Anna Leigh sit on the water in some special way. I probably have as much "stuff" on board as anyone.

Interesting that you perceive a difference and I don't know what to attribute it to. I don't think the paint or trim scheme has changed much.
 
Hi Dave, With out going into great detail, vacationing with a unhappy wife can lead to a unhappy vacation...ha-ha
I had to go back and look at my old post to see the positive ones. don't misunderstand me, I like the boat as a day or even a weekender. A friend and I last month went Flounder Fishing in R.I off Port Judith for a weekend and had a good time. The ping-pong ball scuppers weren't the best, but I'm told there better then the rubber flappers. We were getting water on the deck but hey we were catching fish. We also had all the snack food 2 guys could eat. The rest of the time it was visiting the local resturants and Diners so our on board supplies were minimal.
When my wife and I went to Lake Champlain we provisioned the boat for 4 days before we had to resupply. We also had the same problem with the scuppers and a wet deck. At dock I was able to look at how the boat sat on her lines and saw that it was low in the water. As I looked at the photo album on site the majority of CD's both 22 & 25's sit below there lines .I'm not sure now if the painted stripes were just that, "Painted Stripes" or weather they are the supposed indicators of how your boat is loaded and sitting in the water. If their right, then somthing else is wrong. I' ve been reviewing old post & there are quite a few about scuppers and water on decks.
I did mention in earlier post about gas fumes and water on the cabin floor. I have been hunting those problems for a while but I do think I found the problems. Again I see in others had simular problems in the past so I feel that I'm not alone anyway.
I mentioned earlier this year that we were going to Florida for the month of Feb and were taking the boat. I was to embarrassed to post a follow up to the trip but basically here's what happened. Somewhere between North Carolina and South Carolina, the port side bunk on my Easy Loader trailer fell off and when I tried to re-bolt it back on my back went out big time. I spent 3 weeks of my 4 weeks in Florida laying flat with icepacks and going to a Chiropractor. I was not a happy camper. The last week their I was able to put the boat in the water.....(so I wouldn't have to hear my wife tell me AGAIN how much it cost up to tow that thing from NY to Fl and back and not even put it in the water) So we went out twice for about 3 hours, and that was it, Oh yea, I caught ONE fish. So that was the extent of our boating till the trip this past week. I guess I sound like a disgruntle owner, but I do like the boat, it's just that I feel we as owners should not have to ....build dams to keep the shower water inside the shower. Use a solar shower on the aft deck to keep the inside cabin floor dry. Carry a roof top car carrier to accommodate your clothes while cruising, or eating out at marinas and restaurants because there isn;t enough room to carry provisions for a week without having the scuppers under water.....ha-ha
You know, It's Good to be home and Sleep in your own dry warm bed. I guess I'm getting to old to be a Camper anymore.
 
Perhaps there have been a lot of changes from the 2002 model to current? We have a grand total of 6 weeks cruising our 25, and have found it to be very livable. Certainly, it could use a "woman's touch" in some of the design, but storage in any 25' boat is going to be finite. We have shelves in the v-berth and find it a good place to put socks, underwear, and nightstand kinda stuff. We put our clothes in a clothes basket and put that under the aft cabinet (across from the head); after corresponding with Bill and El, we take less clothing than we first thought we needed. We use the area under the floor under the table for storage of tools, parts, etc. Pots, pans, dishes, and food goes under the galley. The big storage under the forward dinette seat houses the catbox (we travel with Molly the catboat cat), a travel guitar, and dirty laundry. Having the camperback adds a lot of livability in the cockpit. We don't fish (when cows swim in the ocean, I'll think about it), so that eliminates the space we'd need for all that gear and the cockpit usage. There is also storage under the helm foot area.

I agree with the idea of a small pull-out sink in the head - that would be a very welcome addition (we have a Leisure Travel Van that has that feature). Our toilet is the RV type - seems to be a normal height and comfortable enough to do what... well, you know. There are covers for the windows so we don't scare the neighbors at the dock or nearby in an anchorage. Also, it would be nice if the shower didn't leak out the door of the head, but we will come up with a cover/shower curtain to deal with that. We hang fenders in the cockpit, along with the hose (I definitely miss the lazerette storage most sailboats have). I'm still considering some kind of storage/seating situation in the cockpit.

I find putting out fenders to be easy from the helm and co-pilot seats. We use a round fender on the front cleat, which we tie off in the dinghy or the radar arch while underway. We have a windlass, so anchoring has been pretty painless. I'm happy to have screens, inside or out... nice ventilation compared to most sailboats where the cabin sits much lower. The coamings are as wide as they can be and still keep the beam at 8.5' for trailering (still, I don't think I'd want to be out there when it's rough, so we use the front hatch at that point). At least there is room to pass in the cabin.

No boat is going to be perfect for every usage, and moving from a 37' sailboat has to be a real adjustment. We were looking for the most boat that would still be trailerable, which led us to the CD-25. I'd love to have a settee, a nav station, and a hanging locker (and not give up anything that we currently have)... but there's just no way to make that fit in 25', as far as I've seen.

If it truly isn't working, I'd unload the boat in a heartbeat rather than risk losing my cruising partner. There are other larger boats that may fit your cruising needs better, but not towable (at least not as easy as this boat). It's tough when the usage doesn't meet the expectations. I certainly mean no disrespect when I say this, if you can't change the boat then you may have to change the expectations. I hope others are able to offer their storage solutions on the 25 to help with your situation.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Chuck, I'm not sure what you were expecting from a 25' boat. We have cruised for over 2 weeks on our boat very comfortably. Pat and David spent a bunch of time on their trip to Alaska. You do need to consider the items you take with you but with a little thought there is plenty of room for everything. I'm glad the head is on the small side so you have more room for storage. If it was only me I would have a porta potty instead of the marine head. I have cruised with fishing and crabbing gear, pot puller, 11 inflatable kayak, food for an army, all the tools and safety items and plenty of clothing for two and still felt fine.
I see your boat is the first hull after they restarted production of the 25. The waterline hull color is different on those hulls than the newer hulls starting 2005. This may be the reason you think it sits different in the water.
I love the boat, my only complaint is my prop still is not right.
 
Thanks Jim for the input...oh yea, I forgot to mention, we just bought a high ....temperature pipe covering to put around the wallas stove exhaust pipe under the sink area. I forgot to tell the XYL that it gets hot when you use the stove, so we found out a little too late what the foul smelling order was. It was a nice storage place under the sinks upper shelf, just not for combustibles like dish racks and paper goods....Ops
 
In re-reading my post, I found that I didn't address the scuppers or gas smell. I have fueled the boat 'till I got fuel out the vent (I wasn't expecting that), and didn't have a fuel smell in the cockpit. The scuppers definitely drain slow; the only getting pooped situation we have been in, we had the camperback installed, so we didn't get water in the cockpit. We have not had a problem with water coming back in the scuppers. We have a single Honda 135. Our freshwater tank is near the transom under the cockpit floor (where I think your blackwater holding tank is). We have foam under the V-berth, where I believe your freshwater tank is located. Not sure if any of this relocation of tanks made much of a difference.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Eric, I think it's the right boat for me with some adjustments and modifications, I only hope one of the modifications is not 'removing the mate'
You know we all say their the "Mate" but the reality is their the CAPTAINS
 
Chuck,
We just got back from 15 nights on our 25 and could have gone another week. I think our expectations are a lot lower considering that we moved from a kayak to this boat. That means that we were used to camping and kayaking. I consider the 25 to be "luxurious camping", not high class cruising. I don't know what we would think if we'd moved down from a 37' boat.

The part that I don't understand is the water on the back deck. We've never had water coming into the back deck, and I'd defy anyone to put more in the cockpit than we do on vacation. At one point in the last two weeks we had 100 gallons of gas, our 130 Honda, a 15 kicker, a 2 hp dingy motor, two downriggers, an extra 5 gallon tank for the kicker, a Honda 2000 generator, two big loaded coolers, a pot puller, a bag containing shrimp pots and line and all of our canvas top in the cockpit. When there were two of us standing in the cockpit I could hear the balls in the scuppers making a little noise, but we weren't even close to having water on the back deck. I've heard this complaint posted on here before, but I just don't get it. If I had constant water on the back deck I'd be very concerned. I don't know if different years had the scuppers and deck lower, but we just haven't had this problem.

I hope you can resolve your issues with the boat. If my wife wasn't happy with our 25, I'd sure be looking at other options.
Lyle
 
Lyle, I'm not sure what difference in design has occurred since our boat was built. I'd like to hear from some owners of hulls made before mine (mine was hull #9, first one built by Scott after purchasing the company) I also have twin Honda 75's back there which add some considerable weight, we also had the Honda EU-3000 but thats about 158 lbs or the weight of a 3rd person. The holding tank was pretty much empty. The water tank in the V-berth was full and the fuel tank was full. We had a few can goods and most of our food was in pre-made dinners. I know my wife overpacks her clothes but we only had 2 dufflebags for clothes, my laptop was our TV. So for the most part we really should not have been considered overloaded.
When we we were looking at boats my wife had a few requirerment, NO Port-a-Potti and a Shower. CD-25 was really one of the few that met that request in the down-eastern style. We looked at Albins27 but thought trailering and launching would not be pratical. Rosenburg, Grady,
Osprey, Shannon, Mako, etc. etc of the fishing type boats were all headless. So with the reputation and style, we decided on the CD. I'm wondering about putting in temporary plugs in the scuppers.
I'm sure I'll figure it out. I'm calling the Factory today to find out about how she should sit on her lines, and ask about the weight & carrying capacity. I'm not sure if the boat is rated for 4 or 6 people.
 
Hi Folks,

Excuse me on this approach.

A year ago, when I first met El, I had to hug her. She is a one in a million women. (Dun's wife Becky is also.)

Most women, my wife included, make a great show about loving boats. We courted on an 18' Rhodes Mariner. Then, as the family grew, the boats were no longer the thing for her. I spent a marrage trying to make her happy. Lately I have taken the track that I will enjoy the boat, and , so far, ask married men friends to join me as I did on the Erie Canal trip this fall.

What I am trying to say is the problems with the boat is a symptom of the problems with the wife, and therefor, the marriage.

You can keep enjoying the fishing trips with your fellow fishermen, give in to the wife and sell the boat and make her happy, and you miserable, or find somebody who really enjoys the boat as much as you do. That is what I plan to do what ever the consequinces.

Fred (not your regular DR PHIL)
 
How about that Nomad? Did the last jump in fuel prices force a pick-up camper company to diversify? My wife and I have camped (yes, that's basically what you are doing while cruising in a C-Dory) several times and know all the shortcomings. We're still willing to do it once in awhile with the comfort expectations set on low. We know we will be warm, pretty dry and safe. Always remember this quote during those hard times: "I cried because my boat shower leaked, and then I met a man who had a CD22". Good luck buddy!
 
Fred (not your regular DR PHIL)
_________________
Man From Nantucket
Whether I agree with you or not, I'll never say on line, but I can assure you I deleted your post right after I read it. I may be somewhat unhappy with the present boating problem, BUT I'm not Suicidal enough to leave that post for her to see..
 
Sorry to say this Chuck, but only one of Bill's highly paid moderators can delete that post.

I got lucky too. Spouse not only comes from a long time boating family, one of her sons is a commercial fisherman and one of his brothers often crews between jobs. Oh, and she's a Chiropractor as well. Put her up in the vee berth and she's out like a light. My level of discomfort is more often the problem rather than hers....

Don
 
Always remember this quote during those hard times: "I cried because my boat shower leaked, and then I met a man who had a CD22".
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. Everytime I read the strings on the other model C-Dory boats (and certainly other manufacturers), I just want to run out and hug my 22. It does exactly what I bought it for.

The Nomad -- I got a chance to finally go aboard one of these in Arkansas last month. This is an interesting boat (and a good one) and probably meets my needs more than anything else (a home away from home that I can work from on land or water). I am seriously thinking of selling the Whaler and getting one. It is not an ocean boat, so the CD is safe (I doubt I'll ever sell that).

Has a 3K exhaust boot cowled Honda Gen. that runs A/C, microwave, etc., and dual ac/dc for everything else so the unit is fully self-contained on the road (or water), like a motorhome. The stove is propane.

tb_caravan.jpg


For a look at how it was used on Popular Mechanics' Lewis and Clark Expedition and why it was chosen:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoor ... 77901.html
 
Stanley,

When I read your E-mail, I knew what frustrations you were living. I wanted to let you know that you are not alone. It ain't that they are bad. As I tried to say, the El's and Becky's are few and far between, and sometimes we let out our frustrations when we are not married to one.

My wife will go on a fancy SeaRay and ask why we don't have a boat like that. I try and tell her that we can not afford to buy it. At 1/2 mile per gallon we can not afford to run it. I had one friend who calculated the cost of fuel from Wareham in the Buzzards Bay area to Nantucket on Labor Day weekend with his SeaRay. If he came over on the passenger ferry, stayed at my Inn, he would have enough money left over for he and his wife to go to Bermuda. As you know, C-Dory's pass gas stations. We did that on the erie Canal, and had money left over to eat out every night, and a lot of our lunches.

Hang in there and remember, as a good friend said to me. "It's better the devil you know than the one you don't."

Thank you for sharing.

Fred
 
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