Should I buy a C-Dory?

R

richarddcusick

New member
I am very new to power boating. Have just owned a very small sail boat. A friend who is an experienced boater recently bought a C-Dory and just when I was about to take the plunge, my wife had me talk to a bass fisherman who thought the flat bottom would perhaps be very rough riding in 3' waves.

We recently bought some property off Hood Canal in the Seattle area and would also like to putter around the Channel Islands off Oxnard CA.

Any advice?

Richard
 
3' waves are no problem with a C-Dory IF you're not in a big hurry. If you go at 7-10 kts, it will just be a little bumpy. Try to go too fast, you will pound. Even in smaller waves, you will pound some of you go too fast. Want to pound less and go fast, then buy a deep V. However, expect to spend a lot more on fuel with the deep V. It's all a trade-off. I'm plenty happy with my 3-4 MPG at cruise speed and my 6MPG at low speed and my primary use for my CD 22 is fishing. Yes, there are times I wish I could go faster in the chop to get to the fish quicker but when I'm at the fuel pump, it's not one of those times.

On the Hood Canal you'll rarely have weather that a CD can't handle. It only gets bad when you get a good strong wind from the south or north and that doesn't happen too often. I can't speak to the Channel Islands but have had my boat 12-25 miles off shore on more than one occasion. However, the farther out I go, the more carefully I pick my weather windows. Many others here go farther off shore in bigger weather and many also have taken on challenging bar conditions. Bottom line, when the conditions are REALLY bad and everyone is going slow, a CD is as good a craft as any comparably sized boat and better than many. When conditions are farily flat, the CD is fine too. In the in-between conditons, you go a little slower than the deep V's. In all conditions, you get better fuel economy.
 
bass fisherman
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Enough said....these are the guys that put a 200hp motor on a 15 ft. boat built for two....travel at 70 mph and can't leave the bay or back waters.

Take a ride on your C-Dory friends boat like has been suggested and consider the source of your information in coming to any decision.

Good Luck.

Mike
 
Richard, I am amazed that the owner of a Bass boat feels that design has any significant sea-keeping traits anywhere near those of a C-Dory. I have been out with a friend on a Bass Boat on one of our flat Kansas Lakes when the wind whipped up and the waves filled that boat in a matter of minutes, leaving us to paddle back with only the gunnels near the surface since the entire boat was underwater! I think a CD 16 has better sea-keeping abilities than most bass boats.... of course, if you are on a drag race, the bass boat might be better. John
 
Richard,

Try thinking of it this way. Boats are designed for specific purposes and are usually compromises to get the traits the designer was looking for.

In the case of a Bass boat. It is designed to be very fast on fairly calm water and to have lots of deck space for fishing. These boats have evolved due to the needs of Tournement fishermen. They are excellent tools and a lot of fun to fish from.

A C-Dory was designed for the waters of the Pacific Northwest where we get all kinds of conditions from flat calm to the really nasty stuff. While the C-Dory is not designed to win races it is designed to handle all the water conditions it comes across with a pretty comfortable ride while also having the ability to do double duty as a cruiser and a fishing boat. I would say that the C-Dory designers have done a great job at finding the best COMPROMISE for the intended use of the boat.

Now, if your intended use doesn't match what the C-Dory does well then it might not be the boat for you. But if it does you will be very happy with it.

While I haven't gotten my 27 in the water yet due to mechanical issues, I have gone out with a few of the members on this site. Last Summer Roger (RogerBum) and I fished Sekiu for Kings. We motored over from Neah Bay where Roger had the boat moored for his vacation. The seas were very calm on the way out and we made very good time. When we headed back to Neah so I could head home the seas had kicked up and we had widely spaced 8-10 foot swells with 3 foot wind chop. We motored along at about 18 knots and had a nice comfortable ride with the occasional pounding from a very sharp wave dropping out from under us. Overall it was exactly as I expected.

I also own a 19' North River Jet Sled. It has a continuous deadrise of 12 degrees. I've had it out at Sekiu and Neah Bay several times. While it is not designed for such water it does remarkably well when you listen to what the boat is telling you. IE: when the seas come up slow down to a pace that is comfortable. When it lays down go like mad! :oops:

2 Weeks ago I went out with a friend of mine on his 21' Trophy. While the boat will really move across the water in 2'-3' chop it still pounds a bit. But what I REALLY noticed is how violently it rocked from side to side when hit by wakes. There were a few times when it was so bad I had to grab on to the side of the boat to steady myself. I've never had that problem with the Sled and I didn't have that kind of problem on the C-Dory either due to its Dory hull.
 
Enough said....these are the guys that put a 200hp motor on a 15 ft. boat built for two....travel at 70 mph and can't leave the bay or back waters.
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What really seems to upset them most is when you motor into waters more shallow than they can navigate . . .

(ditto for a Montauk)
 
richarddcusick":1tterxo3 said:
Thank you one and all for your responses. Have a trip planned with friend this Saturday.

Richard
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Hopefully you will get some wind chop on your test ride. If your friend doesn't have trim tabs just keep in mind that the ride can be improved in chop with trim tabs by pushing the deep hull entry into the waves. Most of the time in open water you will be able to run at 15-20 knots fairly comfortably. On flat water you can go around 27 knots. On an ocean with a 2 foot wind chop and 6 foot swell your comfort zone will probably be around 15-17 knots.
 
Richard,
Should you buy a C-Dory? Well maybe. I like to look at boats as a tradeoff between the fun factor and the guilt factor. You should get a boat that will be fun, safe, that will do the stuff you mostly want to do, without costing so much that you feel guilty if you don't use it. This critical balance changes with your age, your situation, your finances, your enthusiasm; a whole bunch of stuff. Basically I think people need a good boat that will meets their needs, which doesn't cost so much that they feel guilty if they're not using it. Hey we've mostly all got other lives to live, with weddings, picnics, graduations, family gatherings, home projects, work, relationships, and all the rest of the stuff that fills the clock.

Some of the boats that have fit that balance in the past for me have been a Mad River Canoe, a Compac 16 sailboat, a Boston Whaler 13 with a 25 HP engine, and my C-Dory. One of the boats that didn't work for me was a Catalina 25 sailboat, it was too much work and I felt too guilty when I wasn't using it every weekend.

C-Dory makes some fine boats. If you can stand having one sit on a trailer in the yard, or sit at a dock, or sit in a dry stack, while you do something else in your life-go for it!

Just my opinon!

Mike
 
This is my first season with my C-Dory so here's my take as a newbie.

I bought the boat because I wanted a pilot house to be out of the weather both the sun and the rain and the cold weather.

I like the CD economy - it uses about a third less gas than my last boat.

I love its salty appearance.

So far the only "challange" is operating it by myself.
Launching a 22' CD single handed is no walk in the park and docking one in a wind only comes with experience. I've already learned the ins and outs of gel coat repair but that goes with the learning curve.

All this said, I'm really happy with the boat.
 
Sea Angel here;
Let me invite you to take a look at our Photo section, page 9, "Sea Angel", page 3 of 3 and under the Lankford Collection[cruise]. Lankford Gathering had us cover abt 500NM round trip.

Here you will get a feel for the seas the C-Dory can be at home in. I never felt uncomfortable with the ability of C-Dory 25; even when I had to do a reverse course to turn into the seas... or riding with them off my port quarter for an extended[ 2+ hours] time.

The question is really how are going to use the CD; and, for how long a period of time will you be on board at a time? Applications? Will the boat, you AND the crew take what you are going to ask in the situation?

As to handling the windage, etc.. Practice , practice and practice some more to hone your maneuvering and docking skills.

Hope this gives some food for thought...
 
We have owned a number of boats, including some real "deep V's"--with dead rise over 21 degrees. I have found that the deep v's will do fine up to a point--but then they have to slow down to a displacement speed, and most likely the C Dory will be going faster. The beauty of the semi Dory hull is that it handles speeds from 5 to 25 equally well, you can easily go 10 knots--something which is very difficult in a true deep V.

As said above--each of us has our own requirements in boats--and going fast in 3 foot chop is not the forte of the C Dory--but it will still turn in an average speed--and last year I went from the San Juans to Sequim with 5 to 6 foot rollers with 3 foot chop, and an average speed of over 10 knots. (Faster in the protected waters and slower in the worse part, but safe in all). I have also spent most of my life in the S. Calif. area, and the boat is excellent in typical conditions in that area.
 
Mad mike said that you should not feel guilty for not using a boat. I wanted one that I did not feel gulityabout using. $300 for gas to go fishing would make me feel guilty for going inthe first place. $60 for gas is bad enough. When I first bought the boat it was only $20 for a day of fishing so Iam felling bad enough as it is.

A guy a work wanted me to buy his 32 bayliner cirrea last year for $30 grand. Instead I got the c-dory. sure the dory was almost twice that but I can afford it, monthly that is. the bayliner would be $200 a month for storage and four times as much in gas. Thats 4 times my monthly payment. So you see i can afford, monthly, a new c-dory more then a old bayliner.
 
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