journey on
New member
OK, folks, here is a soliloquy about Journey On. For free you can get my opinions; or as the kids used to say: jeez dad, we’ve heard that already. Now, this is our 4th new boat, the other three being Catalina sailboats, the Chevvy of the sailboat fleet. Cheap and good. I can use those as a standard of comparision without any shame. Incidently, I’ve proved I’m changing over from a sailboat by the scratches on the hull: what do you mean it isn’t going to turn without power? Need to learn a new set of reflexes.
By the way, this is our boat, but my sole opinions, which is all I get around here. My thanks to all who posted their opinions, it helped us a lot.
OK. Why is a C-Dory our type of boat? A C-Dory vs a Bayliner The whole class, Larsen, etc. They don’t have a cabin type boat at less than 6000 lbs, and you can’t see out when you’re in the cabin (Judy’s requirement.) There are other boats with topside cabin, Palmer, even Orca. But none of them are set up primarily for cruisers, they’re fishing boats. The Arima plant is next door to the C-Dory plant and I looked at them. Not the same type of boat, so you can’t compare them if you’re a cruiser. In the C-Dory the head is standard, with shower. Good cockpit, dinette standard. Reasonable v-berth, with enclosed anchor locker. The price isn’t cheap, see Bayliner, but then we looked at a boat built in Paso Robles Ca. which was about $125,000; of course it was only for serious fisherman and not cruisers. KMA(whatever that means.) With gas going to $3/gal, I don’t think a V-8 is the hot setup, so the outboard looked good. And last but not least, I figured my truck will pull about 8000#, or else. That alone ruled out a lot of boats I loved.
So all in all and with Jeff being charming and Scott working hard, we now have a C-Dory. Note: boat show time is a good time to buy, since that question was asked elsewhere.
OK, the boat is now home, has been in the water, and what do we think? Well, the first comparison is with our last Catalina. That’s fair, both production, though the C-Dory should be higher in its class, it cost more compartivily. The fit and finish in the C-Dory, at this point, is equal to or better than our Catalina 36, and that’s good. The hot water installation picture, posted elsewhere, must have been seen in Auburn, cause ours doesn’t look like that. Also the wiring is certainly better than other pics I’ve seen. The production panel has well routed wiring, with the add-ons in the rigging shop not quite so neat. Everything outside is covered by an inspection hatch, and they don’t seem to leak (a single rainy day in Wash.) No bad spots in the gel coat, that I didn’t put there. So C-D appears to be trying to build a high quality boat for the price.
They also now have shelves and two lights in the v-berth (just like the Catalina,) which will make for better cruising. The shelves are a couple of inches low for us oversized people, but Judy’s thrilled. In case you haven’t noticed, right in back of the battery charger is a galvanic isolator, which is great. Good AC and DC panels. I don’t know if they’ll hold our additions, but they look good. Had a power windlass on the 36, but I (not Judy) had to go up and run it. That can be a pain, and I’m looking forward to pressing the button in the cabin, with it raining, and the anchor just coming right up, it will wouldn’t it?
I do notice that a lot of the fittings on the boat come from China. We’ve just got to get used to that, but in some cases I refuse. Such as Chinese safety gear (that’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one.) In our past life, we’ve put great faith in our anchoring gear and we have used that faith. I saw China stamped on the anchor and shackles, so that’ll get replaced, as well as the line and chain.
So in summary, if you see another boat like the C-Dory, note that hull designs can be similar, and they can look a lot alike, but the C-Dory seems to be well built, has good equipment, and is certainly put together well. So compare the details. And no, I’m not Poly Anna, and I don’t believe in the tooth fairy. There will be problems, just less of them.
By the way, this is our boat, but my sole opinions, which is all I get around here. My thanks to all who posted their opinions, it helped us a lot.
OK. Why is a C-Dory our type of boat? A C-Dory vs a Bayliner The whole class, Larsen, etc. They don’t have a cabin type boat at less than 6000 lbs, and you can’t see out when you’re in the cabin (Judy’s requirement.) There are other boats with topside cabin, Palmer, even Orca. But none of them are set up primarily for cruisers, they’re fishing boats. The Arima plant is next door to the C-Dory plant and I looked at them. Not the same type of boat, so you can’t compare them if you’re a cruiser. In the C-Dory the head is standard, with shower. Good cockpit, dinette standard. Reasonable v-berth, with enclosed anchor locker. The price isn’t cheap, see Bayliner, but then we looked at a boat built in Paso Robles Ca. which was about $125,000; of course it was only for serious fisherman and not cruisers. KMA(whatever that means.) With gas going to $3/gal, I don’t think a V-8 is the hot setup, so the outboard looked good. And last but not least, I figured my truck will pull about 8000#, or else. That alone ruled out a lot of boats I loved.
So all in all and with Jeff being charming and Scott working hard, we now have a C-Dory. Note: boat show time is a good time to buy, since that question was asked elsewhere.
OK, the boat is now home, has been in the water, and what do we think? Well, the first comparison is with our last Catalina. That’s fair, both production, though the C-Dory should be higher in its class, it cost more compartivily. The fit and finish in the C-Dory, at this point, is equal to or better than our Catalina 36, and that’s good. The hot water installation picture, posted elsewhere, must have been seen in Auburn, cause ours doesn’t look like that. Also the wiring is certainly better than other pics I’ve seen. The production panel has well routed wiring, with the add-ons in the rigging shop not quite so neat. Everything outside is covered by an inspection hatch, and they don’t seem to leak (a single rainy day in Wash.) No bad spots in the gel coat, that I didn’t put there. So C-D appears to be trying to build a high quality boat for the price.
They also now have shelves and two lights in the v-berth (just like the Catalina,) which will make for better cruising. The shelves are a couple of inches low for us oversized people, but Judy’s thrilled. In case you haven’t noticed, right in back of the battery charger is a galvanic isolator, which is great. Good AC and DC panels. I don’t know if they’ll hold our additions, but they look good. Had a power windlass on the 36, but I (not Judy) had to go up and run it. That can be a pain, and I’m looking forward to pressing the button in the cabin, with it raining, and the anchor just coming right up, it will wouldn’t it?
I do notice that a lot of the fittings on the boat come from China. We’ve just got to get used to that, but in some cases I refuse. Such as Chinese safety gear (that’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one.) In our past life, we’ve put great faith in our anchoring gear and we have used that faith. I saw China stamped on the anchor and shackles, so that’ll get replaced, as well as the line and chain.
So in summary, if you see another boat like the C-Dory, note that hull designs can be similar, and they can look a lot alike, but the C-Dory seems to be well built, has good equipment, and is certainly put together well. So compare the details. And no, I’m not Poly Anna, and I don’t believe in the tooth fairy. There will be problems, just less of them.