I was hoping to gather some feedback following a recent excursion this weekend when my wife encountered a 70's era Tollycraft 34 Sedan and began the discussion moving to a larger beam and length to fit the family. Currently residing in a CC 26 that we have been enjoying for the past year (it was a 1 owner, excellent condition boat when we purchased it and have been extensively upgrading it this year). We are fairly new to boating and find ourselves in the water most weekends (leaving out of Birch Bay). I am trying to debate the pros/cons of this discussion when looking at gaining space and comfort (for my family) with the Tollycraft vs. the familiarity and love I have for our CC. I have yet to be in the water with a Tollycraft (researching extensively the past few days) or other similar sized boats so I am open to all feedback from others. Thanks, Brock
Tollycraft 34 vs CC 26 - worth it to make the wife happy
- Thread starter bmachine
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Those are very different boats, each designed for a particular use. From here, this is one guy's opinion...
That era Tollycrafts are nice boats, heavily built. If your usage is staying on the water and essentially cruising one area, a well-kept/maintained Tolly would be a good "cabin on the water" or slower cruising boat.
Your Cape Cruiser is a trailerable boat that gives up beam and length to be reasonably easily trailerable. While your usage may currently be all that you can reach from the Birch Bay area, if you decide to trailer other places, the opportunities are unlimited. Florida Keys in the winter, the New York Canal System in the summer... you are only limited by time and money.
There is something to be said for beam and elbow room, and the Tolly has that in spades over the CC. If the Tolly you are considering has a fly bridge, that is another interesting consideration. Bigger boat > bigger maintenance > bigger marina costs > more expensive to haul out > bigger fuel costs. Inboard vs outboard makes a difference in ease of maintenance and being able to haul the boat to an inland facility vs using a boat yard with a travel lift.
If I were truly living onboard (we spent up to 6 months at a time on our CD-25), I would certainly be looking towards the bigger boat. If I was looking to take a boat to all the interesting cruising places on a trailer behind a truck, I'd be staying with the CC. An older boat can be a huge money pit if it is need of updating; are you able to do the work yourself?
This isn't apples and oranges - more like apples and watermelons; the apple you can put in your lunch bag and enjoy on the go; the watermelon is going to take up more space and be more work (slicing, plates, refrigerate after cracking it open) to enjoy.
Good luck with the decisions.
That era Tollycrafts are nice boats, heavily built. If your usage is staying on the water and essentially cruising one area, a well-kept/maintained Tolly would be a good "cabin on the water" or slower cruising boat.
Your Cape Cruiser is a trailerable boat that gives up beam and length to be reasonably easily trailerable. While your usage may currently be all that you can reach from the Birch Bay area, if you decide to trailer other places, the opportunities are unlimited. Florida Keys in the winter, the New York Canal System in the summer... you are only limited by time and money.
There is something to be said for beam and elbow room, and the Tolly has that in spades over the CC. If the Tolly you are considering has a fly bridge, that is another interesting consideration. Bigger boat > bigger maintenance > bigger marina costs > more expensive to haul out > bigger fuel costs. Inboard vs outboard makes a difference in ease of maintenance and being able to haul the boat to an inland facility vs using a boat yard with a travel lift.
If I were truly living onboard (we spent up to 6 months at a time on our CD-25), I would certainly be looking towards the bigger boat. If I was looking to take a boat to all the interesting cruising places on a trailer behind a truck, I'd be staying with the CC. An older boat can be a huge money pit if it is need of updating; are you able to do the work yourself?
This isn't apples and oranges - more like apples and watermelons; the apple you can put in your lunch bag and enjoy on the go; the watermelon is going to take up more space and be more work (slicing, plates, refrigerate after cracking it open) to enjoy.
Good luck with the decisions.
PaulNBriannaLynn
New member
Since you are using it in the same location every weekend, the pros of a larger boat seem to make sense to me. If you can keep it in a slip ready to enjoy whenever you want, and aren't needing to launch and trailer.... the Tolly will be more enjoyable for the family. Probably more expensive and needy than your 26 on a daily basis but its only money. Not even mine in this case :lol:
If it makes the wife and family happy, it might be worth a try. Can always go back to the c-dory down the road.
If it makes the wife and family happy, it might be worth a try. Can always go back to the c-dory down the road.
T.R. Bauer
New member
I have been a couple of Tollys and they are great boats. And they don't have to be slow - my good buddy has one with twin diesels that is comfy at 30 mph and really sips fuel for what it is. If were in the market, Uniflite makes a bombproof boat too and I would not turn away from.
My buddy had a 27? foot Tolly. It was great when it was tied up to the dock. He couldn't afford to motor anywhere because of the fuel consumption. It was very expensive to run so he sold it. Be prepared to pay a lot more to operate it and also be aware that you most likely will have to pay for year round moorage. Then there is haul out and repainting the bottom every 3 or so years. Good luck with your decision.
Growing up in a boating family, the evolution of boats started at 17', and progressed to 20', 24', 30' and finally 40'. The first 3 boats were trailerable and we enjoyed a wide variety of boating locations, including mountain lakes, Puget Sound, Canadian Gulf Islands, and the Columbia River.
As my parents got older and tired of towing and launching, the last two boats were moored and served more as a floating weekend cabin with short day trips.
One thing I noticed with the last two boats was an exponential jump in the cost of fuel and maintenance. My dad would joke: " You steer with one hand and write checks with the other."
Tolly's are excellent boats. Unless it has been re-powered, it will most likely have twin gas engines. You will become good friends with the folks at the gas dock! Good luck with your decision. The CC and Tolly both serve their purposes well.
As my parents got older and tired of towing and launching, the last two boats were moored and served more as a floating weekend cabin with short day trips.
One thing I noticed with the last two boats was an exponential jump in the cost of fuel and maintenance. My dad would joke: " You steer with one hand and write checks with the other."
Tolly's are excellent boats. Unless it has been re-powered, it will most likely have twin gas engines. You will become good friends with the folks at the gas dock! Good luck with your decision. The CC and Tolly both serve their purposes well.
May I just add my 2 cents worth as a 'Flybridge' was mentioned in previous posts.
I had a flybridge on my Camano Troll. It had a sunshade bimini but no canvas full enclosure.
On a rare hot sunny day with little wind in the PNW it was great steering from up top. Back to reality, it was often to chilly up top when under way. So, if you buy a boat with a flybridge in the PNW, think canvas enclosure.
Martin.
I had a flybridge on my Camano Troll. It had a sunshade bimini but no canvas full enclosure.
On a rare hot sunny day with little wind in the PNW it was great steering from up top. Back to reality, it was often to chilly up top when under way. So, if you buy a boat with a flybridge in the PNW, think canvas enclosure.
Martin.
It is not that hard to heat the flying bridge: Get a "Red Dot" or similar heater. We used 25,000 BTU to heat the raised cockpit on the Cal 46. Run two hoses up from the engine room and a 10 amp circuit for the fan. Of course this assumes canvas for the flying bridge. On sunny days, a canvas flying bridge enclosure can be nice and warm in the PNW.
localboy":2s0dvrjl said:
Well, the Tollycraft, with all its flybridge splendor, was built in and for the PNW waters. The Tolly flybridge has that odd looking forward facing windshield that does an amazing job of keeping the wind off a seated person. I had the pleasure of using a Tolly for one summer up here in Bellingham, WA and I am still of the opinion that the flybridge is glorious. The San Juans get almost zero rain during the summer boating season.
Pat Anderson
New member
I admire the Tollys but have never owned one. But I own a 2005 CD25 free and clear and have this past summer experienced paying for a 26 foot slip rental in Blaine Marina at $245 per month from May through September. Big mistake. (We live in Birch Bay, maybe we could have a meet and greet sometime!).
But anyway, I am in the "keep your Venture 26 camp" because a slip-bound Tolly will limit your ability to do what you CAN do. You will be limited to Puget Sound and cruises north into Canada (not entirely bad of course), and you will spend a LOT on slip fees and fuel. We have cruised Lake Powell four times. We have cruised the Idaho lakes. We have cruised Lake Roosevelt. Best of all, we cruised the Great Loop in 2017. We towed from Birch Bay to Florida and spent 8 months cruising 5,428 mile on the Great Loop (see blog link in signature). We spent more on slip rental for May through September at $245 per month than we did on fuel for the entire Great Loop. You will never do that on a Tolly.
But anyway, I am in the "keep your Venture 26 camp" because a slip-bound Tolly will limit your ability to do what you CAN do. You will be limited to Puget Sound and cruises north into Canada (not entirely bad of course), and you will spend a LOT on slip fees and fuel. We have cruised Lake Powell four times. We have cruised the Idaho lakes. We have cruised Lake Roosevelt. Best of all, we cruised the Great Loop in 2017. We towed from Birch Bay to Florida and spent 8 months cruising 5,428 mile on the Great Loop (see blog link in signature). We spent more on slip rental for May through September at $245 per month than we did on fuel for the entire Great Loop. You will never do that on a Tolly.
T.R. Bauer
New member
I agree Pat, there is nothing like a trailable boat if you want to spice things up and go different places. However, if one is happy where they are boating and that's the only place they want to go, it's not that terrible walking from your car to your big huge boat, with all the amenities of home, firing it up, and heading out to your favorite spot. I can't afford it - plain and simple! I would love to have a big 30 plus foot Tolly with twin 350 hp cummins diesels, a genset, flybridge and all the trimmings. Not happening.....
T.R. Bauer
New member
I would recommend chartering a big boat for a week and better yet, two different big boats for a week each. My buddy had a 40+ Grand Banks? charter this summer and was looking at a 32 Riviera but backed off last week. Lots of trade offs in moving up in size. He finally decided not to go with the 32 since the cruise was about 15kn and if he is going for a fast cruiser he wants one that moves, since his Boston whaler does close to 40kn. He towed his whaler with the big boat and had the enjoyable no stress 9kn cruise but the thrill of his whaler for exploring.
Send me the details on your 26 venture! I can’t afford .5 footitus but I can dream!
Send me the details on your 26 venture! I can’t afford .5 footitus but I can dream!
Thanks for all the feedback; we are having lengthy discussions and this has helped. Currently we have the CC in our slip space for most of the spring/summer season; we tend to hustle our way to the dock for 2-3 day excursions following work on most weekends. We break that up with some weekly voyages when the school schedule allows. Time will tell if we begin the process of adventuring to different areas. I am concerned with the gas prices (going from a single 150 to twin 300's). The Tolly we are looking at has brand new engines, however needs some updating in the interior and I am not sure I have the patience for another project (given all of the updates I have made to our CC). The space is nice; we found that the CC is perfect for 2-3, sucks when we have company or extended family who want to venture out.
Check to see if it has steel fuel tanks. Many of the early steel tanks are rusting through about this time and the engines have to be removed to replace the fuel tanks. Also, the windows. There are very few Tollys around that the windows don't leak. I had to cut out 4" of dry rot around mine when I replaced them.
Other than those two things I enjoyed a 34' Tolly for 6 years and I've had my 40 for over 32 years now. They're a TANK ! But, as with most other boats, the rudders are too small and they wallow like a pig in a beam sea. :sad
Other than those two things I enjoyed a 34' Tolly for 6 years and I've had my 40 for over 32 years now. They're a TANK ! But, as with most other boats, the rudders are too small and they wallow like a pig in a beam sea. :sad