tomcat vs other cdorrys for offshore?

i hadn't any attentions of making a 40 mile run on a maiden voyage? if asked, i'd project any of those (a good year) into my ownership?

90% of my usage would be 10 miles within land, but i'd like to invest in the right boat, most capable for a few tuna runs (1 or 2 seasons from now, and with wife on shore)

i only mentioned i'm doing open charters, another year while i'm boat-less. i hadn't intended to invite all the obvious contrasts to a 25' 6 pack

i've no captain experience, but i've been beaten up a few times on a 25' vessel in the atlantic some 35 yrs ago. my dad and uncle were stressed out, but to a 15 yr old, i recollect it was just scary fun. . . i am green, yes, but not quite as reckless as a few assumptions.

yes, i sure do love the armstrongs and other aluminum cats in my early search. but i've found these cdorys in the $50K price range will already outlive me. so working into my 60s to pay $200k for a used 25' tank that will outlast my future kids . . . is a bit overkill.
 
We've had our Tomcat for a few years now and still love it as much as our first sea trial. Merry gets seasick as well but handles that with Travacalm from Australian pharmacies. It's not available in North America any more but it's the only thing that works for her. She cuts the tablets into quarters.
That said, we went diving yesterday in three foot swells at five second intervals. It was not fun. Wind and short intervals swells will affect every boat. I've been out in bad conditions in monohulls thousands of times and it makes me love the Tomcat even more.
 
thanks phil,
i really appreciate that. the feedback i really hoping for (what my post was intended) my wife deals with her weak stomach by keeping post horizontal most of the time aboard. although, she applies this same technique at home, so ummm anyway?

i believe whatever i decide, it will fit to my modest needs. i think my major test in sea trial will be in judging the amount of roll while trolling 1-2 ft chop? if the T255 can be a close tie with a tralwer style like RF246, then i think i may be looking at my boat, given all the other things i so love in a powercat.
 
We have these boats, Rosborough + C Dory + Tomcat [as well as others ]at Wefings and may have a good unbiased perspective for you with our multi use customer's experiences .
Be happy to share my thoughts via e mail ,visit. or PM .

Marc
 
thanks marc,
i was kind of really hoping to finding my boat on the west coast, but you certainly are the man i'm looking for. my wife is never mad at a trip to FL either. i will have to keep in mind, early spring of 2018. that will at least have me closer to getting serious about a purchase.
 
So, you're ready to buy your first boat, think you know what you want and know
what you want to do.

Sounds a lot like me about 1/2 a century ago when I was thinking about it.
Now I know it's not much different than wanting to marry the first young woman
I thought I was in love with.

I'm telling you there are "rose colored glasses" that fit most of us when it comes to
boats and women.

Same advice for both situations: take your time, look around, get some experience,
read a few books about it, talk to a few people who seem to have had a long term
positive experience. Not to mention know your own limitations and abilities as
well as those of whom you will be with in close quarters.

Feelin' lucky? Then go for it with no regrets.

Aye.
 
1st boat and 1st wife is a good one. although, i've been lucky at one, i'd be really pushing my luck to think i'm ready for this one quite yet.

i've gotten to know a bit of what i want, things pay attention to, etc. getting the right hull and right sized boat to grow into, is focus for now.
 
Another option I haven't seen mentioned - The somewhat rare C-Dory 26' Pro Angler is almost a deep-v, and the completely-rebuilt Great Republic is still on the market and now down into the $50's (I think it was in the $80's when first listed). With that boat you could run your own charters! And it may still be on the market when you are ready to buy next year. The restoration photos were uploaded here a couple of years ago, you should be able to find them using the search feature - I recall it being a pretty good quality build.
http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list...er&&hosturl=marinelenders&&ywo=marinelenders&

-Mike
 
if this 26' is the ultimate cdory, i honestly can't see why it would still be available 12 months from now? but actually Jason has raised my awareness of this rare bird a few posts earlier. it's funny though, some guys suggest the RF246 as a top pick, while others say that shouldn't even be on the list. obviously, different usages and priorities create some widely different opinions. i'm confident there's no "bad" boat in my mix. and the 1st morning i get to wakeup in my own cabin, i'm going to love whatever it is.
 
excuse my ignorance. that was the 26' venture that was suggested earlier. and i really don't know all the subtleties and differences the venture has with the pro-angler?
 
I owned a C Dory 26 Venture for 3 years and can attest it is no "offshore" vessel.

I sold it mostly due to waiting for weather; not being able to handle comfortably
Lake Michigan and Lake Huron (North Channel, Georgian Bay) where I do most of
my boating. Same experiences in the Chesapeake, around Hilton Head, Orange
Beach, and SW Florida.

Aye.
 
nuccifilms":3klzh2lh said:
excuse my ignorance. that was the 26' venture that was suggested earlier. and i really don't know all the subtleties and differences the venture has with the pro-angler?
Click to expand...

The Pro Angler was a model built years ago, and I don't know how many, but very few, (like single digit few) I believe. It was probably 3 manufacturers back or more.

The Venture 26, is a current version, an up grade to the C-Dory 25. Up grade in size by a foot, and in amenities and finishment. both of the "Venture" series are direct descendants from what was the Cape Cruiser boats, built by a new and different company. The came from a group who had worked for C-Dory, and had some improvements and went out on their own to originate a competing brand. Well, it went to court and C-Dory won, and got the molds and the Cape Cruiser company "went away". NMI, (Northwest Marine Industries) is the current D-Dory (and SeaSport among other) manufacturers. They are currently building both C-Dory and Venture boats in the C-Dory lineup.

The Venture series (23 26) have a more upscale finish, with headliners in the cabin, a bit more cabin space, canted cleat positions, and a bit sharper V on the bow entry, and I believe a bit more deadrise at the transom. They weigh more, and with the sharper entry do give a better ride in moderate chop. Also, they should be around and available in a year or when ever you are ready. The ProAngler, if it is purchased by a new owner, may be happily occupied for some time to come, so it might be long wait for that one to come back onto the market.

Hope that provides a bit more clarity.

As to "waiting for weather" Sometimes that is a good idea in any boat, but in the C-Dory lineup, aside from the TomCat255, I would think the V-26 would be the most capable of any. And I suppose, and agree, there are different levels of "comfortable", but I have run my 22 side by side with a CD 25 in head on 4 to 6 foot waves, and aside from the hobby horse ride, we were both able to make 4 - 6 knot headway. (Knight Inlet in the Broughtons for about 12 miles).

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

3_Bellingham_Line_of_C_D_s_2009_917.highlight.jpg
 
They also make the venture in a sport version which is basically a stripped down version of the venture series - think 22/25 finish/no liner etc. when I compared the two adding options ended up costing more than buying the normal venture package and deleting what you don’t want. Ie I didn’t want the stove and wash down pump. The 23 is slightly wider, taller and longer than the 22. I rode in a 22 before buying the 23, the 22 is a bit louder and not as smooth on the water as the 23. The 23 has a closed vacuum sealed foam core vs a balsa core.

They are all great boats it’s just a matter of what you want vs what you can afford and tow as well as (many people forget this) what you can afford to operate gph etc. the worst thing you can do is buy a huge used boat that you can’t afford to run/maintain. C-dorys are IMHO the ideal compromise. Trailerable with a reasonable rig, seaworthy, economical to run yet offer the cabin cruiser experience and is easy to live with. That’s the bottom line for me. If I didn’t care about trailering or operating costs I would have made a different decision.

It was also important to me that the boat have an outboard.

Harald
 
C-dorys are IMHO the ideal compromise. Trailerable with a reasonable rig said:
harald, you did a superb job of summing up the thought process for me. there's a few choices for me to test ride, including the seasport 24. i do hope to (someday) apply towards fishing 40 miles out into the drifting kelp beds. and the less hobby horse of a ride may perhaps extend my boat ownership further into my retirement years. i will be comparing the T255 on the choppy water, and see if that's worth double the investment and upkeep of a CD22?
Click to expand...
 
nuccifilms;

I have a TC255 and have a lot of experience off shore in Eureka Ca. My previous boat was a 24ft striper mono hull. The TomCat is much more stable and comfortable than the Seaswirl (which I had taken 60 to 70 miles offshore for albacore). My wife used to get seasick every time we went out. She was such a trooper that it didn't stop her from going. She rarely gets sick now.

The Tomcat does require a more powerful tow vehicle than your other choices. But, we tow to northern Washington annually with a Ram 2500 Diesel and are very satisfied with it.

Dr. Bob makes some very good points about outrunning a storm. Weather conditions change fast. However, while cruising to SE Alaska we would look at the weather forecasts and get ahead of the winds by making 27+Kts for a 5 to 6 hr. run and be ahead of it to a satisfactory moorage. Otherwise we could have been stuck at an undesirable area for a few days.

We have had the Tomcat since new, for 11 years, with about 3000 hrs on it. Maintenance is double that of a single engine, the safety factor far outweighs the expense. At displacement speeds there is a slap when the wind waves are greater than 3ft.

All in all the Tomcat is a very comfortable offshore and cruising vessel. Last year we lived on it in SE Alaska for 4 months and in 2008 for 3 months. I've made a number of offshore trips for Albacore annually and highly recommend it. They are easy to skipper with a little common sense applied.

If you plan a trip to Northern California I'd be g;ad to let you have a sea trial on her.

Gene
 
I have a 19' Angler. First ocean boat I have owned and have learned a lot over the last 5 years. Luckily I have two buddies who already had ocean boats/experience I learned from. My opinion on going offshore period. Get a different boat. Get a boat with better dead rise, a flat deck/fishing platform with some good room, self-bailing deck, good power and good fuel capacity. Not slamming C-Dory as my boat has caught lots of fish and has got me there and back safe. Have got caught in some serious water twice. It got me back safe. If you are dead set on C-Dory then get the 22 Angler if you are fishing. And that is only because you get better deck space, still not self-bailing. My boat always has a bit of water sloshing around after using the washdown. I have been looking for a new boat for months now and was dead set on staying with fiberglass. As of now the frontrunner is a Raider 2484 Voyager aluminum boat built in Washington. Check them out. Good luck and always know your limits when going offshore. Don't be afraid to stay home or turn back and wait for another day if the weather gets funky.
 
thanks gene,
i've gotten a whole lot of good feedback lately and confidence in knowing where to head in my search. your stating that your wife fairs way better in seasickness on the T255 helps paint a picture in broad strokes. having my wife on board more, going out a bit further, perhaps extending my window of boating years a bit more as well. . . it all adds up. however, i wouldn't plan on towing a T255 more than 15 miles to and from the landing. and with that, i guess going bigger, means waiting a good year for my total relocation to SD Bay. however, in terms of cost/logistics, a CD22 would definitely be seeing a whole lot of hwy miles, a whole lot sooner than later.
 
haliman":2ung9b00 said:
As of now the frontrunner is a Raider 2484 Voyager aluminum boat built in Washington.
Click to expand...

hailman, i wish i could be more on your level, but i'm married 1st, fishing/boating 2nd. if it were solely up to me, i'd sell everything, live out of a trailer with a 34ft welded aluminum armstrong cat. and work towards running my own private charter someday and never look back. coming from a 5 bedroom house, pool and a wife wanting to fill it up with kids. . . i couldn't be further from that dream :(
 
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