What can the 16ft C-Dory handle?

C

CDory23

New member
Hi everybody,

I'm new here and do not own a C-Dory yet, but I'm very interested. I currently own a 18ft Starcraft fish/ski with an 8 ft beam, but downfall is open bow. It has handled good on the calm weather days in the ocean, but just isn't made for it.

I searched for similar topics before posting but couldn't find answers to my exact questions so sorry if people have been over this in the past.

My interests have changed from lake fishing/skiing, to Ocean Fishing. I'm in San Francisco area, and I love going outside of the Golden Gate gate crabbing/fishing. I'd love to go out for Tuna as well as to the Farallon islands regularly. This means roughly 20-30 miles out. Can this boat handle this? The 16ft has close to a 7ft beam from my research which is smaller than my current boat. How rough of seas can this really handle? I'm not opposed to the 19ft, but I currently found a good deal on a 16fter, and I'd love the towing economy of the smaller one. Is there a huge difference in the handling of rough water between these two? Many people (non C-Dory owners) have told me they wouldn't go out far at all in any 16ft boat. I'd be going down in length and beam size from my current boat if I did this.

Any 16ft owners out there that want to share their boating experiences in rough seas, and their habits of how far they venture?

Thanks for any advice!
 
CDory23-

I think you'll find that the majority opinion around here is that a 16 is a fine C-Dory, but if you're going offshore a 19 or a 22 or larger C-Dory would be a much better match for the sea conditions, especially 20-40 miles for albacore, etc.

A 22 isn't simply 6 feet longer than a 22, it's twice as big a boat in most respects!

I believe we just had a 16 footer for sale from a fellow from Monterey that wanted to start going offshore and was selling his 16 to get a 22 or so. See:

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=16994

More opinions will follow, I'm sure, but this is my 2¢, and reflects also what I've heard say on this and other C-Dory sites for the past 12 years or so.

Good Luck!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
I agree that a 16 is not a good choice for going offshore. We used our 16 in the San Juan islands but had to really watch the weather.
 
I have a 22 angler in Santa Cruz and it would all depend on the day. There are many days I take water over the bow on the 22. Things often start getting rough outside the cover of Monterey Bay.

I came close to broaching because I was letting the autopilot run on the way back in with 6 foot swells on a 8 second period. Kind of fun until I slipped down the back of the wave quicker than I expected and buried the bow in the wave in front. Lots of green water over the bow and it twisted the boat 90 degrees but fortunately Sea Cruz just bobbed up on the wave I just fell off of acting like why did you do that to me. I no longer trust the autopilot in short following seas. Probably never should have.

The point is things can be rough out there and mistakes are sometimes absorbed by the capabilities of the boat. I do not know, but would suspect a 16 might have been rolled by my mistake.

As for an open bow boat, since I take water over the bow all the time, normally just heavy spray, but occasionally green water, I really can not imagine an open bow boat in conditions often found on the outside. And of course people do it all the time, I just don't like water coming into my boat very much.

All that said, on a nice day out there, most anything that floats works. But it's a long ways to the Farallons, things change, I would consider a 19 or 22 the minimum I would feel safe to run that far out. Ducking outside the gate a few miles on a nice day is a good use of a 16. But when I compare the size of my 22 to the 16 it feels much bigger. When I am out in 6+ foot short seas if feels small.

By the way, the annual S.F. bay to Delta cruise does not allow the 16 to join the fun and that is inside the bay and delta. Of course the straights to the delta can be a rough patch of water but it does show that there is a real difference between a 16 & 22 in sea worthiness as evaluated by very knowledgeable C-Brats.

Ron
 
For the fun of it, I just checked the sea conditions off the Farallons and the Monterey Bay Buoy. No big storm or anything, winds around 20 and the seas are 12.5 feet at 13 seconds.

I would not want to be out there in anything less than 100 feet and that would not be very comfortable. I am sure many lesser vessels could survive such conditions easily but my body has been beat up enough by life, I don't need the ocean to do it for me.

So it is really more about picking the weather than picking the boat. The weather offshore Northern California often calls for a very seaworthy vessel.

Boy, sitting by the fire sure feels good tonight. Safe wishes for the men and women who must be out on the ocean tonight.

Ron
 
The 16 weighs 950 lb plus 250 lb engine 400lb trailer 1600lb vs

The 19 weighs 1600lb plus 400lb engine 600lb trailer 2600lb

Unless you have a very small vehicle I would go for the 19 or 22 for going out of san fran bay area. The 16 would be good for smaller bodies of water lakes ,rivers , some bays it seems its to small for the gulf of Mexico which is a lot calmer then SFO area .When living in Bay area Pacifica ,Montara I lived right off Hwy 1 . Ive seen a 25 ft flip over back in the 1970's so 16ft no go unless you have a death wish .
 
I had a CD 16 Cruiser for several years, and used it only in protected waters. In fact, I would not venture out unless seas were predicted to be 2 feet or less. Once the seas exceed 4 feet, you'll feel as though you are in mortal jeopardy. Yes, it is a safe boat and floats like a cork on the water, but it is a very small craft. All of the C-Dory's are small craft, and the bottoms of these boats are relatively flat. When seas get heavy, they have to slow down. In my opinion, if you are going to venture out in 20 or 30 miles in open ocean, you probably should think about a high-horsepower, deep-V hull boat as an alternative to a C-Dory. With this type of boat, if the weather turns, you can get back to home port very quickly -- even in rough seas. With a CD-16, as soon as the seas hit 3 feet, you'll have to slow down to about 6 miles per hour (or even less). If you are caught 30 miles out, it would take you 5 hours to get back home as contrasted to 1.4 hours in calm conditions.
 
It all depends on the conditions. There will be some days where it's possible to safely fish 20-30 miles offshore in a 16. There just won't be many of those days. There's more of those days when you own a CD 22 and even more when you own a TomCat. That said, I wouldn't chose a CD-16 as my ocean fishing boat. Length relative to the wave height does matter.
 
I have not owned a 16, but have gone in and out of the Golden Gate with 38, 46 and 62 foot boats. Based on those experiences I would not take a 16 into the area between the Farallons and Golden Gate. It can get rough very rapidly as the tide, currents and wind changes.

You need to check to see the actual weight on a scale of any of the C Dory products. Often they are more than "advertised" weight. My experience is that the 22 is rarely much under 4000 lbs on the trailer and ready to go.
 
We took Journey On to Sauslito, to visit a son in residence. When we took him and his buddies for a tour of SF Bay, we went out the Golden Gate and we did that after the winds came up.

Now, I'm not the bravest of sailors/power boaters, but it seemed rather bouncy going out the first day and we turned back so as not to beat up our guests. Then I talked to a guy with a 24' Bayliner and loads of fishing gear in the next slip. He said to go out the north side, past Horseshoe Bay, hugging the north Golden Gate bridge pier, and the coast past Pt Diablo, Bonita Cove and Pt Bonita. We did that and got out to the point. There were a lot of boats our size anchored next to the shore, fishing, so we got good advice.

The point of this story, is that in my opinion going off shore in a 16' boat is pushing it. We had good weather, the breeze wasn't all that much and it still was rough. I remember coming down the coast in Our Journey (36' sailboat,) that it was smooth at times, except for those darn Alaskan rollers coming down, so I assume that getting in or out of the Gate is the hard part. Going 20-30 miles off shore should be done with a bigger boat. I'd vote for the 25 at least, perhaps for the Queen Mary at best. Those of you with 22's can judge for yourself.

Boris
 
I have a 16ft Alumaweld and a 23ft C-Dory. I have had the little boat out in 6ft seas. I have had the 23 out in 5ft seas. Both short wave length in the Gulf. Not fun. CAN you go out that far in a 16, yes. SHOULD you, probably not. In any case, buy an EPIRP.
 
Used to take my 16-foot, aluminum Westcoaster out there and back, so the C-Dory is surely capable.

The issue is that the number of days and times that the wind and weather will permit the trip will be fairly limited. There will also be times that the gate is closed to you, and you will have to shelter to the north side of the channel, between the tide station and the bridge, until the current-waves settle down. The real issue would be what do do if the afternoon winds were getting serious outside the gate, but the gate was impassable due to current waves.

The closed cabin is also an advantage of the larger C-Dorys, giving us many more boating days then some of our friends.

Also, the relatively flat hull of the C-Dory is great for swells and chop. A deep-V only gives you an advantage as long as the conditions are suitable for proceeding on-plane. Once the conditions demand displacement speed, a deep-V tends to wobble like a Weeble, resulting in more sway and less predictable handling then a flatter dory hull.

I'm in the Bay area too, so drop me an email sometime and we could go out for a trip.

David
 
To add to my comments earlier, and there have been a lot of very valid points made in between:

I've been over the Potato Patch Shoal and the ocean thereabouts in several boats, including my own CD-22 Cruiser, and the conditions can get overwhelming.

Just before the 9-11 event made it impossible for civilians to be aboard, my Coast Guard buddy took me out in a new USCG 47-foot (Rescue) Surfboat from Station Golden Gate to the Lightship Buoy and back, and we were in conditions that made me thankful we had 1.) a nearly fifty foot boat with 2.) nearly 1000 hp and 3.) a boat designed to be fully capable of self-righting in case of a roll-over. Did I mention we wore USCG provided Mustang Survival Suits and Crash Helmets? Definitely a Thrill of a Lifetime, but not for C-Dorys, and especially for a 16!

Can you buy a new C-Ddory with an Ejection Seat and a Helicopter in-Flight Pick-Up Taxi Service? :lol:

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Given the quantity of large Great White Sharks around the Farallons, I suspect the survival suit would merely function as a bun, keeping you nice and warm until they can get you in their mouth.

One of the Coast Guard self-righting boats is up for sale, and has been on the market since before I bought my C-Dory 3 years ago. The major drawback is the fuel bill, 20 gph @ 15.3 knots.

Anyway, thought it might be of interest, so here's the link: www.mlb44.com

David
 
:lol: we got our 16 in 2005, dive and fish off of newport oregon, the little boat is just a bobber in the water..... if i could I would have a 22 it will keep you out of trouble, we have been in plenty! Old saying if you had a bigger boat you just might stay out in that bigger water, ask yourself do you want to? We are short and sleep in the bottom of the boat on gatherings. Have a 50HP and an 18 motor for backup.... Just my thought, if you can afford a 22 get a 22! But we have a lot of fun in our 16 and it uses very very little fuel, we don't go fast but we can chug along....hope this helps.....

Jan nine inches
 
OK, I just have to weigh in.

I just finished a book about two clam diggers in an open dory who rowed across the Atlantic around 1890 or so.

Yes, you can go across the ocean in a far better 16' c-dory.

But having taken green water over a closed bow in the pacific in a 19' searay I can't imagine myself in such an undertaking as you pose.

There are old sailors and bold sailors but no old bold sailors.

Be afraid of big water you'll live longer. C-Dories will take more abuse from big water than I would expect (I think) but I am unwilling to gamble.
It is this seaworthy property that attracted me to the boat. Non-the-less a friend of mine in a seaworthy 25' was turning around heading for the harbor at the Westport bar when an open square ended skiff passed him. We all draw our own limit.

I recommend a larger boat

Chris
 
I have a mighty fine 16 For Sale that I know personally can take some big waves. It's a matter of how much you can take. I'm going to miss dropping it into any shallow pond I come across. I just need more space for 2 people, 2 dogs, and all the crap I travel with.
 
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