Would you buy agin or go another way ?

dotnmarty":2y0zxs4i said:
We 16 footers can attest to that!

Absolutely! I had the privilege of meeting Lyle and Janda on the 16 Cruiser "See-Saw" at the Powell gathering this year, and one day they showed me around their boat and their systems for making things work. It reminded me of kayaking days (no surprise as they come from kayaking/backpacking), and had a great simplicity/modularity to it.

For me now, "living aboard" the 22 Cruiser is great and luxurious; but if I were going out and back from home more, I would definitely consider the ultimate simplicity and utilitarian-ness of a 16, or maybe a 22 Classic.

And I could tow the 16 with my station wagon - like you do :thup

Handy how they make a range of sizes for different people/styles/stages :D

Sunbeam
 
If you have money burning a hole in your pocket, buy the 26' Venture. One never has to say, "I should have bought the bigger C-Dory". I also bought the 26' thinking my wife would like it better than a smaller model. Didn't work.
 
I bought a new CD25 cruiser this year and have put 30 hours on it in the Chesapeake Bay.

The boat is well designed, built, efficient, economical, shallow draft, simple, easy to operate, trailerable, looks good, is well equipped, and gets noticed wherever I go. Most importantly, it meets my requirements better than any other design at the moment and is living up to my expectations.

So yes, I would definitely get this boat again, and if I want to move on in 5 years, I'm pretty confident it will keep a lot of value and should sell fairly easily.
Probably. :)
 
For the many reasons listed previously, I can't imagine a boat I'd rather have than a C-dory (given my financial circumstances). However, I am envious of boats with a flybridge, like a Tollycraft for example. On a nice day, I really like being outside when I'm driving a boat.
 
Our first "bigger" boat was a 32' Sundowner Tug - 23,000lbs, single screw, major amount of beautiful teak to maintain, complex expensive systems, expensive haul outs for expensive indoor storage, limited cruising area.

So, we had all that in mind when we bought our CD22. In fact, my normal method of doing things would have had me buying the CD25 but the above factors made me keep everything simple and easy.

Last year we purchased a motor home and kept the boat in storage (in-laws large shed). With "bigger" boat it would have cost us to store, some maintenance still would have been needed with teak, etc. With CD22, no worries.

We have everything we had on the 32' Sundowner (autopilot, house batteries, inverter, etc) but none of the complexity.

We cruised Lake Michigan and the North Channel with the Sundowner in 6 years. We have cruised Lake Michigan, North Channel, Erie Canal, Trent-Severn, Rideau Canal, Vancouver, Gulf Islands, Victoria and now stored and ready for next years San Juan Islands -- all in 4 years.

Buy the smallest boat you can afford.
 
I love my 25 and would absolutely buy it again. When I was first looking for a boat, I was only looking at 25s. Now that I've been around 22s, I would open up my search to include them as well. I do think the 22 is the best looking C-Dory of the bunch though. The proportions just seem right. Don't get me wrong, I love the looks of my 25.

As was mentioned in a previous post, I do get jealous on those summer days when i see all the people on runabouts with the wind in their faces.
 
I used to have a console RIB. When it was nice out, sitting out in the open was very nice. However, when it got chilly or rainy, there was limited places to sit that were protected from the weather when cruising along. The open arrangement limited the days we could use the boat. Having an enclosed cabin on the CD22 greatly expands the number of days we use our boat.

However, being able to sit outside (when the weather allowed) and fully experiencing the environment when cruising is something I miss with the CD.
 
Yeah, the inside/outside is a thing. For the most part (and maybe I've just gotten too "delicate"), I don't want to be out in rain or cold, and I also don't want to be out in the sun (UV). That said, there are those few perfect days, when it would be nice. I suppose on those days I'll simply take out whatever I end up with for a dinghy (boat/kayak/SUP/etc.).

One summer I was on a (wooden) boat with a 3/4 length hard top and supporting side pillars, which then had custom fit canvas side panels (with clear windows) that could be quickly rolled down and fastened (or re-stowed rolled up in place). Or one could sit (if not at the helm) in that last 1/4 of the boat which was open cockpit. That was a really nice compromise, and unlike some more complicated arrangements, we really did often switch back and forth from "enclosed sides" to "open sides."

Still, for what I'm doing now, I'll take the 22 :thup
 
Sunbeam":7w0zvrf2 said:
Yeah, the inside/outside is a thing. For the most part (and maybe I've just gotten too "delicate"), I don't want to be out in rain or cold, and I also don't want to be out in the sun (UV). That said, there are those few perfect days, when it would be nice.

Still, for what I'm doing now, I'll take the 22 :thup

On those days I slather up the sunscreen, pull on the wide brimmed hat, fire up the 5 hp kicker and sit back there and enjoy.
 
dotnmarty":3v33ozlu said:
On those days I slather up the sunscreen, pull on the wide brimmed hat, fire up the 5 hp kicker and sit back there and enjoy.

You know, I did that for a while (for the first time) the other day when I was running my kicker to get stabilized fuel into it, and then to run it out of fuel. It was downright fun, and made me glad it has a tiller

I'd probably be ten times better at docking with that engine as the wheel still seems "backwards" to me -- but I'm slowly getting used to it. Now if I could just stop shifting into forward when I'm trying to throttle up in reverse..... (I guess that's two-lever-control brain kicking in... mostly happens when I'm looking aft.)

It's funny how the various controls "do" different things to my brain. For the first week we were out I kept feeling like something was "missing" for the first 20 minutes or so, but couldn't figure out what it was. I had a vague, "free floating" sensation. Finally I realized: The seating position and wheel are so car-like, and I never drive a car without my seatbelt on :crook
 
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