Cdory 16 handle short choppy water

C

Carolina Sturgeon

New member
How do these boats do in the 6"- 1' chop I boat in SC lakes and NC Intercoastal and do not mind slowing down, but these are normal conditions and do not want to get pounded. What is a good cruising speed with this model? I would put tabs and permatrim on one if that helps.
:)
 
Hey Carolina Sturgeon:

I boat in Lake Wateree in a 16 Cruiser. This is one boat, when the rest are running for cover, will handle the lake chop wonderfully. I use a StingRay Classic Hydrofoil Stabilizer (XPI Senior 40hp and up) for trim purposes. It does fine.

As far as speed, I usually use a slow plane, depending on my load. You may want to shift some weight forward as the wind will push the cabin a bit. Make sure your wipers work as you will take spray, but hey, that's part of the fun and you stay dry in the cabin.

This is the best lake boat I've had. It'll take rough choppy water, it's economical and it'll go into shallow areas where others are afraid to tread. It's great for getting up into coves for a night camping spot.

Hope this helps some. :)
 
Well, if, as you say, you don't mind slowing down, they do fine in 6" to one foot chop. Regarding the other, I would recommend getting Permatrim on both models of the 16 footer. Hold off on the trim tabs . See what your experience is after a season. I'd bet you will get used to the ride and find you don't need tabs on a 16. Regarding wipers, I feel electric wipers are a must on the cruiser model but not necessary on the angler because the manual handles are easily reached from the seats. If you ride alone most of the time you might consider an electric wiper on the starboard windshield. Personally I don't seea need for electric wipers on an angler. We like to cruise at 12-15 miles per hour, about 3500-3800 rpm. If we're hustling home we can easily make the middle 20's if the water is flat.
 
When you talk about slowing down what type of speed do you mean. I need to be able to plane and go around 15 mph or so in 1/2-1 foot chop as that is normal water on Lake Murray, SC and NC Intercoastal. A little bouncy ride is okay as it is only a 16' boat. I can do 15 in my dads 20' pontoon boat with 25' round pontoons in those conditions so I would at least like to match that speed at least. Slowing down to displacement speed would not be satisfactory. What is your slow plane speed, again assuming a permatrim on the motor?
 
Hey once again Carolina Sturgeon,

You shouldn't have a problem running 15-18 mph in a 6 inch to 1 foot chop depending on your engine hp and load. I run a Suzuki 50, with power tilt and trim and the earlier mentioned StingRay Classic Hydrofoil Stabilizers.

We got caught in a thunderstorm while we thought we were running from one (there were two, one north of us, we ran into the southern one). We weren't bounced nor were we pounded. We had spray going completely over the cabin. I did slow down to where I was just on a plane, approx. 12 maybe 14 mph. The boat did great.
 
Hello again Carolina Sturgeon:

This past week, we took our 16 Cruiser up to Lake Wateree. There was a decent chop running of 12 plus inches. Thinking about your question I brought our boat up to WOT (5400 rpms) just to see if we were pounded. We weren't. The little boat skimmed over the chop with a slight "popping" noise. The only time I took any spray was when we crossed the wake of another boat.

Have fun, be safe. Spuncopper
 
Carolina Sturgeon said:
When you talk about slowing down what type of speed do you mean. I need to be able to plane and go around 15 mph or so in 1/2-1 foot chop as that is normal water on Lake Murray, SC and NC Intercoastal. /quote]

I too have been thinking about your question. To be honest I can't really answer it. First, I never really know when I'm on plane. When we had a deep v boat there was no question of the exact moment it got up on plane. Our first C-Dory was a 22 footer. I remember when sea trialing it. As we sped along I asked the owner when it will get up on plane. He said we had done that some time ago. It's the same with the 16. As for the pounding in chop, I let the boat tell me when to back down. I'll just say this little flat bottom boat is susceptible to outside influences which you soon get used to and eventually hardly notice. Your casual companions however, will.
Click to expand...
 
I have hit some waves that have knocked things off my shelves but I felt pretty comfortable through it all. I have gotten better at anticipating and slowing down into the wave.
 
As an aside, Kevin's video shows one of the advantages of the cruiser model. On the cruiser the rectangular side window opens while on the angler the forward "triangular" window opens. It is much easier on the cruiser to simply lean out and place a bumper or even a dock line. Each model does have several advantages over the other which I won't go into. They both have the same hull but are essentially different boats. I of course love them both.
Lizzie Cruiser
Snohomish_07.jpg


Lizzie II angler
Fisherman_s_Terminal_12.jpg
 
We also have had a 22 and now have a 16 and we concluded that the 16 rides better than the 22 in a chop. It seems that the helm is mounted closer to the mid beam balance point and as a result rides better in a chop and one can carry a bit more speed. One does have to be more careful of large wakes with a 16, we try to cut our speed and take them at about a 45 degree angle.
Jack
 
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