Hypothetical C Dory question!

S

South of Heaven

New member
Has this question ever been asked before or discussed?

Why didn't they or why don't they make 16's with a taller pilothouse??!

It seems so odd to me. If the dimensions were raised to give 6 feet of headroom, I think the boat would be drastically different and appeal to more. (although I know that many of the Brats like the 16 just the way it is currently constituted!) I also like the boat a lot and it's uniqueness and "smallness"....but I truly think I would LOVE it, if it had more headroom. I do however think the beam is perfect on the 16.

How much weight would it really add to make that tiny area bigger? 200lbs? If that?

Or do you think it's to make owners want to upgrade to a 19 or 22?


Guys, I know this is a kinda silly question or thread topic....Lol. I'm having some fun with it; unless there are some real answers! That would be great to know. Winter is officially here in Beantown. It's gonna be at LEAST 100 days until I hit the water again. I'm gonna winterize the boat this week (and motors too, pull the batteries etc)
 
Don't think I have seen this question before. I'm going to guess it has to do with the proportions visually and also the stability concerns. Seems like there would be something that would just appear a bit out of wack. The proportions of the 16, 22, and 25 are all pretty even. It's what gets the "cute boat' comments going.☺

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Agree with Harvey,

What is the cabin standing height of a 16? The 19 is supposed to be 6ft2in but that sounds about right with me at 6'3" just barely standing relaxed inside the cabin and not hitting my head. How would a 16 look with another foot+ of cabin height? Not very good I am guessing. The cabin height scales according to size with the only exception being the high top option on the 22 that is visually noticeable. A similar high top version of a 16 would look worse while still likely being to short for many to stand.

Greg
 
Agree with Harvey and Greg.

Has someone out there got a computer program that would take a photo of a 16 and elevate the cabin to 6 feet or so?

Let's see what it would look like! :lol:

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Here's another point with my 16 when the seas pick up on the beam meaning when I am sidways to the wind I would not want any more mass up top. I'm 5' 9" my boat was made for me, I'm sure of it. Good luck with finding a new owner for your boat, I always enjoy reading about the passion you have for your boat like I have for mine.
 
jimicliff":18st55c6 said:
Here's another point with my 16 when the seas pick up on the beam meaning when I am sidways to the wind I would not want any more mass up top. I'm 5' 9" my boat was made for me, I'm sure of it. Good luck with finding a new owner for your boat, I always enjoy reading about the passion you have for your boat like I have for mine.
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She's a great boat and if I don't sell her privately for a fair price then I'll continue to boat on the 16 this season. I'm NOT gonna trade her in to a dealer and get like 40% of what I know she's worth. I went to a marina in November and checked out a used Arima 19 Sea Ranger. It was a very nice boat but the dealer said he'd give me $5,500 for my C Dory. I said
"thank you very much" and proceeded to find the nearest available exit...... :P :P
 
I'm thinking maybe in addition to the "not to scale" look a higher roof might give it - Naval architects may advise against adding weight any higher on the 16. It is not just a matter of how much extra it would weigh but how much further that weight would be from the boats fulcrum.

You could maybe offset it by adding a lead keel! 8)

Regards, Rob
 
I remember my 16 Angler being a bit tippy from side to side. For example I didn't like all occupants to rush to the same side to land a fish. I wouldn't have wanted the center of mass to be any higher than it was. I'm 6'-2" and don't remember having height challenges underway when I was seated. I loved that little boat while I had it. I felt the lines were "just right", right up there with the 22' Angler as a classic design.
 
No one has mentioned the added windage of a taller cabin structure. Expect more difficulty docking when it is windy, significantly lower fuel mileage at speed, and plummetting resale value.

Better to invest in a 22.
 
Another factor is that even though the additional "side walls" of a higher top would not add much weight, then you (or any other owner) could potentially put something on that roof (rack, radar, stuff) and that then *would* be higher up and make that weight "worse."

So looks, windage, weight, and potentially more weight higher aloft.
 
More headroom? I've been working at getting less headroom on my CD16. I had 7 inches of headroom with the original CD seats, which were like sitting on a cloth-covered board (which they are). With my new suspension seats (photos in the Limpet folder), I now have only 4 inches of headroom (and three inches of suspension). Less headroom is going to be way more comfortable than more headroom.

If I need to stand up for some reason, I take one step back and have 18,000 feet of headroom. More if I have an oxygen tank.

To get standing headroom inside of the cabin of a CD16, the best solution would be to put a plexiglass bubble over the one square foot of cabin space where a person could actually stand up. Yes, it would be ugly and a waste of money, but no more than raising the entire cabin roof. I like my solution of just taking one step back.

Mark
 
Haha, good replies from everyone. I guess I'm in the minority then with my opinion. Just to clarify: I wasn't saying that I wanted to do some crazy mod to raise the headroom myself. I was just curious why they never came with bigger pilothouses from the factory to begin with....after reading everyone's responses I think I have a pretty good idea why. BUT....My stance is still that more headroom on a 16 would appeal to more folks. Now, if it's not feasible from an engineering standpoint then that's a different point all together.
That's why the thread was "hypothetical" ! Lol.

On another note: I finally had the boat shrinkwrapped. I also ran Stabil through the motors and then fogged them with fogging oil. I also ran antifreeze through the hose port on the Yamaha main. The batteries I decided to leave on the boat. They are only 4 months old and fully charged. I'll probably get my battery tender on it in the beginning of February.
 
South of Heaven":3nxbt7s9 said:
I finally had the boat shrinkwrapped. I also ran Stabil through the motors and then fogged them with fogging oil. I also ran antifreeze through the hose port on the Yamaha main. The batteries I decided to leave on the boat.
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We are on opposing tacks. I just checked my trailer lights, got a delivery of non-E 92 octane, and I'm looking forward to launching the boat in two weeks. The crabbing is so good in Hood Canal that they extended the season for a couple of months. Time for some serious boating.

Mark
 
Marco Flamingo":2r90v6qk said:
South of Heaven":2r90v6qk said:
I finally had the boat shrinkwrapped. I also ran Stabil through the motors and then fogged them with fogging oil. I also ran antifreeze through the hose port on the Yamaha main. The batteries I decided to leave on the boat.
Click to expand...

We are on opposing tacks. I just checked my trailer lights, got a delivery of non-E 92 octane, and I'm looking forward to launching the boat in two weeks. The crabbing is so good in Hood Canal that they extended the season for a couple of months. Time for some serious boating.

Mark
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Wow, you're a diehard! Do you have a cabin heater? Or are you running on pure adrenaline??
 
Mark these are the first pics I've seen of your boat. I really like the detailed work you have done. You did a dam good job on that fuel tank, I wanted to do that when I started modifing my craft but I couldnt figure out what you did thats why I'm so impressed. I'm not strong on engineering but I managed 29 gallons on the port side in the rear. I can run 20 mph all day with a 50 Honda and have 1/3 of a tank at the end of the day. I'm disabled and have an electric scooter rack installed across the splash well. I got one of Dr Bob Austins davits to get it on and off the boat. Now the new cool one everyone is, my wife came up with is this. Sharper Image has these small led lights that run on 3 AAA's, they come 4 lights in a kit that has a master wirless switch that turns all 4 lights on and off. Placed properly they evenly light the forward area with no direct light, the small shadows they create make the area look much larger, it just looks sexy for a tiny cabin. My 16 really is a swiss knife. I dont care for those seats either, I just replaced the passenger side and the new one can spin around without hitting the wall. :rainbow P.S. That heater install is bad ass, I'm using a Mr Buddy, like I said I'm not the engineer you appear to be. :thup
 
The crazy thing is that I only have about 4 hours of sea trial time since I bought the boat. I brought the boat home, which includes coming down our 2 mile long gravel road at >20% grade (make note: need trailer brakes). I put her in the water (make note: does not sit on her lines - needs weight moved forward). Took her out for a spin (make note: WOT 5,200 rpm makes 29 mph - needs weight forward and maybe less pitch on the prop). Could barely get the motor to trim properly without porpoising (make note: needs weight forward, raise motor on transom, permatrim or maybe all three).

Took her out of the water and the balsa core issues began. Because that repair took some time, I had time for the projects in my photo album and more.

I have the materials for the new cabin lighting, and they include LED lights. The original single 10W Perko cabin light has been removed and is now for sale on Ebay. What I have found is that there are extremely inexpensive LED strip lights for sale on Ebay that boys put on their cars (presumably to flash and attract girls). The light strips use tiny amounts of electricity. I hooked some up to a 50' length of telephone wire (22AWG) and they lit up just fine. With 4 wires in a traditional cream-colored phone extension wire, wiring several LED cabin lights to the house battery should be easy and will be almost invisible. I'm sure that it will look better than the black flex conduit (which I have removed already). Photos to follow. Now back to my work shop.

Mark
 
Just a note to say how much I'm enjoying reading about your upgrades on the 16 footers. The notes about the seat hitting the throttle reminded me of our experience.Whenever I went thru the cut by the UDub boat house I would swivle around to see any oncoming boats. Often the engine would stall. I would simply start up again and move on with no subsequent trouble. Then one day it occurred to me that the seat was hitting the key and shutting off the motor! By the way, 29 miles per hour! I don't think I ever got to that speed on either of our 16s. Hold on tight and enjoy those great boats.
 
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