Cape Dory 25d

[somasized]

I have recently seen a few of these boats on Yachtworld and they are pretty intriguing. I suspect they are a bit too small for my needs, but I would be curious to see one nonetheless.

I have a couple questions about them. From what I understand the starboard settee pulls out. Is this big enough for a couple to share? Also, where does the table stow? Looking at pictures it almost appears to be permanently fixed there, but clearly that must not be the case. And lastly, what is the capacity of the stock water tank?

Thanks for your help. I am pretty sure I will end up with a bigger boat, but this boat is much cheaper than some of the others I have looked at and seems to be very well made. Since it would save me roughly $20k, it is definitely a boat I want to get more info about.

[Amgine]

Well, the boats are wonderful.

The stbd settee pulls out into a reasonable double berth. It's not exceptional in size, but plenty of above-bunk headroom! It's also a pain in the tuckus to not have a standing berth, and have to set it up each evening and put it away each morning. Then I look at my monthly moorage costs to alleviate the frustration. The reality is my partner and I only spend a few weeks each year aboard together, and the majority of the time I'm sailing solo, so while a bit annoying it's not a real issue for me.

The saloon table stows in a clever rack in the quarterberth. This does take away some of the overhead space in an already cramped torpedo berth, but it is secure even in a rough chop.

The water tank">fresh water tank is a polypropelene under the quarterberth. I believe it's 18-20 gallons, but I don't have the exact number handy.

For me, the boat is surprisingly responsive as a sailor. I expected the somewhat low-aspect ratio, cut-away keel, and conservative hull to be a bit of a slug, but that has not been the case. Although not a racer by any means, the SA/D of 16.4 does put it into the club racer range, and I've managed several more than 100 nm days. (A 'perfect' day would be 140 nm.) I just purchased new sails, and they have made sailing the boat a joy - I would definitly plan on new sails as part of the purchase if the boat you're looking at has anything a bit on the aged side.

Just as important, for me, is the comfort level aboard. I'm short, so the 5'11" headroom from the forward head to the companionway is more than needed, but nice. As a family we take a 2-3 week cruise every summer with 3 aboard; a bit cramped but still doable even though our last at-home kid is 17 this year. The galley sink is the biggest drawback; the tiny galley space left the sink partially behind the companionway ladder. The comfort ratio is a whopping 28.8 - a number you might expect on a 35' boat of conservative heritage. For a little boat it's about as comfy as you can hope for.

I've been quite surprised by the current market for the CD 25D, with creme puff boats now selling for very good prices. For the length the 25D has been pretty pricey, not far behind the Pacific Seacrafts in North America. While I'm glad I own my boat, I sort of wish I'd gotten the current prices when I purchased.