Cuddy Cabin Boats

[LuvBoating]

Anyone here have a cuddy cabin boat? If you have one, how do you use the cuddy cabin? Ever slept in it? I also know that there are cuddy cabins that are more "self-contained" than our is. The larger ones have a very small stove and frig. Ours does not. I also know they aren't made anymore and not many are for sale. I'm pretty sure we have the only cuddy cabin in our dry storage. This kind of boat is much more popular in Colorado, with older folks, than here. We were told "if you ever want to sell it, bring it to Colorado and you won't have a problem selling it."​

Ours has "mood lighting" along the back of both short bench seats, a small window on each, a somewhat large mirror in front with one aircraft passenger light on each side of the mirror. We have never slept in it, but have set it the sleeping area. For young kids, the sleeping area would be fine, but for adults, especially older/Senior adults (like us), there is definitely not enough room. So, to a point, it's a wasted space on the boat for us. We have our porta-potty, some small pillows and a portable fan in it, but that's it. Heck, we even have somewhat of a hard time even getting thru the door into it...……..and we aren't that heavy (body size), but still. ​

 

[capecodtodd]

I have always been a fan of the cuddy and I am currently in the market for one. They seem like a great combination of sport and comfort like a poor mans Sport Fisher cruiser that can be towed.
I have been finding that there is a big difference in the amenities from a 21' to a 23' and then it really opens up when you are looking at a 26' but then trailering becomes a problem.

I would like to get a 23'-24' cuddy. I see the cabin as being small and sleeping in it would be much like camping in a small tent but on the water.
We know another couple that has a cuddy and it is rare that they stay overnight in it but they have roughed it.

In my area the Center console style rule the water and dominate the marinas but there are plenty of cuddies.
I like them.

 

[hogbare35]

I'm on my 3rd cuddy cabin. I have used mine for fishing in the gulf of mexico. I really like them for the storage space and yes I have slept on them many times. 21-23' ones are on the small size though,mine were 23, 24 ,working on a 26'.

 

[dingbat]

Slept in the cabin once 20 years ago. I don't know what was worst the heat and humidity or the mosquitoes that swarmed when you opened the windows to try and circulate some air. Never again.....

The cabin is now used strictly for tackle and rod storage.

 

[Darrenmb]

Mine is a 22.5 ft cuddy, I have a sink and head in there as well as the table and sitting/sleeping area, might be different on water where you could catch a nice breeze, but in my back yard on the trailer it's just a miserable hot box!!! Only had boat out a few times, so haven't really gotten to see what it's like on the water, but wife was insistent that any boat we bought had to have a toilet as she wasnt hanging her derriere over the side for anyone! Lol

 

[Mischief Managed]

I have a 25 foot cuddy cabin boat and my wife and I sleep on it all the time. The longest stretch was 17 days in a row last month on a loop cruise mostly in Ontario. Prior to that we did a 16 day trip in 2017, and we've done countless 2 to 7 day stretches on it. I think they are wonderful for the north east US/south east Canada where we boat because the vast majority of the time, nights cool off nicely near the water. Mid-coast US, and anything south of there would be an issue for a typical cuddy because of the heat at night, IMO.

Ours has screens on all the port holes and the hatch, and we have full camper canvas with screens as well, so we can ventilate pretty well at night. We also carry a couple of cheap 12 volt fans that are remarkably effective at cooling us off when we need it.

Ours has a 12 volt fridge in the cockpit and a single burner alcohol stove in the cabin. We use both on every overnight trip. We also have a 17" propane kettle grill that we use on our extended swim platform. The grill can also be used as a burner, so if it's too hot to use the stove in cabin, we have the option of a single burner outside.

Our boat has a porta-potty with pump out plumbing installed so it can be pumped out like a normal holding tank. And as you can probably guess, we use it all the time...

Being a 25 foot boat, our cuddy cabin is pretty big, I am 6 feet tall and can stand up in the middle of it. My boat also has 2 kids berths , thus it sleeps two adults and two kids. When my kids were younger, we all slept on it together, but never for more than one night per trip. There's just not enough room for 4 people to live happily together for more than 2 days on our boat.

Our boat is wired for shore power and has an automatic dual battery charger for the two all-purpose batteries. This lets us run the 12 volt fridge at night in a slip.We also run it whenever the engine is running and for up to 5 hours on just battery power. IT will probably run a lot longer than that on the battery, but I don't like running them down too much as I'm pretty sure it affects their longevity adversely. If we sleep at anchor, we turn the fridge off all night. It does a good job of staying cold all night, so it's no big deal.

My list of must haves for a cuddy cabin boat are:

good natural ventilation
full camper canvas
shore power
fridge
two or more batteries with automatic chargers
trailer
head (does not have to be enclosed)
fiberglass lined self bailing cockpit

We have found that anchoring up to two nights in a row is OK, but a transient slip is needed between anchoring stints for showering and such. That said, we have a good quality solar shower that really helps if we need to anchor longer than two nights. Even if there's no sun, we can heat up water on the stove or grill for it if we wish. I replaced the crappy nozzle and hose on it with a kitchen sink sprayer, which is a vast improvement. Our boat has a self bailing cockpit, so showering in the cockpit is easy.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info about trailered cuddy cabin cruising, I've been doing it for years now and love it.

 

[Blind Date]

I had a 23' Larson Hampton cuddy before my Sundancer about 15 years ago. Loved it & overnighted in it all the time. That is what I bought it for. Spent 8 comfortable nights in it on Lake Superior out at Isle Royale. I stepped aboard pretty in much every cuddy made in that size when I was looking and none of them compared to the Larson.

For overnighting in a cuddy must haves IMHO are:

Good cabin ventilation
Camper canvas/w screens
Separate head compartment. You don't want a v-berth bed that sits over the toilet.

Some of the amenities the Larson had which made it a great overnighter were:

Shore power w/onboard battery charger & dual batteries
Alcohol/Electric stove top
Dual voltage refrigerator
Pressurized water system
Separate head compartment with pump-out porta potty
Screened hatch with 4 port windows that opened with screens
Camper canvas w/screens @ huge opening into the cuddy

You can see how big the opening into the cuddy is in the first picture. That was my 1st trip to the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior. I added screens to the camper canvas right after as it would get real hot, real quick once the sun rose.

 

[Scott Danforth]

26' cuddy
yes we use it
the coolers I build keep beer cold for a week
no fridge (not needed)