Cape Dory 25 D Buyer's Guide
Shopping the brokerage market for a Cape Dory 25D means looking at Carl Alberg's design introduced in 1981 and produced until 1985 as a rework of the original Cape Dory 25: a beamier, deeper, diesel-powered pocket cruiser built as a miniature cruising yacht rather than a daysailer. With 189 hulls produced, she turns up in the used fleet as a serious small voyager — solid glass, lead-ballasted, and laid out for a couple. What follows is what to look for and how she is typically found.
Layouts on the Used Market
The 25D's defining interior choice was dropping the forward cabin in favor of a large head compartment that can take a shower, leaving a main cabin with about 5′11″ of honest headroom won by sinking the sole into the bilge. The starboard settee extends to a double, giving nominal space for four, and a 20-gallon water tank rides under the starboard quarterberth. A shallow locker to starboard and a deep locker to port sit over the quarterberths, with the port locker also affording access to the stuffing box. Buyers should note the head has its own Bomar hatch and two opening ports, and the main cabin cross-ventilates through four bronze ports — a layout that favors live-aboard comfort over guest privacy forward.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
The 25D came from the factory with a recessed Kenyon alcohol two-burner stove, a Yanmar 1QM diesel, and a 13-gallon cockpit-under fuel tank; a few boats left the line with pedestal steering rather than the standard tiller. Because no qualitative prevalence tiers were supplied for this model, buyers should treat any added navigation, canvas, or power gear as a possible owner improvement rather than standard. The most consequential things to verify are the original bronze seacocks and through-bolting, the stemhead anchor roller with foredeck well, and the standard bow and stern pulpits with Aqua Signal running lights — none of which indicate a refit by their presence.
What to Inspect
The structural facts that matter most at survey are the ones that constrain access and drainage. Bilge access is only through a small trap in the main cabin sole, so confirm you can reach and pump the bilge adequately. If a shower was installed, it drains directly into the bilge, an arrangement worth tracing for odor or corrosion. The propeller aperture extends into the rudder, so check the rudder for any efficiency loss or wear at that intersection. The deck is joined to the hull with a semi-rigid polyester compound and the balsa-cored deck should be sounded for delamination given age.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
These boats are found in Canada and the United States. For a shopper, the takeaway is straightforward:
- Verify bilge access and any shower-to-bilge drainage path
- Sound the balsa-cored deck and cabin top for delamination
- Confirm original Spartan seacocks and bronze through-hulls are intact
- Check rudder area where prop aperture intrudes
- Expect a genuine cruising interior, not a forward-berth daysailer layout
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Cape Dory 25 D. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 1 row
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 26 | 1 | $9,000 | — |
Where they're listed
Cape Dory 25 D listings appear across 1 country. United States has the most listings with 1.
Country view
1 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $9,000 | 1 | 1 | 100.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
3 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Dory 25 | 24.83' | $ 9,000 | 29 | 8 |
| Cape Dory 28 | 28.1' | $ 18,750 | 20 | 6 |
| Cape Dory 25 DYou are here | — | $ 9,000 | 1 | 1 |