Standing up in Boats

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Wansworth

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Totally ridiculous idea that seamen should wander about below after being on watch, best place is stretched out in a comfortable berth ,reading or sleeping.This idea of kichens and showers wont catch on.At best sitting headroom will allow most functions.End result is a more seaworthy boat and certainly better lines.
 
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Wansworth said:
Totally ridiculous idea that seamen should wander about below after being on watch, best place is stretched out in a comfortable berth ,reading or sleeping.This idea of kichens and showers wont catch on.At beat sitting headroom will allow most functions.End result is a more seaworthy boat and certainly better lines.
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Hence the song: "Sit down, you're rocking the boat"!

Mike.
 
We enquired as to why a German chap was wearing a cycle helmet all day. It turned out that he was too tall for the chartered boat, and old Hanse.
 
We had a test sail before buying our first cruising boat. It was a GK24. The lack of height in the saloon almost put us off the idea totally, gave me backache. Nowadays when reading boat specifications one of the first bits of info I look for is headroom.
 
vyv_cox said:
We had a test sail before buying our first cruising boat. It was a GK24. The lack of height in the saloon almost put us off the idea totally, gave me backache. Nowadays when reading boat specifications one of the first bits of info I look for is headroom.
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Totally agree - my boat has 5'8" of headroom and I'm 5'10". Neck and back ache is the result after more than 10 mins below decks standing up. Next boat WILL have standing headroom.
 
It should be possible to cruise happily without standing. We sailed our Mystere for 14years and hardly noticed the lack of headroom since you just entered the cabin and shuffled onto a seat. I'm much older and stiffer now but I still think I could manage for a week or two.
 
One has to balance dimensions; my 22' has ample sitting headroom and long bunks to sleep on - if one were to dial in standing headroom she'd look and sail like a pig.

Work out what you want, a rewarding boat to sail or a waterborne cottage; even larger cruiser/racers aren't as rewarding to sail as my 22, and I got burned with a 30' cruiser racer which while fast turned out to have more headroom but a lot worse interior with short bunks and inferior handling !

A lot of it is deciding what sort of use you'll put the boat to;

how long trips together for how many crew of what sizes ?

This means the difference between ' can we all get off at a marina & just use the boat to crash on ' - or ' are we all stuck on the boat together for days on end ' ?

Big difference, let alone long trips !
 
Like these two, made by a lady friend.very limited cabin height in my boat, but I can get a good view sitting on a cushion using my tiller, don't have to stand all the time. Apart from cooking or making a brew in the cabin, plenty of head height sat down, you can stand in the hatch way when open, but never see it as a problem. Pandora 700.
 

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One of the first things that I did consider was standing headroom when I wrote out my spec for a boat, together with 4 berth, galley area, toilet and reasonable foredeck space. All within 8 metres. That's why I bought the boat that I have.
 
Looking round a friends Beneteau 50ft Sense model, I did not like the way you could not see ahead of you when sitting down in the cockpit area due to the height of the coachroof superstructure area, that put me off owning the boat even if I could afford it.
 
pathfinderstu said:
Looking round a friends Beneteau 50ft Sense model, I did not like the way you could not see ahead of you when sitting down in the cockpit area due to the height of the coachroof superstructure area, that put me off owning the boat even if I could afford it.
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pathfinderstu,

agreed; cockpit cushions ( also handy if buoyant as MOB aids ) are sometimes an answer but on a 50' boat !

I'd want my long range spec's or bino's to see what's going on, not hopping over a lump of grp...
 
Wansworth said:
Totally ridiculous idea that seamen should wander about below after being on watch, best place is stretched out in a comfortable berth ,reading or sleeping.
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That was certainly the philosophy aboard Illingworth's legendary Myth of Malham (winner of the 1949 Fastnet) As a teenager I knew someone who had crewed aboard her and was told the rule - if not on watch or eating, you stayed in your bunk. She was a very light boat.
 
Following my own advice I bought a Vega........ the only downside is the small toilet compartment........ god knows how any proper Scandinavian sailer got sat down ,way too narrow.Atvsix foot I don't have St headroom when the boat is level but Is fairly normal that one doesn't go marching about as a sergeant major in 10 foot of cabin! Lying down is perfect!!
 
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