Worst thing about your boat!

pmagowan

pmagowan

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What is the worst thing about your boat? Are there any niggles or annoying things that you really wish were designed out at an earlier stage. Is there a handhold that should be there and isn't or a bit of joinery that always hits you on the knee? Is there something that affects your comfort or your cruising ability?

On my boat the main problem is space and weight distribution, being a heavy 28' wooden thing that sits awkwardly if overloaded for a long cruise. It also leaks from the roof but that is not by design. The chain locker piles up and blocks the chain hole. Many other problems simply because it is small but the use of space is brilliant.

I am most interested in problems of design rather than simply things that could do with repair such as my leaky roof. Let it all out!
 
I have thought for a bit about what is wrong with mine (Westerly Oceanlord) and really, I have not found anything that really annoys me - apart from the original fridge which was so badly insulated that it wouldn't keep cool even in the UK - I ripped it out and started again - now perfect.

Anchor chain locker - its never snagged (100 meters of chain) - almost every boat I see picking up anchor has someone poking down the anchor locker.

In mast furling - In moments of lazyness I love it, otherwise I wish I had a full main.

Fuel Tank - it has a sump - but no tap - just a nut. Ah no one ever got the water out of the sump and its rusted through. New tank now - with big tap in sump. It also has an inspection hatch now.

In short - the boat works well.
 
Worst thing about my boat is the way that they (the builders) used silicone sealant to bed all the fittings in, which bit by bit is now breaking down and leaking. And if there's one thing that really annoys me is a boat that leaks.
 
The worst thing about my boat was the saloon table. A miracle of folding woodwork, it stowed away against the main bulkhead and then folded down for use ... with three folding legs which were always in the way. I got rid of it when I fitted a Hampshire Heaters charcoal burner where it was and fitted a three-fold teak table from Howells instead, on a pedestal. It's a little more of a bother to set up, but much nicer to use.

Other nuisances are very cramped access to engine, stern gear and toilet seacocks, but they go with the boat design, really, so I don't complain. It would be nice if the potential lazarette locker wasn't wholly occupied by a gas bottle container.
 
Apart from the impossibility of steering her astern, I can't think of anything to complain about. And I have lived with that minor inconvenience for 17 years without it having caused any real problems.
 
Slight slope on first 50cms of sole at bottom of companionway steps (Centurion 32) makes working at the galley sink somewhat awkward.

No inspection hatch on fuel tank.

Funny shape of flexible water tank that sits within the keel. When I find one of the same shape I will get a new one.

Left-handed prop offset towards port quarter, alongside the skeg makes close-quarter manoeuvring in a Mediterranean marina 'interesting'... probably also amusing to spectators. ;)



Apart from all that I love my boat. Once out at sea she behaves impeccably and sails extremely well, even though I get no sensation of speed.

 
My boat is a Starlight and after 6 years with it ( itself close to a personal record) I am struggling to think of things I dont like. I am in two minds about the Sadler style construction - yes its quieter and better insulated but it also makes the boat smaller internally. The fridge installation is an abortion - its in a cupboard next to the cooker and beneath the top loading fridge is the compressor and radiator. So the outside of the fridge is bathed in the heat that the system has just worked hard to drag out of the fridge. And thats ignoring the effect of the cooker when in operation.

I guess I would have liked a bit more sail area for light winds.
 
It's a Fulmar so no anchor locker.Why?Did Westerly think they were building ships instead of yachts?My fathers Arpege, 12 years older already had a pretty good one.Companionway beautifuly built in teak.Leaked everywhere so it was all nicely rebuilt in glass and epoxy.Companionway hatch so poorly designed it leaked profusely in the slightest rain.Also completely redone and watertight now.Icebox? Ha! I found a couple of thin polystirene sheets loosely attached with white paper masking tape and that was all the insulation.Maybe one day I'll rip the galley apart and do it properly.Or not.
 
Sun Odyssey 35 - only large stowage space (dinghy, fenders etc) only accessible via down companionway - through heads and shower - through small hatch. Once in you have bags of space but access ludicrous.

And bilges where not all water (if any) ends up not draining to the sump.
 
Sun Odyssey 45.2 - Loads of stowage including a big lazerette, so no problems there. Worst point is the anchor locker that always needs someone to knock down the chain when retrieving the anchor.
 
Bobc said:
Worst thing about my boat is the way that they (the builders) used silicone sealant to bed all the fittings in, which bit by bit is now breaking down and leaking.
Click to expand...

I wish the 'builder' of mine hadn't been so liberal with SikaFlex. No leaks at all ... but a real pain if you DO want to remove anything. Who was the builder? .. ME (in 1984) :o
 
The most annoying thing is the sink position it faces aft and the sloping cockpit structure above stops you getting close to the sink so your
forehead is jammed against this whilst trying to wash up, apart from this I love my Colvic Countess .
 
My HR34 is very well sorted out, as you would expect from a long established firm, but there are a few nonsenses. The mainsheet fouls the sprayhood, which needs to be unzipped on the lee side when on a broad reach. The seacock for the heads inlet can't be reached without going through the aft cabin and gaining access to the engine compartment, disorganising the bunk in the process. Nothing wrong with her on the water though.
 
Two things, both minor in the great scheme of things.... firstly, a small day tank made of mild steel, that has rusted away... no longer in use, but inaccessible to remove, and not worth removing as the very small space it would leave beneath the sole under the walkway through to the aft cabin would be pretty much unusable anyway... and secondly, the anchor locker, while huge is accessed through a saloon style pair of opening doors in the forepeak, which aren't water tight... they will be eventually, I just haven't worked out how yet!
 
pmagowan said:
What is the worst thing about your boat? Are there any niggles or annoying things that you really wish were designed out at an earlier stage. Is there a handhold that should be there and isn't or a bit of joinery that always hits you on the knee? Is there something that affects your comfort or your cruising ability?

On my boat the main problem is space and weight distribution, being a heavy 28' wooden thing that sits awkwardly if overloaded for a long cruise. It also leaks from the roof but that is not by design. The chain locker piles up and blocks the chain hole. Many other problems simply because it is small but the use of space is brilliant.

I am most interested in problems of design rather than simply things that could do with repair such as my leaky roof. Let it all out!
Click to expand...

Westerly Seahawk, now 9 years together.

Big groan is the lack of a place for wet gear. Means unskilled crew come below and sit on saloon berth to remove wet gear.

Suppose I need a bigger boat really dear.

Re the anchor chain - had the same problem. So made a trivet that fits at a slope in the chain locker. The result is that the pile of chain becomes unstable and falls forward. Also it means that there is not 10 feet of chain permanently in a pool of salty water in the bottom of the locker.
 
PuffTheMagicDragon said:
Slight slope on first 50cms of sole at bottom of companionway steps (Centurion 32) makes working at the galley sink somewhat awkward.

No inspection hatch on fuel tank.

Funny shape of flexible water tank that sits within the keel. When I find one of the same shape I will get a new one.

Left-handed prop offset towards port quarter, alongside the skeg makes close-quarter manoeuvring in a Mediterranean marina 'interesting'... probably also amusing to spectators. ;)



Apart from all that I love my boat. Once out at sea she behaves impeccably and sails extremely well, even though I get no sensation of speed.

Click to expand...

Great video:encouragement:
 
Avocet suffers from that design flaw that I think a lot of early fibreglass boats which were copies of wooden boats did. Everything in the cockpit is a right angle. I think they didn't realise that when you're moulding something, you can make all sorts of curved shapes. The cockpit has to be one of the most uncomfortable I've ever sat in. More modern fibreglass boats have nicely rounded, sculpted, curvy surfaces that are comfy to sit on - even when heeled. Avocet's cockpit surfaces have just enough slope on them to allow them to come out of the mould!

Other than that, the "design flaws" are also the good points. So there's no space down below and it never goes astern twice in the same direction - but then, it also exhibits the traditional virtues of a long keeler too, so you pays your money & all that...

I suppose my other moan is that I can't believe another inch of coachroof height would have spoiled the lines, yet it would have made all the difference wen standing below!
 
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