How useful is a cockpit?

[Capitaine R]

and the aft line handling too.

A BIG cockpit takes away from the interior space.

This being our first trawler type boat we wanted a cockpit, but a smaller one which would sacrifice interior room as little as possible.

 

[Oldersalt]

The two things we really like about our GB 32 are
1. The "back porch." Socialize, easy on/off/, people watch, etc.
2. the wide side decks make it super easy for us older folks to get around the outside.
3. Back porch at the same level (no steps) as the main accomodation is a plus also.
Good luck
Oldersalt

 

[Seevee]

I'm a cockpit guy.... well worth the cost of interior space, but I'm also like being outdoors.
My 400 Mainship has a great cockpit, easy access for docking, space for socializing, etc.

Have considered a few boats with much smaller cockpits, like the 430 Mainship. However, it still has access all around for docking, and a lot of folks socialize on the top of the aft stateroom instead of storing the dinghy there, and put a top over that area.

The boats that have a big aft stateroom that goes to the end of the boat and needs a ladder to get to the swim platform are dangerous to me.

 

[HiDHo]

One of our checklist items when shopping for a trawler.

 

[JohnEasley]

Although I've never owned a boat without one, I'm not considering any boats without a cockpit as I search now. Interaction with neighbors at the dock, the dog, elderly passengers, loading provisions, line handling, and simply interacting with the water while we're at anchor are all important reasons why.

Yup. Totally agree. Our previous boat didn’t have a cockpit. The one we’re buying now does have one. We specifically wanted one for all of those reasons.

 

[ctjstr]

I've had both. As in most things, you get used to what you have and learn to enjoy the good parts and work around the bad. I used to have a 35' trawler, single screw, sundeck on back and no thrusters...and made do. Now have a cockpit and thrusters...make do also.

Never found docking to be that much of an issue other than in strong wind. In most places, people are nice and if they see you coming in to dock, they'll gladly lend a hand. that was the norm, rather than the exception.

Oddly enough the biggest advantage for us on a cockpit boat was that it made it much easier to socialize. Folks would stop and chat etc much more freely if they could just look over from the dock. When friends would gather, its more likely that they will pick a cockpit boat to do it on, rather than climbing up on a sundeck.

have fun, either way.

 

[GFC]

I wouldn't have a boat without a cockpit. It's where we hang out when we're at anchor to docked, where we usually eat, cook on the Magma, and it makes getting on and off the boat very easy.

 

[Sevo]

Lots of good feedback. Thanks to all for your thoughts. Sounds like our desire for a cockpit has some reasonable basis after all.

David

 

[OldDan1943]

My vote is FOR a cockpit.
Prior boat had an aft cabin and not as boater friendly.
Cockpit a big plus for us and our style for many of the reasons mentioned... especially like soaking up the scenery and relaxing there...
View attachment 84434

"They" say, 'the best place for a stable stateroom berth is under the pilot house.' Of course it is also helpful if the boat has active hydraulic stabilizer too.

 

[Codger2]

A cockpit makes it way easier to get on and off the boat. You won't be 60 forever. I wouldn't own a boat without one.

Me either!
But get a boat with a cockpit and a side door if possible! A properly equipped cockpit just extends the recreational space which includes fishing, whale watching, crabbing, barbecuing, sunsets, swimming, etc, etc, etc.

I have had 9 boats since 1995 and every one of them had a cockpit. I can't imagine not having one although I know a lot of folks that do!

 

[Seevee]

One of our checklist items when shopping for a trawler.

Good point but missing a walk around and a swim platform. Two other "must haves" for a lot of us. However, the space on that boat is great!

 

[Fish53]

Boating is all about water. The cockpit is where you are closest to the water. I've always found the cockpit is where people tend to spend the majority of the time on a boat.

I have to agree with you a cockpit is where you can interact with the element we spend large portions of our income to be able to adventure out on.

 

[FlyWright]

Another vote for a cockpit!

Here's Giggitoni and me out this past week fishing. The cockpit makes fishing a breeze. The higher off the water, the tougher it is to net fish. My 6x12 cockpit can easily accommodate four anglers in comfort.

My cockpit cover, which is a prototype for the permanent cover, allows ease of fishing while providing shade and light rain protection. I designed it to allow me to cast and move about the boat with a large fish on without impairment. The final version will look like a shorter version of GFCs without the vertical posts.

The double aft doors bring the outside in and the inside out. Along with the wide side decks and the stbd helm door, they make it easy and safe to move about the boat. For those times when we want bow access, we've got plenty of deck space for all sorts of uses.

 

[ERTF]

I spent about a year constantly scouring yachtworld for a CPMY sundeck trawler under $80k with a DOOR from cockpit to aft cabin.

Very slim pickings. If i wasnt set on that exact cockpit configuration, I'm sure I could have got a similar aft cabin for less becuase there's plenty of those on the market. But I'm happy to say I just scored 1 of the few out there.

I would say look at a cockpit version, and a similar model without. After that firsthand experience you'll know whether it's really that important to you or not.

 

[Exctyengr]

Welcome to the forum, Sevo. I recommend that you consider chartering different boats with different configurations before you make the purchase/maintenance/operating cost investment. You can find out what you like and don't like before you leap. You may find out that you don't even like the boating lifestyle. As far as cockpit's go, I like them personally for the reasons stated. I also like side decks, and an anchor wash down and a host of other things. But try it before you buy it!!

 

[Bryant]

Cockpit

We have a Grand Banks 36 Classic. It has an aft cabin and a bit of a cockpit plus the bridge. The 42 is similar. You might consider one of these.

 

[Sund0wner]

Ours has cockpit because we fished on her and have a dog. Hard to have pets getting them off and on. Getting on and off is easier. Socializing also a big plus. Reckon it all boils down to your needs and things you will be doing. Took me 2 years to find one that fit my wife’s and my needs. Have fun looking for your boat and look, look and one more...lol.

 

[swampyankee]

Just my thoughts as a newbie:
We're still in the process of dreaming about the next boat. But right now we enjoy having a cockpit. We have outings with the grandkids, and the cockpit is a nice safe place for them the play, sit, run or crawl around. Plus the family gets a nice visceral experience close to the water and wake. Right now the ratio of dockside-to-anchoring favors dockside so the cockpit is a nice place for socializing. We always have the flybridge for more private lounging.
But if we were doing the loop or some other long voyage, I can see the value of having the aft cabin. One more interior space for storage or just to get a couple of degrees of separation.
As far as docking, we normally snatched docklines from the side decks so I could probably get along fine either way.

 

[Rufus]

Interesting views on what folks define as a cockpit. I always thought of it as an add on to a motor yacht. That's the way they're advertised, for example. I thought the space behind a Europa/ sedan/sportfish deckhouse structure is an aft deck area. The aft deck space on most trunk cabin boats is basically a walkway.

Regarding the concept of communing with the water, a sundeck with a cockpit provides the option of hanging out above the swarms of water bugs when they're around, and allows owners and guests a better view around a marina than looking at the hull of the boats next next door. The roof of trunk cabins is not a suitable deck area. Add a cockpit to an aft cabin sundeck, and it's the best of all worlds for outside spaces. Flybridge, sundeck and cockpit all linked via two short ladders or stairs. If you like outside spaces and maximized interior space (and don't mind a few ladders/stairs, there's no other competition. My observation after years of watching the hoards of looper groupies making their September lung southward on Lake Michigan, is that they invariably gather on sundeck boats to drink and carouse.

 

[AZ2Loop]

I agree with Rufus' observations. The cockpit is the key to the best of all worlds, in my opinion. The cockpit extension on a sundeck model checked more of our boxes. It also provides an additional level on which to board the boat from various dock heights. In fact I find myself stepping from dock to the gunnel/caprail around the cockpit to board more than any other level.

Comparing designs: Our first preference was a europa. However, europa's in our price range (a key point) compromised more than we wanted on interior space. I still have a soft spot for them, though. With a different checkbook.... a larger europa could have been the one. On sundeck/aft cabin motoryacht designs we loved the exterior space/interior space and full beam aft master. We did not care for the lack of the water level space at the stern for boarding, docking, line handling, etc. It was a deal breaker for us. Trunk cabins in our price range lacked exterior space for they way we use a boat. Just not a fit for us.

Solution: Add the cockpit extension to the sundeck and we found OUR perfect fit. All boats are compromises. The cockpit maximizes utility and minimizes what we saw as compromises. One downside is we have "more boat" than we were seeking as the cockpit extension took the boat length from the low 40's (feet) to upper 40's in length. Time will tell if that is a negative or positive.

 

[Shrew]

Dinghy boarding/deboarding really occurs from the swim platform. A cockpit wouldn't really apply. The same applies to boarding/deboarding from a dock. If you side decks are too high, then you can typically access the swim platform.

A cockpit only comes into play doing three things:

1) Sitting/lounging near the water line.

2) Fishing

3) Line handling from the stern.

 

[Baker]

I just briefly scanned the posts in this thread so pardon me if this is a dupe.

There is a compromise. A very nice swim platform!!! I am not talking about a bolted on swim platform with a vertical ladder from the sundeck. I am talking about a molded in swim platroem with molded in steps. Sad to say, you are likely to only get this configuration from the mass produced American boat builders(Carver/Sea Ray/Meridian/etc). It is perfect for line handling and can even be used for hanging out. I jave a dunnage box on my swim platform that makes a great bench seat for lounging. Let me see if I can fin pictures.
PS...most of Carver aft cabin boats had this set up beginning in the mid to late 90s. So if your search is "open minded" as to what type of boat, they off a great value in a diesel cruising boat.

 

[Baker]

Notice just a quick scamper down the steps with handrail and you can handle lines easily. I have a smaller version of this boat...Cummins power.

 

[AZ2Loop]

Dinghy boarding/deboarding really occurs from the swim platform. A cockpit wouldn't really apply. The same applies to boarding/deboarding from a dock. If you side decks are too high, then you can typically access the swim platform.

A cockpit only comes into play doing three things:

1) Sitting/lounging near the water line.

2) Fishing

3) Line handling from the stern.

To each their own, of course, but to sum up a cockpit with only 3 uses is short-selling the utility of this great feature. Cockpits (or the aft deck of a europa) serve many more purposes. I agree a swim platform is also a key, but I find the cockpit of great help boarding. Hand some groceries or pets up from the dinghy to swim platform then drop them right into the cockpit and everything is secure/safe while you mess with the dinghy yet no ladders or steps have been negotiated. Open the door to the cockpit and the four legged friend(s) can scamper right in on their own. No ladder. No steps. Still safely aboard as a few waves approach (again on a europa or a cockpit this is the case).



From a fixed dock with various tide levels -- where is the dock vs your boat? Is it at a level close to the side deck mid ship? Or is it higher tide and your side decks are high so you use the swim platform? With a cockpit there is a third level -- the gunnel around the cockpit. It is a solid, wide surface you can step right on. Even with our floating docks and no tide I find it is always a convenient place to board with no dock steps or ladders required.

Storage under it is also quite nice. Open the hatch in our cockpit (or aft deck of a europa) and there is great storage, two additional fuel tanks (I believe we have 200 more gallons back there), our generator is back there rather than in the engine room, and there is very good access to the rudder shafts and steering gear.

When we cruise with our dogs we have also decided the cockpit will be their "to go" area with a container for them. A drain from it right to the cockpit overboard drains is in the plans as well.

Baker, I do love those steps and large swim platforms (as in in your picture) vs a ladder and small swim platform. In fact I have to rebuild our swim platform and I am going to make it larger. Having a cockpit and a larger swim platform will fit our use of the boat quite well.

 

[bayview]

How do you get from the cockpit to a fixed height dock?

 

[AZ2Loop]

How do you get from the cockpit to a fixed height dock?

I'm not sure what you mean, or if your question is to me, but I'll answer anyway. I would simply step from the cockpit floor to the gunnel/cap rail around the cockpit to the fixed dock if/when the relationship between the two are more closely aligned than the fixed dock is with other points of entry to the boat. It's just another option for boarding. It's a level that is lower than the side deck yet higher than the swim platform.

 

[markpierce]

Having a deck not too far from the waterline gives good access, but reduces a boat's volume.

 

[Spinner]

Ditto on the side door! My 2003 42 Nordic only had a transom door. The very first thing I did was to have a starboard side door and a stern Thruster installed. It would have been nice to also have a port side door in the cockpit, but logistics and finances said otherwise.

Love that door!

 

[Mako]

Interesting that there hasn't been any comment about the negatives of having a cockpit. I suppose most avoid heavy weather work where a cockpit would become a liability.

 

[Simi 60]

We have a 6 ft deep cockpit but as full time cruisers we have extras in the corners (ob fuel, chlorine, gas bottles, acid etc) that weekenders won't have.
We also have 2 s/s stripper poles taking up remaining space so a 12ft deep cockpit would be great.

We do have a large back deck area leading off our top stateroom, Portuguese bridge and a decent foredeck so there are other places to relax outside but I can't help think that the 75ft version of ours would be nice.
The vastly increased cost would not