Second station - How much do you really use it?

[Beaverlake]

With our 44 Tolly sun deck 95% flybridge - visibility and comfort. In our BL 4788 95% pilothouse - visibility (forward) and comfort. In the PacNW with water temps hovering from mid 50s to mid 60s year around, driving from the pilothouse is seldom “warm”. On summer days I will head up, but I usually don’t stay long. We have a Bimini but no enclosure.

 

[Nickair]

Love the fly bridge. Hate the fly bridge. Love the visibility. Hate the ladder. Hard to carry lunch up the ladder. Love the fresh air (75-85 degrees only) Hate the weather on the upper if not (75-85.) Love the mostly same electronics on the upper. Hate the Need for dual most electronic things on the upper. More whirring and units to have more points of potential failure. Love the nice evenings on the upper. Hate the hassle of covering the upper at night. A dedicated full enclosure was done on a 38’ I had and it was nicer, although was a hot box in the summer. It cost around $8k to install the canvas enclosure. I know Guys that paid thousands more for same type enclosure.
Simpler is always better.

 

[Swa]

Over a year of ownership and I still have not used the lower helm. Guess I should try it out someday.

 

[SMLBill]

It all depends

Clearly, this is a personal preference. Some drive fr FB almost exclusively, others from the lower helm. We much prefer the FB, but not when it’s killer hot (or cold). As for us, we would never buy a boat that didn’t have both, AND a door by the lower helm. There is no substitute for being able to step right out to that spring line! Besides, it adds nice ventilation when underway. I guess that all these personal preferences are why they make such a wide variety of boats!

 

[South of Heaven]

It depends on the boat. On my old 31 foot Camano that weighed 13k to 14k lbs and had a 10 foot beam, running from the lower helm was essential on rough water days.

The flybridges on many small boats are only good for calm running conditions.

If we had 4 or 5 people on our bridge and were in sporty conditions, I'd tell everyone to go down below. The COG can get squirrely on certain smaller boats.

I think once you're above 35ft and say 12-13ft breadth then you'll get more wiggle room in your seakeeping abilities. Obviously these things are all dependent on the hull design too. Just ask Nomad Willy. Lol

Long story short....YES! I loved having 2 stations on that boat and I used them. Lol

 

[hpogue123]

Hi Comodave,
It appears the polycarb. is set in fabric?
How's the cost vs higher end Strataglas, etc?
How's the hardtop & sides working for you? Fresh vs Salt water use?
I've been thinking of doing the same thing, any thoughts from your experiences welcome.