Driving from the fly bridge or not?

I am looking at a Mainship 35 foot, which only steers from the up stairs. Is this a concern? Do folks seem to feel that it can get too hot or buggy? The Mainship 40 foot gives me both options of driving from the top or bottom, do most find this a better option?

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. I prefer driving from the FB for the most part BUT hot, buggy or wet does happen. One also has to consider ready access to the deck as well.

Both is always the better option....but at what cost or compromise?

You just have to decide whether the option is worth it to you based on what seasonal boating you will do.

I don't use the FB helm much. Unless its quite warm the wind chill up there takes away the enjoyment a bit. Plus, I much prefer the nav displays in the raised pilothouse.

If the FB is your only helm you would need clears to give you all-weather capability. But there is not much else to like about clears. Having said that, I would not let that aspect be anything other than a minor factor in choosing the boat. You can make it work, there is something to be said about only having one helm and sets of controls and nav stuff.

I'm guessing you will get answers all over the place.
Some will only have bridge helms...Others have both and will never use lower... I'd say it depends on your style and area of boating.
Are you comfortable in rough conditions from upper?
Do you have hard windshield & wipers on upper?...Will you ever want to operate in rain or only fair weather?
How !Any aboard to help w locking& docking...Will you ever need /want to single hand locking, docking or rafting?
Do you and crew like to climb ladders / stairs or keep comfortable on one level.
Fly brides can be wonderful on nice days...Even when in Port or at anchor.
Lower helms can be comfortable in less than ideal conditions.
No one right answer... That's why you find different designs.
You have the consider what will work best for you & our crew.

Many dual-helm boats have pretty bad visibility from the lower helm which is another concern. I like driving downstairs especially if it's cold and wet. In good weather, though, it's tough to beat driving from the flybridge.

When we lived in SoCal and our typical trip was from Long Beach to Catalina Island, we used the flybridge on our Mainship 34T almost exclusively. Only when the seas got up to 5' or beyond did we go below to limit the roll acceleration that you get up on the fly bridge in those conditions.

Now that we boat in New England our downeast style Mainship Pilot 34 works great and only on some of the hot days in the mid summer do we miss a fly bridge.

So it all depends on where you boat and how you use it.

David

We have an H-38. We boat from New England to the Keys. The pilothouse visibility is excellent. It is actually cooler on a hot day than up on the bridge. Less sun, less wind, more comfort and we like the electronics displays. It give us much better access to docking lines and lock lines. 2800 engine hours in 9 seasons and less than 10 hours driving from the bridge. But the bridge is a great place to entertain and have a glass of wine while watching the sun set.

My boat has both but I almost always drive from up top. I like the visibility and it has to be pretty wet o drive me below but I do sometimes get driven below.

Some boats without a flybridge are miserable to drive due to bad lower station visibility, some are great from the lower station.

Until a particular boat is decided upon...all just wild guess opinions.

Is the 40 comfy driving from below?

HopCar said:

My boat has both but I almost always drive from up top. I like the visibility and it has to be pretty wet o drive me below but I do sometimes get driven below.

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That's our answer as well. It has to be cold or raining for us to go below. Or really rough seas.

djmarchand said:

When we lived in SoCal and our typical trip was from Long Beach to Catalina Island, we used the flybridge on our Mainship 34T almost exclusively.

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Our boat only has a helm on the flybridge. We looked for that specifically when our search was in progress. In place of the down helm is our dinette which we use all the time. As David posted above, in SoCal, a flybridge helm sure is nice!

My rig has good vis from the lower. I find myself running from the lower 95% of the time.

It depends on the boat and personal preferences. And if you have both, it does not matter!!! Pick what you like.

My pre-trawler days were spent in the open on sailboats. Enough of that! I now stay in the trawler's pilothouse and avoid paying extra for a flybridge. (If buying a used boat, the most common boat is white, have twin engines, and a flybridge.) I'd avoid a boat which can only be controlled from a flybridge.

My pilothouse has less motion than a flybridge, more convenient for dock-handling, and is more protective from hostile environmental factors (sun, wind, extreme temperatures).

I would say a lot depends on the area you cruise and whether you have visibility from the lower helm like Scott stated. I had a 46 Hatt that had zero visibility from the lower station so the windows got painted and covered. Our 34 and now our current boat has both upper and lower helms but the are only used in really bad weather which is probably two tines a year in South Florida. We boat a lot in the Bahamas and need to read the water, I also like the breeze and smells on the bridge. Our hard top extends pretty far forward so rain gear is seldom needed.

Try both and figure out what you are more comfortable with. I prefer fly bridge; I like the breeze and visibility. It really depends on your personal preference for enviro conditions.

We have a Mainship 390 with upper and lower and drive mostly from the flybridge. From your nomenclature (35 & 40) and description I think you're talking about the 35' convertible and the 40' Nantucket. If so, these are very different boats as the Nantucket has an aft cabin. From your area I would suspect you would drive mostly from the flybridge so maybe you should also look at the rest of the boat to see which fits your needs.
Mainship also made 350/390 and 400 trawlers that have upper and lower stations.
John

I love steering from the FB, but when it's cool and rainy and we still want to move on to the next spot, it's sure nice to be able to operate from below, with the heater on, some tunes and coffee. Both is best. But we are in Canada and even in summer it can go from hot and muggy to cold and rainy the next day.

We have both, but mostly drive from the lower helm. Up top everything you want is down below, be it food, drink, sunglasses, the local chart, etc. But maybe even more importantly, and aside from the boat handling, docking, access issues others have raised, especially if like me ones other half is not as keen, and loves to read when out, it can get pretty lonely being the only one up there because you're driving.

Not a lot of folk who aren't mad keen like to just sit up there keeping the skipper company. If you're both downstairs, you can at least exchange comments, draw attention to a passing things of interest, and discuss proposed routes, anchorages, and when and what you'd like for a drink, meal, whatever. I would never buy a boat without a lower inside helm. I guess a pilothouse set-up is the best compromise all round.

I think the difference is in the length of the passage. When we took our first boat (sedan set up w/ flybridge) down the ICW I used the lower stations exclusively. We now have a pilot house w/ flybridge. Still use lower station exclusively. A few hours with the wind, noise, sun, etc. becomes fatiguing. Offshore, forget any upper helm except maybe the perfect trip to Bahamas, again 60-70-90 hrs offshore forget it.

So depends on your type of cruising. Short trips = great. Entertaining =great.

psneeld said:

Some boats without a flybridge are miserable to drive due to bad lower station visibility, some are great from the lower station.

Until a particular boat is decided upon...all just wild guess opinions.

Is the 40 comfy driving from below?

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I agree 100%! It's all about the boat, the comforts/conveniences, the equipment placement and the sight lines.

My 34 LRC has excellent, unimpeded 360* sight lines from the lower helm and it's my preferred helm. The FB has even better visibility but its equipment access is limited...no radar, no autopilot, small chartplotter, and no heat/fridge/weather protection creature comforts.



Up above, I feel the environment...down below, the comforts of the vessel. What's your preference?

Our FB is totally enclosed so we steer from above. The lower actually has a plaque warning about limited sight lines and it looks factory installed. The PO told me he had never steered from the lower station. Other than the pretty wooden wheel it is a waste of space. But that is only my opinion. In a different boat with a different configuration ....

If I ever spring for wireless controls I might steer from anywhere.

Visibility and ventilation are pretty good from the flybridge on my new boat

Same goes for the express bridge. New Stamoid and Strataglass are being installed right now, and a bridge A/C is next. As hot as it is in the summer here, being able to cruise in comfort is a big plus.

Lower helm is great if you can stand the engine noise. Upper helm is ok if your'e not in a beam sea. They each have the good and bad points. If there was only one helm I would choose lower. Warmer and drier.

For 15 years we drove from Maryland to fla, using the ditch. We only used the flybrige. So much debris, logs, timber, docks, especially after weather. We felt if we nicked a prop , there goes 5k. Also driving the rock pile, in South Carolina, was a white knuckle ride in itself, especially if a dropping tide. Always looking behind us, for perfect bearing.On one occasion driving south on the rock pile, a man in a small skiff, put his rod in the water, to show his depth, next to us. He was about 10feet away, about 5feet, of water,then granite .

It's all about vis from the lower station....then other reasons.

This year we even left Jersey in better weather and headed north later than most years.

Haven't driven from the flybridge even one minute in 2000 miles this trip...including the Keys.

Never felt like it, never felt like I might not see something and hit it either.

To many years of being out in the wind and sun I guess, even though the helm chair up top is way more comfortable. It just doesn't make up for the rest on my boat.

Last liveaboard ONLY had a flybridge station and I loved it with a 3 sided enclosure, but seeing though the clear vinyl was a no go a lot of the time so you had to zip it open and you lost your protection from the elements to a degree.

Every boat is going to have its up and downs...pun intended for the driving spot.

Myalchemy said:

I am looking at a Mainship 35 foot, which only steers from the up stairs. Is this a concern? Do folks seem to feel that it can get too hot or buggy? The Mainship 40 foot gives me both options of driving from the top or bottom, do most find this a better option?

Click to expand...

The 350/390 had a lower helm... so maybe you're talking about a boat from their non-trawler years?

Anyway, we had an earlier 34, with upper and lower helm. I really liked having the lower helm, but we used the flybridge about 99.9% of the time anyway. Visibility was better from up above, and we just liked being up there more. And then we have crab pots around here; did I mention visibility?

OTOH, a couple times when we fished early in the season, it was definitely nice to be inside with the heat on.

Our current ride has only a flybridge helm, and we've never felt the loss of a lower station. Wouldn't turn one down, depending on whatever consequences that might have on the rest of the interior accommodation, but wouldn't make it a requirement if we were shopping.

-Chris

Ok. Here's my two cents. A couple of weeks ago I had to drive my boat from the lower helm, by my lonesome. The Columbia was bull of debris due to high water, etc. There was no way I was going to be able to monkey down the ladder, throw dock lines, or what ever from the FB. 99.9% of my driving was from the upper helm -- I had help. From the FB you have a much better view. From the lower helm, there's mostly blind spots (everywhere). Which, makes operation from the top more appealing and you can see the crap in the river.

Back to the top. My eyes hurt from looking so hard from the lower station. I used binoc's a-lot. I trusted my radar to keep track of boats behind me. Additionally, there is no lower helm chair. The best part from the lower station was needing to use the head. I'd move to mid-river, put the boat in neutral, and us the head. Of course, there was no traffic. I do not have an autopilot.

The pro's and con's of the FB is going to be up to you. You can't use it if you don't have it.

Lower helm stations on some boats, especially the old Taiwanese makes, are largely ceremonial. Really designed just to be backup helms. I believe the Mainship lower helms were just an option and not many people exercised it, but I am not the expert on that. The friends we knew that had one never used it because you couldn't see squat from it and the station was too high off the floor to be comfortable.

For us though, we boat to get out in the air and sun. While we have a proper pilothouse now, we have only used it once when we moved the boat from Manteo to Morehead City. It was a tad chilly. Anyway, basic lower helms are a different animal than a pilothouse. Keep that in mind when you look at boats.

There are wildly different opinions on FB vs. piloting below, so it is up to you to decide which is right for your experience.

For many reasons... most mentioned here already in one or another post... I strongly recommend dual helms.

- FB pilot station is great whenever conditions permit, as well as being fantastic vantage point for docking in close quarters and for sight seeing in general!

- Salon pilot station is great when conditions demand you get under cover or to help lower center of gravity in really rough seas.

- Having both pilot stations also provides assured safety of redundancy... always a welcome factor when needed - for any reason.

I do like to pilot from bridge 99% - but - have been glad to occasionally have the salon helm for the other 1%... as a stop gap when required!