A question for couples who cruise.

Baker said:

To aircondition that space, you need a dedicated unit and not just a "tap" off of another. Granted Walt, being in California helps as it is rarely hot....or humid. But on the Gulf Coast, no way. My salon and galley area have two 16k units that are located on the flybridge. There is a tap off of each one that puts air onto the flybridge. It is basically worthless and I would never declare my flybridge to be airconditioned.

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Thanks, John! At my age I learned long ago to listen to others who have gone before me and in most cases it was good info. I shall shelve the AC on the bridge project and as you say, living in SoCal, it's really not needed!

In our opinion, chartering various boats is the best way to determine what you want on the boat you will ultimately buy. Plus a whole bunch of other things about boating and cruising apart from boat design.

magna 6882 said:

Hi

Were still studying for what boat and another question came up. My wife has concerns that if we get a pilot house then one person will be at the helm and the other in the salon making for a lonely experience. We are active motorhomers and when traveling we are both up front until we reach our destination.
For husband and wife teams where do you hang out when traveling. Does she have a point with the pilot house design? My thought would be that we would both either be in the pilot house or flybridge

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Not to be flip, but walking the docks and looking at boats will answer your question.

Codger2 said:

Thanks, John! At my age I learned long ago to listen to others who have gone before me and in most cases it was good info. I shall shelve the AC on the bridge project and as you say, living in SoCal, it's really not needed!

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The question is do you run with the bridge completely open or do you have some of the curtains up. We have air on the bridge and if we had some of the curtains up then it would help a great deal. Even as it is, it's got some benefit as you can get close to the vents and get the feel of some cold air. However, it's like trying to air condition a patio behind a house.

sunchaser said:

Not to be flip, but walking the docks and looking at boats will answer your question.

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You are absolutely correct but up here in Washington all the docks are locked down due to covid.

We don't have a flybridge but do have a sizable pilothouse with a deep L shaped raised setee from which instruments and electronics can be viewed in addition to the route out the window. We spend the majority of our time underway in the pilothouse.

My wife likes to drive the boat and is at the helm 75% of the time and I sit on the setee and read, peruse the web on my tablet or look at the view. I leave to do hourly engine and overall boat checks. On longer runs over 4 hours, I do small repairs and projects while my wife drives. I get bored just driving.

My wife, when not driving will sit on the setee and read or peruse the web. She makes the bed, gets herself ready, puts things away etc while I drive. On long runs of 6 hours or more, she will cook or prepare food in the galley.

We usually leave for the next destination early in the morning. We get up and go, drinking coffee and eating breakfast underway so a lot of the morning "chores" are done while cruising.

I think you're jumping ahead to start saying you do or don't want to consider a pilothouse. Back up just a bit and define your requirements without trying to decide what boat can meet them. Then evaluate boats against those requirements. It sounds like one of yours may well be to have space to be together when one of you is at the helm. But then you may find yourself taking that further and stating that if one of you is at the helm and the other in the galley you want to be close. Or that might not be a requirement for you. Then you also have to decide if these factors are deal killers or just desirables.

Often potential buyers end up falling in love with a boat that has one or more features they said they'd never want.

Sometimes size also becomes a factor. A style you might find to be a problem in a 40' boat may work quite well for you in a 50' boat.