What design features make life aboard comfortable & practical for females?

Mike - have you seen the e-charts put out by the Aust. Hydrographic Office (available thru Boat Books). They are electronic replications of the 'real' thing.
Far superior IMHO than any of the other commercially available ones. Program runs on a pc / laptop as opposed to a plotter...

Wilma - don't mind the Volvo - but sadly the chicks have failed to come up with much (at least in the way of styling) that's new - the tailights are pinched from a Maserati, the rear buttresses look like they're derived from a Hyundai, etc, etc All in all, I think a little contrived. For now, I'll stick my head on the block and say that it takes man to create a truly beautiful car - and preferably an Italian one!

Electronic charts have all but replaced the paper jobs, but it's importatnt as others have said, to at least know how to read them. I think the 'dining table' is perfectly acceptable as a back-up chart table for when the plotter goes on the blink. Of more importance though, I think, is that someone should be able to work on the navigating at the same time as someone else is at the helm. At night, this requires some careful thought in terms of impairing ones night vision

 

To make her perfectly comfortable you will need an engine room with plenty of space, berthing, refrigerator, satellite, portals, private head, and lots of elbow room so you can hide out in proper fashion. She’ll figure out the rest of the vessel, now or in the future. You just need to figure out how to pay for it all. Oh, yeah. Be sure not to step on anything she classifies as clean, such as swept teak decks.

 

That's the dificult part, at least for me

 

Harlemriverman - for that you need a yot the size of the 'New Jersey' but paying for it could be a little tricky - as we know it's all compromise mate, just how we do it is the thing!

 

Arrrgggg! Now New Jersey would be a comfortable ship by any measure. She could have the beaches, shopping malls, and the parkways while you are relegated to enjoy the refreshing aromas of Newark.

 

Harlemriver, actually I was thinking of the battlewagon not the state! there again they about the same size I guess! So that would regate me to the engine room bilges - which particular engine room is wide open!

 

Humm, I sail many times alone and when not alone, sometimes (while travelling extensively), I sail with another crewmember. That means that when alone I have to take care of the boat while doing the navigation and with two people, at the night watch, only one is awake. So, a lot depends on the way you use to travel and the size of the crew.

If this is the case, the best place to do the navigation is at the wheel. I have all the information there, Plotter, Radar and Radio.

I have another interior station, at the chart table, but I never use it. Once in deep fog in crowded and hazardous waters I have asked a friend to be at the radar (in the interior station), while I was doing the navigation, but it didn't work. He was making me nervous with all the data he was throwing at me. I am so used to integrate all the data myself that I am not able to trust another man's information, or navigational decisions.

 

safewalrus -- my mistake friend! Indeed there is a “the” in that New Jersey. Save me a seat in those bilges. I’ll bring the beer.

 

Will
Yes I have both rasterised hydrographic and vector charts the latter seem to be smoother in operation.

Chart packages on a laptop are a brilliant extension of the GPS system and are much less error prone and intuitive than trad, Where you have to establish the boat position on the chart then take the course off again, many errors can easily be made particularly during heavy weather sickness/fatigue.

The instant you look at the laptop you know exactly where you are and wehere you are heading, a click of the mouse and you have a new bearing, ....it takes about 10 seconds. I think it is a significant safety advance of an order of magnitude over the paper chart. On top of this they also offer collision alarms if the projected course looks like running out of water.

The nav/radio table/desk needs to be close to the helm but well protected from possible spray slop or knockdown water . this puts it well inside screened from the companionway and totally protected in all weather since the electronics are not partial to any salt water.

The old IBM laptops seem to be invulnerable to shock and can be bought for a few sheckles. There is an older CMAP with world charts that is apparently now public domain and runs on anything 300MHz up. In the Pacific you would be hard pressed in many areas without such a system and in the past we simply avoided places like the Dangerous Archipeligo.

Design the desk around a laptop they are also goood to decode the HF weather maps just plug the sound from the radio into the microphone socket.
I see many vessels now where the chart table has been chopped and houses a recessed laptop in a way that the laptop can be folded down to form part of the top.

 

Being comfortable on a boat doesn't mean to me (and I hope that other lfuture live aboard women agree) being unreasonable, demanding, unneccesary money spending and in competition with men. For me it means -as I said before- taking a stand and taking the trouble to share what comfort means to me, and question certain given interior lay-outs that don't make sense to me, so we all can have a great time aboard. If I keep my mouth shut nobody ever knows and neither do I, as my ideas can evolve by means of talking and so (dare I say it) could the ideas of male sailors.
The comfort for women also lies in the fact that we are allowed to talk about other things than just engines and rigging and the fact that we would like to become a partner in the adventure.

I do have to laugh about harlemriverman's comments, but they show a status quo about men against women and they actually don't add a lot to this conversation about how to make the interior live-aboard friendly.

I do appreciate this thinking about chart tables, they take up a lot of space and if they are not neccessary, it simply could mean more room for something else, whatever that may be. That is what I want to achieve.

Will, I am not just looking for completely new ideas either, that the volvo car is not made of new ideas is not what is important, it is the observing and questioning why certain things the way they are, is where the gold lies.

A good example is the questioning and commenting Paulo just did about the navigation at night and in fog. Think about who, when and how you use the space/equipment and then you might come to different design features, which are based on reality and therefore extremely userfriendly. Thank you, Paulo.
This is the value of this thread and its contributions and we all win.

 

Wilma - was just just having a little fun with the Volvo thing, I have no doubt there are alomst as many talented female car designers these days as there are men. I say almost, coz not as many women are 'into' cars. Same with boats - that's why you don't see too many female yacht designers. That's not to say their input is ant less relevant....

Now - back to the helm / nav station bit. I was actually referring to an inside helm position. If you plan on sitting inside whilst 'driving' at night, then you need to be in a dark space. It's as simple as that.
I'm completely with Mike as far as the traditional idea of a nav station goes. Whether we like it or not, the era of the paper chart is at an end. 99% og people use nothing but e-charts for their navigation, so the nav station should be designed to suit. Indeed, one could almost ask whether a dedicated nav station is required at all anymore..?

 

Thanks Will, I think women just talk about different design elements of cars and boats and as you say it is a matter of accepting each other's input. I am very pleased I don't have to think too much about the displacement and hull shape to be honest and I am delighted that I get so much support with thinking about the interior.

It will be interesting to see how a boat will feel and look like with no big chart table but just a laptop and some screens for depth sounders etc.
It is a matter of getting used to and leaving some old nostalgic features behind, don't you all think? But since I have no nostalgic memories/atachments it is easier for me to question given features.
It is the same with cars, we still see old timers on the road and everybody goes oh and ah, but I am sure there is a modern model in their garage for everyday life as well.
If you look how much space a chart table with seat is taking up, there is some win here to get rid of it and I promise that an occasional chart is allowed on the island bed, that now can be even bigger.

 

Bed's no good - you need a hard, flat surface for the dividers / parrallel rule
Besides, we may not be that good at all that romantic stuff, but when was the last time you heard a bloke hop into bed and say, "hey baby - wanna take a look at my map?"

 

Hmmmmmm, if that is what it takes......

 

Now back to business, I thought that you only needed to have the big chart completely unfolded to get the general idea of where you are going. I think safewalrus and Pat said when they are using it it is folded to get only the area you are saling in on the chart.
No Will, you cannot have the chart table back and just fold the chart when you want to plot on it or do it on the dining table. You can eat with a plate on your lap.