Pilot house - functionality

[Guillermo]

Originally Posted by FAST FRED

And an opening one aft really helps too.

Yeap! Especially after eating beans...

[safewalrus]

Depends what you want really! Fwd sloping windows and a trucks wheel just don't look right on a salty old sailer do they?

for preferance forward sloping windows are my ideal, but as said depends on the style!

As for the steering bit - most tugs and the like now use either a joystick or a couple of buttons on the autopilot! Wheels? ain't that what that bloke Noah had? As stated above the 'gameboy' style is very close to the average, especially on the big stuff, with a little joystick in the middle - a lot of manouvering on the big stuff is done by using the engines (splitting the sticks) and or the thrusters! A good skipper can make the boat 'dance' without a wheel in sight!

[Duma Tau]

Absolutely! It ALL depends on what one wants.

As for looking right on,

Salty old sailers.............watch " Jazz on a Summer's day" by Bert Stern. The first music documentary or muso-film, it has scenes from Rhode Island - based America's Cup races in 1950s. The jazz is overlaid on some stunning sailing scenes, both water -level, and from aircraft.
One image sticks out, where a vertical axis shaft with truck wheel connected to the rudder is manfully and demonstrably whizzed around by the helmsman of a Grand Banks style cruiser, his navigation driven bony elbows jagging out to port and stbd., and his captainly chin jutting forward. Wonderful stuff.

OK it's only 50 years ago, but..................

[FAST FRED]

One concept we have used , is to locate the HEAD in the dog house.

The person on watch is the mostlikely to need it during the night , and the Deck house suffers from wet oilskins in any sort of weather, so why not locate the shower there too?

For a couple privacy is maintained easily , when a crowd is aboard a call to "Clear The Bridge" gets the needed privacy.

Ventilation is excellent .

Some unique advantages are the ability to observe the local scenery at odd times .

The view out 12 inch Liberty Ship ports is fine , the view IN very restricted .

A head is used at best a few min a day , why seperate out 5 or 10% of the boat for such little use.

On a 33ft loa x 28 lwl vessel the use of limited space needs to be very well thought out.

FAST FRED

[Duma Tau]

Sure is a good idea .........a room with a view, and privacy to boot.

High gunwhales do much the same job as one sits atop the 5gallon oli-drum privy in the cockpit, waving to passing ships as one's effluvia leaves the flesh.

Bucket N Chuckit rules all day in some boats.

[hansp77]

I stayed on a freinds fathers 5 story mezzanine houseboat.
It was the best boat on the lake for 15 years or so (apparantly) but is now probably outdone.
The bottom floor where the toilet is was in the hull below sea level,
so that when gazing out the 'throne' window your eyes were about a foot above sea level.

A most unique and relaxing experience.

[globaldude]

The only blue water sailing I've done was from Fiji back to New Zealand .
No one seems to talk about "trying to" take a dump at sea and I well know why .
The head ,in the 37ft boat we were on, was well forward, so much so that you had to use your arms to hold yourself off the roof & walls !.
So there you are, all muscles tense to station ones arse on the seat, fearing that even if you were able to do something, it might jump up & get you, and it was a really hard thing to try to tell a reluctant svingster to relax enough to evacuate the system !!,
I was telling my brother about it [ he's done no sailing to speak of ] and said ; imagine being in one of those cane baskets atop of an elephant [ thinks big game hunting - safari type ] and trying to take a cr** while the elephant ran over a giant washing board , that's it !!.

So yeah, a shouse at least right next to the pilot house which is big enough for a shower & wet locker is a great idea. My wife gets sea sick for 3 - 5 days so the least movement is in that area also eh !?.
You crack me up Scotty LOL

On views from loos , my optional long drop faces down the river so has a great view & privacy. [ we do have a flushing jobby but I prefer the " fresh" air one.]

[Duma Tau]

Fiji to NZ sounds magical to me. Lucky dude guy to have sailed that way.



But seriously, dear designers; have mercy on sailors fair and male: next time, position the ship's heads midships, even better - on keel centreline-, for a peaceful & stress-free exit of all things eaten.

Funnily enough my current dunny of choice afloat on the good ship DUMA is next to the nav station,(Maybe it's because of all the crap plots I make...........) below the spiral staircase. Shower too. Gawsh.
No kidding.

Jobby Wheechers hereabouts in kilt-wearing-country rely on gravity mostly.
Long drops are the unsurpassable best, with St.Mungo overhead tank cludgies a close second, hard to beat a chain-pull.

Oh, as most seaborne WCs have a flush function, one should always use the bidet option inherent in any water-flushed device. You know it makes sense.
Saves blockages, trees and dags.


Once spent a few days white-baiting on the Mokau river sur le NZ.

Pole-net-Pitch was close to a long drop too.

Fish tasted fine though.

Pass it on.

Have a nice day y'all!

[Eric Sponberg]

Originally Posted by Duma Tau

But seriously, dear designers; have mercy on sailors fair and male: next time, position the ship's heads midships, even better - on keel centreline-, for a peaceful & stress-free exit of all things eaten. Have a nice day y'all!

On my Globetrotter 45, I took such ideas to heart. The head, galley, master stateroom, and the inside helm are all in the center of the boat, precisely because this is where the motion is least, so performing the appropriate functions in these areas is the most comfortable.

Eric

[Duma Tau]

I wish we had access to the windows you do, any Idea of the thickness & or whether they are tempered / laminated ??. Just to give me an idea as to what to plan for.

Hi Dude; sorry forgot to reply: MFV windows are usually 10mm thick toughened glass. Some are triplex laminated. Alloy frames with vertical sliding panes the most common sort.
There were a whole bunch of them at our Autumn boat jumble last week.
If my mate scraps his MFV I will give you a shout and who knows, maybe do a deal?

[Tanton Yachts]

It is important to keep weight and people in the middle of the boat.
Head, galley, engine, navigation and saloon.

[FAST FRED]

"It is important to keep weight and people in the middle of the boat."

To have the tankage where the boat will stay in trim full or empty is sane.

People do best in the middle of the center of rotation a great place for the cookie or the bed room, but Prime space for a lump of iron???

Most engines are light enough to be placed almost anywhere today.

Saw the Feng Suey , A Motor sailor heavily built of abour 55 or 60 ft. She carried the engine (a 3000+lb 6-71 , and two gen sets) all the way foward .
Great sense , no one likes to be foward in a sea , the DD never skipped a beat in 2X arround.
The engine room was "proper" plenty of space to address the engine , and room for tools , spairs even the smelly paint locker.

Weight needs to be carried rationally , but the engine in the best/least motion part of the boat? What ever for?

Especially with todays flyweight engines.

FAST FRED

[Duma Tau]

Well, plenty of fishing boats have their donkers way in the bow, a bit daft when you have to take a big fat shaft way way way back to the other end of the boat methinks, but it does give the guys a better freedom of layout for fish holds, freezers and such.

On a pleasure boat, a forward engine has a lot to recommend it, not least reduced noise and improved access.

However I think my engine way AFT is best for me, the drive shaft is shorter than any I saw , the engine makes a fine aft saloon table support, and we can enjoy the heat after anchoring in these Northern climes. The engine maintenance access is superb too.

Noise is worse of course, but I am usually topsides anyhow, when it runs.

The COMFORT of a big engine box aft is great, and it gives a HUGE strong table for free. Our oval permanent ( not fold-out) table seats 12 with ease. On a 12 meter boat, a JDP designed by Dimitri LeForestier. THANKS Dimitri! .

This forum topic is about making life comfortable for females inside boats I think, but on this one, I am VERY close to my female side.
Today we had lunch atop the table/engine bay while it ran at 1250 rpm.
It was OK, and the heat was welcome.

In warmer climes, a fan would be good to take heat away from the casing, but we Scots just accept the radiant and convected energy as a bonus.

[stevel]

Originally Posted by Duma Tau

This forum topic is about making life comfortable for females inside boats I think

Not this thread, but the post is quite relevant to either thread.

[Willallison]

Fred - it's not just about keeping people in the middle, but keeping weight out of the ends