New radical boat kitchen?

OK ladies and gentlemen, think out of the box? why not think a bit of other culture to infused it to be friendly?

1. Rattan version of furniture would be a light , strong and managable but not dangerous kinda thing to have around.

2. Tatami floor mat is good servicable and can be wash, scrub and dry in a dry place.

3. bamboo laminated kitchen would be striking cool and different.

These are something I would prefer to look into to get a cutting edge into comfort, better weight saving, safety reason and new look within a funky boat design, of course I may be wrong.

 

Wilma - a good designer will take into account all the variables and come up with a sensible outcome. Remember, all boats are a compromise - including custom made ones. In larger firms, there are teams responsible for the design. Larger manufacturers employ their own designers - often teams who will be led partly by the marketing department, partly (sadly!) by the accounting department, and if they're lucky, partly by their own imaginations.

One of the advantages of working through an entire design on your own is that you are forced to consider how all the variables affect one another.

Funny that you should use Toyota as an example of variation - I was going to use them as an example of conformity! I reckon all cars look pretty much the same - with an occaisional styling tweak to try to set them apart.

You said you were going to move aboard a sailboat right? Take a look at some of the powerboats available out there. Not because I'm suggesting you should move aboard one of them instead (though I will if given 1/2 the chance! ) But more as examples of the kind of innovation you are talking about. Most powerboats tend to operate in sheltered waters (as Jack eluded to) as such they aren't constrained by the same design parameters as sailboats - how ofetn do you see a powerboat heeled happlily at 20 degrees?


Wei - all ideas worth considering - particularly the laminated bamboo furniture!

 

I do gree that sailing boats and heeling cause a problem and I have looked at catamarans and powerboats and again they don't make use of the space in a way they could have done. Even the designer of the catamaran agreed with my observation of the waste of space in the kitchen design and the cost cutting to not use drawers for easy access. In all that catamaran space the kitchen bench was unneccessary small and the dinding table not close to be used while cooking. That is okay for a holiday boat but if I am going to live on it I want a good kitchen, preferrably not downstairs somewhere and preferrably comfortable seats ie chairs. I also know that it is very easy to critique a design and hence we have demolished our kitchen to get an idea what designing involves and yes we have moved things around 3 to 4 times and we are very good at removing taps ourselves, but we know a prototype is the best way to find things out and then you can adjust the design according to your findings. I have not seen any great innovations in even custom made boats although we recently saw a 1.3 million boat Crusoe that came close.

I love Wei's ideas too. It is such a shame that we also think too much about the resale value of a boat. I think women and men could be a lot better at understanding different designs by being educated about what is so and why.
My main point is still that a good design takes time and money and I still think the interior is not the most populair item on a boat to spend design money on. Maybe that is why women are not that keen on boating? Most of my friends who came sailing for day trips do feel it is like camping and I don't think it needs to be. Why for example are the ovens too small to put a decent tray in it?
Why is a freezer lid placed on the already small bench space, so if you forgot to take something out of the freezer you have to move all the food?
Why is the chart table (soon to be obsolete) not next to the kitchen and can serve as extra work space? Just to name a few things?

 

When I designed my interior the first thing that was sited in the galley was a micro wave ,--the handiest piece of kit on a boat. For future designs I would definately have 2 of them. As for the lounge the first thing was the telly. The second was the beer fridge in the lounge close to the aft deck door. These are the things that get used the most --on my boat.

 

Well what about TATAMI floor? it does prevent cold feet and easy to maintan. I would look for the right harmless rattan furniture, and a nice hospital bed for water proof and back comfort.

Student

 

Good designs offer access to machinery, plumbing, etc without demolishing anything. All these boats that have huge open spaces are awful at sea. A good design has handholds and small spaces where one can brace oneself at all times. Also, men have been cooking onboard for centuries, it is hardly a modern phenomena. Even on ships, the spaces are not huge. Motoryachts, with their enourmous stabilizers can get away with house type interiors, as long as they work.
Wilma, chart tables are not obsolete. Electronic navigation equipment is a secondary system. I suppose the public that wants kitchens on boats as opposed to galleys may not see it. I can cook a hot meal, and have, in hurricane force winds in a proper galley which has a waist strap for the cook.

 

Gonzo, you and I both have the same problem... We actually EXPECT to be able to cook at 20 degrees. we also try to keep the interior as light as possible. Therefore we have small galleys and in-built furniture. How it all fits in is down to the designer.
As an example, I was racing a yacht a fortnight ago, and whilst going down below we crash-gybed. I was half-way down the companion-way steps at the time and our navigator nearly got a foot in the face. What would have prevented this is just to have a small end to the step. It doesn't cost much, and it is easy to overlook. However, it goes to show that it is actually the small things that make the boat work.

Tim B.

 

Ok - to start with, let me say that in my 39 years of boating, I have never attempted to cook a meal in rough weather. If it's that rough, I don't want to eat! However, I've never done any cruising that has forced me to do so either. As such if I were to design a boat for my own use, I wouldn't require a galley capable of dishing up a 3 courser in a force 9.
Wilma - many fridge / freezers have the 'door' on top because it's the most energy efficient. For many installations that's one of the most important considerations.
However, many boats these days are fitted out with predominantly house-hold goods - it really depends on the type of boat and how it's going to be used. Few things are done in boat design without a good reason - and I can assure you that the interior layout occupies much of a designers time

 

Although the thread has wandered a little, I'd like to refer back to the original round kitchen idea. The problem about the kitchen spinning because of weight balance could be solved by rotating it with an electric motor with an electric brake (you find this setup on many power tools). This would mean that it would be locked in place until you wanted to rotate it. About having something to hold to, I believe someone mentioned some sort of strap or harness used to hold the cook in place. This same concept would work for this kitchen seeing as you would never need to move anywhere, you would just move the kitchen. Not saying it's the best idea, or the worst, just had a few ideas to make it functional.

 

An electric motor with a worm drive will stop and lock in any position.
As for cooking in rough weather, fishing in the North Atlantic we were normally out for two weeks at a time. Nor'easters can blow for ten days and you have to eat if you expect to stay alive and work.

 

There is a few incorperated ideas can be apply to the circular turning kitchen with utensile placement. Can read book" The finely fitted yacht " by MATE vol.1&2.

 

How do you propose to install the gimball in the stove?

 

Nice idea, address the details people have been going over and market it yourself.

 

This is a valuable discussion. I mean I wont be running and built a boat with a round kitchen in a galley yet. I am still studying and would take this idea into my homework later

 

I so agree with 'student' that having a discussion and exploring different options is very valuable. It helps to really think about what is important and what is possible. It makes you articulate your thoughts and opinions and it gives you a chance to reconsider what you thought is the 'truth'. I start to realise that there are a lot of things I have an opinion about and when challanged I realise these opinions are not always as sound as I thought. I never ever thought about a circulair kitchen and I was absolutely delighted to see something new. I first would like to look at the whole thing and enjoy having fun with it and admire the new thinking behind it. It has been fun discussing the pros and cons. I would love building a prototype to find out the merits and see where and how a gimbled stove would fit in. The NZ Fisher & Paykel company which produces whiteware has a whole department doing just that. I enjoyed this conversation as it got me thinking and I do appreciated all the so generously given input. I cannot wait for 'student's' next design idea or anybody elses for that matter.