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

Funny that you should say that. I was thinking that A canon would be a really useful piece of kit having read thro' the thread on pirates, see
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4049&highlight=Pirates.

And in line with our maximising use of space discussion - I was thinking perhaps it could double as a bow-sprit. I suppose it would be a lot of weight on the bow.

 

Sailing boats are a tad more complex than the wheel, and I am afraid I don't yet know all that is already known about them. I'm making progress though by asking questions like why this and why not that. I believe innovation in sailing will continue until we stop asking these questions.

And what do you think Nelson would have told anyone to say that a woman, barely a lass, would circumnavigate the world non stop solo under sail in seventy odd days?

Not sure what your point is about under bed storage.
As for Guinness, mine's a pint, but you can't get a decent one outside of Ireland.

 

I will resist the Guiness comment or we shall need to open a new thread. However I am told the the London Boat show IS infact the only place a proper Guiness can be bought outside of Ireland. Personally I dont like the stuff, they should stick it back up the dogs arse where they got it from.

As for the boating thing, I think the bow sprit disguised as a cannon is a brilliant idea, now yer thinking!! I am serious-- if i ever go back to sail and get another (over 50footer) I will definately give that some serious thought.

I will pinch your idea and transfer it to the pirate thread.

I am already thinking --- it would be difficult to maintain with the firing mechanism in the chain locker unless hmmmm. Good idea that!!

Maybe you could unscrew the inner end of the barrel and have a hollow tube (ventilation) and keep it greased, it would not take long to rebuild the weapoan when travelling in threatening waters. The customs would not see it for what it was iether.

Jeeesus I would love to have a 50mm on the bow.

 

Thanks for your support Paddy and everybody else's comments. I do get that a boat is a complex project, but that is why this forum is so great. I am not totally ignorant and I don't aim to be single minded, but I love to think about things and ask about the why of certain things. Why just take everything for granted?
At the moment it is not about right or wrong, at least for me it isn't, but about what is possible when we are open to different point of views.
this forum is a treasure chest for all of us, is it not?
Take the drawers for example, there was good feed back, Will's comments about using large drawers for stuff you don't need at sea gets me thinking as do the other comments about opening drawers when at sea and it gives a focus about what I have to think about. Great.
The photo of the galley was fun, lots of bench space and I love the old fashioned galley type, easy access for more that one person to work on the bench and easy to wedge yourself in.
And I don't mind giving things up but I would like to have a fair trade and know what a fair trade off is and not because somebody says so. The more I understand why something is so, the better I cope with what I am left with. About awkward shapes and spaces, I have learnt over the years, when you have spaces you cannot access well, you plonk rubbish into them, you never touch it and forget what is in there until you move house, and what is the point of that. I have learnt to throw stuff out and now have only easy accessable space with stuff I regularly use. Silly little cupboards to use up space are not doing it for me unless they are under a table what Murielle said for those little things you do use. But I don't have to climb over things to get at them and they are easy accessible. Storage spaces under bunks and seats are great for large and unregular used items, but what are those items?
I do like the fact that thinking goes in how to lift the matresses to get to the stuff and how to keep it up while you are rummaging through the space.
A smaller bedroom with a clever spaced bed and storage might provide a seperate space for the sails etc.
A boat is like a jigsaw but I have seen people come up with solutions for small spaces that I thought were brilliant and I never would have thought about it myself. The one bedroom appartments are a good source too.
The moving of the boat is a common theme that does put a spanner in the wheel, but does it always have to?
We all have different lifestyles, my question is that there must be groups of sailors who have common likes and dislikes and that you only target those people and leave the rest to deal with someone else. I am looking for ideas that will appeal to couples who like the outdoors but also like some comfort and 'normal' living, and are not extremist either way. No televison please or a dishwasher, but a watermaker and a good size oven, coocktop, fridge freezer - yes please if possible. Visitors yes, but I don't have to provide 5 star hotel service, en-suites are not a neccessity in nice warm weather and they will be told that. If that gives me more space somewhere else, my guests will have to share a toilet that might be sound insulated if possible if toilet noise is the most uncomfortable thing for people living close together. I want to spend my money and design thinking on things and features that are important and could make life aboard fun and that is what I am learning from all the comments.
What about seperate toilets and heads, most women I spoke to have that high on their wishlist.

 

Where else would you have the loo, other than separate? What you do need IMHO is a shower that is separate from the head. I often draw them in completely separate compartments - the head (wc and basin) on one side of a companionway, and a separate shower stall on the other side, for instance. That way one person can was while the others is...well...you know

 

Great answer, Will thanks. But I am amazed how many new boats have the head and shower in one compartment. They either have a little plastic screen door between the 2 and you have to be careful which door you open when in that small space, or they have a shower curtain on a rail around the whole area, but you can imagine how wet everything gets despite all that. The answer of the broker was, well we imagine people will use the shower at the transum when the weather allows it or when they don't want to dry the shower below. So, 3 shower/head compartments made obsolete in that boat and taking up space with one remark by that broker.

 

Well, for most people a shower compartment within the head is all that's required. If you go away for the weekend, or even a week or two, then having the wc lid, and the floor wet from the shower isn't a big issue. If you're living aboard it might be. Completely separate compartments aren't exactly necessary either - more a luxury - but you should be able to design a boat with a practical separate shower stall adjoining the head.
Remember - the designers favourite word.... compromise.....
For most, extra room in the cockpit is worth more than a separate shower

 

Willi, Plus the fact that you get dry toilet paper and not some ones scum over your tooth brush.

However the two seperate compartments do add up to more space than you would need if you had them together but seperated by a shower cubicle or at least a curtain. What is an ideal situation is the toilet shower combined as I have just mentioned plus another head some where else.
I am not really keen on landlubbers using my bathroom.

Another extremely important point in bathroom design is drainage, Think very hard where that water goes and hight of the toilet, otherwise you need sump pumps and or loops for toilet in and out. If you have no where to get the hight for the loop you will need to shut off the toilet when in heavy seas --if you can remember. Shower drainage is wonderfull if it can go straight out.

You see you just wont get the hight on a 40 footer Sorry im off again but another 10 feet and all your problems go away.

A lot of boats these days just drain grey waste into the bilges, you cant do that with steel.

 

I have another question? Why have a cockpit as I read that having a cockpit full of water is a thread? Why not have seating on a flush deck so I can see over the top of cabins. I like to sit forward on deck and don't always sit in the cockpit.
I have not seen many boats without a cockpit, but I wonder?
Would the space below change a lot if there was no need for cockpits?

 

Somebody mentioned that there are now reasoable sized compost toilets that can be used on boats. That would be ideal, no tanks, no drainage. I haven't seen details yet and the person who mentioned it is away for 2 months.
Worth looking inot it, good composting ones are a real assett on land and at sea.

 

In most parts of the world it is illegal to dump grey or black water (sullage and sewage) directly overboard. You will have to incorporate either a decent size storage system (tanks) or a treatment plant (expensive). Haven't heard about composting systems, but I can't imagine that a traditional composting system would be viable on a boat - they're too slow and too big.
Jacks right about wc's though - more than one boat has been lost 'cause nobody closed the toilet seacock...

 

Cockpits - what you suggest sounds lovely on a warm, still summers afternoon, anchored in a quiet little cove. Belting into a freezing arctic force 7, it sounds not only bloody uncomfortable, but somewhat dangerous too. A cockpit not only affords a comfy place to sit, but also protection from sea and wind.
All that's required to ensure that it doesn't become a health hazard is that it must have effective drainage - and lots of it. That's why many ocean racers are completey open at the stern.
Also, placing people at deck height, puts their heads another 2m above that, which means that the boom must be at least a further 0.5m above that again. Which puts your sail area way up in the air, which in turn means you need more ballast, or you face reduced stability.

 

I have heard of a toilet system with its own removable waste storage tank. Never had any details on it, but it was referred to in the context of caravans. So check with a caravan supplier in your area.

 

Jack, you're nuts! Think of the aiming problems you'd have with those inconsiderate pirates that refused to stay on a steady course towards you.

As for Guinness, aren't you making my point?

 

I have some ideas on the gun thing but we had better stay on subject or wilma will be here again straightening us up. It should be in the pirate thread.

Sorry Wilma.