I have seen several pilothouse/center cockpit boats that had 3 to 4 steps between the inside and the outside. Same size boats with rear cockpits have 6 to 9 steep steps or flat rung ladders.
Picture a geriatric, arthritic dog with 4 inch long legs trying to get in or out. . . . All boats, by their very nature, are made up of a series of compromises. . . .hydrodynamics, kinesiology, speed, comfort, buoyancy, displacement, creature comforts are some of the charactoristics the boat engineers have to work with. I do not like ladders. I am a retired firefighter, I know and understand the use and function of ladders. For a boat I live on, with my dogs, I prefer steps. Thank you for your description of your boat. I am encouraged by this to continue with my instictive attraction. Casey --- On Thu, 8/14/08, Rosalie B. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Rosalie B. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Boat Search > To: [email protected] > Date: Thursday, August 14, 2008, 6:54 AM > On Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:42:16 -0700 (PDT), you wrote: > > > > >I am still looking for my first liveaboard. I am now > focusing on Pilot House/Motorsailers. > > > >I don't like the ideal of having to be out in the > elements to steer the boat and I don't care for ladders > > > >I am hoping someone on this site has some experience > with these boats and can share some insights. > > > >Casey > > > I don't understand the not caring for ladders. What > does that have to > do with pilot houses vs other boats? The pilot houses that > I've been > aboard have ladders. > > We have a center cockpit boat (CSY) with a complete > enclosure around > the cockpit, and we are not out in the elements to steer > the boat. We > can be quite warm and comfortable in cold weather (if the > sun is out > the enclosure acts as a sun trap), and we are in the shade > in hot > sunny weather. Some of the boats like ours have hard > biminis and > dodgers. The aft cockpit boats that CSY made were the > smaller boats > and the pilot houses. A center cockpit with an enclosure > will be > cheaper to buy because there are more of them. > > As for visibility - out in the weather or inside sometimes > you just > can't see regardless. If it is foggy - makes no > difference inside or > out. Driving rain - ditto. In neither case will a pilot > house boat > be able to see any better than an unprotected aft cockpit > boat because > there's reduced visibility for everyone. I wear > glasses, and if I > was out in the rain, I wouldn't be able to see anything > because of > water on my glasses (although I suppose I could wear my > scuba mask). > Anything that you have to protect in such case - > pilothouse, dodger or > whatever - the rain will obscure visibility through it. > I've been in > rainstorms on land that were so bad that my windshield > wipers on the > car could not keep up with the rain. In such cases, I > wouldn't have a > problem because we wouldn't be out there. If we were > out there we > would be proceeding with extreme caution or anchored or > hove to or > whatever seemed best at the time. > > _______________________________________________ > Liveaboard mailing list > [email protected] > To adjust your membership settings over the web > http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard > To subscribe send an email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To unsubscribe send an email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > The archives are at > http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ > > To search the archives > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > The Mailman Users Guide can be found here > http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
