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Old 30-12-2017, 06:39   #1
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Aft cabin or V Berth?

Hello all!

I'm looking at acquiring a boat to liveaborad and coastal cruise. Around the 30' range...

Does anyone have any opinions. On v berth vs aft cabins? I'm looking for insight, pros/cons etc.

My initial thought would be an aft cabin, seems more comfortable..

Thanks in advance !
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Old 30-12-2017, 06:51   #2
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Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

I’m a vberth guy myself. In warmer climes the ventilation in the typical small boat aft cabin sucks!! Much more comfortable in the vberth with the open hatch breeze blowing on you.
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Old 30-12-2017, 06:55   #3
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Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

Aft cabin on a 30' boat? Not common.
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Old 30-12-2017, 07:00   #4
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Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

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Originally Posted by Terra Nova View Post
Aft cabin on a 30' boat? Not common.


Virtually every 30ish foot hunter/been/Catalina has a form of bunk aft. Be it quarter berth, full with bunk forgoing cockpit lockers, or obscenely high cockpit to make room beneath.
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Old 30-12-2017, 07:04   #5
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Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailmonkey View Post
Virtually every 30ish foot hunter/been/Catalina has a form of bunk aft. Be it quarter berth, full with bunk forgoing cockpit lockers, or obscenely high cockpit to make room beneath.
"A form of bunk" is not an aft cabin
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Old 30-12-2017, 07:11   #6
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Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

Yes, I know they're more common on larger boats, but I have seen a couple on my recent searches. With so many models out there be it new or older, I was hoping to add on my "things to look for list".

Being new to sailing, I understand that my first boat will not be my last boat but want to find a first boat that would be a good fit, able to single hand, forgiving, and comfortable hence the aforementioned cabin question.
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Old 30-12-2017, 07:15   #7
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pirate Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

An easy to get out quarter berth at sea.. closer to cockpit in emergency..
V-berth at anchor.. sprawlability, overhead ventilation and one can hear the chain on the bottom if she starts dragging.. unless your into 25ft chain then nylon rode..
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Old 30-12-2017, 07:15   #8
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Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

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"A form of bunk" is not an aft cabin


If you want to play semantics, then there is really no “cabin” on most modern 30’ boats.
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Old 30-12-2017, 07:33   #9
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Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

I prefer the aft cabin except if there is any chop it's like trying to sleep in a drum. On passage or a rough anchorage you sleep on leeward side of main salon where it's quietest.
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Old 30-12-2017, 07:44   #10
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Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

A 30 ft boat usually means Vberth for reasons others have stated, the most important item is ventilation because if it's warm those rear bunks don't get much air.
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Old 30-12-2017, 08:39   #11
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Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

An aft cabin necessarily means a center cockpit. There are very few vessels in the thirty something foot range where a center cockpit makes sense as the individual cabins fore and aft are rendered too small. There is no reason an aft cabin can not be well ventilated.

If you intend to live on a boat with others you are not sharing a bunk with, an aft cabin configuration provides a modicum of privacy.

Center cockpit vessels only begin to work efficiently when you get to boat lengths of 41’ and longer.

The virtues of the various layouts of cruising boats have been widely discussed here on CF so I would encourage you to search a little deeper.
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Old 30-12-2017, 08:57   #12
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Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

32 feet, love our V berth for reasons mentioned
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Old 30-12-2017, 09:01   #13
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Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

@ #1

A habitable "aft cabin" in a 30-footer is an impossibility. The livable accommodation arrangements that are possible in a 30-footer are very few indeed, which is why one small boat is much like any other in that respect.

"Living aboard" and coastal cruising are two different beasts. It IS possible to "live aboard" a 30-footer, but if you have not tried it and discovered how cramped a 30-footer can be, and how primitive "living aboard" must be in consequence thereof, I'd suggest you connect with a few owners of 30 footers and get yourself invited aboard!
"Living aboard" is something you have to LEARN. If you wish to succeed at it, you have to cast aside your shoreside habits and develop entirely new ones. If, for example, you still have to earn a living, and if that requires that you wear the standard "business uniform", you will find that just seeing to your hygiene will take as much time as your hours at the office. No reason you shouldn't do it, but just be aware that "living aboard", for a working man, is difficult, and even more so for a working woman! And that's IF you can find a marina that will permit it.

Coastal cruising is NOT like dropping into a Ford dealer's showroom, or his used car lot, buying an F150 and blowing it down Route 66! It's a rare time when I'm in the Salish Sea that I don't hear someone yelling for the USCG because he apparently thought that "coastal crusing" is skittles and beer! But stick around. There is lots to learn here :-)

So at this time in your development, you might like to just go sculling around the InterNet and see what arrangement drawings for different 30-footers you can turn up. That will begin to get you "thinking in three dimensions". Get yourself a pencil and some "grid paper" (squared paper) and try to develop a layout within the constraints of the three views that make up a "set of lines" defining the hull form. An interesting and educational exercise :-)!

Here is a useful link: Sailboatdata.com is the worlds largest sailboat database.

Seek and ye shall find :-)!

TrentePieds (30 feet)
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Old 30-12-2017, 09:04   #14
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Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TrentePieds View Post
@ #1

A habitable "aft cabin" in a 30-footer is an impossibility. The livable accommodation arrangements that are possible in a 30-footer are very few indeed, which is why one small boat is much like any other in that respect.

"Living aboard" and coastal cruising are two different beasts. It IS possible to "live aboard" a 30-footer, but if you have not tried it and discovered how cramped a 30-footer can be, and how primitive "living aboard" must be in consequence thereof, I'd suggest you connect with a few owners of 30 footers and get yourself invited aboard!
"Living aboard" is something you have to LEARN. If you wish to succeed at it, you have to cast aside your shoreside habits and develop entirely new ones. If, for example, you still have to earn a living, and if that requires that you wear the standard "business uniform", you will find that just seeing to your hygiene will take as much time as your hours at the office. No reason you shouldn't do it, but just be aware that "living aboard", for a working man, is difficult, and even more so for a working woman! And that's IF you can find a marina that will permit it.

Coastal cruising is NOT like dropping into a Ford dealer's showroom, or his used car lot, buying an F150 and blowing it down Route 66! It's a rare time when I'm in the Salish Sea that I don't hear someone yelling for the USCG because he apparently thought that "coastal crusing" is skittles and beer! But stick around. There is lots to learn here :-)

So at this time in your development, you might like to just go sculling around the InterNet and see what arrangement drawings for different 30-footers you can turn up. That will begin to get you "thinking in three dimensions". Get yourself a pencil and some "grid paper" (squared paper) and try to develop a layout within the constraints of the three views that make up a "set of lines" defining the hull form. An interesting and educational exercise :-)!

Here is a useful link: Sailboatdata.com is the worlds largest sailboat database.

Seek and ye shall find :-)!

TrentePieds (30 feet)
Insightful. Good points. Thanks!
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Old 30-12-2017, 09:07   #15
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Re: Aft cabin or V Berth?

Life is too short to own an ugly boat. I cannot imagine what an aft cabin 30' boat would look like. It would have a profile like a cucumber with a tumor!
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