Aft cabin vs. V-berth

Your logic is sound for a charter vessel, but if I tried to move my wife into the V-Berth, and out of the aft cabin, I may as well reinstall the alcohol stove, and sign the divorce papers.
The real advantage to the aft cabin setup on our boat, is that it is essentially a oversized Quarter berth in a private cabin. It makes for a very comfortable sea berth, so we always sleep in our bed. Even underway.

[sailorgal]

Thanks to all for your replies. We'll continue to look for a boat with an aft-cabin. We aren't in the serious-buying mode yet -- just trying to narrow down choices. I really like the Tayana V42. I've heard good reviews, and there are several older boats available at the high end of our price range. I also like the Gulfstar sailmaster 47 because of the nice, bright saloon, but 47ft. may be a little much for a couple to handle. Any other boat suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers!
Iris

[rleslie]

Iris

Have you looked at the Brewer 12.8. We are 12 months into a 18 month refit and I have been very impressed with everything that I ahve found. She is a very well built boat and sails extremely well.

Roger

[sailorgal]

Thanks Roger
I've just checked on YachtWorld and found 2 Brewer 12.8. They look very nice! I've added them to my list of possibilities! I understand they are an "improved" version of the Whitby 42.

[rleslie]

The original Whitbys were designed by Ted Brewer and built in Canada by Whitby Boat Works.

In the early 80s, Ft Myers Yachts began production of the Brewer, based on the Whitby interior (with a few modifications) and a redesigned hull. The primary difference is the Brewer has a skeg hung rudder, cutaway keel (known as the "Brewer Bite") and most, if not all, had a bow-sprit. The modifications to the hull improved her windward performance and solved the problem of weather helm (a problem experienced by the Whitby).

Some of the Brewers are double headsail ketch and others are sloops. The Whitby/Brewer website is: http://www.bcpl.net/~bcboykin/whitby_home2.htm

Roger

[Vasco]

In the two boats I owned before my present one we always slept in the "aft cabin" . In the 30' boat there wasn't much headroom and I used to call it the coffin. In the 36 it was much more comfortable with a lot more headroom. In the new boat we sleep in the pullman berth (the "v" is taken up with a head) rather than in the aft cabin which has a great big area. We use the aft berth mostly for storage.

[capt lar]

vasco - what make was the 36 footer ? capt. lar

[Vasco]

capt. lar,

The 30 footer was a 1985 CS30, the 36 footer was a 1988 CS36 Merlin (I still sail it on Lake Ontario) and I have a Beneteau 393 which I sail in the winter. It's presently in Palm Coast, FL. and I'm watching the National Hurricane Site for depression #16!!

[capt lar]

i saw the beneteau in your photos - set up is nice. hope the hurricane season cycle slows - been tough for the last few years. have friends in the bahamas - they are getting weary of being trashed. never gets much notice in the u.s. press. capt. lar

[alaskadog]

Seems like the general concensus favors sleeping in the aft cabin whether one has a sleeping mate or no. I tend to agree. Our 37' Jeanneau sloop has a comfortable and large size bed in the aft cabin which is large enough to lie lengthwise or athwartship. Only 2 problems. One is that when making the nightly journey to the head one usually disturbs the other by crawling over if lying athwarts or nudging the other over when lying lengthwise which we usually do. The other problem is lack of headroom, but not so much that you hafta wear a hard hat. We tend to always use the aftcabin and lie lengthwise. Some of the other similarly sized vessels I have seen require you to lie athwartships in the aft cabin which is not as comfortable in a seaway as lying lenghwise. If lying in port at a marina for any period we frequently make the bunk in the V-berth because of the more abundant headroom and the ease of egress for that nocturnal trip. Another concern with interior layout should be the location of the head. In port it matters little but at sea it matters alot especially when beating to wind. We love our relatively large head located in the aft. Having used the head on other boats which are located forward and when beating into the sea and becoming airborne at times, I would never have a boat with a forward head unless it was large enough to have another one aft. Its all about tradeoffs.

[Euro Cruiser]

Just to revisit the initial post that started this thread, the assumption made was that one had to move up in size in order to have an aft cabin...even tho´the couple claimed to appreciate the benefits of a smaller boat.

To recalibrate the discussion, many different boat brands - at every price level - in 30-36´ lengths have been built with aft cabins in N Europe & North America for several decades now so let´s be careful about how quickly we jump up to 40´+. The newly redesigned H-R 34 has been in production for 20 years or so, the Malo 34 and more recently 36 ditto, and there are many other examples of higher end boats. OTOH you will find this basic layout, all with aft cockpits, in Bavarias, most Jeanneaus, some Beneteaus and of course a lot of American ´built to a price´boats like Catalina & Hunter.

My advice would be to stay small to the extent your cruising plans allow it. Certainly, a coastal North America and Caribbean run do not require a 40´+ boat; you might find many reasons why going smaller will make things easier for you, and certainly less expensive.

Jack

[zippy]

This is a great thread. I am a coastal cruiser so that most of my sailing nights for the foreseeable future will be spent at anchor. I would like a nice place to sleep! There should be a distinction made between aft cabins and useable aft cabins. Many aft cabins in the under 40 ft boat size are tiny and not much better than a V berth. What I would like to find is an aft cockpit boat, under 40 ft with cabin that has a queen size berth (somewhere) that is accessable from both sides allowing one person to exit without banging their head and/or roughing up their partner. I would gladly give up a few ft in other areas to have this luxury. I am also not crazy about the rounded off doubles as mentioned earlier. So far I have not seen such a boat but I am encouraged that there are others looking for one. Does such a boat exist that is more than 5 years old?

[kismet]

I posted an inquiry on another thread asking about the Victory 40, a Van de Stadt design, built by Trintella amoung others. I just purchased one recently, but have not found a great deal of information about them. But..the aft cabin is enourmous, with full headroom openning ports and hatch and enclosed head. Here is a link to a sistership http://norfolk.boatshed.com/viewboat...=13513:viking:

[capt lar]

there is a victory 40 listed on yacht world. big girl. 82 h.p. perkins and 180 gal fuel vs 100 gal water. hmmmmm. does not give disp - maybe she is shy about her weight ? great cabin space - lots of room and lots of wood. since you are now an owner, you will soon be the authority. what was it you were trying to learn. equipment and such on the yw listing are all standard brands, sounds like you did not get much documentation so you may need to start ordering owner's manuals for the systems you will now maintain. if that doesn't work there is probably someone on this forum that has the info and can fax or mail it to you. i was lucky and found a pretty good folder on my recently purchased boat and have had good luck finding equipment manuals on line for the rest, including original universal engine - or "mr. universe" as it is now know. maybe if you post more specific questions you will get better response. good luck.
capt. lar

Check out San Pedro Yachts. Look for the 32' Dreadnought. The boat is the fiberglass version of the Tahiti Ketch. The one for sale on this site has a really unique sleeping arrangement. For a 32' boat, she has the best master cabin I have ever seen.