Your Best Addition / Upgrade Suggestion to a New Build ?

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by atoll

also carry 2 dinkys whizzy with 25 hp rib and 7 ft rowing dingy that can take a 2-4 hp,but mostly use it in places where a nice dinghy might get stolen.

hope this helps

We already had a Zodiac C310, but after hauling it on and off the boat here in Lake Ontario (after a davit failed, we resorted to this), we decided that a 10.5 foot sailing/rowing nesting dinghy and a rowing/motorable 10 foot Portabote were the ways to go.

Nesting dinghy is the faster "people mover" and the Portabote is the "handcart" for cargo. Both break down to very small footprints that leave the foredeck clear, do not require davits and do not require painters/bridles. We use a Honda 2HP engine that doesn't need freshwater flushing (it's air-cooled) and which, at 28 lbs. my compact wife can lift with one arm.

A deck crane and a purchase used with the main boom make getting the tenders on and off deck straightforward.

[David_Old_Jersey]

stainless steel tube atop the stanchions, not wire. will last forever and be more secure.

For the Nav area design in the fact that things will get upgraded - and you don't know what shape & size they will be. Always easier (and cheaper) to cut holes in a removable panel(s) that could easily be replaced (if it looks too much like swiss cheese ) than to deal with a panel that is part of the furniture - litterally.

Access! think how you will reach everywhere. and how everything could get removed (and accessed for maintanence / repair - replacement). one day the chump who needs access may be you (even if you never intended it to be) for some things (fuel tanks?) that may involve a chainsaw but at least it would have been your intentional choice. Screws not glue allows disassembly.

[blgklr]

Fuel polishing set up so that fuel comeing onboard can be polished before going to tank as well as being able to recirculate and polish the in tank fuel. And a garbage compacter, garbage will take up a lot less space if it is compacted first. Possibly a small stand alone ice cube maker run of converter or generater.

[SailFastTri]

If you're designing a custom boat -- build in a "sea chest". If you're not familiar with the term -- it's a box inside the boat where all the though-hulls are. The walls of the box extend above the designed waterline, so if a hose comes loose or a fitting breaks the flooding is contained within the sea chest -- the boat will not sink. Think about the value of that if you need to leave the boat in the water during winter or need to leave it somewhere while you fly home.

[atoll]

secret compartments,keep the non valuable stuff in the safe.

a built in rum tank,great for carrying large quantities of cheap rum,mine is 500 liters!!!,but have a friend who can haul 2500 liters!!!!! invisibly

[rourkeh]

I have a 44' mono hull with 2 staterooms and 2 heads, took the bigger aft head and am removing the vanity, toilet and stripping it to bare walls and turning in to a large stall shower only. No one needs 2 toilets and 2 crappy showers. I take a shower every day it will be nice to be able to turn around in there and not worry about getting things wet ever time I use it.

[Mark Johnson]

Of the innovations or just "nice touches" that we've built into our boats, these are my favorites.

#1 On my last rocket of a WET trimaran, I needed an inside steering station! This 32" bubble hatch did the trick nicely. I was on auto, with a remote in my hand... sometimes @ 19 knots!

#2 our current "cored composite" light weight but STRONG hard dodger, with opening hatches in the top.

#3 enough solar panels to live energy self sufficient almost year round.

#4 A full cockpit enclosure that works at sea... (seen here hard to windward in 35+ knot winds & 13' seas) It also makes an extra cabin at the dock, can cool the whole boat, and be heated as well.

#5 An aft cabin "brow extension" that allows our 4' wide aft hatch to be left open, even in a driving rain.

#6 An awning that shades the majority of the cabin when anchored out. Yet can stand a thunderstorm!

#7 Our vacuum panel insulated fridge, that has the efficiency of one with over 7" of foam, yet takes up only 1/3rd of the space.

#8 A clutch to hold the roller furling line. By keeping it engaged, I can head up, luff a second, and pull with one hand, then quickly fall off to prevent "irons". After repeating this a few times, I have reefed with one hand kept on the wheel, and didn't have to fight the sail or turn the boat around.

#9 After years of thinking, and 5 months of work for my wife & I, I figured a way to install a really light weight windlass and rode locker, that would self bail, even though it was below the waterline. (the entire locker and connecting "witches hat", was < 35#)

[Mark Johnson]

AND...

[Mark Johnson]

oops...

[SabreKai]

I'd install curtain tracks with heavy curtains so the companion way could be closed off from the rest of the boat in heavy weather. However the suggestion that the head be at the aft end of the cabin does make some sense and in light of my current gutting of Sabre Dance it may well be the solution to several problems.

Lots of other good ideas here that would be nice to incorporate into an new boat. And as noted, lots simpler to do then rather than later.

Sabre

[Maren]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

If you're designing a custom boat -- build in a "sea chest". If you're not familiar with the term -- it's a box inside the boat where all the though-hulls are. The walls of the box extend above the designed waterline, so if a hose comes loose or a fitting breaks the flooding is contained within the sea chest -- the boat will not sink. Think about the value of that if you need to leave the boat in the water during winter or need to leave it somewhere while you fly home.

Mmmm, yeah. We also spoken about it here.

[tulsag]

Thanks for all the tips. We can incorporate many of them.