On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 19:46:32 -0400, "David Ditch"
wrote:

Hi all,
My wife and I are on the fence about a bowrider or a cuddy. On thing I was
wondering is if the cabin gets really hot when you are not moving?

We have been looking at the Four Winns sundowner
We have Kids: newborn (may stay with grandparents till older), 4year old and
2 year old
Any questions I should ask my self when determining if I should have a cuddy
or bowrider?
We are in the Chesapeake bay near Annapolis.

I've just bought a Four Winns Sundowner 195. I had at first considered a
bowrider, but once I looked at this configuration, it was no contest.

The cuddy has a hatch for ventilation, and if that's not enough, you can get a
fabric scoop to direct the air into the cabin.

I found the cuddy to be a lot more practical for multiple reasons: one, it's
nice to have a large lockable compartment for gear.

Second, there's enough room in the cabin for two people to sleep comfortably (if
somewhat spartanly); there's space for a porta-potti, which is extremely
desirable when traveling with females.

The only disadvantage I can see to the cuddy is that it's a bit more difficult
to get to the bow line for docking. You can get to the foredeck through the
windshield, but it's somewhat awkward. I haven't really found docking to be
much of a problem.

We have the "camper top" on ours, so we can enclose the entire cockpit if we
want--plus two of the seats turn into couches.

The windscreen on ours is very effective--sitting in the front seats, there's
essentially no wind at 30 kts--although when you move toward the stern there's
plenty. If I want more wind on me, I just open the center panel of the
windshield.

Overall, I am very happy with the cuddy, and can't imagine having a bowrider.

HTH,
Joe Parsons