BoatBanter.com - Pilot houses for ocean cruising?

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rhys wrote:

On 29 Mar 2004 10:55:19 -0800, (Frank Maier) wrote:

But in the semitropics or tropics it's a sauna.

OK, I can see that being unpleasant

The pilot house that I'm most familiar with is an aft cockpit boat.
It has dual steering stations - either outside in the cockpit, or
inside the wheelhouse. I'm not sure, but I think the pilot house
windows open. They do create another potential place for leaks, but
that would be true whether they opened or not.

These are pilothouses that were designed as pilot houses and not
aftermarket retrofits. They are also ketches or cutter ketches - they
have a staysail for a total of 4 sails.

It's weight and windage. Granted the weight element isn't significant
and hopefully the designer allowed for it in his original plan; but
windage is significant to me. We always tend to discuss these design
elements in terms of extreme weather. Getting to gale force and above,
a pilothouse represents unacceptable windage to me.

Maybe the more elaborate sort of canvas and lexan/something less
scratch-prone combo is the answer...so that you are essentially
enclosed, but can roll up or unzip to accommodate warmer weather
and/or heavier wind you don't want pushing the boat around. My friend
with a center-cockpit ketch has this setup, with relatively light
canvas and heavier frame with grab bars. He sails through Lake Ontario
ice pans in January wearing just a fleece jacket, drinking hot coffee,
so cutting the wind is 90% of the issue.

In the event of a freak wave or hard knockdown... Well, I've been
knocked down offshore, during the Vic-Maui race (Victoria, B.C. to
Maui, if you're unfamiliar with it), and cracked expensive, sturdy,
small ports in the cabin trunk. Having huge expanses of glass (ok,
lexan or whatever) is not what I'd consider a safe offshore design
element.

So, given all that, and given that I'm done with cold weather sailing
and intend to stay South of 30 in the future, I don't want a
pilothouse.

Fair enough. Thanks to all for your responses. Maybe a hard DODGER
(like those nice Euro boats...Hanse?...) is a good compromise, with a
frame bimini plus all-around enclosure.

Me, I have an old "lid" type hinged companionway cover, so I just make
due with a bimini. That suffices quite well in keeping the sun off
...the rain...not so well. What I need is a abbreviated "companionway"
dodger, which would be nice and a lot cheaper than retrofitting a
sliding hatch and a turtle, because the traveller is immediately
forward of the hinged lid.

No wonder I have pilot house envy...G

R.

grandma Rosalie

S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id2.html