Wayne.B wrote:
On Wed, 1 Mar 2006 08:00:34 -0800, "Dene" wrote:

I identify with your preference for a pilothouse vs. a flybridge.

I don't understand that personally. We have both an upper and lower
helm but almost never use the lower unless there is a thunderstorm
threatening, or it is so hot that air conditioning is absolutely
required. With a good flybridge enclosure you can really have the
best of both worlds - 360 degree visibility from an elevated location,
plus protection from the elements.

You have outlined the very things that the majority of people who
prefer a flybridge to a pilothouse normally mention. All valid points,
for sure.

The downside of a flybridge:

Here in the Pac NW they are useless 8-9 months out of the year unless
they are fully enclosed. When fully enclosed with canvas, the boat is
suddenly carrying a lot of "sail"
that the NA never really envisioned. We used to boat on a 32- Bayliner
time share boat years ago, (no wisecracks, please), and the draft was
so shallow and the rudders so small that you had to roll up the
flybridge canvas to reduce windage if trying to dock in anything much
over 10-15 kts.

A flybridge raises the COG, and increases the "rolling moment" in a
beam sea. I like a boat where the COG is as low as possible.

While I have "evolved" to an almost constant use of my Simrad
chartplotter, I still keep a paper chart open on the chart table next
to the helm and directly underneath the plotter. The chart helps me
keep a perspective on the "big picture" while I may be zoomed in on
some small detail on the plotter. In the unlikely event that the Simrad
ever goes "boink" when I'm halfway across the Strait of Juan de Fuca or
trying to pick my way along with plotter, radar, and chart after dark I
won't need to start looking for the chart or wonder where the heck I
am. More Old Phogeyism, for sure, but few flybridges have any proper
provision for laying out a chart.

We use our boat at least a little bit every month of the year, and
often have guests aboard. When the weather is crummy, the guests seem
to prefer to sit around the dining table within arm's reach of the
fridge and the hot goodies on the cookstove (and directly over the main
cabin outlet for the diesel furnace). It's tougher to get them up onto
the flybridge in cool or damp weather, and it's not social to abandon
them to their own devices.

Finally, from my pilothouse helm it is one step onto the deck. If we're
trying to make a challenging landing and it is just the Mrs. and myself
aboard, she often needs some help with the lines faster than I can
manage to scramble down from a flybridge.

But what do I know? The most popular selling new boats, even up here in
the Pacific NorthWET, all seem to have eliminated the lower helms to
increase space in the main cabin. My taste isn't always the popular
taste, nor need it be. I think that a majority of people enjoy or even
prefer a flybridge, and the lack of lower helms on many of the new
models doesn't seem to be impacting sales very much. LIke I say, it's
probably not the "rest of the army that's out of step." :-)