What Sailboat Cabin doesn't feel like a hole?

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ShalomOrchard

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Dec 15, 2022
21
Pearson P30 Lamoine
The one thing I don't like about most sailboats is that most have cabins that feel like you are in a hole.
There are at best only smallish portholes and nowhere you can sit in the cabin and look out.

I once saw a sailboat, I think it was a Pearson around 22 ft, but I could be wrong,
one part of the cabin was higher then usual, and had reasonable windows around a sette
on one side, and galley on the other side. Anyone know what model that was, or any sailboat
like that?

Thanks, Jim.
 
jssailem

jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
22,590
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
I have not seen the boats you are describing, but I do have a boat that addresses the complaint you state about many boats being “most have cabins that feel like you are in a hole.”

This feeling is one that resonated with me. It is especially true when your sailing waters are many days covered in mist and fog.

The Cal35 Cruiser has a raised cabin surrounded by ten windows giving the occupants a 360 degree view of the bay you happen to choose as your anchorage.
Here is a profile view.
1671182777912.jpeg

There were 120 Cal35C boats built from 1973-1974. SV Hadley is #21 built-in 1974.

The large ports (windows) while providing light and a scenic view of the surrounding water, can be a liability in troubled waters and boarding seas. The windows, like so much on a boat, are a compromise that must be considered and addressed by the skipper in planning the boats sailing adventures.
 
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Davidasailor26

Davidasailor26

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May 17, 2004
5,509
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Compromises abound in sailboat design. In smaller monohulls it’s very hard to have the cabin elevated enough to get the kind of visibility you describe. Raising the cabin increases freeboard, which brings the center of gravity up and makes much more windage. Both of those are detrimental to the boat’s sailing characteristics. Windows are heavy and prone to breaking as jssailem points out, making them riskier in a higher sea state.

Catamarans often have a more raised salon. The bridge deck being elevated over the water’s surface enables that, and there are usually many more windows. The sleeping cabins are still housed lower in the hulls, but at least there’s some more outdoor like living space. Some larger monohulls have taken a similar design philosophy with a salon at the same level as the cockpit. But there again you have trade offs with increased windage and reduced helm visibility..
 
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Leeward Rail

Leeward Rail

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Mar 20, 2015
3,190
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
Pilothouse and deck saloon monohulls, and catamarans allow easy outside views.

As already mentioned, dependent on size of sailboat, and where you sail. {Which changes structural requirements)
 
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Scott T-Bird

Scott T-Bird

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Oct 26, 2008
6,222
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
ShalomOrchard said:
The one thing I don't like about most sailboats is that most have cabins that feel like you are in a hole.
There are at best only smallish portholes and nowhere you can sit in the cabin and look out.

I once saw a sailboat, I think it was a Pearson around 22 ft, but I could be wrong,
one part of the cabin was higher then usual, and had reasonable windows around a sette
on one side, and galley on the other side. Anyone know what model that was, or any sailboat
like that?

Thanks, Jim.
Click to expand
I think you are talking about the Pearson Triton 28, which has a raised cabin top over the salon. I think this Carl Alberg design was a pretty nice design. Raising the cabin to make headroom created the sides to install larger windows, while keeping freeboard of the hull relatively low. Everything is a compromise in a sailboat. The smaller the boat, the more significant the compromises need to be! If the cabin space is more important than the sailing characteristics, you eventually lean more and more toward a trawler.
 
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JamesG161

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,739
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
I asked the Admiral that question about a Cabin being a Hole.

Answer : I like to see outside when in the Cabin.

My Reply: Why?

Answer: To see the boats around me

My Reply: Why?

Answer: To know of collision or is our Anchor slipping

My reply: Then stand night watch or use Anchor Alarm and our Radar Guard Zone Alarms

Answer: I still like looking outside at night.

My reply: :facepalm:

Jim...

PS: take a Cruise Liner, but never join the US Navy.
 
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L

LloydB

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Jan 15, 2006
917
Macgregor 22 Silverton
I believe if you were to go back and take a closer look you would find that it's actually about three feet too short. I'm also sure that others have had the foresight to pick a sailboat of the right size however they have come to regret the loss of the helipad. When you find it get it, you will come to believe that the often quoted remark 'Bring An Other Thousand' was really thought up by some silly naysayer who thought a boom was something a jet did.
 
thinwater

thinwater

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Mar 26, 2011
3,649
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
Catamarans. 360 view from the salon. Keep watch while eating lunch. But not typically very small, with few under 30 feet.

Trimarans are just as bad or worse than monohulls re. cabin visibility. My F-24 is fine to to the sides, but zero forward visability.

 
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