Hello from a newbie on the Chesapeake

[Marin]

... Marin, your GB has larger windows and skinny frames.

That's the whole point and is why wannabe windows add to the claustrophobic feeling. The roofline extends way out forward of your head which gives you that "I should duck" feeling, particularly in a low headroom boat like yours.

There is a Seahorse boat virtually identical to yours in our marina from time to time. I believe its owner said it was the prototype Coot. But its pilothouse windows are raked slightly aft. And the pilothouse has a more open, lighter, spacious feel than what I see in your pictures even though it is, I assume, the same size and height as yours.

 

[markpierce]

I understand the post-prototype Coots are about a foot longer to provide for a larger bathroom, located immediately forward of the helmsman's position. Likely it increased the size of the pilothouse forward of the wheel, but that's just guessing. ... Boats are compromises: bigger windows, greater vulnerability.

 

[CPseudonym]

I see in the photo's what your talking about Marin but offer this. I'm just under 6' and did not feel at all cramped for headroom while standing in the pilot house of the Coot last week.

Quite the contrary, it felt very spacious considering the boats dimensions. Stout, is understating the obvious aboard Mark's boat. I came away from my visit with Mark feeling that photographs really fail to do this boat justice IMO.

 

[Marin]

I see in the photo's what your talking about Marin but offer this. I'm just under 6' and did not feel at all cramped for headroom while standing in the pilot house of the Coot last week.

I came away from my visit with Mark feeling that photographs really fail to do this boat justice IMO.

I certainly agree that photos more often than not do a lousy job of portraying reality. Our own boat is a great example. In pictures it looks great. Seen in person it's a 40-year old, crappy-looking beater boat thanks largely to the California sun that did in the gelcoat over its first 25 years. That and the fact that our increasingly busy lives are not giving us as much time to look after it cosmetically that we've had in years past. We still use the boat as much as ever so it isn't being neglected, we just haven't had the time the last few years to spend on the brightwork and other things like that. And the music and writing projects we've taken on are not going to make that situation any better. So it's a great boat to photograph from about 50 feet back. Any closer and it looks like hell and it looks like it's going to be that way for at least the next two or three years.

I'm 6' 3" so I don't know how I'd find the Coot's pilothouse. I will say, however, that in the photos I've seen of the interior of the Coot it seems a rather dark boat inside, particularly the pilothouse. Perhaps that's a function of the small pilothouse windows, I don't know. The aforementioned Coot in our marina has the same dark feel inside, so perhaps it's just the nature of the beast.

 

[markpierce]

Why do I continue to bump my head when entering Ray's GB42 (and I'm only 5'8")? I'm spoiled on the Coot.

 

[markpierce]

Here is one of my 6'2" sons:

 

[markpierce]

And here's the other:

 

[Marin]

Why do I continue to bump my head when entering Ray's GB42 (and I'm only 5'8")? I'm spoiled on the Coot.

Because the main cabin is lower than the main deck which is how the designer was able to keep the deckhouse-to-hull proportion halfway decent although I don't think he succeeded in achieving his objective. It's one reason why I don't like the lines of a GB. The house is way too tall for the boat. And it got even worse after 1988 when they changed the molds.

Anyway, as a result, the main cabin door (and the opposite side door if the boat has one) is not full height. It's the drawback to having a 51-year-old design. If you live with it long enough--- or have good peripheral vision and/or don't wear a cap--- you get used to it very quickly.

So it stopped being an issue for us about a day after we took delivery of the boat, but for people who aren't used to it, or who for some reason can't get used to it, it can be.

 

[Ron T]

I have a 1981-49-18 Grand Banks and 1999 Independence Cherubini. I love parts of both, but the pilothouse on The Cherubini Trawler is much easier to run the vessel from. I have had both vessels out in heavy seas with heavy water coming aboard. I will take the slanted glass of the Cherubini pilot house over the GB any day. The GB is much heavier and the walk around engine space is lovely when you are 240 and 6'3". I have never met a Captain with the perfect boat.