Aft cabin or V Berth?

[Seafarer7]

There are some great aft-cabin options in the 30-foot (+-) range:
- the Coronado 35 is a center cockpit sailboat with a huge aft cabin + king size bed. Very liveable (I lived on one for 5 years). It’s aft cabin is definitely much more comfortable and roomy than its v-berth.

Other excellent options include:
- the Nauticat 33: excellent Bluewater cruiser, also center cockpit/aft cabin

- S2 (S2 actually has a couple center cockpits/aft cabin sailboats, one is a 25-footer and the other a 30-footer)

- Parker Dawson 26: another center cockpit aft cabin layout.

[Juho]

Here's a 32' example. Both cabins are about equally popular (sometimes the saloon bench too). I tend to sleep in the aft cabin. Typical aft and bow cabin noises in them. Neither is a master bedroom, just a place to sleep, but both have a small standing space. Aft cabin is lower. V-berth has narrower foot space.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

At sea, which is a tiny percentage of the time, the convertible berths near the center of the boat are usually the most comfortable.

On a 30ish' boat, a decent aft cabin isn't possible.

Some pros and cons.....

V-berths are so bouncy at sea that usually the main salon settees or pilot berths are used. Though, after you get past the first night out with shorthanded watchkeeping, you might be so fatigued that you can sleep just fine in a bouncing V-berth.

Our boat is a little bigger so we have a very nice centerline queen sized berth in the aft cabin. I really like not having to climb over my pillow to get out of bed and I like having our own little private suite back there where guests never go. At sea it's also a lot less bouncy than a v berth is.

BUT, as Boatman61 mentioned earlier, if I have any doubt about the holding at anchor I don't sleep as well back there as I do in a V-berth. There's something very comforting about going to sleep, knowing that you'll be immediately awakened if the anchor starts dragging or anything else changes with the anchor chain. In our comfy aft cabin I'm so insulated from anchor chain noise that I sometimes I worry that my first clue that the anchor has dragged would be the sound of the rudder hitting bottom.

Ventilation is much better forward. We have 3 of those Caframo fans in our aft cabin and another one in the aft head that can be directed into the aft cabin and they do a decent job of keeping us cool on a hot night. But having 3 or 4 fans running all night long uses a lot of electricity that could be avoided by taking advantage of the natural ventilation up in the V-berth.

[nhschneider]

Our first boat was an Islander Freeport 36 with the 'A' plan - V-berth, midship's head, large saloon and pilot's berth aft. My wife and I disliked the V-berth as it was awkward to get in and out of, had the most motion of any part of the boat and our feet were force together. Granted our current boat is significantly roomier but I think we'd quit cruising altogether if we had to share a V-berth again.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[Snore]

Originally Posted by boatman61

V-berth at anchor.. sprawlability, overhead ventilation and one can hear the chain on the bottom if she starts dragging.. unless your into 25ft chain then nylon rode..

Agreed— except under way when it gets dicey, the salon is a shared “hot berth” for the off watch.

[Scatterling]

Originally Posted by junkdrunk

35 or 40 ' isn't out of my mind either. I'm fairly open minded and just looking to learn and understand.

I appreciate everyone's insight and opinions.

Keep em coming!

Take a look at the Hunter 356. We find the aft queen pretty comfortable and the ventilation is excellent with a large port light that opens into the cockpit.

[IslandHop]

Originally Posted by Tingum

Life is too short to own an ugly boat. I cannot imagine what an aft cabin 30' boat would look like. It would have a profile like a cucumber with a tumor!

Good thing you'll be sitting pretty in your aft cabin watching the ugly, aft cabinless to boot, boats go by. Beauty is in the bunk of the aft cabin for sure.

Our fist boat had hatches in the cockpit with the rest wasted, you'll be gaining plenty of precious space, so very precious living aboard a small boat!! There's a lot less aft cabin boats in this range, the bigger ones are called aft mc mansions. Resale should be more valuable being more rare and desireable.

The beam of the boat will give you lots more room without changing your length- that's what the marinas charge you by is per foot. Bowsprits are cute and pretty no doubt, you can even remove them to save at the slip!!

I would go out and check out as many boats as you can, sail as many as you can too. You might want to ask people that are actually do this on boats this size what they think for a clearer picture .

Happy new cheers

[jhulmer]

Originally Posted by ari51

We cruised a 28' Hunter, our first boat, Santa Barbara to the Channel Islands. It had a queen aft cabin that was very comfortable, and a v berth that could be extended into the salon area if need be. It was very comfortable, even with 4 kids and a schipperke. Everyone who was open minded was amazed when they came on board. We sold it when we were caught in 8 'seas and 50 knot gusts during a channel crossing, too much for me in that boat. Three boats later, we are retired and spend months on our 38' Beneteau in the Sea of Cortez. That little Hunter was a great intro to sailing and lots of fun.

I was waiting for someone to mention the Hunter 285. I cruised the Gulf Coast for years in a Hunter 285 and loved it. It had a true aft cabin, albeit small and yes with low air circulation. It was fast and easy to single hand, but it was no offshore boat. Imho it is a fantastic beginner coastal cruiser. Although, I lived on it with two or three people for two or three weeks at a time I wouldn’t consider living that way for longer periods.
HUNTER 28.5 sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com

[dcstrng]

Whether V-berth of aft-cabin I want an “at anchor” berth I can just lay down in and one I can stand beside, none of this slithering forward or backward (while either kicking the pillow or crawling over it or getting tangle in the bedding). My wife often sleeps on the V-berth while we’re day-sailing, or the pilot berth, but as I get more geriatric I pretty much prefer the settees when there is any wave action at all – with weather cloths as needed… But for full-time dock-side live aboard (as versus cruising where sleeping under way is a big deal), I think you need to be near 40’+/- to get a proper aft cabin… the one I lived on was 42’ on the deck and the aft cabin actually was a cabin with its own settee, head and lockers – small enough to be cozy, but large enough it ventilated with hatches and ports open and yet could be closed off from the rest of the boat on those occasions when there were one too many guests aboard…

A couple folks have mentioned the S2 30’ center-cockpit… S2 may have given up some stowage to make that, but I almost bought one some decades ago and think that was about as well thought out as you can do in that size – can’t recall if you could stand by the berth tho’… there were other, smaller aft cabins which were probably secure in a seaway, but for full-time live aboard (where you have a day job and have to wear suit and tie and the like), those dog-house accommodations get old after a very short while… for me an aft cabin has to have standing headroom all the forward and aft… otherwise conventional cabins make more sense…

[Paradox111]

Take a look at an Allmand31.
It has a true aft cabin, and yes with low air circulation. Thinking of
adding a porthole. It is no offshore boat. Imho it is a fantastic beginner coastal cruiser.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Paradox111

Take a look at an Allmand31.
It has a true aft cabin, and yes with low air circulation. Thinking of
adding a porthole. It is no offshore boat. Imho it is a fantastic beginner coastal cruiser.

Welcome aboard Paradox!