Pilothouse/Deck saloon interior steering situations?

[unlimited]

For those with/used to have a pilothouse sailboat, did you ever use the interior steering wheel? In what situations required you to use it? Thinking of getting a pilothouse/deck saloon sailboat but dunno if I'll ever use the interior steering.

I presume most go out to the water on good days without rain, so can't see much use there. For offshore sailing, the autopilot does most of the work so no use there for interior steering either. So in what situations did you use the interior steering?

[Oeanda]

Ha - good days without rain are pretty rare where I live. Rain is barely a consideration. I’m most often steering from inside just briefly because I’m in there doing other things- cooking, making a cup of tea, or rummaging around for stuff, whatever. No autopilot.

But I steer from outside 99% of the time because there’s better visibility. Can’t quite see directly in front of the bow from inside. Some pilothouses have better views, mine is a bit restricted. Still -it’s a nice option.

A good thread here. https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...oat-95261.html

[Jammer]

I have never had a pilothouse, but I know they are helpful in cold weather areas. Dylan Winter switched to a pilothouse for his circumnavigation of the British Isles when he got to Scotland because of the persistent cold, wet weather. The closely related motorsailer, though oft maligned, is perhaps a good choice for river cruising under similar conditions.