Galley up or Down

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by philip van praag

there seem to be a size to galley up down conection.
below 40ft galley down
40-50ft galley up
over 50ft galley dont know thats crew stuff!!

I agree.

I also think that galley down would allow the cook to pick stuff off the sole, rinse it quickly and not be noticed.

[Tropic Cat]

I think if you use the boat as a floating condo, you'd want the galley up.

SurfNRG, probably see you around marker 21 this weekend.

[Whimsical]

I think I will still be debating this decision untill I must actually start building it.

Mike

[sailflat]

It seems that generally people here are missing the most important part of the equation... A mixture of the two. In a galley down configuration, it is ideal to, even though the main galley is down, to put a small sink and a small fridge in the salon. Then you can have the best of both worlds without taking up half the the salon with the galley.... You can have a place to act as the anchor for the down galley up in the salon, small sink with a little counter, perhaps even a small microwave; and a fridge for drinks. Just think of if for a sec.... Wouldn't it be great to have a place in the salon where you can wash you hands or rinse off a dish. And while you are on watch and want a hot or cold drink you can pop in and grab a cold one or fix some hot instant soup in just a sec. If you are entertaining there is a place up to keep those beverages cold and a bit of counter to put the condiments or for a guest to wash their hands. When it is time to bake cookies, make lasagna, or whatever... If one wanted to they could do prep either up or down and throw it in the oven or on the stove down without interfering with your guests up.

[Whimsical]

Sailflat
Thats an interesting idea, hadn't considered it.

Mike

[northerncat]

galley down!!
sean

[Tropic Cat]

Ours is down and we wish it were up!! Then again we are weekend sailors.

[DGK]

after 11 boat shows and asking the couples who come on board what they prefer, it is 3980 galley down and 4210 galley up, who kniows after annapolis it may even up again

[shadow]

From my limited experiences with casual boating, it seemed that galley up was the best all around option for that type of lifestyle.. This only from a Cats point of view.. Never did any cruising in a mono hull except in a large power boats.. That's a whole different thing altogether.

[SurfNRG]

I think Philip Van Praag made an interesting point - Cats under 40 feet would probably benefit more from the galley being down since it would give you alot more room in the saloon where if over 40 feet you'd probably have enough room in the saloon with the galley up. My Cat's only 35 feet with a 21 ft 3 inch beam and I definitely prefer the galley down. I've seen the same boat with the galley up and the saloon was much too small for my liking. I have two portable fridge/freezers (Engel 44qt and a Waaco 100qt) along with the built in 12V fridge all up in the saloon area so I'm not having to go down steps to grab drinks, etc.. I love the partying space up top.

[philip van praag]

from what i can see the buyer does not realy have the choice the trend is not to build sub 40ft cats any more and so the charter market drives the design, and its bums on seats or bunks!
does anyone know of a large volume maker that offers the choice up or down that would be intresting to see there order book as it would be a true judge of this option.

SurfNRG
your have got my point exactly when privilege streched the 37 to 39 and put the galley up it was a realy poor design small galley small nav and what did they do with the old galley space put in a desk and 3 lockers
now they dont make any below 40ft. what a shame
but it does allow bb to clean up. the 385 fills the gap all the other makers walked away from.

[philip van praag]

surfnrg
exactly how we feal privilege streched the 37 to 39 and put gally up and ended up with small galley, small nav, small sallon, and replaced the old gally with a desk and some lockers. now they dont make a sub 40ft.
this has been great for bb as the 385 fills the spot that all the other makers walked away from.
the sub 40ft has been lost as all the makers are desiging to accomadate the charter market wishes, loads of bunks and the rest on the bridge deck.
i dont think there is a choice any more its whats on the market or build your own.
a great shame the big boys dont offer a choice even as an extra!!

[Troutbridge]

BB would possibly humour you if you really wanted a galley down. I think that as most long-term cruising is actually spent at anchor, why banish the cook to the depths of the boat? OK, I'm on my own, so galley-up will mean I can cook and be part odf the 'social scene' at the same time. When I owned houses, I used to prefer kitchen/diners so I could cook and entertain at the same time. When I was married, 'herself' disappeared for ages doing things in the kitchen whilst I entertained, so she missed out on the social side of entertaining.

[Whimsical]

Mine is 40 foot so it is at the difficult decision size.
The settee isn't bad but I would like it a little larger. If it was longer there would be better access to the freezer which will be where the fuel tanks are now. it would also create a small open area free of the table.
The galley up is actually quite good with the extra bench across the rear bulkhead.
My biggest problem is that I spend a lot of time at the computer and this will increase when I push off as I have 5 year old to home school. The comp station then becomes a study place without taking over the saloon table.
As I am building I can have whatever I want so am not limited by market forces. This is why I am primarially interested to hear from people who have actually cruised, preferably on a similar sized vessel.

I think I have pretty much settled on leaving the galley up and modifying the bench on the port side into a sideways facing desk and seat that can be used sideways or foreward. The settee can be extended out over the existing nav station. Navigation would primarially be electronic. In the event of needing nav space the saloon table can be comendeered.
Mike

[philip van praag]

sorry for the double post having prob's posting.
there seems to be a lot of anti gally down on the grounds that cook is not part of the social scene as i have said befor above 50ft gally down and seperate as it is a crew in the galley
but sub 40ft were you find galley down the galley is midships and usualy has no ceiling so is open to the sallon. we like this as cook has plenty of room no one getting in the way but still part of conversation etc.
also very easy to pass stuff in and out of galley.
and on the smaller cats this is usualy the best use of space.
for my money the galley up on the bb and others of a like size is to small, no locker space for provisions etc especialy as a liverabord.
one thing we also found was the fridge cut into the counter top so nothig can be put in this area as it is always being moved to get in the fridge.
(i understand the energy isues against door type fridges)
but this is a pain to live with looks good at the boat show when the galleys empty.
with galley down you can get much more in a given floor area sush as floor to celing lockers
but i supose for those of you who lash cook to the sink all day the least you can do is give them a window to gaze out and see what they are missing!!