Ventilation for a liveaboard boat?

[Large Luke]

Hi liveaboards! My wife and I have really narrowed our search down to a couple of boats. We plan to sail the Great Lakes for 5 years, and then retire to the tropics. One is a Hans Christian 38 MKII and the other is a Tayana Vancouver 42. My question is "How important are opening ports to our boats ventilation?" The Hans C has plenty of opening ports, a butterfly hatch and a regular hatch, but the Tayana only has two ports in the galley and has no ports on the cabin sides, just large smoked plexiglass windows, along with 3 large hatches. I know we could buy chutes for the hatches on the Tayana to help the ventilation but will they be comparable to opening hatches all along the cabin sides? Can they be turned if we are in a current and the wind is coming from the beam? The answer seems obvious but maybe I am missing something, so that's why I would like to hear from those of you in the real world. Thanks guys.

[Jon Hacking]

Originally Posted by Large Luke

How important are opening ports to our boats ventilation?

Your needs (wants) in the Great Lakes are likely to be very different from when you're in the tropics. We don't know about the GL, but we feel opening hatches are pretty crucial in the tropics. Ocelot has 2 opening deck hatches in each cabin & 1 in each head, 1 opening side port in each cabin & 1 in each head, & 5 bigger hatches in the salon & galley. All (except the side ports) face forward, as we almost always face the breeze (we don't go to many marinas). Good luck with your decision!