Galley up, or down?

[Dieselfool]

Good day people.
I'm a new guy here and I think I've finally made my decision to retire and live aboard on a Trawler.
I'll be putting my Wellcraft up for sale in the spring and then start boat shopping, again. Lol.
I've been doing some research on aft cabin trawlers and can't seem to get any good pics or opinions on up or down galleys. It'll be just me for the first few years, then The Admiral will be joining in for trips down the ICW for winter months.
As far as living space, what's all of you veteran trawler owners opinion, and what else do I need to consider?
I would love to see all your pics to help me decide. There's not much choice for used trawlers for sale up here in The Great White North, so I may even have to go south to find my "last boat". Lol.
Pros and cons?
Thanks.
Al.

 

[oscar]

So we ended up with a Hatt for a lot of reasons. One negative, at the time of the search, was the down galley, but we decided the pluses outweighed it. Yes, we wanted the above ground open concept living and not be locked in the hole. Now, several months later we are actually happy with the down galley. It keeps the salon nice and clean looking. We cook and dine down, very efficient, and then I make coffee and we "retreat" to the salon...... Also, underway the motion down below is a lot less.....

 

[Ken E.]

When we bought this Hatteras, one of the things we had to have was galley down, the reason being that it frees up salon space and keeps galley clutter away from the main living area.

 

[PPandE]

We had our galley up 41' Hatteras Convertible for over 20 years and loved it. Food is the social center of our lives and the cook (cooks) are integral to that. Having said that, we are having trouble finding our next boat and will probably compromise to a "galley half down" layout. This arrangement may serve to adequately separate the mess for some while preserving the interaction for others.

 

[koliver]

Good day people.
I'm a new guy here and I think I've finally made my decision to retire and live aboard on a Trawler.
I'll be putting my Wellcraft up for sale in the spring and then start boat shopping, again. Lol.
I've been doing some research on aft cabin trawlers and can't seem to get any good pics or opinions on up or down galleys. It'll be just me for the first few years, then The Admiral will be joining in for trips down the ICW for winter months.
As far as living space, what's all of you veteran trawler owners opinion, and what else do I need to consider?
I would love to see all your pics to help me decide. There's not much choice for used trawlers for sale up here in The Great White North, so I may even have to go south to find my "last boat". Lol.
Pros and cons?
Thanks.
Al.

There are more factors to consider than simply UP v Down.

Many boats with a down galley are down only 3 steps, where the cook can still be seen by and can communicate with all occupants of the saloon. Some are down further than that, resulting in a lack of communication between the galley person and the helm, between the cook and the crowd in the saloon.

How you use your saloon space differs considerably in Up v Down configurations. UP, you have less room for portable seating, as that space is occupied with galley cupboards and appliances. Down, all that stuff is in a space that in other boats may allow for a guest cabin, adding bodies for whom you will need that extra seating that a larger saloon will provide.

Always a compromise.

Ours, with galley down, has no extra cabin, has a pair of Ekornes Stressless chairs added to regular saloon seating, has a diesel stove in the galley that allows the whole boat to be warm and dry in foul weather, The sun never shines directly onto the front of the fridge, which is taller (bigger) than would fit in an UP galley on a similar sized boat.

26 years in, the Down galley has been a decent way to settle that compromise.

 

[Dieselfool]

Awesome.
I'm leaning towards down at this point, but The Admiral would prefer up for the reasons of entertaining while cooking as mentioned above. I'm more in favor of the extra salon space at this point. The few good pics that I have seen seem to show The Galley down only a few steps as mentioned above.
Does anybody care to share some pictures?
Al.

 

[Pau Hana]

Another vote for a down galley- I like the separation.

 

[Seevee]

I'll take the galley up anytime. Or at least within sight/talk of the salon. It's really a focal point at times. My cook hates to be isolated.



Could live with a few steps down.... maybe.

 

[MYTraveler]

Three boats ago, we had galley down and my wife hated it. Very happy with galley up ever since. A related consideration is galley aft (at the rear of the salon) or forward (behind the helm). Ours have always been forward, but when we spec'd our current boat prior to its construction, we considered galley aft. We ended up going with forward, but would probably have been equally happy with aft.

 

[AZ2Loop]

So we ended up with a Hatt for a lot of reasons. One negative, at the time of the search, was the down galley, but we decided the pluses outweighed it. Yes, we wanted the above ground open concept living and not be locked in the hole. Now, several months later we are actually happy with the down galley. It keeps the salon nice and clean looking. We cook and dine down, very efficient, and then I make coffee and we "retreat" to the salon...... Also, underway the motion down below is a lot less.....

I will echo Oscar basically word for word. I wanted galley up but the boat that we fell in love with was galley down. We prefer it down now. The mess is mostly hidden the but the chef for the day is not isolated at all. From our down galley I can still see and communicate with those in the salon, see the TV, and be part of the conversation.

 

[Comodave]

We have a galley down. Have had that in 3 previous boats and like it for a lot of the reasons said above. It isn’t isolated since you have good sight lines to the salon. We also have a couple of Streeeless recliners in the salon. If the galley was up we would have any room for them. We absolutely require loose furniture in the boats since we have back problems and can’t sit in built in furniture.

 

[SoWhat]

Awesome.
I'm leaning towards down at this point, but The Admiral would prefer up for the reasons of entertaining while cooking as mentioned above.

Well there's your answer. If she doesn't like the boat, you will be boating without her.

 

[markpierce]

This is a question for boats 40 feet and longer.

 

[O C Diver]

Mine is galley up. The cave portion of the boat is for sleeping and the heads. Also prefer the galley, refrigerator, and dish sink centrally located in the boat including within a short distance of the back deck and pilothouse.

Ted

 

[BandB]

Wifey B:

I like it up simply to keep all the connectivity to the helm and the social community. That being said, it depends on usage. We have a boat used for day use and shorter cruises and it's down and works out find. I'd say below 40', you may be bothered by sacrificing space. However, I don't consider it lose salon space, just an extension of the salon with kitchen. I like open floor plans.

 

[bayview]

In our case galley down allowed a large counter to be over the refer and cabinets giving serving space for entertaining. Dinner inside was in the down dinette booth.

 

[Group9]

Ours is up, but you still step down about eight inches from the main salon. It's nice to be able to look out the main windows while you are cooking.

 

[psneeld]

Really depends on the boat.

For me, and my 40 non pilothouse...it was galley down or not a choice.

Don't want the mess or noise where the action is.

The typical "I want to be part of the action" response in my opinion is utter HS.

As posted.... on the typical 40 or so, non pilothouse...the galley is 3 steps down and enough out of the way but enough in the mix to be the best of both worlds rather than the worst.

It really depends on the whole layout of the boat...not just up or down...leaning towards galley up to me shows a lack of real understanding of full time cruising/liveaboard and the dynamics of different boat designs in my mind.

 

[Nomad Willy]

I thought this got decided in 1949.

 

[Okydowky]

We have had both up and really down, but on our new to us Tolly I think we got the best of both. 3 steps down your in the galley and dinette area, large over head windows and complete view to the salon.
Really nice layout to keep who ever it maybe down there part of whole room.
Galley up on trawlers do take up a lot of the salon area, and can feel like you are living and steering from your kitchen...
Again all personal preference....

 

[psneeld]

I thought this got decided in 1949.

Some people stopped a lot of things in 1949.

They don't like TV on boats.

They don't like black trim or lines on boats.

They don't like flybridges on boats.

Etc....etc......

 

[markpierce]

My 35-footer has pilothouse at deck level, with three steps down sternwise for galley and saloon, and three steps down forward for the master's cabin. It is just arms length from galley to the helmsman. Works for me.

One reason to boat is to take a vacation from TV.

Don't like black trim or flybridges/ladders either.

 

[mvweebles]

I have no dog in this fight as I prefer Sedan style trawlers. But I used to live on a Uniflite 42 galley down which was fine, though banquette table across was rarely used.

I like the Defever 44 layout with galley up but semi-separated from saloon a lot. Makes a lot of sense, close to aft deck too. Very nice boat. A lot to like from the engine room on up.

One example on yacht world.

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1991/defever-44-trawler-3684277/

Peter

 

[wkearney99]

Galley up often has less storage space. With a down galley you typically have some additional eye-level cabinets above the counter. Galley up typically lose this functionality in favor of more windows.

Galley down also lets you hide the clutter of a working kitchen. With galley up it's all on display. When we anchor and entertain casually for the day it's nice to have all the packages, wrappers and in-progress dishes out of view. We have some borderline neat-freak friends with a galley up and it suits them.

That and galley down usually means a u-shaped counter arrangement that doesn't have people walking around near you. Galley up often has your back to passing foot traffic, which can get annoying if you're busy trying to cook.

As your LOA increases so do your layout options. I've seen some nice pilothouse-style boats with the galley/salon a half-level down from the helm, allowing for the galley along the forward bulkhead, with a bar-style counter. This is a win for storage and separating foot traffic. The one Peter mentions above demonstrates the idea.

 

[Dieselfool]

Lots of opinions, and thanks, but nobody wants to share pics of theirs?
Al.

 

[N4061]

Galley

Having lived aboard a few years and Owning trawlers for over 15 years (one with a galley down) we prefer galley up. Take this one step further and find a boat with the least amount of levels (steps). You will be glade in the long run.

John

 

[BandB]

Wifey B: One factor not mentioned and important to some is that galley down reduces the space available for bedrooms, baths and closets. If there are only two of you on board, not a problem. If more, can be.

 

[Comodave]

With our galley down we have a horseshoe dinette across form. We only use the dinette when we have company aboard but we do use the dinette for jigsaw puzzles. We like to do jigsaw puzzles and since we don’t use the dinette for eating the puzzle can stay there until we get it done. This would not be available if the galley was up.

 

[Okydowky]

Ok did I say I’m no good with computers! Here should be 3 pictures of 3 steps down to galley with salon up.
If 3 stairs are hard to handle inside a boat, I’m not sure how you would get off the dock into most boats in the 30-40’ range without steps.

 

[CharlieO.]

In my searching I will be looking for the galley down because I don't want to feel like we are hanging out in the kitchen all the time, we will be living aboard so a little separation of spaces will be nice for us. Not all have the dinette down though so you get a little extra storage space there. I would prefer the galley and dinette down also so that could convert into an extra bunk. Second choice would be galley aft.
We will be a family of 3.