Sleeping Arrangements

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jacsan

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Aug 4, 2023
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We are going from sail to a trawler and not sure what is the best master cabin, fore or aft. We like to anchor so the generator will be running at night. Does the generator emit a lot of sound that would be heard with an aft stateroom?

We are also questioning a forward stateroom with waves slapping the hull at night.

Please advise.

Thanks,
Jack
 
Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Answer to both questions...depends. Sorry to be so vague but there can be a lot of mitigating factors. Eg: Wave noise in v-berth could depend on hull configuration. Why run genny at night?
 
RT Firefly said:
Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Answer to both questions...depends. Sorry to be so vague but there can be a lot of mitigating factors. Eg: Wave noise in v-berth could depend on hull configuration. Why run genny at night?
Click to expand...
If at anchor to run ac and refrigerator.
Thanks
 
In my boat, the generator only emits a low humming sound. The air conditioner is a little louder.
 
jacsan said:
We are going from sail to a trawler and not sure what is the best master cabin, fore or aft. We like to anchor so the generator will be running at night. Does the generator emit a lot of sound that would be heard with an aft stateroom?

We are also questioning a forward stateroom with waves slapping the hull at night.
Click to expand...

Lots of "it depends." Some boats suffer wave slap in the bow stateroom, some not so much. Some generators are loud, some not so much. Some generator are reasonably quiet but raw water discharge is loud, some not so much. Some vibrations from hard-mounts without soft standoffs (gensets and AC units) are loud, some not so much. Some gensets are mounted further away from bow (or aft) staterooms, some not so much. Some boats have decent ventilation in one cabin or the other, some not so much. Some ACs are loud, some not too much.

Much of that is easier to speak to once you've named a candidate boat/model.

Fridges can be run on DC, or on AC with an inverter; no need for genset.

I can tell you we don't like to run the genset overnight; even though ours isn't particularly loud, I can't hear other noises (that I want to hear) when the genset is running. Our ACs also mask warning noises to a certain extent and I'm not happy with that either. So we just don't usually anchor out whenever heat or AC (mostly AC) would be required. But that's not your question.

I can tell you we've gradually gravitated toward a master stateroom with a household height walk-around queen berth. (Ours happens to be midship, not aft.) Moving from a semi-walkaround "queen" in the bow that needs a flying leap to get on or off. But that's not your question.

-Chris
 
Where you sleep is important, but so is how where you sleep impacts how you access the boat at anchor. Those aft cabin sundeck types are great, but make dinghy access difficult. You may be able to descend the ladder without incident in flat conditions, but what about in rolling 2 foot swells? Or with a 60 pound dog in one arm? Or a cup of coffee? Or a bag of trash? Or in a driving rain?
 
What size boat are you contemplating? In the 40 range, we had a sedan with a nice large rear cockpit and forward berth, and our current boat with a small aft cockpit but large rear berth. I really liked the large rear cockpit but didn't like the wave slap/anchor chain noise in the bow. I do really like the size, storage and comfort of the aft cabin but the small cockpit is not good for entertaining (we sit outside in the flybridge).

If you do a lot of entertaining, you probably want a large rear cockpit. But we don't, so I could live with either style. The boat condition and general layout are the deciding factors for us.

I could not, however, consider a boat without some kind of rear cockpit. I don't want to climb a ladder from the swim platform.
 
A lot depends on climate, personal preference, and type of boat. Our boat - a full displacement hull - does not have a chine or step. There is no hull slap. We're in a hot tropical climate so the forward v-berth area has a ton of ventilation compared to aft cabin where AC/generator would be needed all night. We have generous sized twin bunks in the v-berrh which suits us well as one of us gets up at least once a night, and with our feet at the bow end of the berth, gives us decent breeze via the overhead hatch and multiple opening ports.

Our Willard 36 is a relatively small sedan trawler with a massive aft deck cockpit area. Suits us well as hangout space. Wouldn't change it.

Peter



Low in stern.jpg
 
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Work on passive ventilation first so you don’t need power. As to the generator, sound shields can be effective but they also may hinder access for maintenance. One thing is an exhaust separator. It will send the water below the waterline so you don’t hear the splashing. The exhaust air still comes out above the waterline. Also mount the generator on some soft mounts. You can pretty easily put in a large battery bank to run the refer through the night but not the A/C. Add some solar panels to help keep the batteries charged. We use 18/120 volt fans that run several nights on one battery. I like the Ridgid ones because they are dead quiet on low and still move a lot of air. They also have a lifetime warranty if you register them within 90 days online, including the batteries.
 
Agreed with all the above and "it depends".

The other thing I'd add is that it depends on the customs and expectations where you plan to cruise.

Where do you plan to use the boat? Where I am in the PNW, for instance, running a genset at night is definitely frowned upon because it can disturb others ... but of course that's also related to the fact that AC is rarely needed at night.
 
Had aft cabin without GEN and slept well every night. Have a forward cabin with GEN that does not run at night and have slept well.

Wave slap on the bow end can keep one awake, when it does, do you want to sleep through the night without checking your position?
So far winds up to 10K have not kept me awake.
 
Another thing to consider is anchor chain noises with a forward stateroom.
 
Shouldn't be that much of a problem with a proper bridle.
 
Anchored at the bow, the bow faces the breeze. If you`ve good opening portlights, a hatch above, and somewhere air can flow out, the fwd cabin can be comfortable even without aircon, depending on location. The issue of wave slap is real, you are already aware, check potential boats carefully. People will know, or you may be able to tell by how far fwd the chines start. If it`s at the fwd cabin expect slap, it drives some people out of the cabin.
 
I think a lot depends on the size of boat you are looking at. We don't have AC, so we limit genset to a couple hours in the evening and couple hours in the morning depending on the amount of solar we have been getting. The only reason for that much is my wife's cpap overnight and our coffee/Keurig addition in the morning. However, those that have boats in the 50'-60' range often have more power demands and run the genset almost full time.

If you have AC running in your cabin, I can't imagine you would hear wave slap, anchor movements, or the genset running. So I'm not sure noise would be the primary consideration for cabin selection. Our last sailboat had an aft cabin configuration. Our NP43 has the main cabin in the bow. We get some chine slap at anchor, but not enough to bother me. It is enough to bother other owners however.
 
Random wave slap drives me crazy. Soft foam ear plugs and I don't hear a thing.
 
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