Tell me why...

[Hawgwash]

...would you choose galley down.

 

[N4712]

I wouldn't.

 

[refugio]

You don't want your spouse to come? (Confused)

 

[Hawgwash]

I wouldn't.

Good for you and while less than a minute for the first flip answer has to be some kind of record, I really would like to know why folks consciously chose down.

 

[Marin]

When we were contemplating acquiring a GB46 we much preferred the galley down configuration. It makes the main cabin a lot more roomy, open and versatile.

The GB46 galley down design does not isolate the galley from the main cabin as is the case with other makes of boat. Instead the bulkhead between the main cabin and the galley is a sort of "half wall." So people in the main cabin can see and converse with someone in the galley, and it makes the galley itself more open, brighter and spacious feeling.

 

[ksanders]

Good for you and while less than a minute for the first flip answer has to be some kind of record, I really would like to know why folks consciously chose down.

Woa!!!

You asked a simple question. In asking why a person would want a galley down, you are also inviting why or if somewould not want a galley down design.

Something elso you need to consider here...

You don't just get a galley down, you get all that comes with it.

As a for example I've never seen a pilothouse boat with a galley down design. Not to say they do not exist but galley down design is not common on pilothouse boats.

Many of the aft cabin boats seem to have a galley down btw...

So, you need to look at the bigger picture of what design types favor certain placement of the main functional areas of a boat, because in choosing one design feature you genersally get all that comes with it.

 

[Hawgwash]

Woa!!!

You asked a simple question. In asking why a person would want a galley down, you are also inviting why or if somewould not want a galley down design.

Something elso you need to consider here...

You don't just get a galley down, you get all that comes with it.

As a for example I've never seen a pilothouse boat with a galley down design. Not to say they do not exist but galley down design is not common on pilothouse boats.

Many of the aft cabin boats seem to have a galley down btw...

So, you need to look at the bigger picture of what design types favor certain placement of the main functional areas of a boat, because in choosing one design feature you genersally get all that comes with it.

I come here to learn.
Your first reply learned me nothing as it begs the question "why not" which your second reply did, somewhat. Thank you.

The OA PH Mk I and II have both options, as I'm sure many others do.

 

[stubones99]

By Galley Down, do you mean down at the same level as the Salon, or down at the same level as the cabins?

Lots of sport fishers have the galley at the cabin level, which is usually 2-3 steps up to Salon level.

Catamarans sometimes have the galley down in one Ama, leaving the central deck open for partying.

I saw one boat with an aft galley which didn't fit for me. It was on the same level as the salon, just inside the cockpit door.

Galley up can mean having the galley above the salon level, and up at the bridge level, which brings a lot of unwanted traffic into the bridge (depending on passengers).

 

[ksanders]

I come here to learn.
Your first reply learned me nothing as it begs the question "why not" which you second reply did, somewhat. Thank you.

The OA PH Mk I and II have both options, as I'm sure many others do.

The best thing you can do is to actually go walk on boats.

You will VERY quickly see that certain design types tend to favor certain placement of the main elements of a boats interior being the... salon, galley, pilothouse, engine room.

 

[Hawgwash]

By Galley Down, do you mean down at the same level as the Salon, or down at the same level as the cabins?

I'm referring to the galley being lower than the salon as in the example laid out by Marin.

 

[caltexflanc]

There have been discussions here before on this, so doing a search may yield you more answers and detail.

Ann is a very good cook, and she absolutely required galley down in making our boat choice. I should note the Hatteras galley has a very nice dinette, fits four but most comfortable for two. Almost all our eating, though was up on the aft deck where we had a big table. She wanted galley down because she did not want the smells permeating the salon, a bunch of dirty dishes, pots and pans laying out in view, and she is a messy cook on top of all that. We had chartered boats over the years with both up and down configurations so she had a firm view on this. I liked having it down as we could cook easier underway without interfering with the helmsperson, especially the view from the helm. Having the galley we did would by necessity severely reduce visibility.

We would only consider galley up in a much much smaller boat, one for weekends and vacations, not full time living aboard and cruising.

 

[markpierce]

Having the saloon and galley down separates distracting activity from the helmsman and permits rear windows in the pilothouse for better visibility. I like it like that.

 

[Hawgwash]

The best thing you can do is to actually go walk on boats.

You will VERY quickly see that certain design types tend to favor certain placement of the main elements of a boats interior being the... salon, galley, pilothouse, engine room.

Everything you say makes good logical sense but it still boils down to personal preferences and compromise.

I wouldn't be critical of either choice and even though we are not talking about tons of room, it seems to me that the space above galley down is wasted while the space below galley up just might serve some purpose.


I'm talking about the typical 36-44 sedan or aft cabin.

Armed with others opinions and experiences can create a different perspective when I do go aboard.

How many times have we all said; "I never thought of that"?

 

[psneeld]

I chose galley down as a liveaboard because I like the separation of spaces.


On a 36, unless you giveup the forward stateroom or head...tough to do. On the 40 Albin it works well. You aren't really separated from the saloon when down there cooking or making a cocktail as turning around lets you see and participate easily. Yet the activities of the galley are separated enough that they aren't a distraction if someone is down there and you wish to ignore any action down there from the saloon. To me...best of both worlds.


Its been the same on my last 2 liveaboards and works well. You are only 2 steps from the helm and I can be in the pantry for a snack or the fridge for a drink.

 

[Hawgwash]

I chose galley down as a liveaboard because I like the separation of spaces.


On a 36, unless you giveup the forward stateroom or head...tough to do. On the 40 Albin it works well. You aren't really separated from the saloon when down there cooking or making a cocktail as turning around lets you see and participate easily. Yet the activities of the galley are separated enough that they aren't a distraction if someone is down there and you wish to ignore any action down there from the saloon. To me...best of both worlds.


Its been the same on my last 2 liveaboards and works well. You are only 2 steps from the helm and I can be in the pantry for a snack or the fridge for a drink.

Thanks for that. Good points to think about.

 

[Marin]

The 36' boat we have in the PNW was not available with a galley down configuration. But contrary to some of the issues with galley up mentioned in this discussion, we don't find that having someone working in the "galley," which is beside and aft of the helm along the port side of the main cabin, hinders visibility at all. Our boat has large windows in the main cabin and this plus the fact that nobody is ever working in the galley space anyway when we're maneuvering in close quarters makes the visibility question a non-issue for us.

And if someone is working in the galley space while we're underway weve found that it doesn't require a huge effort or commitment on their part to take half a step to the left or right so the person driving can see past them for a moment.

Perhaps on other makes and models of boats a person in the up galley is a major obstruction to visibility, I don't know.

So we don't find the galley up cofiguration to be anything of a problem. We just prefer the galley down configuration on boats that are large enough to incorporate it in the design. We would not like a galley down design that isolates the galley from the main cabin, however. That's why we are so impressed with the layout of the galley-down GB46.

In the GB46 there isn't any lost space above the galley down. The aft end of it is under what would be the port side of the helm console or "shelf" and forward part is in what is the normal forward cabin. If you don't have a galley down in that boat the space it would occupy is another stateroom, I believe.

The space under an up galley in a GB is the engine room. So there is no wasted space with either configuration.

 

[Pineapple Girl]

My husband and I like to have the galley separated from the salon so we don't feel like we are sitting in the kitchen when we are relaxing on the settee. In our small boat we have a galley down. In larger boats, depending on the layout, this separation may be accomplished with a galley up. We especially dislike layouts where the galley is basically a counter top opposite the settee. But if the galley is forward with a countertop separating the galley area from the salon (all on one level) that is ok separation for us- and the cook is not down in a hole. If we get a larger boat we will look for this type layout. Like pretty much everything about boating, it is all your personal preference and what compromises you are willing to make.

 

[Hawgwash]

Woa!!!

I've been called out for my "reply to those who replied"

I will back pedal here and offer an apology to you. I mistakenly took your reply to be a second one from another poster.

If there was a Smiley handshake, I would offer it.

 

[caltexflanc]

it seems to me that the space above galley down is wasted

It's not any more wasted than if there was a cabin there instead, which is what you get if you take the "galley up" flavor.

 

[Hawgwash]

Ann is a very good cook, and she absolutely required galley down in making our boat choice.

I completely understand your choice given the boat you have.
Very nice.

In my case, being a lousy cook, I might want to hide what I was doing from the guests until it was served.

 

[FlyWright]

I like my galley up since my boat's only 34 ft. On a small boat like this, it helps to have dual purpose space to fit in all the desired comforts. I wanted 2 staterooms, a separate shower in the head, a FB, a cockpit and full walkarounds. I got that with reduced salon size and a galley up plopped right there in the salon. The smaller the boat, the more dual purpose area compromises you need to make (wet head) ...or give something up (no shower or no 2nd stateroom).

With larger boats of 40 ft or more, there are more options for a dedicated galley, either up or down, to separate the seating and cooking spaces.

 

[Baker]

I've been called out for my "reply to those who replied"

I will back pedal here and offer an apology to you. I mistakenly took your reply to be a second one from another poster.

If there was a Smiley handshake, I would offer it.

That is very nice of you!!

My galley is interesting and actually works really well. One step down and the dinette is on right. Two more steps anthe galley is mostly to port but occupies that entire space with a head to starboard and the v berth forward. So the dinette is part of both spaces and allows extra seating in the salon. So while it is technically down, it is nicely integrated into the entire space.

 

[ranger58sb]

Our galley is 3 steps down, and only partially separated from the saloon and dinette. Which means the cooking (and clean-up) area is private, or not, depending on who's doing what where.


On our earlier 34, the galley was down, as was the dinette. In this current boat, we have a pesky second stateroom, which means the dinette can't be down there too.


OTOH, we do very much prefer the dinette UP on the saloon level, no matter where the galley is. It would be even better if we could see the horizon from the dinette, but the bottoms of the side and front windows start too high for that. (A more recent build of our model appears to have raised the dinette a bit, possibly solving that.)


In both boats -- we had no choice where the galley was. The rest of the boat features determined our choice in boat, and the galley is/was where it is/was.


And we've adapted to that easily enough.


OTOH, if the galley were up and forward, we'd lose saloon space... and we value to space in the saloon (with attached dinette). Ditto if the galley were up and aft, although that does seem to maybe offer some useful/faster access to meals in the cockpit or on the bridge. (Just guessing whether that might be worthwhile, or not.)


Bottom line In think is that many other features were drivers for us, galley location -- not so much. Within reason. And galley down has been a non-issue.


-Chris

 

[FlyWright]

That is very nice of you!!

Agree!

 

[ksanders]

I've been called out for my "reply to those who replied"

I will back pedal here and offer an apology to you. I mistakenly took your reply to be a second one from another poster.

If there was a Smiley handshake, I would offer it.

We're fine!

Good luck on your search!

 

[kulas44]

My 48 sporty is a galley up config. It works fine as I dont have a lower con station in the saloon, and the galley is forward, large settee to stb. We have Incredible amounts of storage in the galley, for a boat anyway. We dont cook underway. My 50 foot trawler has the galley/dinette down, as low as possible, and pretty much isolated from the saloon. It even has a louvered split door to further isolate it. And 4 steps down to get there. Its close to the middle of the boat and again, as low as possible. It was designed (by me) to be useable underway, even in less than ideal conditions. A galley up would be unuseable in anything except calm water, or at the dock. I designed the entire layout on my trawler to be used on the go. Lots of small close spaces, no big ballroom areas. Secure stowage everywhere possible. I think the galley up would be good for the way most boats are used,and my sporty is proof of that. But you aint gonna cook bacon and eggs with any kind of sea runnin. My trawler on the other hand would be fine with it.

 

[markpierce]

My galley is in the starboard-forward part of the saloon, opposite a desk. The two settees and folding table are aft of the galley. The pilothouse sits several steps higher and between the saloon and master stateroom. The galley is low and in the center of the boat where it belongs.

 

[dhmeissner]

Hi HW,

Our PNW Sedan Cruiser is a very modest design by a rather well known PNW naval architect and while modest I would consider the boat to have a pilothouse design with the galley down. From the pilothouse there are 3 steps down forward to the galley/salon and 3 steps down to the aft cabin. For us it works well, but I can see the advantage of the galley up design as well. We chose this boat as much for the economics as for the design. But I have to admit I am enamored with anything "Monk" and the Roughwater 35/ 37/ 41/ 42 boats are as affordable as it gets.

 

[Rebel]

We have the same configuration as Pineapple Girl on our 35ft aft cabin, which is called a Polarus in Australia. Like many replies it was a personal choice but with us it was a must have for my wife as she was involved in the process of buying our boat and liked the galley down for the spacious feel of a high overhead, a port for her to see out if she wanted and only 2 steps into the salon with much more space there. Anybody working in the galley down in a 35fter is still involved with others in the salon if they want to be particularly when the grandkids and their parents are on board believe me!!

 

[bayview]

we like having it a bit out of sight. Not sure it matters much but rolling is less down lower.