T&T: docking without midships walkway

[Henry Dennig]

This has been an interesting thread.



There are as many answers to this question as there are boaters, multiplied by
the styles of boats available.

When my wife and I first started to look for a live aboard trawler, the lines
of the Grand Banks caught our eye.  The contruction of the Nordhavens
interested me and the pricing of other vessels had us look at them.



I really liked the Nova Scotia 43 for it's engine room, I did not like the
draft.



I "discussed" with a dear friend Judy about the boat that they purchased
called a Great Harbour.  When you first look at it, it looks different.  Very
high sides, saloon to the gunnels.  My first comment was - "no way, I want to
walk down the sides when docking".  Then we spent time on theirs and found,
the decks around the pilothouse were fine for docking.



Several years later, my wife and I had to make a hard decision, because a
Great Harbour 47 was on the market and we really liked the interior layout,
upgrades, etc.  In the end, we agreed, that yes, side walkways would be nice
lower to the water but the access we have at the pilot house and boat deck
allow us to be comfortable docking and provide us the space we want to live
in.



All boats are compromises and trade-offs.  Can I dock the Great Harbour 47
like I can my other boat - a Crownline 33 - heck no, but both boats have their
use and purpose.



I would put walkways and deck layout on the same list as one engine or two,
flybridge or not, pilot house or not, stablizers or not, 8 knots, 12 knots, 16
knots, etc



Loving our Great Harbour 47



Henry




_________________________________________________________________
Find the right PC with Windows 7 and Windows Live.
http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/pc-scout/laptop-set-criteria.aspx?cbid=wl&fi
lt=200,2400,10,19,1,3,1,7,50,650,2,12,0,1000&cat=1,2,3,4,5,6&brands=5,6,7,8,9
,10,11,12,13,14,15,16&addf=4,5,9&ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN
_evergreen2:112009