G'day people.

What are your views on aft cabins?

I have skippered a 38ft Catalina bareboat a couple of times and slept in the fwd V berth. I found it difficult sleeping even in the tiniest swell. The yacht wanted to lay beam on and seemed to get a pendulum effect going and made sleeping very hard. Maybe a stern anchor and face into the swell would've helped?

Anyhow, I moved into the aft berth where I lay across the boat (athwartships??) and found sleep easier with my head and feet going up and down rather than side to side.

This got me thinking about aft cabin yachts - most centre cockpit I guess, with an athwartships aft cabin and the pros and cons of it.

Some of you have been kind enough to give me some advice a few months back in my quest to find a yacht for my wife and I to live aboard for a couple of years. So now I am thinking about how will we be able to get a good nights sleep. We are both around 6ft, so we don't want to be cramped up and lacking leg room.

If the engine is used to get to the anchorage or mooring, can the heat from the engine as it cools down and diesel smells linger in the aft cabin?

Short of buying a more stable cat, not sure which way to go and I would appreciate some advice.

Cheers!

Thanks DrRog,

I have read it already, I guess I should've asked more about how you experienced yachties manage sleeping on a rocking boat.
Maybe it's just me that has difficulty with it!!!