Do You NEED a Cabin?
 

Just curious, other than using the cabin for storing stuff, how many on here truly "use" or "need" the cabin on your boat?

I'm still up in the air on what my next boat will be, and I still cant decide if a cabin is a 'must' or not. I haven't ever really needed one, but I can see the utility of having one. I really can't see sleeping on the boat, but I guess I cant rule out ever wanting to doing that either. But looking at the boating I've always done, day trips and partying are much more the norm. No kids either.

Having a port-o-potty/****er is really the only big desire I see for having a cabin, well that and having a place to get out of the rain in the event you get caught in some bad weather. I'm fine with peeing off the back, but I know the ladies tend to want a little more in the way of private facilities. I can see maybe wanting a cabin for 'gettin busy' too, but honestly, the cabin is often too hot for that anyway. :D

So what say you... do you really 'need' or 'want' a cabin?

Nope

LS

yep, we spend the day out and sometimes go eat late ,it is nice to have a place to clean up . Also got caught in the rain 5 or 6 times last year , the ladies like a place to get out of the storm until it passes

What he said!

Yeah, but you could "get ready" in a 1/2 cabin or 1/4 cabin. I bought a 342 for the cabin and never really utilized it. You can get out of the rain in a poker run layup cabin.

i got a 1/2 cabin 34 mid cuddy no power $17500 tv /stove /ice box microwave real head :party-smiley-004:

true , i don't need a full weekender which i don't have. A basic cabin is all you need

I don't need it but the wife does,.

My last 3 boats all "had" to have a cabin. I end up using it for storage only. We party at Fire Island, and shooting home is only about 10 or 15 minutes, and my bed in my house is way more comfortable than my boat. No dampness or bugs. Me and the wife go on cruise ships pretty often and stay in top notch suites, and even though it's a multi-million dollar cruise ship, it is not even close to as comfy as my bed,( but the steward is always nice). So, to make a short story long, a cabin is not necessary ( I assume we're talking about a performance boat- it would suck to not have a cabin in a 48foot Viking )

I don't use my cabin much either. I would rather have a race boat with a couple of foam floaties up front in case i had to get some sleep. Much lighter and faster.

I like how Nor-Tech puts cabins even in their 36' cats and they STILL run fast! :drink:

Lots of boats "run fast" that have cabins, but how often do they sleep in the cabin, or use the cabin for something other than storage

It's a nice place to sit out a summer squall (anchored in a cove) till the rain/hail passes over. It makes the boat more comfortable/useable.

need it for the girls..we can pee off side...

Adds a lot more dimension to how you can use your boat. If you have young kids, like I do, it gives them a place to hang out also.

Funny, this was brought up a couple weeks ago and us cig owners got bashed for just having a minimalist style cabin, but after reading the above posts it seems that is what everyone wants...:confused: :D

Double posted, see below...

I don't really have a cabin but I have room to sleep two. I love it and I need it. A lot depends on where you boat. Overnighters at Put-in-Bay are awesome and I'd rather be at the docks with the other boaters than in a motel. Sleeping on the boat rocks. Actually literally as the boat moves a little with the waves. I run a small fan in there to keep the air moving. My next boat will definitely have a real cabin. Yeah, the guys can pee over the side but PIB and most marinas have nice bathroom and shower facilities. Cedar Point has two restaurants, a pool, stores and other amenities just for those who come by boat. Oh, they have a separate entrance to the park that opens an hour earlier too! Do I need a cabin? H*ll yeah! Rock the docks.:coolcowboy:

Most of our customers have cabins that stay untouched

I'd bet if they boated on the Great Lakes the cabins would get used. There are just too many cool overnight destinations.

That's a fact.
I'm always amazed at what I find in the cabin when we winterize.

If you only use your boat for day trips then the cabin might just be a big storage locker. But if your like some of us that don't mind putting the boat in on the west side of Michigan and shooting across to Chicago for the weekend then you'll wish you had one. (that trip made number 5 of 5 for great lakes we've had the boat in) Besides the money you save on hotels will sort of fill the tank.

Im a big fan of a cablin. Women LOVE to have a place to B/S when the sun is too hot, or need a place to lay down,or just get away from the group od drunks if needed. My Bullet had a great size cabin and enclosed head. There was lots of "meetings" down there and because of the bathroom, there was always a srteam of new chicks on the boat. Not a bad way to get lots of females on your ride Scot.

Our boat has to have a cabin because we spend roughly 40-50 nights per summer on the boat. We live over an hour from the lake and commuting back and forth every day is not an option. But , if I lived on the lake, I'd have a cat for sure.

In S. Fl cabins are for weather protection more than anything. Whether getting out of a passing storm or catching a few minutes of shade they suddenly become priceless when you need them.

As far as sleeping aboard, you better have good a/c otherwise it is a sweatbox in there!

Same on Chesapeake Bay. I can't count the times we've stayed overnight on our 38 Formula. We custom-ordered it with generator and AC for that very reason. I can see that it would be different if you were boating on a small body of water, or the boat couldn't be equipped enough to be comfortable on hot nights or extended outings.

It's a classic example of "horses for courses": buy a boat that suits your needs.

We also have to have a cabin. We spend almost every weekend on the boat. I really think its a geographical thing though. Up at PIB, or anywhere on the great lakes, the action is usually right at the dock. We used to sleep under the deck on or old 24' with no cabin, and it really sucked. It was a step up from camping, maybe. I don't think I could go without, unless I had 2 boats.

We use the hell out of our cabin. Love having the enclosed head and I bet we sleep on it 15 nights a year. It's a must for us and I'll never own a boat without one.

Waiting out storms, getting out of the sun - tons of uses...

What he said!

Agreed...for how we use our performance boat; but I also have a cruiser so if I was limited to only one boat it would likely have a useable cabin; i.e a 73 Viking or an 80 Pershing would do.

I like a nice cabin in my sport boats, it gets so hot and humid around here it's nice to have a gen. to run A/c and I have to have a pump out head, my wife wont pee in the water and we sometimes go out for 2-3 days so I need a full cabin and head.

Now the perfect setup for me since I live on the water would be to have a few boats, right now I only have my 16 skiff with a 30hp on it and it aint cutting it. I would like to have a 24-28 Pontoon I can leave in the water, a 35-40 open center console with a full head, a 38-46 sport boat with twin 700ish hp about an 80-100mph boat with full cabin and head, then an 50-80 foot houseboat to have for the big party weekends plus it would be nice just to have it as like a geust house here. So yea about 5 boats and 2 jet skis sould do it.

With the prices of used boats out there right now I could do it with 300-350k right now with some nice boats that you would have had a hard time 3-4 years ago getting 2 of them

Exactly.... Personally, we love staying on the boat overnight, especially after a long day...and some of the time we stay on the sandbar, crank the generator, turn the a/c on and go to bed...its not as comfortable as our home, but its like camping, just on the water...Everything is remote control:grinser010:..typical sat. afternoon for us and about 20+ boats that eventually overnight at the island. This boat I had NT build some speakers that plug into the rear deck that I usually placed on the sunpad, another remote was at the rear, was great so I didnt have to crank up and wear the battery down...next one Ill have an outlet close to the swim platform for the blender..:drink:

Define "untouched". I do agree that there is a percentage of performance boats with cabin that don't get used for sleeping or overnight usage.

What I truly like is the storage use. No need to worry about stuff being secured or flying out of the boat while at speed. Besides, I am not going to ask the female guest to lean over the side.

Gotta have the cabin.

I think alot of its about location. As someone mentioned earlier, its nice on the great lakes because we overnight alot (Kelleys Island, Put In Bay, Etc). I couldnt imagine not having a cabin until I spent a bunch of time in the Ft Myers Beach area. I think the ultimate boat down there would be a big center console. Party all day, go back to the dock and take a garden hose to the whole thing and pass out in the back yard. :drink:

Ahh, the voice of reason:evilb:

With the price of fuel lately,, we've done more "dock cruising". ITs nice having the big cabin of the Stinger,,,air,, stand up head,,,shower,,,satelite tv,,,,etc.

+1 :drink:

+2:drink:

I want a remote like that on my Boat! LMAO!

No cabin needed for my type of boating. I never sleep on the boat and party with others who have cruisers. I have a porta-potti for emergencies and a ton of storage. I also have no microwaves to fall out, counters to crack or mildew to clean when we get real NJ water.