This is a nice little story from Boot Duesseldorf boat show 2024. During the show I´ve had a sympathetic family who was interested in seeing the Oceanis 46.1. So, I gave them the tour. Apparently, the guys knew what they were talking about, probably a lot of charter experience with boats in general but also with Beneteau yachts. As we were roaming the boat´s interior, she stood in awe in within the galley.
She smiled, pointed to the sinks and said, more to herself and her husband than to me: “Now look: This is how you do it! Perfect!” Of course since many people on boat shows rather choose to point out to all the things they do not like, this was something that caught my attention. What was so perfect about those sinks?
A small and a big sink
I approached her and asked if she would mind explaining to me what exactly she meant with “this is perfect”. Looking at me she again pointed towards the two sinks and said: “Well, don´t you see it? There is a big and a small sink …” I nodded my head and replied, that one is for the wash-up hot water and small one is to put freshly washed-up and still drippy crockery, leaving it for drying. She smiled and said: “You almost got it …”
I thought a bit more, looking at both sinks. The big one (for washing up) was on the lefthand side, the small one to the right. So I said maybe because most of the world´s population is right-handed so it´s the most convenient way after washing to put it to one´s right hand side. “Maybe this has something to do wit it, but I don´t mean this.” What the hell could it be then?
The arrangement of sinks matters!
She explained: “Imagine me as the one doing the dishes. And you are the one with the towel, tasked to dry the crockery … you see it?” Looking at her, imagining myself standing next to her, I instantly get it: It´s the arrangement of the sinks in relation to the available space! Meaning, for the Oceanis 46.1, if the smaller sink would have been on the lefthand side, I would have had to cramp myself into the door to the aft cabin -simply no room to be there and dry the stuff.
She said: “Take a look on other yachts, many just don´t think about this.” As I am used to arrive at the boat shows regularly very early to having the chance and seeing the boats before opening time of the show, I began to focus on this little detail when boarding the yachts. The new Hanse 410 for example had it right: Enough space for two doing the dishes, thanks to the right arrangement of the two sinks. The “dryer” can stand in the salon and has free access to the dishes.
On the Bavaria C46 (which will be the next boat for a complete walkthrough by the way), this details was apparently not of concern for the designers. The smaller “drying” sink is placed to the cramped side of the galley rather to the salon. A minus for this otherwise very, very nicely done boat with so many great details. It´s those small things that sum up, I guess.
Attention to details
On the other hand, of course, this is a bit exaggerated. Usually, at least this is my impression from my sailing trips with a crew, you have that one person that is responsible for kitchen duty. I´ve never seen two people at once doing the dishes. Also, due to the fact that especially on a yacht you have a constant flow of fresh air, I let my dishes dry that way rather than utilizing a towel.
Nevertheless, I am now kind of programmed to look for this detail on boats I visit. The absolutely adorable Solaris 50 did it quite right (to my relief) and even if this is just a nice story, a sidekick, from a boat show, it underlines the complexity of selling a yacht – and buying a boat as well. People have so many often deniable, seemingly small and minuscule details onto which they are focused. Things you might never have had in mind and which will probably never matter to any other prospect client: But in her case, a boat would have been written of her short list if the arrangement of sinks wasn´t suitable for her. Funny and kind of scary at the same time. Anyways, this brings me to my own new yacht.
The galley is not fully planned through and agreed upon yet. Do I need two sinks? Not really I guess. But just for fun I will ask my shipyard what their thought about this is. I guess I already know their facial expression. Anyway, which are details you are absolutely focused on in your dream yacht? Looking forward to your comments.
You might also like to read those articles:
Planning the interior layout of my new boat
The perfect yacht galley: Refit of my King´s Cruiser 33
Galley ballet: Cooking offshore