Galley Features to Look For When Buying a Boat

Are you just starting to look at cruising boats? You’re probably asking yourself about the galley features you want most. After all, everyone needs to eat. 

In some ways, it’s an impossible question to answer.  Features that might be “necessary” on a 45-foot boat that’s going to be used for extensive cruising would be totally impractical on a 25-footer used for overnight and weekend trips.

Still, some universal galley features separate the good from the bad. I believe you should focus on three concerns: safety, ventilation, and placement. If you choose poorly in these three areas, it will be expensive or impractical to change. These features will also affect your satisfaction on the boat. And if you’ve never owned a boat before, you might not realize their importance. I didn’t, until I sailed on boats with serious flaws in these areas.

Item 1:  Can The Cook be Thrown Across the Boat?

While there are many features of a galley that contribute to the safety of the cook, most are relatively easy and inexpensive to remedy.  However, if the basic layout allows the cook to be thrown 6 feet across the galley in rough weather, it’s a real problem.

I learned this the hard way. My first offshore passage was on a Saga 43 with a galley similar to that in the picture.  We ended up in a gale off New Jersey, and I was tossed reaching for a box of crackers.  When the boat rolled, there was nothing to brace myself against.

While you do need an opening to get in and out of the galley, keep it small. Having something at least hip-high and no more than about 4 feet away (3 is even better) will limit the chances for serious injury.  Depending on the boat’s size, this doesn’t have to result in a tiny galley. You don’t want one with a lot of empty floor space from side to side.

Item 2:  Plenty of ventilation

The good thing about buying an older boat is that they usually have good ventilation. Newer boats often are built with air conditioning with little thought to “passive ventilation.” Large opening hatches and portholes are essential to being comfortable at anchor.

The galley creates heat, steam, and food smells.  While the heat can be welcome in cool climates, the steam will quickly raise the humidity and the potential for mold and mildew.  And most of us don’t want to wake up to the smell of last night’s fish dinner!

While you can add fans and wind scoops to make the most of the ventilation you have, adding or enlarging hatches and ports is much more expensive and tricky to do.

Item 3:  Are the “hot” and “cold” areas logical?

One of our biggest frustrations with Que Tal was the placement of the refrigerator. It was right next to the engine compartment and also right at the foot of the companionway where the sun beat down on it. I have no idea what it cost us in extra amps used, but I’m sure it was considerable.

For some reason, older cruising boats tended to have the ice box (later converted to a refrigerator) right next to the engine, with not a lot of insulation in between.  In later years, Tayana did reverse the layout of the galley so that the sink was next to the engine compartment and the refrigerator (or icebox) was on the other arm of the “U,” surrounded by air and out of direct sunlight.

Even if you don’t have refrigeration and just use a portable cooler, this can be an issue.  Is there a cool (and secure) place to put the cooler?

If you haven’t done much cruising, it’s easy to underestimate the importance of not wasting electricity (for a refrigerator) or ice (in a cooler).  For us, using just 10% less power for the refrigerator would have meant that we could run the watermaker twice as long each day.  For others, it could mean less time running a generator.  For those using ice, it could mean an extra day or two before having to find a place to buy more.

More Thoughts on Galley Features

Items 1 and 2, to me, are non-negotiable. The third may not be 100% non-negotiable, but it’s a very serious consideration. We didn’t realize the serious flaw in the design of Que Tal‘s galley until after we were cruising. Any boat is going to have trade-offs, and the biggest plus for Que Tal was that the previous owners had already spent a bundle of time and money upgrading her so that she was ready to cruise. Even knowing about the consequences of the refrigerator being next to the engine, we might still have chosen her. But I’m sure we would have looked harder at some other boats and not bought her quite so quickly.

Disagreements Among Boat Owners

Researching galleys before we bought her, two items kept popping up:  the need for a “U” shaped galley and a double sink. Frankly, I disagree with both.

The rationale for a “U” shaped galley is that it provides a way for the cook to wedge him/herself in. I’ve seen plenty of “U” shaped galleys with the open side towards the center of the boat and no way for the cook to brace against the roll of the boat.  The more important concern is that the cook can’t be thrown too far — galley work will never be 100% safe, but larger distances simply cause larger injuries.

I have absolutely no idea why anyone would think that a double sink is necessary. I hated the one that came with Que Tal and replaced it (read about it).  But items such as this are relatively inexpensive to change if you decide you want something different than what the boat comes with.

However, some cruisers argue strongly for double sinks. They claim that they’re the perfect size for wedging things in underway, and appreciate the ability to rinse in one sink while washing in the other.

Think it over carefully before you make an expensive mistake.

Other Cruiser’s Advice

If you have already bought a boat with poor galley ventilation, there are other ways to work around it. One is to do more cooking above decks (when possible). Donna runs a toaster oven in her cockpit off a Honda generator. You can also benefit from using your grill or a solar oven outside of the galley. You can even bake bread on your boat grill.

Cruiser Jim F. has given a lot of thought to galley features. He prefers fiddles on all flat services (common on most monohulls built for long-distance cruising). Jim also suggests a separate freezer and refrigerator since you’ll open the refrigerator far more often than the freezer. It’s more efficient to keep them separate. He is also a fan of his solar cooker and grill.

There are plenty of other galley features to think about.  But others tend to be more obvious, such as the amount of storage, type of stove, whether there is a refrigerator, and so on. If you choose the wrong boat galley features, you’ll have to deal with them every day. It’s worth spending time considering your galley in advance.

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