Mike

I spent two weeks on a 44' Diesel Duck and two months on a 462

Randal, How did the 462 feel inside in terms of windows (or lack thereof) and feeling too enclosed? A couple postings have remarked how much they would miss the more open dining area. Can you address your thoughts and experience related to the Duck? Thanks, Mike Pate Mike I spent two weeks on a 44' Diesel Duck and two months on a 462 Diesel Duck. Although the builder reported that the 462 had a 1' wider beam, it seems much more than that. The salon has a tremendous amount of room especially compared to the 44'. The whole boat seems larger inside. On the port side of the salon there is a book shelf with a granite countertop about 16" or more wide. There are two living room type chairs backed up to that. On the starboard side there is a full size settee with storage behind it. In front of the settee there is a coffee table and between the table and the chairs there is room for two people to pass. On the 44' the galley and the dinette were in the salon area which didn't leave room for much else. The 462 galley is in the passageway under the pilot house and the dinette is in the pilot house. I've been asked about the small windows in the boat before. The port holes have, I'm guessing, about 10" diameter windows in them. The galley and the engine room have smaller ones. The salon has a large double hatch overhead; the front cabin and the aft cabin have a single hatch overhead. All of these combined let a lot of light in the boat. Though I spent a considerable amount of time in the salon, the settee was my bed, I never felt claustrophobic. The dinette is in the pilot house where the big windows are and you can see 360 degrees. We didn't always eat there though; sometimes we ate in the salon using the coffee table and sometimes in the cockpit without a table. I'd venture to guess most of the beer was consumed in the cockpit, its hot in the Philippines. The pictures on the builder's web site do not give a good perspective of the size of the interior. There is one picture of the stern with Dave Nagle standing on it that gives a good perspective, though you should know that Dave is a pretty good sized fellow, and a good fellow. There are two pictures on that web site that show the salon, one port and one starboard. Starting with hull # 5 the walkway that creates that overhang in the salon will be raised 8" at the front of the pilot house, tapering back to its present position at the front of the salon. This will give enough headroom that if one chooses they can move the settee and the free standing chairs outboard. In case you want to have dances in between. Randal