Joe - I agree. I have found that having access through the easily opened hinged steps down to the galley facilitates easy trips to the holy place. If I had to move furniture, rugs, and hatches every time - I would not go there so often. I lucked out - didn't know about this feature and its value until I lived with it. So I pass that on to the person that started all this by asking about trawler features and selection. On the other hand, I have nice looking safety tread panels that sit in top of my stringers (and a long gray water tank under the center) that force me to squat. VERY uncomfortable, even with the two sets of knee pads I now have. My friend's Gulfstar 44 has centerline standup room AND no saddle tanks so access to the outside of his engines is very easy. But he has no access except through his salon floor - SO I WIN! ;-) Yes, I am contemplating relocating the tank and removing the central panels. Won't be as crisp looking, but my back will thank me. And he is trying to figure out how to open his galley steps. Then we both ( and 4 engines, 2 gensets, and lots of equipment) win, the real reason for all this chatter - yes? Jim In a message dated 2/6/2010 12:00:37 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, trawlers-and-trawlering-request@lists.samurai.com writes: barely touched on the effect (both positive and negative) that engine room space AND ease of accessibility has with regard to failure detection and prevention.