Cabo 44 HTX Day Cruiser

There has been interesting changes for the Cabo 44 HTX day cruiser. It has turned away from canvas and has added real doors to its pilot house and that means, among other things, a real climate change on hot days.

Seriously, have you ever tried to run an air conditioner when you have snap-on or zip-on canvas backing? If you have, you know that you are cooling a lot more outside air than air in the passenger compartment/pilothouse. So, unless you like the idea of standing on the flying bridge all the time when the humidity is about 120 percent and the dewpoint is somewhere around 90 because you can get a great breeze up there when the cruiser is planing then the addition of the hardtop enclosure has certainly been a welcomed one.

Oh, yes, if you still want an open air feel, of course, you can still slide back the windows and crack the hatch, but when you have the air cranking away and its comfortable, do you really want to break the environment? After this summers humidity, we would think not.

Another interesting addition is an enlarged cockpit that allows up to five people to either stand around watching those guys who may really be working a rather large fish and those who are rooting for the fisherman to land that Bluefin. Truth be told, we hope the Bluefin wins because there arent that many left out there and being sports fishermen, the battle is what does it for us. All were likely to do is unhook the big guy unless hes approaching record size, of course, we all have our limits and let him free so he can propagate (hopefully) and live to fight another day, hopefully with another sports fisherman. There are way too many fishermen out there who would just as soon haul the vanishing resource out of the water so they can have their fancy sushi dinner roll. (We like steak and there are still plenty of cattle roaming around choking the air up with their methane and they taste pretty good.)

The key to the Cabo 44 HTX, though, is that though you are fighting that fish and you have your cheering section, they arent getting in the way of you swinging around if the fish decides to take a different course and fight back.

The Cabo 44 HTX is a streamlined day cruiser that can easily handle 5- to 10-foot seas wide open (although you might notice people who arent used to this type of sea turning a bit green around the gills, if you so much as mention a bagel and cream cheese they make a might effort to be cool, but lets face it sooner much sooner, in fact than later, they will be riding the rail).

With its flying bridge as high as it is visibility is always excellent, but, surprisingly, if you choose to keep cool with the rest of the folks in the cabin, you have plenty of forward and side visibility, too. The controls are also nicely laid out.

The Cabo 44 HTX features two staterooms below decks. It is also equipped with a full freshwater shower and not an elf-sized minihead. The galley stands off to the side and you will find a living room/dining area right there. One thing we noticed in one caption we saw was a special tackle room where you can show off the gear you dont really use, but which looks great.

This was the replacement for the 45 and it achieved and improved on that fine design.