If you are going to
live aboard you will find that you need more cumfort than if you are only sleeping aboard for a weekend now and then. I have lived aboard my
Columbia 41 for just over a year. It has lots of room and
storage space. Even so, I had to dispose of a lot of stuff in the process. And I always have to ask myself where I can stow some new thing
before I buy it. Larger, older boats are quite affordable. But anything over 15 years old (regardless of the survey) will have to be paid for in cash. You will quickly find that
financing for older boats is not be possible. Look around for an older
fiberglass boat like a
Morgan 41. It may cost you about $35K US in as is condition. The best thing about
fiberglass is it can be neglected for a long time and be brought back. It is a forgiving material and does not require a highly developed skill level or a lot of specialized tools.
Pay for a
survey before you commit yourself, financially or emotionally.
Avoid a
wood boat unless you can build a floating Hepplewhite hutch.
Marine carpentry is arguably the most skilled
trade going. Boat yards are full of rotting
wood hulls that were once works of art. Deferred
maintenance catches up with them and they get passed around like a case of the clap (a little waterfront lingo there). The last guy buys it thinking he can fix up for
cheap. Surprised at how much it costs to restore, he opts for lots of home builders caulk. And the
rot goes on.
I will not bother you with pontification on fero or
steel hulls. There are plenty of posts on those.
Boat technology is not something you can learn inside a day. You will need to read dozzens of
books on a wide range of subjects. So, before you even spend $2,500 on that little trailerable
catalina spend $250 on
books (abebooks.com is a good resource for used books) and 4 or 5 months reading every night. Crew for other people. Learn, learn, learn.