Family of Five Getting Ready to Liveaboard

[rebel heart]

I'm on a 36 with my wife and two year old daughter, with another little one on the way. The space is fine for now. Although I'm glad it's as big as it is, we could honestly go a couple feet smaller if we needed to.

All these people telling you you need a bigger boat, ask them if they'll help cut the check every month for your marina fees or come and push a paintbrush around. Bigger boats cost more, are harder to move, and have less places to fit. Everyone wants more space, but there are decided advantages to a smaller boat. Your life is going to be *incredibly* downsized on a boat. It's not like 40 vs 34 feet is really going to make that much of a difference compared to a four bedroom house.

And no, you don't need two heads. That's absurd. Maybe for some people that's important (and that's fine), but as a categorical statement there is no value to it.

[RBeams]

First post to the forum...

Thought I would chime in given my wife, three daughters (ages 9, 11 and 13) and I are moving aboard our 43' sailboat this fall for a school year in the Caribbean.

When the girls were younger we had a 32' Valiant. We would spend week long vacations on the boat....a great boat, but we did outgrow it. All joking aside about the number of preteen girls, heads and hulls (love the equation!) we decided on a larger boat for living aboard mostly because we wanted everyone to have a bunk/bed that was their own space versus needing to covert a table our a settee every night for sleeping. That little bit of space that the kids can call "their own" helps a lot when sisters get on each other's nerves...

Rob

[deckofficer]

Welcome to the forum Rob. Sounds like next year is going to be special for your girls. Keep us posted here on CF. With 3 daughters you should have no problem keeping this thread alive .........http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-me-75531.html

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by RBeams

First post to the forum...

Thought I would chime in given my wife, three daughters (ages 9, 11 and 13) and I are moving aboard our 43' sailboat this fall for a school year in the Caribbean.

When the girls were younger we had a 32' Valiant. We would spend week long vacations on the boat....a great boat, but we did outgrow it. All joking aside about the number of preteen girls, heads and hulls (love the equation!) we decided on a larger boat for living aboard mostly because we wanted everyone to have a bunk/bed that was their own space versus needing to covert a table our a settee every night for sleeping. That little bit of space that the kids can call "their own" helps a lot when sisters get on each other's nerves...

Rob

I'm so happy I have roughly a decade until I need to deal with that predicament. And no matter what operation I need to have performed, including with garden shears, there will be no third child!

[itdave5]

hi, we moved on board permanently in March this year on our 34' 12 ton Hillyard. we have 2 sons one 8 who is blind and one 7 who is a fishing addict.
We have an aft cabin (center cockpit) and 2 heads although we only ever use the one in the aft cabin.
Our forward cabin is used for storage ( toys mostly).
Although space can be tight at times we seem to manage o.k. even though my wife can't seem to stop buying baskets!
34' is o.k. if it's been well designed.
Good luck.

[Teknav]

Where to start? Look at sailing schools fleet of boats, but do NOT buy any of these boats! Sailing schools boats are rugged and endure quite a bit of abuse. When I learned sailing, I started on a Rainbow 23' ft sloop, then a 37 ft O'Day and finally progressed to a 50 ft Gulfstar ketch (twin masted and air-conditioned). Look and visit the fleet of two or three sailing schools. This should give you some ideas on what you will need in your future home...errr...boat. Good luck!

[JerseyMermaid]

I hope you come back to this thread with your updated info!

My husband and I are also throwing in the dirt space for an ocean front view, along with our two children; my daughter who is 5 going on 15 and my son who is newly 10 and shares a love for the water with his momma.

We are active duty Coast Guard and still have another 11 years to go before retirement, but we don't want to wait that long so feel that moving aboard and hanging out at the docks learning our boat and doing fixer-up projects is the best way to get started. Sail when we can and anchor when we can't.

However the debate rages on about hull types (cat vs mono) and size needed to afford everyone their proper space, myself for my miniature jewelry studio and what we'd be able to manage sailing b/w the two (or 3) of us, ((Daughter is too small yet, but my son is a capable child)) as well as what's most affordable/reasonable. Not interested in trawlers, but like the option of sailboats with motors for when the wind is entirely unreasonable.

Keep us abreast, if you please! I prefer the information immersion method to figure all this out. And we are headed to the Annapolis Boat Show next month to take a look at the various options for us.

Cheers!

~Danielle

[Palsa]

I can offer you my motorsailer. it is for sale, now. It has 5 cabins. My family with 3 children fells good on it, even with the friends on board.

[Dearbhla]

Palsa, could you give us some more information on the boat you have for sale? Thanks.

[Gelfling]

Originally Posted by RBeams

First post to the forum...

Thought I would chime in given my wife, three daughters (ages 9, 11 and 13) and I are moving aboard our 43' sailboat this fall for a school year in the Caribbean.

When the girls were younger we had a 32' Valiant. We would spend week long vacations on the boat....a great boat, but we did outgrow it. All joking aside about the number of preteen girls, heads and hulls (love the equation!) we decided on a larger boat for living aboard mostly because we wanted everyone to have a bunk/bed that was their own space versus needing to covert a table our a settee every night for sleeping. That little bit of space that the kids can call "their own" helps a lot when sisters get on each other's nerves...

Rob

+1 on the advice of personal bunks! Week have a small weekender now and one daughter sleeps on a galley settee. While this works fine for a few nights "camping" we have found when we go Liveabourd this WILL NOT do! We picked our current boat due to all the space bellow deck but found that it has to be separated better......lessons learned. :-)

[Palsa]

I have posted some pics of my trawler here, it is 55 foot: Cruisers & Sailing Forums - Palsa's Album: Long range motorsailer Palsa

[Greggegner]

I suggest a sailboat, as I feel they are safer in a storm and generally better suited for living aboard (talking at the 32-34' size, not bashing power boats). For the same price you can find about a 40 foot sailboat. That will be big enough for 5, but still tight as they kids go into the teen years. While living in Charleston SC we met lots of cruiser with families. I think they made a good choice, as their kids were quit happy. Keep us informed and have a good time.