How Big ( or Small ) Was Your First Liveaboard Boat ?

[vtlli]

My first (unsuccessful ) attempt was 27 footer. In a few weeks I gave up. Second – Nich 31. Big enough for one person.

[wolfenzee]

Two people living on a boat are more efficient than one and a "couple" are more efficient than two. With two people you are more likely to get stuff done, kept in order, etc, cooking/eating is more efficient....if you can share a sleeping space (as in a couple) it is a far more efficient use of space. One person living on a boat alone often times becomes a bachelor pad from hell.

[Steve A]

I started out at 16 on a 16' gaff/squaresail sloop. Sold her when I couldn't fit through the tiny hatch (and I wanted a real galley).

[tager]

Balboa 22'. No sitting headroom except on the floor... It didn't last long. Moved up to a Islander Bahama 24', now I'm on a Haida 26'.

Then the admiral entered my life and now I'm looking for something bigger or moving to land and having a boat as a boat, not a home.

[wolfenzee]

Originally Posted by tager

Balboa 22'. No sitting headroom except on the floor... It didn't last long. Moved up to a Islander Bahama 24', now I'm on a Haida 26'.

Then the admiral entered my life and now I'm looking for something bigger or moving to land and having a boat as a boat, not a home.

3 out of the top 5 reasons someone has to give up a boat are usually related to "the admiral" (a woman, marriage, children, financial and health are the top five reasons).
As far as I am concerned if anyone were to say "It's me or the boat" They would basically be telling me that their mindset doesn't agree with mine....but to each their own

[endoftheroad]

Originally Posted by Yofy

A Catalina 27. It was what we could aford and we lived aboard her for 9 years. Eight of those years, we lived aboard year round in Cananda with winters to -20C and one year we crusied her south to the Bahamas and back.

Now we live on a Fortune 30.
Manny

good, strong living.

[endoftheroad]

My first boat an Oday 23 I lived aboard for about 3 years.
Traded my automobile for it plus some payments.
Hurricane Jeanne took her from me.

[S/V Blondie-Dog]

First boat, which happened to be a liveaboard, was a Morgan 35'. Sailed the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. In hindsight I would have preferred a beamier boat.

Second boat, sailed on weekends only, was an AMF 21'. Positively loved sailing that boat for the sheer joy of sailing. More often than not, I'd sail that boat to and from Isla Palominos, Puerto Rico.

Present boat is an Intrepid 28'. Sails like a charm but I'm glad to no longer be living aboard. Lived aboard for two years.

[sailpower]

I sold my Pearson 30 to buy a Pearson 424 when I decided to liveaboard.

[lunasee]

Very fun thread to read.
Our first liveabord was a Cal 30-1. Lived on it for over a year, sailed her on weekends, holidays and vacations. We enjoyed the trips immensely and learned a lot. Like 20 gal of water is not enough, standing head room is good unless you like banging your head, a comfortable place to lounge is a must for sanity reasons, and a working shower is a must. We are both getting close to retirement. We learned a lot. A crowded boat is ok when you’re young or single but was not for us. I grew up on 50 foot commercial trawlers and big boat handling is in my blood so to speak. We bought a Challenger 40 late last year and agreed not to take it sailing until it is paid for (two more payments, Yippy). Taking it over to the pump out dock was a real eye opener. It handles so much better than the Cal 30. The prop on the Cal is behind the rudder so you can’t use the prop wash to maneuver. The Challenger 40 is like a palace in comparison. Roomy galley, setae’s long enough to lie down on, a state room that doesn’t have the head close to your pillow just to name a few, oh and lots of storage. I guess it’s more about what you want out of a boat and can tolerate.
Dan R

[Ocean Girl]

My first live aboard boat was a Ranger 23, was my first boat too. I was 19. Also, I lived on a friends gulf coast 18 for a couple months while between boats, I was pretty hardy in my young age I love small boats.
Erika

[wingNwing]

Beginning our 11th year of living on our 33 ft CSY. This is both my first liveaboard boat, and my first spouse; sometimes ya just pick 'em right.

[wolfenzee]

I will not try and pretend my boat is the ideal live aboard, far from it. There are alot of boats within the price range I paid for my boat that would have made better live aboards....but I really enjoy my boat and would feel safe in just about anything. I enjoy sailing and a "sexy" boat. Some of the spacious liviaboards can't get out of thier own way and cosmetically bland production boats.

[GrowleyMonster]

Hmmmm.... first SLEEP-aboard was a homebuilt 25' plywood sailing skiff with a tent. Can't really call it LIVE-aboard cause I had no cooking facilities. It is where I slept for several months, though. I ended up trading it for a ratty old Harley Sportster with the seat patched up with the new invention and technical marvel of the day... duct tape. There were some irregularities with the numbers and I was not able to get a title for it so I traded it for a dozen 55gal drums, some cypress lumber from an old barn and house, and a sheet metal portable building. Of course I promptly built a houseboat out of it, and it even had a tabernacle mast and a clumsy lugsail rig so if I waited for the right wind, I could move it without borrowing an outboard. I had a kerosene stove and a full size bed in it so I definitely was living aboard. Built a plywood pirogue for a grocery getter. I was fixing to close a deal on a travel trailer refrigerator, the gas kind, and instead ended up swapping my houseboat for the travel trailer fridge complete with the travel trailer, and lived in that for a year or so. Traded that for a severely hurricane damaged homebuilt 45' fiberglass on ply hard-chine schooner with no rudder, masts, or engine, a refrigerator size hole in it but well above the waterline, and lived in that hulk for another year and a half before trading it for an old '65 Chevy bread delivery truck that had an engine that would start and run, 3 speed on the column, rust holes in the overhead that my fiberglassing skills were useful in repairing, and a desperate need for a complete rewiring. I fixed that up for living inside with a shower, head, bed, propane stove, and icebox. When the clutch had worn down to metal on metal I was fixing to replace it but instead traded it as-is for a nearly new Ruger Mini-14, just a few months after it came out, and it got stolen so the chain was broken. Still had the pirogue but I couldn't figure out how to sleep aboard in any degree of comfort so had I bit the bullet and rented a house to live in which is where the rifle and my 8-track stereo got stolen from. The pirogue disappeared one night.

I ended up living aboard a friend's WestSail 32 for a while, and briefly on a Catalina 27. No boat living for a while, until I bought my current boat a couple years ago. It had some hurricane damage and years of neglect while the health of the owner deteriorated, and I picked it up cheap and promptly moved aboard. 27' or actually a bit less, and I have built a shower in her. Fixing to re-do the galley including a BIG deep sink. One of these days the grudging tolerance for the old Atomic will fall apart or else it will simply quit running and I will either go electric or diesel or both.

I figure a boat under 30' is generally gonna be too small for a couple to feel comfortable. I know I can handle a boat bunny staying with me for a few nights or even a few weeks, but when she starts moving all her chick stuff aboard, the romance is over, cause there just isn't enough room. A short cruise to Florida or some place is do-able with me and a BB but I wouldn't want to do a see-the-whole-darn-caribbean cruise with crew on my little Cal. But just me, myself, and I can live tolerably well on her indefinitely.

When I had the skiff, I was 19. I didn't feel like it was much of a hardship, then, but I wouldn't sleep a single night on something like that now. Our tolerance to primitive conditions does change as we grow older. My Cal 2-27 would have seemed like a palace back then. Now, it is just adequate.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by GrowleyMonster

Hmmmm....
................................. I know I can handle a boat bunny staying with me for a few nights or even a few weeks, but when she starts moving all her chick stuff aboard, the romance is over...................

"Boat Bunny"?...hilarious, but maybe as Jaye said in a post above, "sometimes you just pick 'um right". When I first met my wife she was riding a Kawasaki and we were off spelunking and snow skiing. She showed up for a trip to Colorado from Florida with a small duffle. Sometimes you just pick 'um right!