Looking to Live Aboard in New York City NYC on Sailboat

[andr0373]

My wife and I have been living in New York for the past four years and with our lease coming up in November we are looking to stay in New York City but take a shot at living aboard a sailboat year round. We have read through most of the forum posts here, reading other books and articles on sailing and living aboard particularly in colder climates, spent a few weekends visiting local marinas, looking at boats, speaking with various boaters. The plan is to continue our search for wisdom, shop for a marina, and shop for a boat over the next couple of months. Hopefully purchasing a boat sometime by July or August to give us time to transition into living on the boat before our lease is up. Here is our list of needs:

-Reliable Heat
-Reliable Power (enough for a couple laptops, lights)
-Reliable Hot Water
-Stand alone shower stall
-Refrigerator/Freezer
-Within 60 minutes of Midtown Manhattan at least 9 months of the year
-less than $125K

Here is our list of wants:
-Obviously be seaworthy - at a minimum for the north side of Long Island/Hudson river and preferably coastal cruising the east coast of the US
-6'3" headroom
-located within 30 minutes of midtown Manhattan
-A newer/well maintained boat (2000+) so there is less maintenance
-less than $80K
-less than 40' more than 30'

Here are my biggest questions:
1) Which marinas would be best for this type of adventure welcoming liveaboards and providing the most winter services?

2) Would it be relatively easy to move from a winter to a summer marina and which marinas would be the best summer marinas for live aboards?

3) We need boat suggestions that meet the aforementioned requirements. We have looked at Moody's, Beneteau's, and Hunter's in the 30-40' range. Recognizing we can probably make some upgrades (read 'or pay someone') to meet our needs if we don't find the perfect boat (e.g., a hydronic heater).

Finally we think we have read enough of these threads where we need not repeat the discussion of whether or not this is really something we want to do. We are doing it. My wife and I are pretty hardy, willing to learn, relatively flexible, and have a fair amount of gumshun. Our reasons are not to save money (although we think we can at least break even) but are purely adventurous. We recognize as much as possible without actually doing it how difficult this is going to be.

We appreciate any insight anyone can offer and if anyone who is currently doing this wants to invite us to see how you live and cruise I am sure we could make a useful contribution to your cause.

[Hudson Force]

You might want to shop in Port Washington, Gravesend, Liberty Marina in NJ. It's not unusual for people to find a suitable boat already in a potential liveaboard slip. Port Washington would be my choice.