The RV options will, apart from personal preferences for space, also be determined by where you want to go, and where you want to stay.
So for example, the Isuzu NPR or Mitsubishi Fuso 4x4 trucks really are 'expedition vehicles'. Think African Safari, or Australian Outback. Big, heavy, thirsty, slow, might need special
license endorsement...
Also, really only a requirement if you are A) going seriously off road
a lot, AND, B) you want a Class B+ 'motorhome style' back on it. El cheapo versions could be the truck with just a caravan body on it. Mate of mine did this recently and found some issues. The caravan he purchased had a drop-down entry port - i.e. the door had a recessed stair in it that was lower than the rest of the floor. Fine on the caravan chassis, but fouled the flatbed on the Fuso, so he had to build it up. Costly, but it then gave him a lot more
storage, between the truck flatbed and the caravan floor, but coversely made the overall height SO much higher and top heavy. The problme was the step-down was right where the
wheel was on the Fuso, so he couldn't modify the truck
bed or Fuso chassis to suit it. Bad choice of caravan body IMHO, but he'd bought it and
sold the van's chassis before he realised this...
If you are going to be travelling on dirt roads that a normal truck can manage in good weather (note the qualification) then a full-size truck/van or a Mercedes Sprinter, Renault, Fiat, VW etc full height 'enclosed van' might be enough.
The width you lose compared to the carvan body (or a C-Class body on a truck chassis) you make up for in the 'stealth' mode such an apparently
commercial vehicle enables. Can park in 'Loading Zones' for example. Can park on pretty much any non-suburban street and not be 'noticed' by authorities, whereas anything like a dedicated campervan, Fuso-style rig, or C-Class you are immedialtey 'visible' as a traveller, and can get moved on from otherwise nice areas simply because there is a local (and possibly unknown to you) ordnance prohibiting overnight camping.
I have another mate who bought a 2nd-hand Sprinter from a courier company at
auction, and left the courier company graphics on it, and has full black out blinds inside. He says the only way he gets caught is if some local busybody walking a dog hear's him snoring and calls the cops!
So HOW and WHERE you will be camping should also inform your choice.
If you have the means, and desire, to do mostly RV parks, then an 'obvious' RV is not an issue, and so a wider-bodied C-Class or similar might therefore be better.
Event the truck + caravan is fine if you intend to pay per night in RV parks, as these are otherwise a right bastard to find parking for on the street.
Ditto any Rv towing a car. especially in cities.
But any of the van class/type vehicles could have a motorcycle platform custom built for the rear bar. See this often in Oz. Easier parking, and the 'dinghy' is strapped to the back, rather then being towed (i.e. a Class C or A towing a small car).
So if you don't intend a full-on offroad expedition, then the Fuso 4x4 has more negatives than positives, IMHO. One of the biggest being the great height above the road, which makes them a complete brick to drive and very top heavy and unweildy. Though, in the add-on-caravan version, it is possible to buy what's called a pop-top caravan, which reduces the height while driving, but once at camp, enables the pop-top roof to rise and provide adequate
head clearance. This actually makes the Fuso a better offroad expedition truck as well. Similar to the pop-tops on some smaller trailer yachts.
But I also second the US-style F350 + 5th wheel trailer/caravan. You tend to get much more *usable* space for its length/value in a 5th wheel van, and the ability to easily disconnect and drive around as a truck is helpful.
I know Chotu has said he has experience of the B-Class Sprinter-type RVs and calims them too small..... All I can say is he must have had one that was really badly designed, or only based on the low roof, SWB van. The extra-long wheelbase, full height Sprinter is HUGE inside, and can be made with pop-outs if you insist!
As to whether to go RV or stick with the
boat?
My feeling is the
boat has been too much of a labout of love, and done too specifically for Chotu, that he will be gutted if he sells it, and may find that hard as the 'design requirements' are so specific to him, it might be VERY hard to get reasonable
money for it.
Personally, I think $100K might be top dollar for an 'unfinished' boat. No matter how well built, it is still a 'project' and, as I said, a new owner may not like Chotus' specialised layout, construction style etc etc. As someone else said up thread - find the "right" buyer, and you might get the right
price.
There was that beautifully built Simpson
trimaran built by Wilson Lobau, in Peabody ME, that his
family had to virtually pay someone to take away. They in turn have now realised they don't have the resources/wherewithall to complete it and have put it on the market. From memory they split the $18K hauklage cost from the build site to the boatyard. Tri's are wiiiiide....
Similarly there is a huge cat in a shed in
Sydney,
Australia, again a custom built boat, built to the (now deceased) owner's specs. Has to be moved from the shed in the boatyard, and has no engines fitted, no rig fitted, and the
family is asking way less than $100K for it.
Project boats aren't worth what the materials cost to stick together, and the more 'personalised' the design or construction, the less likely to sell easily.
So, given the likelihood that Chotu's boat will be the same, my suggestion is, as other's have said, fix enough of it so you can just "go now" and see how that's working in 12 months. Fit A/C that can operate on either the bridgedeck or one
hull, and basically live on the bridgedeck but have one berth and one
head fitted out in one
hull. Maybe cut a
hatch in the
deck of the other hull big enough to crane your small offroad bike into? Combine the best of both worlds...???
Best case, you find after 12 months that you love it and want to continue the sailing path, so can then justify the final finishing of the boat, prepping for a longer trip of several years perhaps.
Worst case scenario, you wil then know you've got the sailing bug out of your system, will have had some great experiences, and can sell it as a going concern "needing fettling and TLC" rather than as a 'project boat needing a lot', and THEN you get to revisit the RV options....
Kicks that ball down the road a year, at least, and keeps you moving forward, not sitting still.