Hi,
We own a Catalina 27, and an
Irwin 38, so I can give you some relative thoughts on the C27 as a
liveaboard. As unlikely as it sounds, the C27 has nearly as much useable sleeping space as the I38! There are two rear quarterberths, the Vberth, and the settee which makes down into a very useable double
bed. In contrast, the
Irwin has a double aft
cabin, the Vberth, a double
bed settee, and a
single unuseable quarterberth.
Where you will have trouble with the C27 as a
liveaboard is fixing
food, and getting ready in the morning. If you plan to eat most of your
meals out, and
shower in the marina bathhouse, it could
work for you. My wife and I have many times prepared very nice
meals for 4-6 aboard the C27. We use a rail mounted BBQ in the
cockpit, and a
propane powered
oven placed up on
deck. Neither of these would be much fun in the rain! IMHO, the two burner alcohol
stove in the C27 is not for serious
cooking. OTOH, a small combo convection/microwave, and an
electric two-burner hot plate could
work while you have
shore power available.
Does the C27 you are looking at have an inboard
motor, or an
outboard? If it is an
outboard, keep in mind that the
motor may become unuseable off shore due to the boat alternately pitching the prop out of the
water, and burying the powerhead of the outboard if you are in heavy seas.
Having been in both, I second the thoughts of the people who suggested finding a
Catalina 30 instead of a C27 for
living aboard. The older boats go for about the same
price, and the C30 has a lot more space inside.
Good luck with it,
Don W.