Best Liveaboard

[mentore]

Hello all, I am new here

First post...

I wonder if you can give me some directions: I am looking for the best live aboard sailboat.

If price was not an issue (although it is ) what would you pick?


Thanks

[James S]

Welcome to the forum mentor.
That’s way to general of a question for me to even start to help with.
How many will live aboard?
Where geographically?
Where anchored out or tied to a dock.
Are you gust talking about living an a boat are or you going to be moving it i.e sailing
if so to where?
Since price is always an issue...what’s your capex budget.
What’s your maint/opcost budget!
Are you technically inclined...handy...able to do repairs.
Lots lots more......

[cdennyb]

generally;;

the best one is usually paid for, has room for all those things you just had to take and isn't too long to fit in the slip if used. It also doesn't sink if filled to the brim with seawater and it smells like fresh wood, not mold and mildew. It's easy to navigate, easy to anchor and it's cheap to insure. It doesn't breakdown and it's always ready for the unexpected weather that always pops up. It also doesn't need to be hauled every year for a new coat of bottom paint and the varnish never peels. The sails won't rot and the thread won't wear and the autopilot and nav gear never fail.

OH wait... the perfect liveaboard? I don't believe I've ever seen one of those, got a picture?
LOL

welcome to the board. Hope you give us some more info on your desires and expectations so us 'armchair quarterbacks' can give you all the great advice.

[scook1]

Just to give you a name to start looking, check out a Morgan Out Island. They are roomy, but not very fast. They can be comfortable at the dock, which is where most liveaboards spend the majority of their time. If money were not an option, I would probably take an Oyster. It is easy to get wrapped up in boat talk and lose track of sailing. The best boat is always the one you have.
Spencer

[Pacific Jewel]

Whoa, like James S says, way too general a question. However....Having worked and sailed alot on a number of nice boats (Oysters (several sizes), Jongert, and 62' catamaran, I gotta admit, even though I'm a monohull kinda gal, the catamaran wins hands down. Best bluewater sailing boat? I enjoyed the Oysters best of all.

But like someone here intimated, you gotta love the one your with.

[mentore]

Hi Interesting comment about the catamaran...

I guess you prefer them because of the living spare, correct?

Any drawbacks?

[sneuman]

As a liveaboard, I can give you some parameters, most of them militate for the cruiser end of the spectrum.

-- Lots of storage
-- Lots of tankage (many marinas don't allow or discourage direct water connections).
-- Heavy displacement, fuller keel (prevents "home" being laid over at the dock in high winds.
-- Comfortable cockpit (you'll spend a lot of time there)
-- Well though-out galley. It's your kitchen!
-- In-head shower.

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by mentore

Hi Interesting comment about the catamaran...

I guess you prefer them because of the living spare, correct?

Any drawbacks?

Marinas don't like them much because they are space hogs. They also have more motion at the pier than you'd imagine. But, yes, lots of space!

[Hudson Force]

The best liveaboard boat for me is one that allows me to live on far less than my income. We moved aboard on the same day of the Watergate break in which was before my 1973 Morgan was built....



...., but it's a good boat that has taken me from Maine to the Bahamas repeatedly and been my home for the last 25 years. 'take care and joy, Aythya crew

[barnakiel]

Now this is one of those posts where someone is pulling our legs;-) Or is it genuine ???

Best liveaboard = biggest floor area + all the toys = a big catamaran.

One of the huge Privilleges (65+) will probably do - once inside you can't tell anymore you are on a sailing boat.

Money no object, get two and present me with the one you are less happy with.

barnie

[barnakiel]

Mentore - give more acurate question or you will face answers so apart that they will be of no use to your project.

Unless you project is to start the longest thread on the forum ;-))))

[Pacific Jewel]

Hi Mentore,
Yes, I mention the catamaran as the best live aboard soley due to the space volume. Nothing quite like a queen sized bed for you, as well as the other cabins for guests! As for sailing though, I much, much prefer a monohull. Thus, if I was going to solely live onboard, catamaran. Live aboard and sail, then it has to be a monohull.

We lived on our slender 44' Islander for 3 years (2 cruising and 1 primarily landbased), and it was okay. But again, for space, it's the cats.

[captainstubbie]

i agree with scook1 - a morgan out island is a peach. lots of room, not very fast, bulletproof, and comfy. never been on a 36 but had a 46 and sailed a friends 41 a lot.

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by Pacific Jewel

Hi Mentore,
Yes, I mention the catamaran as the best live aboard soley due to the space volume. Nothing quite like a queen sized bed for you, as well as the other cabins for guests! As for sailing though, I much, much prefer a monohull. Thus, if I was going to solely live onboard, catamaran. Live aboard and sail, then it has to be a monohull.

We lived on our slender 44' Islander for 3 years (2 cruising and 1 primarily landbased), and it was okay. But again, for space, it's the cats.

One important consideration is that the boat needs to handle a liveaboard's load and still sail well (assuming you ever want to leave the dock). Catamarans are famously easy to overload - at least to the point of being performance sapping.

[Seahunter]

We looked at over 100 boats before we bought our cruiser/live-aboard. This was after we looked online for over 6 months and narrowed it down. We're not bragging () but between us we've sailed for over 60 years, blue water and green and we wanted a SOLID boat with lots of room in a small package. Let me tell you there's a lot of great boats out there that will fit the bill. Our decision boiled down to the fact there were people like us who knew the "truth". That's what we looked for, and that's what we found.
We're not prejudiced, but we've preferr sail over power. In fact we had a 65' Chris Constellation in the past, but our hearts remain with the wind. So, after much a due we settled on a Bob Johnson design. Certainly famous for Island Packets, but starting with Endeavours; we chose an Endeavour E43K.