budget long term live aboard cruiser

[tallboy]

Looking for a stable but also fast live aboard cruiser in the 40ft range I found many offers but only a few are fitting into my requirements of two seperate cabins and two heads, beside standing headroom and sufficient bunk length for a 6'4" tall sailor.
75% odf the cruising life takes place at anchor therefore I personally would prefer a deck salon but there are nearly none around which are fulfilling the mentioned requirements.
A huge cockpit and uncluttered deckspace is essential for cruising the tropics. That's why I looked on flushdeck boats.They have the portholes in the hull and you can look outside when sitting down.
Center cockpits are usually smaller than the aft ones except walkovers. And then the question of sloop or ketch rig. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. For single handling a ketch seems to me easier on the other hand is the mizzen boom always in the way and the aft deck is less usable. With the modern furling main sail systems (not in-mast) a huger mainsail can be handled, too.
And nowadays we have a buyer's market. I don't worry about some TLC, which is usually always required but I dislike to spend a year before the boat is ready to go.
Older fiberglass boats are my preference. They're heavy built, they're proven and you can't pay for this quality today.
I like Bruce Roberts, CAL and Columbia designs but what about Coronado and Morgan Nelson Marek?
I would like to discuss my thoughts over here to get additional inputs for my ideas.
Thanks for your time and happy sailing,
Michael

[dcstrng]

Originally Posted by tallboy

Looking for a stable but also fast live aboard cruiser in the 40ft range... Michael

Might be helpful to know what you mean by “budget” and how many are living aboard for how long, cruising or what… etc., etc… In my previous experience, genuine live-aboards (as versus the sabbatical experientialists) are often far less specific/fussy/picky in what they’ll accept because they often don’t have a huge budget and they eventually tend to tailor the vessel after the fact… but that sure doesn’t stop any from debating the relative merits of one arrangement/rig over another.

[tallboy]

Thanks Larry, good old boats are cheap to purchase but sometimes they need a lot of work to bring thm up to pristine condition and maintain them. I'm looking for a real bargain because my funds to purchase are very limited. Being retired I get my pension every month so regular maintenance is not the point.
Answering your question. Permanent live aboard or min 6 to 8 months yearly with to to three people but for a couple of weeks additional guests. That's why I'm looking around 40' with a bottom line of let's say 36' andthe upper limit of 44'.

[dkall]

Better to look at displacement in terms of size / not length. Some 30 footers have more room than some 40 footers.

Fair Winds

[Bash]

My previous boat, a 41-footer, had two heads, and after a few years living aboard we decided that the second head took up too much precious space for a boat that size. Remade the head into a sail locker, et cetera, and discovered that life got far simpler with only one head to maintain.

[speedoo]

Put the Kelly Peterson 44 on your list.

Peterson Cutter Website - Welcome

[tallboy]

Thanks to everybody. Bash, I agree with you when only two or three people are on board and even then - if one is occupied.... but when there are 6 or more?
Speedoo, the Peterson 44 seems to me very interesting, I'll have a closer look on that.

[speedoo]

Originally Posted by tallboy

Thanks to everybody. Bash, I agree with you when only two or three people are on board and even then - if one is occupied.... but when there are 6 or more?
Speedoo, the Peterson 44 seems to me very interesting, I'll have a closer look on that.

Yes, the KP 44 is a great boat that seems to meet all your requirements except possibly bunk length (both the vberth and the aft bunk are very comfortable for me, but I am only 5-9. I'd take a look for you but I am not anywhere near my boat right now.)

The forward head is decent size, but the aft head is relatively small and most owners don't use it for showers. But the aft head is just down the steps from the cockpit, so it's handy. Cockpit size is pretty good, since it's close to amidships where there is a lot of beam.

With this buyer's market, you might find one that does not need a great deal of work, and reasonably priced. The owner's website I gave you has tons of great info.

[dcstrng]

Originally Posted by tallboy

I'm looking for a real bargain... Being retired...

You might add an earlier Irwin center cockpit to your scan, they are not what I’d consider bluewater without some mods and forethought, and in my experience the electrical system (both 12 and 120 volt) should be considered suspect unless someone has completely revamped them, but overall are substantial, easy sailing and sail well enough that motorsailing needn’t become a habit as with some… I lived aboard a mid-70s 42CC (ketch centerboard) off and on for about ten years and she had most of the features you seem to wish for, plus a mini-bathtub…

I wouldn’t go that large again, but seemed like the thing to do at the time and overall I was content except for essentially rewiring the boat… fiberglass was heavy, but only ended up with maybe a half a dozen blisters the whole time I had it and I enjoyed the sailing – for a big boat she moved like a freight train when the rail went down… not a high-end boat, but a reasonably predictable “Chevy…”

See: http://www.irwinyachts.com/entry.html

[tallboy]

dcstrng, thanksfor that. I was looking for a 37ft Irwin CC already but in this moment are not too many on the market and the deckspace for outdoor life is very limited in comparison to an aft cockpit boat.