Can I Live In A Boat That I Won't Be Able To Stand Up In

[CapnKernel]

Not writing this for Owen (who seems to have disappeared, good one mate!), but for anyone else who wants to know about living in a boat you can't stand up in.

I have lived in a 26' for the past year.

It's a Cavalier 26. My first boat, I bought it as an experiment. If I hated it, I'd give it six months. If I liked it, I'd give it a year. Well it's been a year.

I'm 6'. The boat has 5'8" max, so that's a 4" shortfall.

The downside, as @mawtty said, is that it has an effect on your back. I now have pretty much permanent chronic neck pain, not all of it from the boat, but the boat hasn't helped.

The upside is that I now know a lot more than I did about sailing, and boat life, and I'm ready to take the next step (eying up a 35' I can stand up in OMG!) for sailing the east coast of Australia. My 26' was reasonably cheap, although it seems from what y'all are writing, that boat prices are 3x here (SE Australia) what they are in the US. Sigh.

When you live on a small boat, with no land-side base, you learn to be brutally frugal, and you become allergic to any material thing, as you have to find a place to put it.

Would I do the living in a small boat thing again? Yes. In a boat I couldn't stand up in? Probably not.

Mitch.

[Paul J. Nolan]

Standing headroom is much overrated, especially by the inexperienced. Much more important, in my opinion, is comfortable sitting headroom along with ample knee-, shoulder-, and elbowroom. Important too, is just what type of living is being done. A young man can go ocean cruising in just about any size boat. Underway, he will be asleep in his bunk or on deck keeping watch and sailing the boat. In harbor he will be out and about, exploring a new port and looking for women. A person living aboard while working ashore may want a little more boat. And the type of job is important too. A playground attendant or a sailmaker whose daily uniform is jeans and a sweatshirt will be fairly happy aboard. A banker, broker, or businessman who requires professional attire will soon grow tired of a floating home, I think.

I think the suggestions of a Vega or a Vertue were good ones. I am 6'3" and found the Vertue a bit small for my liking. But a much greater problem is that most Vertues are wood and very old (a few are glass and in England). I could not encourage anyone but a wooden boat builder to take on a fifty year old wood boat.

My suggestion would be to give an Alberg 30 a look. Glass, well built, a quality CCA design, suitable for coastal and offshore work, and very inexpensive. See Rebuilding an Alberg 30 on Atom Voyages, both the website and on YouTube.

Paul

[Owen kenobi]

Originally Posted by hamburking

You never mention your height?
Kind of an important factor when considering headroom.
So...how tall are you? 5'1" or 6'2"?

Aside from that, you should consider the C&C25. Very solid boat, lots of room for a 25 foot boat, and usually very inexpensive to buy (same price as most of those 22 footers you mention). I had one for years and was very comfortable. Never really thought about the lack of headroom, except when I hit my head.

If money is really tight, the Grampian 26 is famous for having 6' headroom on a small, inexpensive boat. Around here they sell for hundreds (not thousands) of dollars.

Old boats are very inexpensive right now. Why search for a small boat...why not search for a good boat at a price you can live with. An older C&C27 (mk2 or mk3) would make a great live aboard for you, and they sell very cheap. Good solid, high quality boats that sail well and have plenty of comforts.

In any case, please let us all know what you decide, and how it goes.

5'11"-3/4

[Owen kenobi]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Wonder what happened to the OP? Owen hasn't been here since his second brief post.

So,Owen, if you are still o n board, check in please. It's kinda discouraging for folks to try and help with no responses.
Jim

I do apologize, I did not mean to be discouraging. I have been in North Dakota for the last two months, away from this PC where my password and username were secured. I really do appreciate everyone who gave me advise.

[Owen kenobi]

Originally Posted by boatman61

He's 17.. likely found out his folks won't up his pocket money to match the prices being bandied about..

My folks uping my POCKET MONEY haha that's funny, it really is. Anyway, I doubt I am in the same place that you were in at 17, or for that matter to where you are to this very day!

[Owen kenobi]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

You also don't say where you will keep the boat.


Will it be in a marina or anchored out? If anchored out, I would push for upper 20's/low 30's. Even in a marina, you probably want to go a bit bigger. Many marinas, have a 30' minimum so if you come in with a 20' boat, you pay the 30' price. Also, many marinas discourage liveaboard on smaller boats.


I'm guessing you are thinking of buying a boat for next to nothing and fixing it up. Nothing wrong with that but don't expect to make or save money on the deal and expect it to be 2-4 times as much work and cost as you expect. That said, a larger boat is advantageous. If you have a sub-25' boat even in perfect condition, it's not going to be worth much. There just isn't a market that will pay big bucks for them. Above 30', it will at least have some resale value if everything is in good working condition. Also, if you start sanding and varnishing in a 22' boat, where do you live during the project? With a larger boat, it's not fun but you can get away with picking an area to work on, close it off with plastic sheeting and live in the other areas.


If your skill set is half as good as you state, my suggestion would be to work hard, live on a budget and buy a functional boat in 2-4yrs. For every blog you come across where someone brought a boat back from the dead with nothing but sweat and hard work, there are a dozen rotting hulks eating up storage fees in a marina yard.

Hopefully I will be on ancor a majority of the time, because that means I am on my way somewhere. But if I am not on my way, I still plan anchoring as well unless there is some reason to be at a marina.

[Rustic Charm]

Dude, now your awake, set your sights on something a bit bigger. Yes you can live on something without head room, but 'why would you'?

If your planning on living on something, get something with head room. Your not a tall chap, in fact you and I are the exact same height. It's nice being able to stand up.