Live aboard cruising family sailboat thoughts ~

[capn_mark]

Wow, a few people mentioned Cat and everybody got scared away? Hey it's ok, I own a mono too!!


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[riderjuan]

I'm not afraid of a cat...
There are SO MANY advantages to them. it's just that they feel more like a little condo than sailboat. I have spent very little time on a cat, maybe i need to; maybe I could be won over.
After all, there are a lot of people that love condo living.

[onestepcsy37]

I suggest you charter a boat in the size range you are looking for. Bring the whole mob with you. A one week charter will at least give you an idea of how much available living space there is on "your" boat. And if you charter in the Caribbean it will give you a small idea of what it's like there.

You need to start somewhere. Chartering might be a good place to start.

[capn_mark]

Hey buddy,
I understand exactly. It depends if you favor the journey, or the destination. And when I say destination I don't mean in the macro Zen kind of way, I just mean where we drop the freakin' anchor each night. I like both, but I like the part of getting to a new or favorite spot, and hanging out just a bit better. I don't mind the word condo - that's actually how I explain our cat chartering to our non boating friends: "it's like taking your condo with you each day and using it as base camp"

Out in the West coast I love sailing our mono, it just feels good. When the whole family is on board in the summer and we're out for a few weeks tho, we have so much crap on board that it's all flying around if we're heeling too much. So the Admiral tends not to want to sail as much.

But don't think that cats are motionless. They don't heel but the motion can be 'sharper'. A short beam sea is going to be uncomfortable in any boat. I hope you get a chance to do a couple of charters. I like my idea (ok I'm a little biased...) about trying to do shorter back to back charters on a couple of different boats. Not sure if a charter co will go for it but worst case you'll have to spring for extra cleaning fees I guess. If it's an option you could try a mono and a cat and see what you prefer.
Best thing I did was bring the Admiral to a couple of boat shoes.
Cheers!


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[sy_gilana]

Your search will be incomplete without looking at an Amel Super Maramu.

[capn_mark]

* SHOWS, not shoes...




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[Eleuthera 2014]

Hello Rider Juan,
I agree with the Amel SM. After our refit is complete, the 2 of us are off on a circumnavigation; that was the objective of Capitaine Henri Amel when he designed these vessels.

Huge amount of storage, genset, water maker, washing machine, 2 heads and the best part 4 zone water tight compartments.

One aspect I do not understand: you mention 2 children 5 & 2, yet you talk about 5 people aboard. Are you a Muslim with 2 wives?

[riderjuan]

I say 5 because we expect to continually have a 3rd adult onboard.
An extra wife – NO !!
An adult that wants a true bunk/cabin – yes.
So that gets me to 5 with a need for 3 cabins. I really appreciate everyone’s input.
If anyone has any suggestions, I’d sure like the direction.

[capn_mark]

What do you think of the chartering suggestion? I think you would really benefit from spending at least a few days on a handful of boats and see what works for you. Assuming of course that all your boat options are seaworthy enough, remember you will spend at least 90% (prob 98%, somebody will remember the number) of your time docked or anchored. So comfort is important, unless you enjoy boat camping.... Up/down steps, in/out of cockpit, in and out of the dingy, etc etc, you need to see what these actions are like to live with and find your preferences. Enjoy the hunt!
M


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[Weyalan]

If you are seriously considering spending up to a cool half a million on a sailing boat with, apparently, little experience, you'd be mad not to consider going and chartering in the Caribbean for a while. Pick any of the following... Beneteau, Jeanneau, Hanse, Catalina, Bavaria, Elan in the 40-50' range, with 3 cabins (incuding a stateroom for you and wife) and go sail around to Caribbean for a few weeks. Maybe try a charter catamaran too. Get a feel for it. Find out if you really like it...

[riderjuan]

yes, we will charter both in Caribbean and the Sea of Cortez - with all of the hullabaloo about a cats, I'm sure we'll give that a swing too. I did appreciate the idea of an extended charter adventure switching boats ever 4 days or so... I use to test outdoor gear and the bet reviews are back to back, same conditions, with no time to forget or embellish the events.
As for experience - I've lived my life by jumping in not checking the temp first. It's served me well to this point. While i don't want to endanger my family - the unknown is what makes it an adventure.

[Nikki S]

Did you get a boat yet?

[riderjuan]

I have not...
Life jumped up and got in my way - some was financial (a little bit of a set back, but fixable), some was need.
My family of 3 turned into a family of 5!
That changes things. The dream is still alive, it may just need a little tweaking.

[YachtBroker]

Amount of People and size of cabins would be the biggest issue in even 50'. Yes a cat even in 40' can offer 4 cabins. None are that big though. A beneteau 523 in the mid 2000's had a 3 cabin layout (master forward with twin staterooms aft) with optional crews quarters in the bow that was deck only access. Great at anchor but would be doable for that 3rd extra adult. Or probably for the kids when at anchor and let the adult have one of the extra cabins aft.

This was a pretty standard charter layout but there were a lot of Ben 50-523s sold privately with this layout.

In a monohull there are some larger older boats, Hylas and specifically Nautor Swan that might work. I sailed a lot on a Swan 61 center which was more of the cruising boat stretched version of the 57/59 aft cockpit race boat they built. It had a great owners stateroom aft. Two upper lower split cabins forward with walk thrus each to a head they shared AND a sail locker/workshop/4th cabin set up forward. Again that was 61'. Unfortunatley I think they only built about 11 of them.

There are some older larger boats like this, even Gulfstar built up to 80' at one time. Just not a lot being built today that are not part of Groupe Beneteau, Hanse or the like. Nothing wrong with them either just the price as you get newer and newer.

[SV THIRD DAY]

There is also the question of duration for your cruise to think about.
You can easily live/cruise on a smaller boat for a year...but if that turns into 5yrs, well then you could need more space. We cruised quite comfortably on a 36ft boat but then we wanted to live aboard longer term we then up sized to a 50ft-er so everyone could have their own room.

The other thing to remember is the Danger of Advice.

People in general give advice on what works for THEM because that's our basis of knowledge...but are we like you? Do we dry camp, Do we stay at Motel 6, or do we stay at the Hyatt Regency? Are we happy driving a 20yr old Honda CR-V or is our definition of a safe car a new leased Mercedes SUV? These "what it takes to be happy" type of questions will dictate the advice and answers we give. People told me we were absolutely crazy to head out cruising on a 36ft boat with two kids, we needed to wait and save up for a larger boat to "do it right". Well some of those same "do it right" folks are still saving and planning while we went cruising and are still living aboard 9yrs later. So with all due respect to the advice people give (Including Me) you need to figure this out for yourself because only you and your family know if you can survive on a 50ft Mono or need a Cat.

One more thing....
Don't make the mistake almost everyone makes in assuming your boat has to be perfectly set up before you leave...that is BS. How do you know how to outfit a Cruising boat for what works for YOU without the experience of cruising? You can't. So get a boat...and GO for that first year in the Carib. Figure out what gear and systems you then need and do those with first hand knowledge rather than what other people with different ideas tell you...there...that is my advice de jour. It's the Caribbean...not the South Pacific...and half the boats down there the experts will tell you can't be or shouldn't be!

Ok..on more, one more...ignore the people that say it can't be done without this...that...or more money. It maybe can't be done for THEM...but not for YOU.