Liveaboard - advice please

[Glacier Crews]

"No experience" in a boat "anywhere near this size" will result in a more difficult experience obtaining insurance, and a year or so of increased insurance costs (depending on how many hours you are at sea during that year.)

Find a good agent/broker to shop for you. Also, insurance will want to be paid annually and will only cover specified waters, specified time period. Insurance costs are based upon vessel condition, experience, waters traveled, etc. No one wants to "give you a quote" --- without getting all the details. Other owners, with similar boats, are your best source. Most will tell you what they pay, so maybe you can ballpark it from there.

Have fun!

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Glacier Crews

"No experience" in a boat "anywhere near this size" will result in a more difficult experience obtaining insurance, and a year or so of increased insurance costs (depending on how many hours you are at sea during that year.)

Good point. My brother in law bought a 38' sailboat with no prior boating experience. To get any coverage at all the insurance company required him to have a licensed captain on board any time he left the dock for the first 6-12 months

Find a good agent/broker to shop for you. Also, insurance will want to be paid annually and will only cover specified waters, specified time period. Insurance costs are based upon vessel condition, experience, waters traveled, etc. No one wants to "give you a quote" --- without getting all the details. Other owners, with similar boats, are your best source. Most will tell you what they pay, so maybe you can ballpark it from there.

Have fun!

A couple of replies have addressed such a large boat for the first boat. In my experience how that goes very much depends on the skipper. I have known boaters that after 20 years still had trouble maneuvering a 30' boat and met others that started out with a 45' boat and never had a problem.

[Tbonem17]

Originally Posted by Puma 01

Hullo all, I'm a newbie on this forum and a liveaboard wannabe looking for some serious advice.

I am planning to retire in about 2 years, the ideal is to buy a liveaboard and cruise the QLD coast and/or Indonesia/Thailand. Its just my wife and I and our golden Lab, we are looking to buy something in the line of a 49' Defever for around the 300K mark.

I have spent most of my life around the sea but unfortunately no time in boats anywhere near this size. Can any similar minded folk give us their thoughts and experiences with regard to monthly running costs (maintenance,insurance and whatever other expenses I havent thought about), courses in QLD to attain the appropriate boat handling proficiency and any other advise or info that could help us live the dream.






Cheers
Puma 01

I think you've fallen in love with the Defever currently for sale on the Gold Coast.

Can't argue with that. Presents very nicely in the pics although the listing is a lot short on details.

Great draft for where you plan to sail too.

As far as boat handling goes just google it as there are a few to pick from.

Regarding costs - it depends on too many variables to even give you a ball park number.
ie. berthed in marinas or at anchor?

The heart of this vessel is its engines. How many hours do they have on them - how quickly they eat diesel - do they have a maintenance log etc.

Most yachties would kill for an engine room like the defever has but would like wise have a heart attack every time they took on 4000 lts of fuel.

Just from the pics it looks like a power hungry boat but you could look at other means of running it that don't require the engines or a generator - or plugged in at a marina.

So fuel will be your major on going cost by far but with some thought using alternatives you could limit that cost.

There are plenty of books about that will give a good idea of on going maintenance issues but you won't find them in Queensland book shops. Go online.

Knew a lab once called Sailor (live aboard) that ran the boat. Excellent choice for a dog. Sailor went everywhere in the dinghy standing up on the bow but had to be picked up to get in and out. Lord Muck!

Happy boat hunting.

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by Dave22q

For what is worth, I suggest you start with something a lot smaller (<33') in the $20-30k range. Limit yourself to daysailing while you take your lessons and build your confidence. After a year or two you should have a much better fix on what you want/need and if living aboard is for you and your wife. As others have noted, a dog in Asia will be an ongoing but surmountable problem. Fair winds and good fortune to you.

There is no issue with starting with a liveaboard boat. Assuming you can both live in a small space for extended periods and can become competent in boat handling.

Living in a boat is fundamentall different than living on land. Questions you need to ask yourself include:

1) Are you prepared to be more active, carry stuff, climb around and work in small spaces?
2) Do you like being outside?
3) Do you have the cash or skills to maintain a vessel? It aint cheaper than living on land unless you like camping and living like an itinerant.
4) Is your partner bought in? It aint a vacation
5) Do you have a keen interest in the weather, marine topics and ship systems?
6) Do you have ties to family or land stuff?

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[leftbrainstuff]

Oh btw I would leave the dog on land. Dealing with immigration and customs in Australia re animals is a total nightmare and a very expensive committment.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Scout 30]

OK, I can't help myself. I'll just recommend a couple of interesting trawlers. First is the Great Harbour Navigator 37. Second is our favorite, the Krogen 39, a really great cruiser for a couple. The Diesel Ducks are worth taking a look at also.

[knockabout]

take care from the great sandy strait up/ K9 is definitely on the menu for salt water crocodiles/ there is a couple cruising up the coast with a female great dane on a 32' mono hull / the link below has a photo on the bottom of the page showing the great dane laying on our boat in mackay marina /
https://sites.google.com/site/venturacruising/ she is not our animal / her owner was visiting the first mate / in our situation we would have to move to the tender and let the K9 take over

[GB32]

Hi Puma 01

Sound like I'm a couple of years ahead of you but my wife and I have the same intentions. I'm now into the 2nd year of ownership of my first boat, a 43ft Trawler bought and based in Thailand.
DeFever, Nordhavn, Selene, Krogen, were all on our shopping list - because of the liveability and the seaworthiness. (I'm realistic enough to know that living is not sustainable for us on less than 40ft full displacement - too much compromise from a lifetime of land living).

Instead of purchasing in Europe, where I live, I found my dream boat, a Selene 43 in Thailand which is a great place to 'learn the ropes' as the weather is benign, the sailing areas excellent with great support and it's not prohibitively expensive.

If your intention is to travel Indonesia / Thailand you might consider to purchase in Asia as, from my experience of AUS, the costs are going to be considerably less yet there is no compromise on quality. It was initially daunting to purchase in another continent but my experience has been all positive mostly because of a great Agent.

Running costs for us have been much less than what they would have been in Europe. Insurance is limited to 200miles, (pending negotiation), but is less than £2,000/yr. Fuel at duty free prices. Marina and 'full service' maintenance when we're away from the boat, is sensible.

It has taken me over a year to work through the boat and get familiar with the mechanical systems whilst taking shorter trips, (2 week trips so far). As the dry season starts I'll do the second round of annual servicing and this next 12 months we'll have more confidence to travel further and for longer. We need to make some more improvements (refrigeration etc), before we are able to comfortably call ourselves long distance travellers. We also have elderly family to consider before going full-time live aboard.

Please don't underestimate the long learning curve and the expensive mistakes that can be made in the first year but my experience is that I have local people I can rely on for back-up so I'm not on my own or paying exorbitant rates for assistance / repairs / improvements.

It is true that it can be challenging to locate parts in Asia but with internet searches and shipping I've been able to source parts at good prices and build a good spares list.

For us, regular travel from UK to Thailand is more than offset by the weather, culture, location, and the great bang for our buck that we get. Considering your plans to travel Asia you should consider buying there also.

As far as taking your Lab island hopping then I can only suggest you investigate bringing an animal into Indonesia, S'pore , Malaysia and Thailand. The rules for flying an animal into country will be the same as arriving by boat.
Having arrived in AUS by ship and seen the hoops that we needed to jump through, (no untreated wood, no meat, hull 100% cleaned, no foreign ballast water), I would not attempt to take an animal back into AUS by boat. Your first landing point would, (I assume), need to have quarantine facilities and you won't get that in many of the smaller landing places you can clear into on the N Coast but which you may wish to call at. (Exmouth/Dampier?). You might have to fly the Lab internationally - into an AUS city. A call to immigration, customs, quarantine in the landing town/city should give you an indication of what you would have to do.
Many people are going down this route getting afloat in retirement on a Trawler then making the decision to go liveaboard. It makes a lot of sense and with a quality boat, a smattering of good sense and a sense of adventure it's all very possible.
If you'd like to PM me we can chat further and I'll give you more costings.

[reed1v]

I presume its a steel hull defever trawler. If so, be sure to examine the hull plates and stringers, especially at the bow. Often after twenty years, rust sets in at the bottom on the insides. Need to cut out and repair. Not a big job for a steel hull, but an essential one.

[peter57]

Originally Posted by catman

For that price you could get a pretty decent catamaran. A catamaran around 40'+ would give all the room you need, its stable and comparatively easier to sail, also they usually have nice scoops or swim steps aft. you wont regret it.
I stated out with a 46' deep draft Discovery. Almost lost my wife off of the transom hauling in the dinghy also narrow foredeck for handling sails.
Catman

I agree! If you do not like sailing and enjoy parking, get a catamaran.