Living Aboard a Tiny Sailboat

[gmakhs]

I live aboard on my first 26 and cruising full time the last 3 years , the only problem.i have is with the standing head room, all the rest don't matter, I have enough space for 2 people cruising full time and crossing oceans .
The perfect size would be same boat at 29 feet, but who cares ? Cruising with a small boat makes everything easy and cheap (maintenance never surpass 1000 euro per year )
If you decide to cruise you need to check well the design of the boat and reinforce weak spots.

P.S I have sail up to 1 month with 4 people on board and a cat, was crowded but everybody had his bed and we had fun .(not recommended if not close friends )
Biggest problem of the 26 feet version is that I have no Inside shower something needed in cold climates .

[Eleanorsskipper]

After a disastrous divorce I started upgrading my 1981 Beneteau First 30 Eleanor C to live aboard.
Came back to look after my Mum. Alzheimer’s.
Eleanor C went up in flames in 2016, but was fully insured, so now I have a Moody 346 which I can easily live aboard.
Thing is, I now have a fianceé, and I’m going to stay put!

[Teknishn]

I live on a '81-foot Hunter 27. Plenty of room for a single person. Plenty of storage (unless one has to store pressed pants, shirts and suits). Installed a propane locker so I cook and heat with gas, replaced the marine toilet with a marine porta-potty (less maintenance, sanitized holding tank is now additional storage), have enough storage for a month's worth of food onboard (although I lack refrigeration). 5 sails stowed below as well as a lot of tools, sewing machine, and spare parts. It can be done! (Just don't accumulate too much stuff...like a pet onboard...or a girlfriend )

[Hakan]

26" - small? All depends on your preferences. Everything is relative: Welcome to Yrvind´s website – small boat designer, builder, sailor & writer

[Bill Streever]

People around the world live in all kinds of small accommodations. Somehow in the States and in many other wealthy nations, people have moved to insanely huge spaces, and now way too many people associate size with quality of life. Personally, I think everyone should live in a small space for a while. It helps us understand our own priorities. I say give it a try without a second thought.

[Subtandard]

My wife and I lived for 5 years full time (continuous and away from docks) on a 22-foot Westerly Cirrus. We started in Chicago and sold the boat in St. Croix USVI. We had no refrigeration, no head, and a 6hp outboard. We are still married 44 years later. We no live aboard a 35-foot Westerly full time. We have been in the Med for 9 years and are headed west. It can be done if you do not need a lot of comfort.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Subtandard

My wife and I lived for 5 years full time (continuous and away from docks) on a 22-foot Westerly Cirrus. We started in Chicago and sold the boat in St. Croix USVI. We had no refrigeration, no head, and a 6hp outboard. We are still married 44 years later. We no live aboard a 35-foot Westerly full time. We have been in the Med for 9 years and are headed west. It can be done if you do not need a lot of comfort.

comfort is all relative . I lived on my 24 for several years the only comfort that really mattered was the comfort in knowing my anchor was well set and would hold in the storm.

[TrentePieds]

Someone mentioned a boom tent. Absolutely essential, in my opinion for living in a small boat. I should stretch from a coupla feet forward of the forward companionway coaming to right back over the transom. A pole rigged to the aft end of the boom may be necessary. The tent's principal advantage here on the "wet coast" is that you can slough off you wet clothing under the tent so you don't drag moisture unnecessarily below decks. Staying dry (yourself and the cabin) is by far the greatest challenge when living in a small boat on this coast. If your anchorage/marine is surrounded by palms rather than Douglass Firs your will find that the requirements for shade makes the boom tent as necessary there as it is here.

Having added to your available real estate by means of the boom tent, you'll want all this luverly "new" room to be entirely unencumbered. This dictates that steering should be by tiller. There are many advantages to tiller steering, but in the present context, suffice it to say that there is nothing more inimical to comfortable living in a small boat than wheel steering.

TrentePIeds

[Nengaku]

I lived aboard and cruised on this 20ft Pacific Seacraft Flicka for four years sailing as far north as Nova Scotia and south to Cuba. Most of that time I had my cat on board. Things I found useful: solar shower, going naked as much as possible, forget coolers/icebox, STANDING HEADROOM, water jugs on deck, reduce all possessions to bare minimum, a place for everything and everything in it's place AT ALL TIMES, keep sails on deck in their bags, minimal cooking, tow the dinghy, mix it up by spending time in various places on the boat including the bow pulpit (always clipped in to the harness while underway,) my hammock which I tied to the aft end of the boom then through the cabin and up through the forward hatch (this was a real joy once I figured it out). Frankly I never felt cramped and it was maybe the best time of my life before meeting my wife. We now have a 36ft boat.

[nwdiver]

For 2, 6 month summers as a working (diving) biologist I lived on a 26 foot Thunderbird in the islands of the Gulf of Georgia, working on a study on both sides of the border, no head room so sitting to cook and such, but a very big double berth, fast and wet to sail but I was younger and it was an inexpensive boat........cheap accommodation and easy to moor......in my second summer of the study two others working on the study were on boats.

[gmakhs]

Originally Posted by Subtandard

My wife and I lived for 5 years full time (continuous and away from docks) on a 22-foot Westerly Cirrus. We started in Chicago and sold the boat in St. Croix USVI. We had no refrigeration, no head, and a 6hp outboard. We are still married 44 years later. We no live aboard a 35-foot Westerly full time. We have been in the Med for 9 years and are headed west. It can be done if you do not need a lot of comfort.

Don't come west .... Go through Suez or through Africa to Asia Caribbean sucks

[Nengaku]

Forgot to mention I also enclosed half of the cockpit with combination hard dodger and canvas. That was VERY useful in inclement weather.

[MVNightWatch]

In my 11 year experience living aboard a 27 foot Rotterdam built pilot house sloop , I realized that living aboard is the curse of pleasure sailing! I have to strike the television below, the small air conditioner etc. etc. etc. The amenities of living in climates in which it’s comfortable to sail require air conditioning and heating aboard most boats.Buy two boats is my best suggestion, one for sailing and one for living aboard they require different features under 35 feet.

[bhillmail]

Yes, I did, on a 25' old Hunter, while I was retrofitting it for 6 months in Panama City, FL. I never used the portable head on board, just marina showers and bathrooms. It was pretty cramped, and always was desiring something bigger, especially for more headroom. As stated by others, kept lots of stuff in my station wagon in the marina. I rigged an A/C unit into the hatch that worked well, and left it on the dock when sailing. I did sail it quite a bit, so kept things neat and tied down. Was one of the few in the marina that ever left the docks

[dcstrng]

Originally Posted by goat

I'd consider displacement over length. It's the difference between a 24 foot canoe and a 24 foot PSC Dana. Look for 8,000-10,000 pounds for the first occupant then add 5,000 for each extra person. Consider tankage as well, 40 gallons+ of water, keep everything simple...

Excellent criteria !!