What's the smallest boat you could live on?

What's the smallest boat you could live on?

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Discussion

Jaguar steve

9,232 posts

209 months

Sunday 5th July 2020
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pequod said:
Jaguar steve said:
Ah... Nobody said nice boat - they just said boat. smile
Exactly! The question was 'What's the smallest boat ...' and I think you answered that perfectly. biggrin

The brief now has changed (don't you hate that?) and we are now considering Superyachts, so where this ends is anyone's guess!! laugh

I'd still take my HC 48T over that Lagoon 620 anytime, particularly in a blow mid ocean!! eek
Tool for the job.

A summer pottering around the Med and I'll have something along the lines of a Bavaria 40 Farr Design please with enough ampage available to keep the ice maker going. On an Atlantic crossing I'd be needing something a tad more stable and robust but neither of those would be particularity useful when exploring tiny creeks and tidal rivers and sandbanks in the Thames estuary.

You'd need a small and hopelessly slow bilge keel boat with candles and paraffin lamps to keep you warm at night for that. smile

alfaman

6,416 posts

233 months

Sunday 5th July 2020
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Ive done plenty of multi day races and sails on monohulls in Asia and the UK. and stayed on a 72 foot Princess yacht in the Whitsundays (very liveable ...and cost about $6-7m new).

My personal view ..for living aboard long term somewhere where it is warm I would be thinking of a Cat that is large enough to have built in A/C.

but not sooo large it is hard to maneuver.

I have sailed on a lagoon 620 here in Singapore ..and would say that would be great for living on..but really need a paid crew to sail it..it's like a floating condo.

Something like a 43-48 foot cat that points up a bit more than a Lagoon could be a compromise between sailability and liveability.

And can buy for approx $250k to maybe 400k approx (?) depending on size age and condition .
Something less than 6-7 years old and we'll looked after.

pequod

8,956 posts

137 months

Sunday 5th July 2020
quotequote all
Jaguar steve said:
pequod said:
Jaguar steve said:
Ah... Nobody said nice boat - they just said boat. smile
Exactly! The question was 'What's the smallest boat ...' and I think you answered that perfectly. biggrin

The brief now has changed (don't you hate that?) and we are now considering Superyachts, so where this ends is anyone's guess!! laugh

I'd still take my HC 48T over that Lagoon 620 anytime, particularly in a blow mid ocean!! eek
Tool for the job.

A summer pottering around the Med and I'll have something along the lines of a Bavaria 40 Farr Design please with enough ampage available to keep the ice maker going. On an Atlantic crossing I'd be needing something a tad more stable and robust but neither of those would be particularity useful when exploring tiny creeks and tidal rivers and sandbanks in the Thames estuary.

You'd need a small and hopelessly slow bilge keel boat with candles and paraffin lamps to keep you warm at night for that.smile
Not necessarily, might be possible to do the creek crawling in some style? smile

https://www.yachtworld.co.uk/boats/2019/southerly-...

Edited by pequod on Sunday 5th July 10:51

andyb28

761 posts

117 months

Sunday 5th July 2020
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pequod said:
Lagoon 620 eh? Over £1 mill to spend on a used catamaran which are, no doubt, very spacious but this will do me at a tenth of the price and would be very comfortable to sail the worlds' oceans or live aboard in any part of the world.

Horses for courses, as they say.

https://www.yachtworld.co.uk/boats/1988/hans-chris...
Quite by chance, I found this youtube channel today. https://www.youtube.com/c/SailingFairIsle
Same boat as mentioned.

Their videos are really good quality, you can see they used to work in production. I have been hooked on it all afternoon.

Thankyou4calling

10,595 posts

172 months

Sunday 5th July 2020
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Not a boat but during lockdown a guy has pitched up on my road in a Hymer motorhome.

In talking to him he said the site he is usually on told all users to leave so at present he is just parking on residential streets and using his generator for electric and buying big bottles of water.

He said he lives in it year round and just likes the lifestyle. Paid £28,000 for it and said if you look after them they don’t depreciate much.

Being nosy I looked inside and to be fair it was spacious and plenty big enough to live in.

Probably 26ft long.

classicfred

376 posts

76 months

Monday 6th July 2020
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um4gHsMxXKo

This bloke gives some insight into costs etc and other associated boat life things.
CruisingTheCut
140K subscribers
A year after I moved aboard, I did a video (vlog 68) about what the annual costs were of life afloat. Now, after four years on board, I present an updated version of the same using averaged figures over the full four years.

This is not a "pretty picture" vlog, it's just me talking for 20+ minutes, so best to have a nice cup of tea handy.

Yes, I did forget to mention the BSS (Boat Safety Certificate) every four years; it's about £120 so averages out to £30 unless you need remedial work doing in which case the cost depends on what needs to be done.

A separate budget should always be set aside for unexpected and long-term maintenance issues such a engine repairs, boat repainting etc. These are not covered in this video, which is more about the everyday stuff.

808 Estate

2,079 posts

90 months

Monday 6th July 2020
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bitchstewie

Original Poster:

50,781 posts

209 months

Monday 6th July 2020
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808 Estate said:
That's the kind of thing I was getting at.

Presume as there appears to be a washer and dryer on it that you certainly could live on it.

Brother D

3,698 posts

175 months

Monday 6th July 2020
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Teddy Lop said:
Is there such thing as a hybrid boat, ie single hull when moving that when parked can expand, like those coach motorhomes that wirr out in all directions?
I can't find it, but I have seen a trimaran where the outer hulls are winched in and out, but it was a smaller sized boat. This is probably what you mean, but I could see it being a bit of a mainenance nightmare



Also for catameran costs these guys are one of the many channels I support on patreon and they do a decent breakdown of actual cost


Simpo Two

85,149 posts

264 months

Monday 6th July 2020
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Brother D said:
I think that mechanism would probably take up more space than it gains - all you seem to get is wider decks, and I suspect lose half of the interior for it! Good for a Bond film but that's about it.

Steve_W

1,486 posts

176 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
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Fascinating subject to an abject landlubber like me.

One of the guys at work knows a US-based couple who are commissioning a brand new catamaran from a French builder (Fountaine Pajot), selling their house, and intending to live aboard and sail off into the sunset.

They have a blog ( https://www.sailingawen.com ) where they try to explain the whole complex process from deciding to do it, through finding a broker, to getting on board when the cat's built.

Having read a few of the blog posts it sounds like a major ballache!

A couple of posts that you might enjoy:

Brokers: https://www.sailingawen.com/post/how-we-chose-our-...

Options: https://www.sailingawen.com/post/deciding-on-optio...

No idea if their experiences are typical, but an interesting read for me.




XJSJohn

15,959 posts

218 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
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Spent a lot of time on boats, lived on one for a year, and done extended live-aboard trips too.

there are a lot of variables to consider ranging from is it just going to be parked up like a houseboat or do you actually want to be able to get to sea and travel, (day trips, weekends away, off around teh world)

where are you going to do this? Its much easier living aboard in warmer climates than colder. generating a breeze is easier than generating warmth, also in warm climates you double your living space by being able to use deck area a lot more.

Do you plan to livaboard in a marina or on a swinging mooring / anchor (power / water needs V monthly costs)

You obviously get a lot more liveable space on a motorboat than a sailboat, (unless a catamaran), but especially if on a swinging mooring they can be less comfortable motion wise, and you are limited to day / weekend trips (Plus fuel bills)

I recon that a single person con live comfortably close to civilisation and amenities on anything from 28ft upwards.

Having said that, my theory is that 40ft is the sweet spot for a sailboat at least, its big enough to provide plenty of creature comforts, storage and so on, its small enough to single hand realistically, yet can accommodate guests (short or long term) and is of a size that can get into most creeks, anchorages, quaysides and marinas easily and without breaking the bank.

at that size it should also have a reasonable cruising speed, and be capable of offshore passages (caveat, this is a broad generalisation, some 40 footers arent even capable of crossing the Serpantine)


pequod

8,956 posts

137 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
quotequote all
XJSJohn said:
Spent a lot of time on boats, lived on one for a year, and done extended live-aboard trips too.

there are a lot of variables to consider ranging from is it just going to be parked up like a houseboat or do you actually want to be able to get to sea and travel, (day trips, weekends away, off around teh world)

where are you going to do this? Its much easier living aboard in warmer climates than colder. generating a breeze is easier than generating warmth, also in warm climates you double your living space by being able to use deck area a lot more.

Do you plan to livaboard in a marina or on a swinging mooring / anchor (power / water needs V monthly costs)

You obviously get a lot more liveable space on a motorboat than a sailboat, (unless a catamaran), but especially if on a swinging mooring they can be less comfortable motion wise, and you are limited to day / weekend trips (Plus fuel bills)

I recon that a single person con live comfortably close to civilisation and amenities on anything from 28ft upwards.

Having said that, my theory is that 40ft is the sweet spot for a sailboat at least, its big enough to provide plenty of creature comforts, storage and so on, its small enough to single hand realistically, yet can accommodate guests (short or long term) and is of a size that can get into most creeks, anchorages, quaysides and marinas easily and without breaking the bank.

at that size it should also have a reasonable cruising speed, and be capable of offshore passages (caveat, this is a broad generalisation, some 40 footers arent even capable of crossing the Serpantine)
Agree with most of that except living aboard in Northern climes. There are many folk living on the cut year round, comfortably warm in the Winter, and many liveaboards on marinas plugged in to shore power and can walk ashore to all amenities.

As for length of sailboat, I wholeheartedly agree that 40' LOD is ideal and my preferred HC48T is one such example.

FWIW, I lived on my Moody 36 for a couple of years, and was perfectly comfortable year round but I realise that not everyone can organise themselves to live in a small, albeit quite luxurious, space but it suited me.

Having sailed many variations, including holiday style sailboats, motorboats, and converted workboats, there is almost an infinite choice which can seem baffling to the inexperienced but all have a certain charm, to me, including a 28 footer with paraffin and candles as the source of heat and light!!

Edited by pequod on Tuesday 7th July 16:44

Simpo Two

85,149 posts

264 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
quotequote all
pequod said:
There are many folk living on the cut year round, comfortably warm in the Winter, and many liveaboards on marinas plugged in to shore power and can walk ashore to all amenities.
If you can't afford a house that makes sense, but for me a boat is a getaway. If you never go anywhere in it you may as well have a shed in the garden, it's much cheaper.

gregs656

10,818 posts

180 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
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Friend of mine lives on a Cobra 28. Doesn't feel super cramped.

Deranged Rover

3,316 posts

73 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
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bhstewie said:
What's the smallest boat you could live on?
Probably the Queen Mary 2.

Terra1

266 posts

110 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
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This is what I decided on last year in my imaginary 'what boat/cat shall I buy' :

https://www.aventura-catamarans.com/en-au/aventura...

Looked like a good trade off between size and space. I was watching too much sailing zatara at the time.

808 Estate

2,079 posts

90 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
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I reckon you could do it in 33 feet.

https://www.yachtworld.co.uk/boats/1981/nauticat-3...




Edited by 808 Estate on Thursday 9th July 21:53


Edited by 808 Estate on Thursday 9th July 21:54

Speculatore

2,002 posts

234 months

Friday 10th July 2020
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I lived on this for 6 years..... No real issues apart from 1982...


easyhome

179 posts

122 months

Friday 10th July 2020
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Terra1 said:
This is what I decided on last year in my imaginary 'what boat/cat shall I buy' :

https://www.aventura-catamarans.com/en-au/aventura...

Looked like a good trade off between size and space. I was watching too much sailing zatara at the time.
I’ve been watching a lot of boat videos on YT during lockdown, Zatara (the 2nd) seems perfect as a liveaboard, the interior looks much more “homely” than most being built now.

There’s a channel called Aquaholic that’s walkthroughs of various yachts, really shows everything. Only trouble is the lottery win I’d need to be able to buy and run the sort of bot I’d like has gone from about 2 million to 20!