Living on a yacht?

I'm definitely looking to travel on the boat. I see us going up and down the eastern seaboard, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. So it looks like the Carver is out. What would you recommend as an alternative in the $250K and $300K price range?

BTW...Thank you very much for sharing your extensive knowledge with me. I am so looking forward to this next move! I just want to make sure I'm being smart about it.

Look into the 50' Viking (Princess) Sport Cruiser. That would be my first choice. 2002-2004 should be in your price range. I ran one from Maine to Ft. Lauderdale for several years. Very good boat. The Fairline in that size is also quite nice. They're not as spacious as the Carver, but ample. If you really need the space I'd look to an older Hatteras, but they can be fairly complex boats. My employer recently bought a 1981 56'. Slower boat, but solid, and very spacious.

Thank you again for all your advice NYCAP. I will continue my research and start those CG Aux classes. If anyone in the Ft. Lauderdale area would be open to showing me around the pluses and minuses of MY ownership, I'd love to hear from you.

Those two underlined items in your posting caught my attention, So I would recommend start small,.... coastal cruiser. Here is a rather funny accounting of another couple's story of buying a trawler, moving aboard, and learning the ropes.
Seven Miles an Hour: Retiring on a Trawler, With Cats
Seven Miles an Hour: Retiring on a Trawler, With Cats: Don Wallace: 9780972750165: Amazon.com: Books

I mentioned it here on Yachtforums:
http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/177674-post77.html



I also saw this quote on a Pilgrim owners site:

Little Darlin' - Pilgrim 40

I used to sell boats, and the woman's point of view was always a 'head's up' !!
Brian

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/general-trawler-discussion/19252-trawler-houseboat.html

BTW, there is a Pilgrim 40 for sale right there in the Miami area,....you might take a look aboard?

I am new on the forum and i have read a lot of your respons to the live aboards.
But way does every body go for a boat arround 50 feet? Is this only for the money?
I want to buy a steel Moonen 68/72 feet to live on.
Just me and my wife with a little dog, we had a 60 feet and that become a little narrow at last.
The Moonen is a very good steel boat with little engines (300 Hp) and i think the best quality what you can buy. Keeping the boat floating is my part and in the mean time the only worry is if the anker is holding.

Are there any people living on a boat of that size? We want to explore Greece, Spain, France, Croatia e.d.

If you can afford, go for it.

Somehow I seem to remember something about some EU restrictions on the length of the boat before REQUIRING to have a captain. Find some postings by HTM09, he can tell you.

Besides whatever EU regulations might be encountered, once you cross 50' it's just a lot of work handling and maintaining a boat without crew. Also, at least in the U.S., it severely limits you on where you can dock. In a typical 100 slip marina you might find 3 or 4 slips for a 50'-55' boat and possibly 1 for 60'+ if at all. Most of those larger slips are seasonal. Transient dockage gets to be a pain to find. 50' is a convenient size.

Years ago I was on a 60' family boat out of the water having a major refit done in Lantana, FL. While there we watched a late middle age couple, probably younger than I am now though, take possession of a brand new 32' Grand Banks. We watched them personalize it and stock it for their shakedown cruise to the Bahamas. They were friendly and excited to be finally living their dream. One bright calm July morning they took off headed for West End. Two weeks later I notice a yacht broker staring down at the little GB empty and deserted now. I asked him what was going on and he said, "I don't know. They came back, took their stuff of, and said, "Get rid of it"". For some people I guess the dream is far different from the reality.

Hey guys sorry about bringing this thread back up but this kind of question has been buzzing in my head for a while now.

I'm about to sell my house after my mother passed last year, I'm 21 and this is going to be my first (real) house move and I've wondered what it'd be like to buy a sailing yacht instead of a flat and just travel the world living on said yacht, I know right it would be living he dream.

I've always lived in the moment but even buying a 36' Yacht is a bit of a stretch for me, so I've decided to ask you professionals about it!

So what is the truth about yacht ownership expenses & experiences? My granddad was a captain on a ship so I guess that where I got this idea from.

Who cares if it makes sense. Go for it. This is the perfect time for you. When I was about your age I moved lock, stock and barrell from NY to Tucson, Az. It took 4 days to realize that it was a big mistake. Not only did I survive, but I credit it as one of the stepping stones in my life that has lead me to where I am today.

When I hear middle-aged couples with responsibilities thinking about it, there's a lot to be considered. Single and 21 I can only say have fun. As for the expenses, they can be fairly low on a sailboat. Call some marinas where you think you'd like to cruise and ask their rates for seasonal and transient slips.

That's the kind of reply I want to hear! Ah ha, Thanks for the reply buddy any type of boat I should look for or what?

You're talking sail which is not my forte. So I'll have to defer to the more knowledgable on the subject. But what I will say is that the only one it need appeal to is you.

I know an old friend who was older than you...bit of a hippy, who bought a
24' Catalina and lived on it for a significant number of years sailing all thru out the Bahamas and Caribbean.

Go for it, while you are young....its a journey you'll never forget.

He guys we are talking now over a sailing boat, is there anybody who buy and live on a 70 feet motoryacht?
We just must sell our house (sell 2 of them already) so one to go and go for it.
We can buy the boat and dont want to go in any marinas, only when the weather is pusing us to it.

I think the money is the main reasen to go smaller and not the place in most of the marinas for us.
And to answer your replay, you only need a crew if you can not driven the vessel by yourself. Me and my wife have a lot of experience so we can do it but i know this size is about the max to move it by two persons in a small place.

And to the other question, you dont need a captain when you buy a big boat.
When you go comercial then you need a person with the right papers, we can do that if we want to, we did it for some years and when i dont have more people on board then it was no problem. But that rule is in Holland and we dont want to do that any more, the reasen is that we dont live on the boat at that time and now we want to live on it.

If you're not intending to use marinas, the cost difference for living on a 70' as opposed to a 50' is not that big except when you haul. Ypu will burn more fuel when running, and your gen will be a little larger, but if you're not in a hurry it won't be that big of a difference. You'll of course want a 2nd generator, but that goes with your initial layout which will naturally be highr with the 70.

There is a second generator witch is bigger for the airco. We want to place a watermaker so we wont need a marina.
For the haul we pay more, i understand that but when we do it is once a year.
We can spent arround € 60.000,-- a year to live and maintain the boat so i think we can make it.
Dont anybody know people who does it or know people who does it?
There is a lot of writing and talking about this isseu but i like to read some numbers and most of all with the boat i want to buy or simular.

There are many excellent books by those who have lived aboard for extended periods. I just checked Amazon and found tons. Also there are some liveaboard sections on some other cruiser type forums. I did a search on this forum and found 28 threads with liveaboard. Last, I'd do two other things. First, I'd go to some marinas that allowed liveaboards and talk to some who live there. Now many of those aren't regular cruisers but some will be. Second, I'd rent or charter a boat for a weekend or even a week just to see how I felt about the experience, one similar to the type I was looking at.

Oh and I like some Texans. I even love the one I'm married to.

Thank you, i look into that.
And the idea to ask some people in the marina is something what i have done already, but they are most of the time in the marina and dont come out often.

To take a week out of the boat i like is a waist of time and money because we are the last 20 years out on the water for every free moment.

The longest time on board was 6 weeks and it was very good every moment.

O and i love my wife even if it is not a mexican