hatteras liveaboard??

Hatteras MY's in the 50-60' size range make excellent live aboard boats. They are solid, have excellent room and generally are well equipped and laid out. However, there are other factors in boat selection. One of the first that would come to my mind is your intended use when leaving the dock. How important to you are things like fuel economy and speed. The Hatteras will typically have the speed at the expense of fuel economy but can be run at displacement speeds economically, just never as economically as a lesser powered boat designed as displacement.

Most Hatteras you find in the 60-70' range are SF or Convertibles, rather than MY's but there are a few MY's. SF's simply don't have the live aboard space of their MY's, although they have other attributes, especially if one is a fisherman. There are a few 65's of 1989 or so vintage out there. Hatteras has a long pattern of building sizes the getting away from them then coming back to them.

If you do look at a sport fish then a Roscioli Donzi 65 should be first on your list. It's far larger on the inside than a comparable Bertram, Viking or Carolina boat. Hatteras is a very wide boat and thus may present difficulty in finding a slip sometimes. Donzi's have smaller staterooms and more salon space and monster second deck. Good luck with your search.

What age and price range are you searching in?

That works for a late 80's, 63 or 65' Hatteras MY. One problem you do encounter is they are mostly east coast, but I saw a couple listed in Seattle.

Bamboo is obviously a Donzi owner and fan. I'm a Westport and Pacific Mariner fan so will point out one boat to also consider and will get you a bit newer boat. That's the Pacific Mariner 65. Now, it's not stylish and many do not like the exterior look. I'm not a huge fan of that myself. But it has space and amenities and good performance.

There are also some Ocean Alexanders that fit your specifications. I wouldn't rate them at the level of Hatteras or PM but many owners are happy with them.

Then some Azimut, which generally won't get good ratings here. However, a boat that's had the problems addressed and does well on a survey might be worth it.

You may also find you need to go a little older or a little smaller. I don't know if your $500,000 includes upgrades, etc. that you need to make up front. I certainly think within your range though you'll find a good boat for both living aboard and cruising.

Prior to this winter's layup I've spent about 2 weeks a month living aboard a 1981 56 MY, and I can tell you that they're very comfortable. I sleep in the VIP. The Master is real nice. They lend themselves to cosmetic refits very well, and have a ton of separated spaces and entertainment areas.

You might find this useful:

Dimensions :
LOA: 60’
LWL: 56’ 3”
Beam: 18 ft 2 in Minimum 19 ft. minimum slip
Draft: 4 ft 11 in
Bridge Clearance:
37 ft. to tallest mast
26 ft. to masthead light
18 ft 10 in to windshield
Dry Weight: 74,000 lbs
Headroom: 6 ft 8 in
Engines: Engine Brand: Detroit Engine(s) Total Power: 1300 HP
Engine Model: 892 TI Engine Type: Inboard Drive Type: Direct Drive

PERFORMANCE ESTIMATES (the numbers will be a bit mushed together. DK why, Let me know if you can't straighten them out and I'll PM the infor to you):
Rpm Speed Knots Fuel Cons. Fuel Cons.E & G Range NM Engines. Engines & Engines& Gen
550 Idle
1200 9.3 12.5 14.0 707 631 economy
1500 11 21.7 23.2 536 501
1800 12.1 35.0 36.5 385 369 cruise
2100 14.6 53.5 55.0 322 313
2300 17.1 70.6 72.1 283 277 WOT
Tanks: Fuel Tanks (2) fore and aft: (1020 Gallons total)
Fresh Water Tanks: (350 Gallons)
Holding Tank: (60 gallons)- pump out at stbd gate
Generators: 20 KW Kohler Genset
12.5 KW Onan Genset
Electrical: 32 volt ship service electrical supply with vapour proof master switches, master breakers and tabulated and fused distribution panels.
32 volt engine starting system. 12 volt electronics circuit. Sentry 32 volt charger.
112/240 volt dockside power system with shore cord, inlet fitting, master breaker and tabulated and fused distribution panels

As Nycap's example points out, you might find what you're after in a slightly smaller boat than you initially thought. You need to think how you'll be using it, how many aboard. I'd plan for the 95% or 98% usage. Don't get a boat designed for that very rare occasion. For that someone can sleep in a salon or in a hotel room or anything it takes. Most families have experienced improvising sleeping arrangements when everyone is there.

Willy, as you are aware I know these boats well and spent the entire winter living aboard a 1984 56' Hatt Motor Yacht. I find as they get larger you mostly only gain main salon space and another stateroom.

I agree with oldeboater on the Hatteras inventory being thinner on the west coast. Another brand you might consider (I am a bit basis as one of our boats for 25 years has been a Tollycraft) is a 57' or 61' Tollycraft. A west coast brand and the vintage/price range would fit what you are considering. The Tollycraft or Pacific Mariner you are trading out salon space for having a cockpit compared to the Hatteras. Do you want/need a cockpit? Dropping some lines in the water or to help with docking?

We, a middle aged couple lived aboard and cruised 12,000 miles on a Hatteras 56MY full time for 5 years, and part time for another year and a half. It was extremely comfortable and we liked it better and better as the years went on. I was so glad we bought a Hatteras. The support from the factory and the spin off of their parts department, Sam's Marine (who also sponsors an excellent owner's forum) is outstanding, even for 30+ year old boats. The boat was easy for a big klutz like me to work on and get around in. The ergonomics are outstanding, even I could single hand it. We looked at larger boats and just didn't see what we would gain by it, save for the 61CPMY which was our boat with a cockpit. But as it turned out we did fine without the cockpit, and the 60 foot LOA mark is a dividing line for a lot of moorings and slips.

One of the wisest aphorisms in boating is "don't buy the biggest boat you can afford; buy the smallest boat YOU can be comfortable in". What that is, is a very personal decision. I know happy couples who did what we did on 36 footers.

i was wondering while being away from the dock and at anchor how long do you run your generator each day and do you run both of them.

We put an inverter and dedicated battery bank on our boat. So unless the weather was very hot or cold, we just ran the generator a couple hours or so in the morning and then again at night for battery charging, cooking, laundry, dishwasher. One 20kw genset could power everything.

thanks- most of my experience was tethered to the dock on an old chris craft but now my wife and i are looking for the right 70' hatteras for live aboard life in the virgin islands.

The Hatteras are very economical at hull speeds, just as much as a same size trawler. The 2 cycle Detroits sip fuel at 1000 rpms or below. I did the entire great loop in a 75' MY (65' stretched to 75'). At 1000 rpms we burned 12-13GPH (15gph with generator, we always ran the generator) at 10.3 knots, we held 1650 gallons of fuel.

I did 5300NM's on the Great Loop, ran cruise at least for 30 mins every 6 hours, and also for 2 full days of the loop. We anchored 3 out of 4 nights and ran the generator 24/7. I burned just under 7500 gallons, not bad for a 75'.

I think you could be very comfortable in a 53'-58' Hatteras. I'd recommend 1987 or newer as they were 24 volt boats instead of 32 volts. I know we have some 32 volt fans here, but parts are getting harder and harder to find and choices on some items such as battery chargers, heads, etc. are limited. The Viking widebody MY's are also a good liveaboard choice as would be some of the Lazzara's from late 90's.

Yes you could add an inverter and a ton of batteries (and weight) and only run the generator during prime usage. If you're not using heat/air, then your electrical load probably won't be too bad......but honestly, to me that's camping and not yachting. If you can't afford to run the generator while on the hook, count me out.

1 generator should cover everything on the boat 98% of the time. If you plan on having all a/c's cranking, washer/dryer going and oven then you either have to shut a few items down temporarily or run 2 generators.