can a 1982 36 aftcabin make a cruising liveaboard

Hello folks been a long time but , I have a question about the size to live aboard needed. With the continued drop in the housing market the wife and I have decided that we are not willing to work past out earilest retirement date which is 6 months from now. (we both will be 55yo) We had been looking at something along the lines of a 40 -43 foot to live aboard and cruise but we have to go down in size to more like 36' because of the realitive lower cost. i have found a nice looking one in the PNW but my question is this --------->
We plan to spend about 10 yrs aboard , 5yrs on the west coast and than 5 yrs on the east. The plan is to just run from gunk hole to gunk hole for a day or a week or a month , what ever we feel like. No real hard time tables so it will be very easy to wait for the right weather or tides etc. I know most the time we will be in somewhat fairly protected waters but there will be a need to go down the west coast stopping when and where needed and up the east once out of the ICW. So can a 36" handle this limited exposure to the big old mean ocean even if we'er only 10 -15 miles of or less if possible and pay super attention to the weather forcasts? Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions and any general info on these fine boats

Thanks for your thoughts so far guys, first I have to say to NYCAP 123 "but at 55 years old, there is no way I would consider it" Well man , I know every body here knows that 55yrs old is the new 39yo ... or was that 45yo... hum maybe it's the new 50yo.... darn memory anyway ! LOL just kidding ya NYCAP Ok i should add a couple things, first me and the wifey have been married going on 35 yrs now and both are very low maintenance thank god. So i do keep a little life ins. but not to much! It's funny Pascal mentioned "camp aboard " we have some friends that have been living on a 35" catalina for 3 yrs now , Thats camping aboard....lol

The first project on what ever we wind up buying is to pull the dinette out and put in a bank of cabinets and counter top either L shape or opposing sides for food storage and whatever else. We dont eat at the table any longer and its only going to be her and I 98% of the time. high on the list is are to add a treatment system for at least one head, water maker, one on the small side so i can run it often like they need to be run. The master shower is fairly lager and has a tub I can stand and turn pretty well without the feeling of being closed in to bad and Im 6"1. The plan is to do 2 or 3 yrs up here in the sound / San juans / gulf islands then make a quick summer run up to lower alaska and back and than a 1 time trip down south maybe staying a yr or so in the delta and san fran areas , than on down to so calif. for a yr or 2 so it wont be a up and down the coast thing I'm just looking to maybe hear if it can be done if you stop in at a marina or anchorage every night after the days run. and if we need to wait out some sudden weather for how ever long , that would be no prob. I am pretty sure i can find a little room to put it in the enging room. I have a pretty good back ground for tinkering very good with mechanical things, 30+ yrs in the construction trades and the last 20 yrs as a medic/firefighter up here in Salem OR so i consider myself pretty handy around the house soon to be boat I just dont know what kinda waves /seas are out there on the calmest days. I am running throught the coast pilot righ tnow trying to plot out stops and all but still prefer real world advice .