"New" Boat

If you go the search option [ at the top of page ] and search for live aboard; you will some answers and discussions about living aboard.

1) Yes you can and should get a mechanical survey of the motors which should be available from any factory certified mechanic (preferably) specific to the manufacturer or a good marine mechanic that you trust. Pay plenty of attention to the electrical systems also.
2) You're a big guy in boats. 20 years ago there was less emphasis on headroom so I would suggest stepping on board. While there see how you can move around in the engine room and any other spaces such as the lazarette. Also, make sure the decks and swim platforms feel solid under your weight.
3)Bayliner and Grand Banks are no where's near being in the same class or quality. Doubt you'll even find many 25 year old Bayliners floating. You're evidently not real concerned with speed so think trawler (G.B is one of the best).
Now, follow Ray23's advice and you'll get a good education.
Good luck.

First, look at their electrical panels. Then check the woods used and joinery. It continues throughout. Not to say Bayliners are bad. You get what you pay for and your not going to get a GB for the price of a Bayliner. I've seen a lot of 20 year old Grand Banks that look as good as new and are still making long voyages. But a boat is a boat. Each has a purpose and an owner that matches it. I once owned a Bayliner and put it through hell and back. It just smiled and said 'Next'.

I'd start at Grand Banks, Ocean Alexander, and Hatteras and leave Bayliner / Sea Ray, etc. for last, if not off the list entirely.

We had a 1989 36' Sabreline fast trawler for a few years. Aside from some interesting ideas on plumbing the aft shower's drain, the boat was solid, comfortable, and quite roomy for its size. Also quite economical considering it had twin Detroits.

I'm not familiar with Sabreline, but I can attest to OA's being wonderful boats.
I wouldn't shy away from something from OA if it were slightly older (with an acceptable survey of course) to get closer to your ideal budget versus something new / smaller / etc.

OA's right out of the box offer quite a bit of boat for the money spent.

Good luck in your search. Read, study, etc. and spend as much time on as many boats as you need to find out what you like and don't like. At which point your list of preferred boats will narrow itself down to personal preference.

About $60,000 or so, is the reason why you'll see gas motors in a 40'+ boat. Cheaper new sales price, some owners don't have high usage and they can buy a lot of gas and another set of gas engines for the price of diesel ones.

if on a budget, don't cross the larger bayliners off your list. yes, bayliner is considered to be an entry level boat but their larger boats are not that bad and have quite a following. you often see mid/late 80s 40 some bays, very much afloat and often far away from their home port.

true, they're not hatteras or bertram but they're probably no worst than old carvers, Sea rays or taiwan trawlers.

as usual when it comes to older boat, how the boat was maintained and use is probably as important as initial quality.

in addition to the hull survey, an engine survey is important on a diesel boat, but understand the limitation of a survey. there is no guarantee and even an engine that passes survey can blow or over heat 10 hours later. A surveyor can only tell you the current condition, he cant' really tell you if you will need a rebuilt soon, unless the signs are there.

around the 40' mark, diesels are plus, unless the gas boat is cheap and you're not going to put a lot of hours on it. The number of hours is probably more important than the size or weigth of the boat. typically, if you put under 100hrs on a boat, gas engines may cost you less overall.

You can pretty much count on every system on a 20-25 year old boat being in need of overhaul or replacement if it has not yet been. With the Bayliner, you can also count on all the joinery work and hardware needing replacement as it was bottom tier equipment from the factory, and most likely when it was replaced 10-15 years ago was done so with "like and kind" rather than upgrade. It was also built using polyester post 1972 so it will have blister issues that cannot be solved without post curing the hull to 90*C and holding it there for 1/2 an hour. That's actually the big issue with most all the plastic boats of that vintage is that they were built of polyester which since the formulation change in 1972 to reduce the VOCs will always have uncured styrenes in it until post cured to 90C, and those are the reasons for the blisters. No other repair is permanent. Better later model (and a few earlier ones) plastic boats are made with vinylester or epoxy which does not have this problem. All plastic boats regardless of resin type do still leech toxic VOCs throughout their life span which some people develop reactions to, and cause liver damage regardless of other reactions. If you are going to use it as a live aboard, I suggest a planked wood boat. Wood is the most comfortable material to live with, and you get a lot more boat for your money. The maint costs over 10 years are pretty similar with plastic, wood, steel or aluminum. The difference is how often you spend how much money. Wood is less more frequently, the others are more less frequently. Since you're in fresh water there, make sure you keep salt in the bilge and wash down the boat with salted water at least monthly to keep rot away.

Just because the Avatars are small don't assume the people are. I'm 6' and have the engine room scars atop my head to prove it. I've also come pretty close to getting wedged between motors and motors and wall on a few occasions.
Below 40' you'll find a lot of gas motors except on better SF and trawlers. Longevity and reliability is often exchanged for speed and price. Over 35' that's very short sighted IMHO. The price of the diesels tends to come back to you at resale time and ease of resale.
On most boats in this size you'll find a double vee-birth (which will be double around the shoulder and close to a single at the feet and possibly at the head.) Good fitted sheets for these can also get expensive. The exception is with a mid or aft cabin where you'll often find a regular double or queen. Check mattress depth and quality also,

As a sailor, surely you've heard of Sabre Yacht sailboats sometime in the last 40 or so years?

They're built in Rockland, ME, along with the Sabreline motoryachts. One yard doing a lot of traditional craftsmanship with modern materials and technology.

1989 was the first year for their fast trawler series and they had some teething problems. Our particular one was grey water that liked to percolate back up the shower drain in heavy seas when the holding tank was over 2/3 full. This was remedied with different plumbing and drain/vent location (moving the shower just aft of the head with a higher floor, rather than a dinky shower outboard of the head with a lower floor and piping that ran up to the higher drain pipe under the head sole). No longer would a beam roll allow air to get up to the top of the pipe and allow grey water to dribble back upstream.

The 42-43' Sabrelines have significantly more room, especially for a larger person. If a part-time/sometime liveaboard, they could probably work. The 47' with 2 staterooms and galley down would be the smallest I'd consider for a full time liveaboard.

Don't worry too much about blisters. When the surveyor checks the hull he'll let you know real fast if you've got them. Most boats of that era have either been fixed (peeled), weren't affected by them, or are gone to junk. As for wood vs; fiberglass just ask yourself "am I a masochist with nothing better to do with my time than sand and paint?" Wood means work. On a boat that old you can also count on wood boats being damp and musty. In other words forget wood unless you have a classic and the money to care fore it properly.

"The maint costs over 10 years are pretty similar with plastic, wood, steel or aluminum."

all i can say is WOW!

dont' know what planet you're on, maybe down under is a different planet after all! fiberglass hull requires far less maintenance than wood. dont' get me wrong, I love woodies and i thank god everyday that some folks have the means and desire to keep them afloat, but to say that maintenance is no worse? gee...

as to blisters, toxic stuff and high temp curing.. you're joking right? come on over here in so fl and i'll show you thousands of fiberglass boats built in the 70s, 80s, or 90s that dont' have these issues...

and when a boat as blisters, 99.99% it's cosmetic... so unless you like to give folks an underwater tour of your hull.. who cares!