|
Note: You must be registered in order to post a reply.
To register, click here. Registration is FREE!
|
| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| clmb511 |
Posted - Jul 06 2007 : 14:50:31
I'm living in DC area and looking for a boat to sort of live aboard on. By sort of I mean 3-4 nights a week Spring-Fall.
I'm not sure where I want to be price-wise, but I'm pretty fond of the Chaparral 350 and the used prices are great but it isn't perfectly suited to significant live-aboard use. I like the Silverton 35MY as well but the cabins feel a bit cramped, although the rest of the boat is nice and spacious.
I'm hoping other people have recommendations in the <200K range.
Things I'd like, ideally:
-Something reasonably fuel efficient. I feel like high fuel consumption will deter me from getting the most use out of the boat.
-A fairly spacious galley - I like to cook and need space.
-A sunpad or a location where one could be installed (another prob. with the Silverton)
Any ideas?
|
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| abalmuth |
Posted - Jul 31 2007 : 09:07:16
I would see if there is any slip space for liveaboard in your area first |
| OldMariner32 |
Posted - Jul 31 2007 : 08:10:35
You might want to post this question in Ask the Captain instead of Chaparral Owners.
The Chaparral 350 is absolutely gorgeous and one of my favorites, but it is the largest boat they make. I don't think it is any more "cave like" than a lot of the sailboats folks live on. Only you know if you want or need more light than that. I had a Chris Craft 332 Commander (37' LOA). I loved it, but my wife felt like she was in a cave. It's a preference/personality thing. The seating arrangement will be the envy of all your dockmates. Due to cleat placement, I do think it would be harder to single-hand it into the slip, but if you're like me the Admiral is generally an able hand and with me when I'm going out.
One thing a lot of us neglect to do is consider how much room there is to work on engines. How accessible are fluid, seacock, strainer, stuffing box checks? How easy to adjust the carbs or change injectors? How easy to change spark plugs? The next time I buy a boat this will be much higher on my list of priorities. |
| cwms |
Posted - Jul 31 2007 : 07:04:26
If you want fuel efficiency, you need diesels, but you will have to pay a premium price to get them.
How much cruising are you planning to do? A lot of people say they want to go to all these places, up and down the ICW, etc. and end up putting 50 hours a year on their engines. You can buy a whole lot of gas with the extra $10,000 - 20,000 you are going to have to pay to get diesels.
I've got a 38' aft cabin Carver for sale with tons of room. Way more than a 40' trawler.
If you run it at trawler speeds, it won't kill you in gas bills. Get up on plane and listen to the gas draining.
clmb511, check you email inbox. |
| PascalG |
Posted - Jul 06 2007 : 16:01:22
under 200k ? Hatteras 53MY... :-) tons of room, 1nmpg at 9kts, great layout, privacy, etc... yeah dockage will be a little more, maintenance too but not as bad as it seems thanks to exceptional quality. The lower helm and deck layout make i a breeze to single hand.
galley is full size, like an apartment... i cook too and got plenty of room. full size fridge, full size oven/stove, counter top, etc...
huge sunpad and seating for 12 at the bow. that's big plus too me as well... nowadays builders are so obsessed with big cabins that they've reduced boaw area to the bare minimum. it's not only an aesthetical disater but it's also very unpractical. Wheneve we have a group on the boat, the bow is where everybody ends up most of the time.
Expresses make lousy liveaboards because of the cave feeling you get. |
| wrkalot |
Posted - Jul 06 2007 : 15:01:53
Everyones different. For me, if I was single, a 35 anything would be more than enough as a full time livaboard... others would feel really cramped. My wife and I spent 6 days a week on a Maxum 3500. It was a little cramped for 2 but a galley of that size worked great in conjunction with a propane grill.
We have since graduated to the Meridian 411 and are full timers (365).
In your price range you'll have hundreds, if not thousands, of choices and options. |
| pgilbert |
Posted - Jul 06 2007 : 14:57:22
Silverton, Carver, Meridian...all nice boats but not very fuel efficient. Not really sure of your requirements except those stated. If you want a roomy live aboard that is fuel efficient, then I'd suggest looking at trawlers. However, if you really want that fuel efficiency, then you'll need to relinquish speed. You could pick up a nice roomy single engine 38 foot trawler and burn about 3 gal/hour at about 7 knots. You'll get plenty of sun on the bridge. |
|
|
|
|
| BoaterEd |
© 2010 BoaterEd, Inc. |
 |
|
|
-
