Hi again ksanders:
Thanks for the list. We would prefer:
a covered cockpit
a galley near the salon
the helm it its own room
2 bedrooms/2 baths
side decks would be great, wouldn't mind a reduced salon
a cockpit at water level (our English bulldog is on the heavy side)
A flying bridge helm with a place to comfortably sit up high, stairs preferred
our budget is an amount we'd be comfortable spending but if we could spend less and get what we want well now that would be great!
OK, from the features you prefer...
You're after a Raised Pilothouse design with a Flying bridge.
In order to fit your liveaboard needs and just knowing the tradeoffs of the raised pilothouse type boats its safe to guess that something in the mid 40' range and on up would work.
Since your cruising areas do not require ocean crossing capabilities then you can go on Yachtworld and do a search for pilothouse style boats. See what you like. Look at the cheapest, to the most expensive.
The only caveat you have here is the desire for a stand up engine room. The reason I say that is there are only a few <50' raised pilothouse design boats that have that feature. The reason for that is simple, it is a design trade off.
If you think about it, in order to have a stand up engine room you have to make room for it. One method is to raise the salon deck up. Since in a raised pilothouse boat the engine space is generally beneath the salon this makes sense.
Another method is to deepen the hull which increases draft.
Yet another method is to move the pilothouse aft and have the stand up part of the engine room beneath the pilothouse. This design can make for a much smaller salon though.
Its all a trade off. Is a stand up engine room a desire above all else, or is it a desire that can be compromised?
Another thing to consider is if you want the option of cruising faster than hull speed. Going at hull speed is nice, and it is necessary for ocean crossing. I can say that having the option to cruise faster in certain situations is very nice as well. For example if you want to make a specific anchorage, or marina by nightfall.
You have enough information to look at boats and see what you like. You might be drawn to the Nordhavn boats, you might not.
Whatever boat you choose, having it be a natural choice based on your intended mission will mean its the right boat for you.
I would not feel pressured to spend your entire budget on a boat unless thats what you want to do. I personally know of several TF members that could have purchased much more expensive boats than they did. They didn't chose their boats based on a need to spend budget amount. They chose their boats based on their requirements, and the budget worked itself out.
This is going to sound cliche but the view is just as nice from a hundred thousand dollar boat as it is from a million dollar boat. We all share the same anchorages.
), but otherwise fit your criteria. Another consideration - Selenes - their listed high prices do not always match the sale price. 
