Potential great loopers!

geoffm said:

I went aboard a 34' Marine Trader at an in-the-water boat show ...

But as a live-aboard vessel? No way. It was just too small.

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But in the wintertime, I and whoever I lived aboard with would get on each others' nerves and be at each others' throats in a metric heartbeat. Not my idea of a good time.

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Besides, on a boat that size, stowage space -- for clothes, pots and pans, reading material, and so forth-- would be at a considerable premium.

And if you're into video entertainment ,,,,

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But I urge you to reconsider the size of the boat you're thinking of living aboard.

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Thanks for the input Geoffm, for you, it may be too small.

Everyone is different. Most liveaboards (couples) live on 35ft sailboats...I know a couple on a 34ft that have lived on there for over 4 years....have you seen how much room there is on a sailboat?

The Marine Traders are huge comparatively. As Ghostrider42 points out, an airstream is even smaller. If you want to see living small, check out the Tiny House movement.

Not a personal attack, but your metric heartbeat, also reflects your personality and the relationship with your mate, as many people have done it and are still living it.

I know a couple that have lived very happily on 37 trawler for over 15 years. Very famous on this board actually.

As for stowage space, who needs 10 pairs of jeans? shoes? etc. Most liveaboards have offsite storage for seasons and extra items.

And as far as books and electronics go. Books, only a few hardbooks should be required, the rest being digital on a laptop and on the cloud. Same for music and videos. TV, sure, 25-30 with a PS3 and VGA connection. No need for DVR, I have one at home and never watch it, I mostly watch live sports, netflix and TV series.

But thanks for the advice!

leroadrunner said:

Thanks for the input Geoffm, for you, it may be too small.

Everyone is different. Most liveaboards (couples) live on 35ft sailboats...I know a couple on a 34ft that have lived on there for over 4 years....have you seen how much room there is on a sailboat?

The Marine Traders are huge comparatively. As Ghostrider42 points out, an airstream is even smaller. If you want to see living small, check out the Tiny House movement.

Not a personal attack, but your metric heartbeat, also reflects your personality and the relationship with your mate, as many people have done it and are still living it.

I know a couple that have lived very happily on 37 trawler for over 15 years. Very famous on this board actually.

As for stowage space, who needs 10 pairs of jeans? shoes? etc. Most liveaboards have offsite storage for seasons and extra items.

And as far as books and electronics go. Books, only a few hardbooks should be required, the rest being digital on a laptop and on the cloud. Same for music and videos. TV, sure, 25-30 with a PS3 and VGA connection. No need for DVR, I have one at home and never watch it, I mostly watch live sports, netflix and TV series.

But thanks for the advice!

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I think the size issue is very much a personal thing. Some could cruise the country in an Airstream very happily and others would be claustrophobic. I do think one should sample before jumping in and chartering is a great way to do so. Much depends on lifestyle. We have too many guests for such a size. But was it us in our days of doing much alone then I could see it. Now as to some of the things one can and cannot take aboard that's always a personal thing. Take away the option for lots of clothes and shoes and my wife would be most unhappy. On the other hand the nature of clothes in a warm climate means they don't take much space. Love our DVR and would never give it up. If nothing else just the ability to back up a bit and relook. However, books in our mind are superseded by Kindle, etc. Only hard copies required on a boat are a few boating things that aren't in electronic versions. Similarly, we carry no CD's or DVD's. All stored on hard drives or cloud accessed.

I can't tell anyone what size they'll be happy with. I'd just advise people to give that a lot of consideration. Go on as many boats as possible. Charter. And when you charter look at the space and storage and your belongings and actually go through discussing what you could put where and what you could have on your boat vs. what there would not be space for. In some ways, follow the theory of pain. That is, can I give it up without pain. If so, then it's not a problem. When you reach a boat size that causes pain then one size too small for you.

Now the other aspect of space and togetherness. Again, individual and may well depend on previous lifestyle. A couple of two professionals who traveled a lot separately and had minimum time together might struggle in a small space. But a couple that has always embraced a tremendous amount of time together won't. When at home do you find yourselves in the same room or different parts of the house? See, we have a quite large land home, but seldom are we doing things apart in it. The vast majority of time we're in the same room. Other couples couldn't stand not having more individual time.

Steph - Best of luck to you on your search for a vessel. As soon as we finish our injector pump repairs in Sandusky, Ohio, we're off for the Erie canal.

According to Skipper Bob's cruising guide for the canal, the height limitations are:

21' - Troy N.Y.east to Oswego canal
17' - Champlain Canal
16.5' - Cayuge-Seneca Canal
15.5' - Oswego west to Tonawanda

Have to pass along my boat buying mantra "Don't buy the biggest boat you can afford, buy the smallest you can live on" We followed that rule and got on the water much sooner that we figured.

Bilgewater said:

Have to pass along my boat buying mantra "Don't buy the biggest boat you can afford, buy the smallest you can live on" We followed that rule and got on the water much sooner that we figured.

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Amen. This may shock some folks but we are seriously considering a couple of minor modifications to our Owens and using it as a part time liveaboard/Loop cruiser in retirement. We are true minimalists at heart though.

Wifey B: I'm spoiled. Ok, I admit it but not entering a 12 step recovery program for it as I like it. But this made me think. When I was a child and in the house, and I use that term quite loosely and generously and only if by definition a house doesn't have to meet any real requirements, I would have considered a 35' boat to have been a gigantic palace. (House I'm guessing was maybe 20x20). Now I would find it extremely difficult although I could do it. Just don't.

Still it's a reminder that compared to most of the world the person on here with the smallest boat is living like a king or queen or some combination thereof. Reminder, not to start political talk but simply because this made me think of it and I'm sort of random in thought, 20% of the kids in the US today are living in poverty. Look, I'm not whining as I'm the luckiest girl in the world, but having been there, it's not a nice place. Luckily I didn't know how bad it sucked then cause for me it was normal.

Heck, the only boats I saw as a kid were on tv and the one time I went with some group to a lake.

Need for 10 pairs of jeans. We need to be sure we don't forget the diff between need and want. Like when we say, "Let's go eat, I'm starving." Well, most of us don't know what the heck starving is.

Not telling anyone to feel bad for what they have. Just as we talk about what we can live with, it's a lot less in boat size and every other way than we sometimes think.

leroadrunner said:

Thanks for the input Geoffm, for you, it may be too small.

Everyone is different. Most liveaboards (couples) live on 35ft sailboats...I know a couple on a 34ft that have lived on there for over 4 years....have you seen how much room there is on a sailboat?

The Marine Traders are huge comparatively. As Ghostrider42 points out, an airstream is even smaller. If you want to see living small, check out the Tiny House movement.

Click to expand...

100sf tumbleweeds home would be very difficult to live in. I'm told some people do it.

A 35 motorsailor like my Dad would have built has about 300sf

My project this winter is a Cohaique cypress 35 powercat with two staterooms, two heads, fishing platform powered by twin 115hp hidden Tohatsu motors. We are bringing the cypress planks with us as we motor north from UY.

Capt Kangeroo said:

...Note, I mean the vacation itself is inexpensive, the boat like most others is an awe inspiring money pit from hell...

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Ha! Good description. Isn't that the truth. Just overhauled my bow pulpit, including four new silicon bronze mounting bolts, bronze nuts and bronze washers at about $7 each with shipping. It never ends.

BandB said:

Wifey B: I'm spoiled. Ok, I admit it but not entering a 12 step recovery program for it as I like it. But this made me think. When I was a child and in the house, and I use that term quite loosely and generously and only if by definition a house doesn't have to meet any real requirements, I would have considered a 35' boat to have been a gigantic palace. (House I'm guessing was maybe 20x20). Now I would find it extremely difficult although I could do it. Just don't.

Still it's a reminder that compared to most of the world the person on here with the smallest boat is living like a king or queen or some combination thereof. Reminder, not to start political talk but simply because this made me think of it and I'm sort of random in thought, 20% of the kids in the US today are living in poverty. Look, I'm not whining as I'm the luckiest girl in the world, but having been there, it's not a nice place. Luckily I didn't know how bad it sucked then cause for me it was normal.

Heck, the only boats I saw as a kid were on tv and the one time I went with some group to a lake.

Need for 10 pairs of jeans. We need to be sure we don't forget the diff between need and want. Like when we say, "Let's go eat, I'm starving." Well, most of us don't know what the heck starving is.

Not telling anyone to feel bad for what they have. Just as we talk about what we can live with, it's a lot less in boat size and every other way than we sometimes think.

Click to expand...

Very well stated. I too now know what it was like growing up in a family that didn't have much when I was young. My wife and I are moving from the 40 Mainship SB basically a pretty wide 41' boat to a 36 Gulfstar MarkII trawler and we are thrilled. Could we live in the boat if needed? Absolutely and comfortably.

As far as Bayliners we actually looked at 2859's with the Alaskan enclosure but decided against mainly because my wife wanted a real shower and she didn't want to squat over the head as she put it to take a shower. Otherwise they are very nice boats.
Bill

Billylll said:

As far as Bayliners we actually looked at 2859's with the Alaskan enclosure but decided against mainly because my wife wanted a real shower and she didn't want to squat over the head as she put it to take a shower. Otherwise they are very nice boats.
Bill

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I've had two Bayliner 2859's

I've always thought the 2859 would be a GREAT great loop boat for one person.

Easy to maneuver, small enough to get a slip almost anywhere. Big enough to live on with a shower, etc... And easy to work on with a huge engine room. Outdrive making it simple to work on or even replace the whole thing in a half hour.

Ghostrider42 said:

100sf tumbleweeds home would be very difficult to live in. I'm told some people do it.
...

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Agreed, was just saying...it is very personal. 300 would work for us tho. When you add sundeck and flybridge space, you are probably closer to 500 of living space...granted not during the winter tho!

Thanks for the input to everyone...a lot to ponder.