Beneteau ST 44 as a liveaboard...

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tjl

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Greetings One and All!

My husband and I are selling our home and our current boat, a Silverton 330 SB, looking to purchase a liveaboard. We have our eyes on a Beneteau ST 44 (seeing her for real tomorrow!) but are wondering if it's really too small for a liveaboard. We're also considering the Selene 53, Ocean Alexander 50 Classico, Grand Banks 47 Europa, Ablin 47, NPY 43, etc., but are hopeful to stay at or under 50'. Our concern with the ST 44 is the galley, which appears small with no oven (we do a LOT of home cooking!), and in general, the storage appears quite limited. Is this a misperception from photos (we are stepping aboard a 44 tomorrow for an in-person assessment!)? Also, what do you do for an office/desk space since we'll always have a need for that! We're new to this forum and would appreciate hearing about living aboard the ST 44 specificially, or any of the other makes listed above.

Cheers,

TJL & AJL
 
Warwick, RI? We're not to far from each other. Welcome.

I am no expert but my dock mate has a ST42 which I think is just a slightly older version of the same boat. I think you'll find the first 3 boats in your list of alternates are a LOT bigger than the ST. People can "live aboard" anything. But I don't personally think the ST is live aboard sized. 2 staterooms but the second is small. And the full walk around side decks make the interior salon space seem tight. Not enough relax and watch tv type space. Aft deck is nice but tight for 4 people. Lots of room on flybridge. Galley is small. You'll know more if it suits you once you get on it. Good luck.
 
Look at many boats in person. Shoe leather is important. The boats you have mentioned are a good start. Criteria will change if the vessel will stay port bound vs a moving cruiser. Things like engine selection, instruments, fuel capacity, heating and cooling come into play.

Prior owner maintenance tops galley IMHO. Don't forget nice to haves such as washer and dryer. Storage can include neat and clean hidey holes such as accessible bilge, under bunks etc. An older big Hatteras or Defever should be on the list too.

Then marina space and location, whew it is a long list.
 
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Storage is one of the first things people over look. Not just kitchen but clothes computers and so on. Second thing, what is your morning shower/bathroom routine.

The wife and I once lived on a 34’ sail boat but never again. Lived on a 42’ boat for 15 years. Our boats have always been cruisable but they were heavy.

In the end only you will know how small you can go.
 
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TJL, welcome from a fellow Warwick resident. Only you can answer the question about space and storage. I would think the Selene and OA would offer more but it is all a matter of what your priorities are (seems to me a stove is one). Earlier advice to go aboard and take your time to assess if the ST is what you want, if not keep looking. Best of luck.
 
Hi Prospective!
Thank you so much for your reply and insight. You are absolutely spot on - the ST 44 is not what we are looking for in a liveaboard. Just not enough room for us in general although we loved the flybridge and a number of other features. In any event, it felt GREAT to get aboard and see it with our own eyes. And yes, I guess we are neighbors! - we are at SH Cowesett.
Thanks again,
TJL
 
Greetings from Pawtucket. Best wishes in your search. Lots of good advice here.
 
All good points!

tiltrider1 said:
Storage is one of the first things people over look. Not just kitchen but clothes computers and so on. Second thing, what is your morning shower/bathroom routine.

The wife and I once lived on a 34’ sail boat but never again. Lived on a 42’ boat for 15 years. Our boats have always been cruisable but they were heavy.

In the end only you will know how small you can go.
Click to expand...

Hi Tiltrider,
Thanks for your reply. We have a 35' Silverton now that we can stay on for about 4 days max and that's bringing our own drinking water and being conservative on the freshwater. So we have a good feel for how much "more" we need to make the next boat a comfortable liveaboard. So I guess it's a matter of stepping aboard a LOT of contenders! BTW, I agree that 34' is WAY too small! :=D
TJL
 
Hello Lollygags1!
Thanks for the shout out and yes, LOTS of excellent advice!
TJL
p.s. Love Mainships!
 
Sorry Pawtuxet Villiage. I did a week at Block and only ran to shore for water and ice once and made a couple calls for pump out. I met a couple who did the loop in a MS34 but I would need more room. A 50 Nordhaven would suffice
 
Dock mate has a 50’ Nordy. Plenty of room. Have been on. Selene 47 that would also fit the bill.
 
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The ST 42 I spent maybe 3 hours inspecting had tight bathrooms, beside each other, one especially so. The saloon, though long, was all galley one side(says unreliable memory), so no seating either side, facing. On the plus side, a bright and airy boat, with a generous fwd sleeping cabin and a reasonable 2nd cabin.
 
2 staterooms
NO teak decks
minimul exterior teak

So you are up to mid 40ft length.
 
We did ~5 months on a Camano 31. That included the rainy season in WA. Did we wish for bigger sometimes? yes. Was it still immensely enjoyable? also yes. But we are fairly minimalist. We used the dining table as a desk.

Beneteau: balsa core, hard chines with a front berth, and built to a price. General workmanship is pretty good, and because it is mass production general QC is also good. But components tend to be on the cheaper side. Small tanks.

You have a pretty wide variety of boats listed - might suggest trying to spend some time chartering the various options. You have sedans/pilot houses, walk around decks/beam width salons, 25 knot/10 knot boats, single/twin engines, etc... So it boils down to what you really want at the end of the day.
 
tjl said:
Greetings One and All!

My husband and I are selling our home and our current boat, a Silverton 330 SB, looking to purchase a liveaboard. We have our eyes on a Beneteau ST 44 (seeing her for real tomorrow!) but are wondering if it's really too small for a liveaboard. We're also considering the Selene 53, Ocean Alexander 50 Classico, Grand Banks 47 Europa, Ablin 47, NPY 43, etc., but are hopeful to stay at or under 50'. Our concern with the ST 44 is the galley, which appears small with no oven (we do a LOT of home cooking!), and in general, the storage appears quite limited. Is this a misperception from photos (we are stepping aboard a 44 tomorrow for an in-person assessment!)? Also, what do you do for an office/desk space since we'll always have a need for that! We're new to this forum and would appreciate hearing about living aboard the ST 44 specificially, or any of the other makes listed above.

Cheers,

TJL & AJL
Click to expand...

I nearly bought one of those but did not like the wet shower and choose a Mainship that had a stand alone shower which did not make all the bathroom or head wet!

Tom
 
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Take a look at DeFever 44 or 49. We are partial to the DF44 as we live aboard one. It is enough room for us even after five years. One clear advantage to DeFevers is their near stand-up engine room access to which is through a decent-sized door. Do not discount the issue of access to the engines for maintenance.
 
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Mainshiptom said:
I nearly bought one of those but did not like the wet shower and choose a Mainship that had a stand alone shower which did not make all the bathroom or head wet!

Tom
Click to expand...

for me, a wet head is a no-no.
That was one of the advantages for my N46 and my current AT34.
 
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