Disabled living on a boat

[chrisarvor]

Hi
we are looking to buy a boat to live on ,
my wife is in a wheelchair and i wondered if anybody has done this ,
finding a boat looks the hard part , i can adapt it to suit but finding a suitable boat seems the problem

any help or advice greatly apreciated

 

[socalrider]

Take a look at this listing:

https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/1998-sunnfjord-custom-9539475/

No affiliation and no direct experience or advise but I'd remembered seeing it and thought it might be relevant to your search. Good luck!

 

[chrisarvor]

Take a look at this listing:

https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/1998-sunnfjord-custom-9539475/

No affiliation and no direct experience or advise but I'd remembered seeing it and thought it might be relevant to your search. Good luck!

thank you

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. What type of boating do you want to do? While I am certainly not a big fan of houseboats they may be a good solution if you can be happy boating on protected waters.

 

[mvweebles]

Welcome aboard. What type of boating do you want to do? While I am certainly not a big fan of houseboats they may be a good solution if you can be happy boating on protected waters.

Good thought. Bluewater boats are pretty much single level avoiding the stairs common on trawlers . A lot depends the nature of the disability and how ambulatory the person is.

https://www.boattrader.com/boats/make-bluewater-yachts/

OP may also need to consider berthing and access to the boat - floating dock vs fixed dock, etc. No indication where the OP is located - areas with big tidal swings could pose a problem especially if the marina is old without suitable ADA ramp access to the docks.

Finally, assuming the OP has limited boating experience, important to understand finding a liveaboard slip is increasingly difficult (impossible?) in many parts of the country.

Peter

 

[psneeld]

I lived on a 37 foot Sportfish for some years.

I sold it to a guy and his wife who was in a wheelchair. They didn't liveaboard but used the boat for weekends and vacations.

He claimed my particular model a 1988 Silverton was perfect as the layout and few stairs made it possible for the wife to get around below. Her trick I guess was upper body strength that enabled her to pull herself around quite a bit. I suggested he use an electric dingy davit with harness to get her up and down to the flybridge. The davit suggestion was based on another neighbor in one marina.

This neighbor was completely wheel chair bound. He was the one that taught me the davit trick. He used it to get on and off the boat and up/down to the flybridge. He had a remote for the davit and could get aboard by himself.... also up to the flying bridge...but only got underway with other people onboard. His boat was a 33 foot Egg Harbor sportfish if I remember correctly.... well at least some kind of sport fish.

Unless I planned on ocean cruising...my choices of boats under several hundred thousand to dirt cheap would be most houseboats, newer Bluewaters, canal boat designs, and really any boat that you think with a layout that is suitable for your situation. Trawlers may be the least suitable in smaller sizes. Once the boat is big enough, and expensive enough all bets are off.

 

[Judy at JWY]

Welcome to TF. Great to see that you are exploring the cruising life. To give specific recommendations for boats that might be more conducive to a cruiser with disabilities, we need to know more about your cruising plans, budget, and your wife's capabilities.

If you have joined TF for general knowledge, there's a lot of great info here. If you have joined because you are specifically trawler (or fast-trawler) oriented, then I can tell you that you might be able to find a ready-to-go trawler that has made appropriate accommodations or you should be able to find your dream boat and have the modifications made that are necessary.

Trawlers that I have sold that accommodate cruisers with special needs: Cape Horn 81, Cape Horn 63, Cape Horn 55, Krogen 61, Krogen 54, Krogen 48, PowerCat 50, Nordhavn 40, Great Harbor 37.

Wishing you much success in this endeavor! Please keep us involved as to your search and progress.

 

[ktdtx]

I was in a slip for a few days adjacent to that Sunnfjord 7 or 8 years ago. I think it was in Juneau, if not then Ketchikan. There was a gentleman in a wheel chair, by himself (best I could tell).
The boat in the current pictures looks like there has been a lot of cleanup work done since then. The boat was for sale then.
We made a few stops in the Harbor on our trips and the boat was there regularly, didn't appear to leave the harbor but the man was living aboard.

 

[ofer]

Take a look at this listing:

https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/1998-sunnfjord-custom-9539475/

No affiliation and no direct experience or advise but I'd remembered seeing it and thought it might be relevant to your search. Good luck!

this is a needle in a haystack Find. worth every penny to the right person

 

[PierreR]

I know of one boat that might be for sale if you ask. The boat name is Cetus, currently cruising the Tennessee River. It is a 1997 Krogen Whaleback that was set up to be completely operated by someone in a wheel chair including the hydraulic lift from the dock. Would not be cheap boat but being disabled is not cheap.
It's worth an ask.

 

[Shrew]

I don't know of ANY boats where a wheelchair could work easily. Just getting on and off a boat is going to be a chore. boats have stairs and steps and thresholds. Nothing in a boat is built to standard building codes. Stairs are steep and narrow. doorways are narrow.

Going on a boat is one thing. Living on a boat would be incredibly difficult. A houseboat with a large passerelle would be about the only thing that could possibly work.