hi all, i am looking for some advise on the best live-aboard coastal cruisers. its time to say goodbye to trailer sailers and it's my plan to live aboard for the next 2 years (at least). i am based around harvey bay and looking for a strong seaworthy yacht suitable for east coast cruising. my budget is around the $45,000 mark, but cheaper would be better! i had been considering the adams 35 but recently have been looking at the westsail 32. maybe a roberts??? any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.
thanks, dave.
A Compass 28 or Clansman 30 are both great go anywhere cruisers "alot of bang for ya buck" and there easy to singlehand. If you spend mid 30k you will get an awesome little cruiser.
Heres a picture of a compass 28 on the hard stand that I recently sold
thanks cisco and garyk for the advice, very much appreciated. after doing a little research the s&s and the compass will definitely go on my 'to look at list'.
cisco you were saying that it would be hard to find a decent adams 35 for around the $45,000 mark, i have seen a few advertised for $50,000, these are multi chine steel hulls, what are your thoughts on such yachts?
garyk your old compass looks a real beauty, how much did you sell it for? is there any other advice you could offer on these? e.g.. any problems? what to look out for when buying? cabin space?
thanks again for your help.
Yeah your right there Romona, i would definitely be getting a survey done on any boat i choose. I noticed a Westsail just sold in Qld for $40 grand- nice price considering one in good nick can fetch around $80,000. But i do worry about there lack of performance. Its more the interior space and there strength i find very appealing.
Cisco, im a joiner by trade, but mainly do house reno's these days. The VDS you pointed out would be a great (and logical) choice, but there is too much work and time involved for me at the moment.
What im really looking for is something with a sound hull, good rigging and a interior that needs a good work over. Something like the Swanson Carmen 31 that Romona pointed out fits the bill.
Thanks again for your reply's and great advice.
Bit of a conflict of interest as she is mine and I am selling her, however, look at the Triton 721 Extended on Yachthub.
If it's just you alone, she would suit as a liveaboard.
Better headroom than the Compass/Clansman/even perhaps Swanson.
Very sound hull, have been out in Moreton Bay on too many occasions with horrible weather conditions...read 40+ knots with tall, sharp chop; and a particularly nasty occasion under duress and on anchor on a lee shore at Peel Island in a 35 knot southeasterly.
No slouch under sail,, very good to windward.
Just a suggestion. Really interested in finding her a new person to love and serve her well.
Cheers
Trace
Try the folkboat experience they are seaworthy and I have spent more on mine than I like to tell, solar panel. regulator agm battery bank , smart charger , new switchboard, 240 volt outlets, GPS and sounders the list goes on and lived aboard for 3 years and love every minute of it.
Whiteout is a International Folkboat and It doesn't have a lot of headroom but if you want you can standup outside ha ha ha. You have to be willing to sacrifice something when you live on boats and this is the basis of sailing you always want a bigger boat at some stage but you have to sail it yourself without crew at some stage and you want a boat that is seaworthy, wateritght and functional.
Yup, the Marieholm 26 (aka M26) has standing headroom (just). I'm about 5'8" and can stand up in mine with head bowed.
The M26 is easiest to spot by looking at the cockpit placement - it is further aft and is almost hard up against the transom. That enabled the cabin to be a bit longer as well. They usually seem to have inboard diesels which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it (eg I'd love to have all that storage space that Whiteout's got where his engine isn't!) I think the hull is the same though. There aren't as many of M26s around and the asking price is usually a bit higher as well.
There's also the original Nordic version for the purists which has even an even smaller cabin and less headroom than all other variants. If you've got deep pockets, you can still buy those brand new! Or if you like timber boats, there's the Stella which again is essentially the same boat but usually with standing headroom.
Any of them make tough, capable little boats, easily handled by one or two people.
Yes thats Burnett Heads Cisco nice spot and has cheap haul out and hardstand area also has a great bunch of locals 
The compass has similar lines to the folkboat but has more space inside and you have a much more sound hull and alot less maintenance being fibreglass. The fitout is really good but dosent have a comfy couch which I think is a must have on any boat that you spend alot of time on.
"Somthings to keep in mind" I think if your single the smaller boats are great if you want to single hand all the time but its hard to get a lady on board for any length of time or just any sort of company. It can get pretty lonely out there on a small boat and there are sooooooooooooooooooo many lonely single blokes out there living on there grubby little boats 
I like little boats for many reasons but for live-aboard Im over little boats for reasons greater then reasons for having one. Im currently building a 42 and it is so much more liveable has more everything and heaps of deck space for the toys!
and the crew wont do the runner 
A good private head is important for the ladys too and It has to be clean!!!!!
and they also need an unusual amount of storage space for all there "stuff" 
and did I mention the must have couch 
Good luck Davox on finding your "dream" beware on buying a fixitupera unless you have ALOT of time and money because your dream could be shatered and turn into a nightmare! and be carefull you dont buy a lemon that has shiny paint!!!!!!!!!!
Some more great advice there, especially regarding the lady factor! I have a wonderful and understanding woman by my side, but i think ( i know) i would be testing her understanding in something like the triton or folkboat! Nice looking boats but as you said, better for a single man.
As far as my lady is concerned the westsail is still winning hands down, nice and beamy in the cabin, and easy to get around on deck. Also 32 feet is not too big for the 2 of us to handle.
As far as im concerned, im liking the look and price of the compass but maybe the 29. Is there much difference between the 28 and 29 (besides 1 foot)?
any way thanks again for all your replys.
Select to expand quotedavox666 the compass 28 wins hands down on performance over the 29 for a small gain in space and heaps more windage
Ramona is right there is a Wetsail I mean Westsail in bali worth a look at
You can pickup cheap yachts in asia if you keep an eye out
Well I was talking with Terry today and he spoke highly of "Huahine". He reckoned you got that deck prism way too cheap especially since the "Bundaberg Seagulls and Ancient Mariners Society" had their eyes on it for something to light up their club rooms being as how they can't afford to have the electricity on.
Terry and dianne have a great yacht and have had a huge influence on me with the direction in which I go with vessel choice and construction acually Terry put me on to Tom Colvin designs
Its a beauty that prism its going in the forepeak to lighten things up as its a bit dark up there and its a bit of bling.
The 42 is very easy to single hand and light displacment mine weighs only 10t net
"long and lean" and she has chinese lug sails, so you can reduce sail while running and theres no going forward to man handle sail down they just fall down into the lazyjacks on any angle to the wind. Also has a 9" bowsprit so shes very manuverable when weighing anchor and also setting up the windlass so its easy to weigh anchor single handed which is a must for me.
The original was designed with a cargo hold but these days its the smelly engine room
cisco, I saw compass rose just before christmas when I was delivering Huahine to port douglas and Terry was debuging everything then,its a shame about the engine trouble he's having. I can get a realy good deals on new engines so im bitting the bullet and buying a brand new volvo 40hp for mine
How are thing going with your S&S 
But its worth every penney
Hi cisco and davox!
Muy girlfriend and I also liveaboard a multi-chine VDS 34 and really like it. We never find it too small and have not once wished it was bigger. This is our first boat as we are pretty new to this cruising lark, so we don't have much to compare it to, but i thought I would let you know how happy we are with its perfomance and liveability.
The only thing we currently need to make her perfect is a wind vane self steering of some kind.... so if anybody out there has one for sale, please get in touch.
Bye the way cisco, excuse me for being a bit paranoid, but why did you say that your VDS would definitely be at the bottom now? That sounds a bit scary!
