Pearson 36-2 vs C&C 36 and 37 for liveaboard

[rmeador]

I'm in the process of buying a boat to live aboard in Boston harbor. It will be both my first boat and my first liveaboard experience. Currently I'm looking at 4 boats:

1. '86 Pearson 36-2: very good condition, sails 3-4 years old, 12V refrigeration, electric primaries, dodger
2. '86 Pearson 36-2: good condition, older sails, no refrigerator, no dodger
3. '85 C&C 37: good condition, some repairable hull damage above waterline, engine-driven refrigeration that needs new compressor, 9+ years old sails
4. '81 C&C 36: good condition, old sails (I think), dodger. I know very little about this one as it isn't technically on the market yet

So I've only seen the first boat on the list in person, the rest are from their yachtworld listing or what my broker has told me. I'm trying to get a feel for the values (not necessarily their dollar value, but more of how much "goodness" per dollar) of these boats, what their prices relative to each other should be, and also a general feeling as to how suitable they are for living aboard in Boston. I'm going to install espar central heat on whichever boat I purchase (not necessarily one of these).

Questions:

1. if you imagine them all in excellent condition, what would their relative values be, and if you can provide dollar estimates that would be great.
2. given their described condition, can you estimate their relative values, and if you really want to go out on a limb, their dollar value?
3. which boat, if they were all in excellent condition, would make the best liveaboard, and why?

I hope this isn't too nebulous a question. Thanks for your help.

[JimsCAL]

Some thoughts. Since these are boats of similar age and size, condition is everything. You can do some research on yachtworld, BUCValu, NADA, etc. to get a sense of the market values, but it will only be a guide. The Pearson is much more of a cruiser than the C&Cs, so would make the better liveaboard IMO.

[sailingdog]

I'd point out that as a liveaboard, 12VDC refrigeration is a very good thing to have. Engine driven refrigeration isn't very sensible if you're living aboard, since you don't really want to have to run your engine just to cool the refrigerator, especially if you have shorepower available at the dock, which means running the 12 VDC refrigerator is not going to kill your batteries.

Instead of asking what their relative values are, what you really should be focusing on is how well suited are the different boats to the usage you're going to be putting it to. Living aboard has some requirements that using a boat for just weekend cruises and daysailing DOES NOT HAVE. Refrigeration, as I previously pointed out, is one of them.

I hope you have read the Boat Inspection Trip Tips Thread I started. That should help you eliminate any real turkeys from the boats you look at...and narrow down the field.

Of the four boats you've listed... IMHO #3 is a non-starter... the refrigeration is shot and the hull is clearly damaged and the sails are ancient. Unless they're discounting it enough for you to get new refrigeration...which I seriously doubt... that's an issue.

The two Pearsons are probably better choices than the C&Cs and probably less likely to have been raced. However, the 12 VDC refrigeration and the fact that the boat is in better shape give the first boat the edge IMHO.

[Zusammen]

Be interesting to connect. I own a 1986 36-2 that I bought 2 seasons back and likely surveyed the c&c 37 Newburyport that you may be looking at. May have been through the other Pearson boats as well.

Happy to chat at some point if you want to shoot me a note. I'm local on the South Shore.