Live a board

[DvrEANx]

i was wondering if someone with live a board experance could help me out. i would like a live aboard but not sure what size boats i would need for this. i would live on it with my girlfriend and would like to have a spare room for 2 guests and enough room not be cramped with 6 or 8 people on board I also do a lot of scuba diving and would like to be able to dive from the boat. i know a sail boat is not the best boat to dive from but i would have to make due. i have no intention on sailing it around the world or across any magor oceans the furthest i would ever try to go would be from south florida to the bahamas and i would not really need to single hand it. both my girlfriend and i have a lot of sailing experance.
Has anyone lived on board with a small children and how does that work out?
- planning for the future there.

also i was thinking about restoring a boat. im thinking if the Hull, Deck and magor parts of the rigging are good i can work with that. but how much would a wreck cost and where would i look?
-jake

[DavidBasile]

I am living on a 35 foot Irwin citation in NJ and think it has enough room for 2-4 people. The boat has a separate aft cabin for additional privacy. You should look for a boat with a walk through transom if you are going to scuba dive. I lived on a Hunter 31 for a year but I wouldn''t recommend it for what you are thinking. The beam should be at least 11 feet if you want to not feel cramped. Bargin boats are more costly unless you really are handy and want to deal with all the aggrivation of fixing things that may almost be impossible. Check out past issues of Crusing World as they give you the breakdown on what things really cost on used boats.