[markarsenal]

I'm looking at a Cat 27 tomorrow. I'm working on living aboard whichever boat I buy (this will be my first).

I've read that Cat 27s are generally no-frills comfort-wise and most people are counseling I not try living on anything less than 30'.

Anyone here that can tell me some of the small and inexpensive boats they've lived on for a whole season or more? Looking for some "look out for..." comments.

 

[Tenoch]

I lived on a Tanzer 27 for 3 years. and loved it.

 

[Faster]

People 'live' in cardboard tents in Stanley Park...

It's a matter of your personal needs and tolerance. You've indicated you're OK with a minimalist type of lifestyle. Living alone a C27 may well be just fine.

In our climate, I think a boat with some light below is important.. so reasonably large ports to let light in, a plexiglass companionway dropboard helps there too. Another issue, for this area, is watertightness.

Eliminating deck and window leaks will go a long way to making whatever boat you choose more inhabitable. Constant battles with damp and humidity is not only uncomfortable, but unhealthy generally and supports mold and mildew and the associated issues with those. With shore power available a dehumidifier is almost as much a priority as a heater.

Sanctioned liveaboarding is not cheap in Vancouver.. on-the-hook is a song and dance routine generally going into False Creek for shelter (max 2 weeks) and out on the bay until you requalify for another 2 weeks in the Creek. In big westerlies, it's common to find one or two of those boats on the bay ashore on Kits beach. Shore access, where to leave your dinghy, etc etc complicate that lifestyle esp if a daily commute to work is in the mix.

Long term you'll appreciate the extra space, esp if you decide to cohabit with someone at some point. The larger boats will typically come with more amenities and better equipment (batteries, charging capacity, fridge? etc)

 

[travlin-easy]

I owned a Catalina 27 for five years - it was a great boat for day cruising, but not big enough for a live aboard by a long shot. It sailed very fast, even with just a 100-percent jib and full main in light winds. It rolled a lot at anchor, and when the weather got nasty, the ride could be pretty wet at times. My Cat was a 1981, the cabin sole was flat in the middle, but curved on the sides, which provided sufficient head room for my 6-foot frame in most areas of the interior. The head, however, only had about a 5-foot, 7-inch clearance, which meant I banged my head a lot if I wasn't careful.

Mine was powered with a Universal Atomic-4 gasoline engine that ran like a Swiss watch and you could barely hear it running. It pushed the boat along at hull speed when only at half throttle. Good combination!

I spent 10 days on the Cat one summer in the lower Chesapeake, and by the time I got back home, I knew that boat was too small for coastal cruising and living aboard. That's why I purchased the Morgan 33 Out Island. Lots of room, great, dry sailing boat, easy to single hand.

Gary

 

[markarsenal]

I'm on the wait list for a liveaboard space on Bowen now, and can keep my EastVan apartment till I draw the short straw there, so less concerned with "doability" than specific antecdotes.

Just soliciting peoples' stories of small liveaboard experiences... What was hard, easy, expected, unexpected. Did cooking craft beer on your propane burner get you in trouble, does canning your marmalade in winter make you any friends, how hard is it to adjust to warm beer, etc etc etc...

People 'live' in cardboard tents in Stanley Park...

It's a matter of your personal needs and tolerance. You've indicated you're OK with a minimalist type of lifestyle. Living alone a C27 may well be just fine.

In our climate, I think a boat with some light below is important.. so reasonably large ports to let light in, a plexiglass companionway dropboard helps there too. Another issue, for this area, is watertightness.

Eliminating deck and window leaks will go a long way to making whatever boat you choose more inhabitable. Constant battles with damp and humidity is not only uncomfortable, but unhealthy generally and supports mold and mildew and the associated issues with those. With shore power available a dehumidifier is almost as much a priority as a heater.

Sanctioned liveaboarding is not cheap in Vancouver.. on-the-hook is a song and dance routine generally going into False Creek for shelter (max 2 weeks) and out on the bay until you requalify for another 2 weeks in the Creek. In big westerlies, it's common to find one or two of those boats on the bay ashore on Kits beach. Shore access, where to leave your dinghy, etc etc complicate that lifestyle esp if a daily commute to work is in the mix.

Long term you'll appreciate the extra space, esp if you decide to cohabit with someone at some point. The larger boats will typically come with more amenities and better equipment (batteries, charging capacity, fridge? etc)

 

[barefootnavigator]

I've been very happily living aboard my 22' cutter for 4 years with my dog. This year I added a mate and it shrunk a bit but we have no intentions of going larger. Its all about mindset. If you are attempting to take your shore side life with you a Cat 50 will be to small. There will be a breaking in period and growing pains so be patent. I think the number one boat would be the Ericson 27. They are very strong, cheap, easy to maintain and dozens have done very impressive offshore passages. Smaller is always better, safer and more fun

 

[Donna_F]

Rather a long thread but it started when Shadow was looking for a small-ish boat to live on and ended up with a C27. She's been living on it for about three years or so by now and has posted changes she made to the interior to make it a liveaboard.

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/livin...ng-shop-around-would-love-feedback-ideas.html

 

[tdw]

Those of you who have lived or are thinking of living on board a sub 30'er ..... how tall are you ?

That has always been my problem with smaller boats. If I was six inches shorter (I'm just on six feet) I reckon I could have coped with living on a 30'er but for me simply not comfortable.

Could have done it if cruising and not working but not live aboard and workling.

 

[Tenoch]

I am 6' 4". My Tanzer 27 had headroom to about 5' 11". Again, I lived on it for three years. Lots of stooping, lots of head bumps. But at 6' 4" its hard to find enough head room on any boat. I sit a lot, stand under the open hatch sometimes, etc. I now live on my HR Monsun 31, and still have about 5' 11" of headroom. It is what it is... I haul Ice for the icebox, don't have a microwave, a shower, or a TV.....but I wouldn't trade living aboard for anything.

 

[djodenda]

I'm 5'9".. I lived aboard a Catalina 27 in Southern California for three years. No headroom issues.
"Normal" people wouldn't do this.. You need to be minimalist, but that's OK. It was a good 3 years. Not comfortable, but good.. great having the boat, which I couldn't have afforded otherwise.

 

[TQA]

Don't buy anything until you at least LOOK at a Catalina 30.

Very spacious and excellent layout.

 

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Those of you who have lived or are thinking of living on board a sub 30'er ..... how tall are you ?

I'm 6'5", I think the headroom on my Nor'sea 27 is around 6'. Haven't measured but it doesn't bother me.

I am 6' 4". My Tanzer 27 had headroom to about 5' 11". Lots of stooping, lots of head bumps. But at 6' 4" its hard to find enough head room on any boat. I sit a lot, stand under the open hatch sometimes, etc.

I do the same with sitting and standing at open hatches. I thought the same about headroom on boats. I didn't expect much to accomodate my height. It doesn't bother me not having full standing headroom.

 

[ReefMagnet]

If it hasn't already been mentioned I'd suggest that living in a marina requires less size than living on the hook. I lived for a while in a 25 footer which was surprisingly doable at a marina but it would have driven me crazy if I'd done it whilst moored or anchored.

 

[tdw]

hmm ... lost a post there somewhere.

I don't find the headroom issue as much as a problem as berth/settee length. Showering on board is a bugger without headroom but in a slip you'd use shore facilities anyway. Cooking can be done sitting down. My problem is that in a small(ish) boat the V-berth is pushed so far forward that my feet are not happy, especially if sharing.

Must say that modern electrical gear has made a huge difference. E-Books and E-Music have certainly removed a lot of my storage problems.

 

[markarsenal]

Just an update. I'm going for a test sail on the Cat27 today. There are a couple other boats that have popped up in the area the past few days which makes me wonder if I'm not jumping the gun. Around the same price, maybe a little less, some with more desirable features but less desirable ones too... For example, an Irwin 30 just came up for the same price. A little bigger, in slightly better shape (from the pics) and with a propane oven/stove rather than just an alcohol stove, but it has a 30HP inboard which would change the regulatory and insurance side of things I think.

I guess no used vessel will be perfect right away - I need to add the things I want and remove the things I don't. I may just use the new listings as a way to negotiate price down a tad. Or just remind myself that I'll likely only be looking after it for a few years before I move on to the next boat too, by which time I'll probably have way more experience and know what I worked and what didn't a lot better.

Will keep updating as I go.

 

[SVAuspicious]

You might want to spend some time on Sailfar.net.

 

[markarsenal]

An update:

The test sail was fun. The boat has a very peppy 8hp outboard yamaha and large fuel tanks. It got us out beyond the Ferry lanes at Horseshoe Bay and we put up the sails in some very unpredictable winds and essentially went out near Passage Island and back. it's set up well for single-handing, and it was my first time using a roller-furl which was amazingly easy to make good with the weird post-storm winds.

I gave a small cash deposit and the ad is off the internet so it's mine. I just need to find a way to quickly transfer money to my CDN accounts so we can do the bill of sale. Which is hard on these bank holidays (why?).

The Horseshoe marina wouldn't let me assume the moorage month-to-month so I called Bowen back. They said they could probably find room for me after this weekend, liveaboard. And that they wanted to interview me for a job :-0

I went over to Bowen, got the job, and they said now they'll make sure they find a space for me in the next week so I can actually live nearby :-D

So quite a lot of awesome things falling into place at once, except the whole bank holiday thing. But starting Monday I'll start cobbling the money together form my US accounts (the falling CAD has made me reluctant to move all my money here, which makes big purchases harder but is a nice budgeting tool, and is making this boat much cheaper).

Also the seller's insurer already gave me a liveaboard quote - about $700 for the year. The first month I don't pay for my city apartment will cover that.

So, my hopes are to have the transaction complete and sail into Snug Cove in no more than 2 weeks. Then I'll have a couple weeks to decide if I like it there before I have to start working there whether I like it or not ;-)

Will keep updating unless ynz are sick of my thread.

 

[markarsenal]

I think I'm still too much of a n00b here to post pictures or links but I made an album on my profile with some pics of the sailing I did the other day on it.

 

[Tenoch]

Congrats. What about the size? Do you think you can live on it? Is there enough headroom?

 

[markarsenal]

I couldn't stand straight in most of the cabin without my heat touching something. But I am on my feet all day for work (chef) so I have a feeling I'll be sitting/laying more often when 'home'...

The true tests for me will be meal time and hosting guests. I will probaby defer judgement on the former until I install new cooking appliances. As for the former, I must admit I've never been in a "if this boat's a-rockin'" situation yet ;-)

Congrats. What about the size? Do you think you can live on it? Is there enough headroom?