Buying a Boat

[Dave35]

Im an australian located in Europe, have done a bit of sailing in my younger days but not on bigger boats. Thing is that I would like to buy a Liveaboard boat for me and my young family so that we can spend holidays aboard the boat in the Med ..with a long term plan of crusing back to Australia in 5-6 years time. I have read the comments on this board , their seem to be much knowledge here. I am looking at a 45 -55ft boat that I could sail single handed (with the wifes help), it has to be spacious and relatively fast, cheap on fuel and above all proven and tested in demanding blue ocean conditions..I have looked at a few boats but would like any recommendations on what the board would think best..

I have looked at the a 1991 Dufour 54, a Jeanneau International 50 ,a Beneteau 50, a Bavaria 50 and soem Bruce Roberts steel hulls.

Are steel hulls a necessity in blue water cruising ? ...if you had to buy a yacht for the above venture that would be suitable to a family of 4 what would you get and with what type of essentila equipment.

Regards

David

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[Talbot]

As a liveaboard for a family, why not look at a catamaran? Lots more space, better ventilation for the hot climes, more sunbathing space, doesnt heel!

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[cozy]

A steel hull is handy, you can bounce off a reef rather than lose the boat on it, but they are harder work to maintain. Plenty of people use fibreglass boats for extended ocean cruising, and with GPS you are less likely to make a serious navigation error.

Some would say that the quality of your life aboard is defined by the volume of water you can carry/make, which puts a watermaker high on my list.

I would budget for SSB/Satellite phone as well as all the safety equipment I could carry. Plenty of heavy ground tackle, a robust rig (probably a cutter) and windvane type self-steering.


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