Gullet as a liveaboard

[ITH]

Anyone with experience of, or opinions about, the suitability of a Turkish gullet as a liveaboard in the Med?

My wife and I would like to spend 6 months a year on board in the Med; we're early 60s but reasonably fit, and over the years have crewed on a variety of sailing yachts in UK and European waters - up to 15m.

We are trying to weigh up the pros and cons of a 10m to 12m gullet - suitably rigged for short handed sailing - but our only experience of them has been on holiday charters in Turkey and Greece. From that we know that gullets are no greyhounds and that we will spend more time under engine than sail, but we've found them good mannered in modest seas and very comfy.

As liveaboard virgins we would be grateful to hear from more experienced folk.

 

[Talbot]

Welcome to the forums. unfortunately the search engine is not working very well at the moment, cause there has been extensive discussion of this in the past.

 

[wishbone]

Gullets on the whole seem to be wooden, they are very roomy but have been told they are a pig to sail and heavy gear, the ones I have come across seem to do a lot of motoring.

 

[AndrewB]

Past threads that you might find interesting are HERE and HERE. As you are aware, gulets are attractive and have excellent accomodation, but are not good sea-boats, with limited sailing ability, really only downwind. They seem cheap for what they are, but of course they are made of wood which will require maintenance. These other threads do raise concerns about typical build quality and durability.

 

[ITH]

Thanks for the welcome Mark; I couldn't work out why the SEARCH facility didn't throw up any references. Andrew Bebbington has pointed me towards previous threads - very useful.

I've sailed - albeit for very short periods - on both steel and various permutations of wooden (pine, iroko, teak) gullets. I appreciate the maintenance issues - but I assume these apply to any timber hull?

And given the general gullet design I understand why it will never win any upwind competitions.

However, a fair number of (previous thread) comments seem to be of the "I've been told . . " variety. I wondered whether there is anybody out there who has had first-hand liveaboard experience?

 

[Papapete5]

Must admit have not lived aboard a gulet. I have done work on some though. over the past few years have had these experiences of them:
One arrived in our marina for small repairs only to spend the whole winter trying to leave. Every time they left the harbour something went wrong and they were forced back.
Another also arrived here for small repairs and stayed the winter out of choice as the experienced Dutch skipper decided he would not like to sail/motor boat to Italy in winter weather.
Unfortunately at the same time my ex-boss undertook a delivery, as skipper, of another similarly sized boat (20M+) with a crew of 2 plus the owner, his wife and his father. The weather was atrocious, 1 day out there was a garbled phone call and they were never seen again. The body of one of the crew was found about 250 miles from their last position.
A fourth gulet was in our marina for quite a while. I was on board a few times, and must admit construction was extremely chunky. Very thick beams planks etc. Turkish hydraulic steering a bit difficult to source parts for, at least in greece and the boat was fitted with a built in generator (petrol powered...)
A recent arrival came to the marina for a refit. the boat was new but obviously had been bought at a very reasonable price. Most of the equipment on board actually looked as if it had been salvaged off other boats. almost everything had to be changed, seacocks,skin fittings, hoses.
From what I am told gulets can be very top heavy and unstable. However as an acquaintance of mine lived on one for a few years and actually invited us on board to a couple of parties, I must admit he sure looked comfortable. Eventually he sold the boat however as he found it a bit of a handful to sail and maintain (19M+)

I hope you find this useful?

 

[ITH]

Peter,

Thanks for your input; practical experience like yours is much appreciated. Seems as if there are plenty of reasons to be cautious about a gulet liveaboard.

Incidentally, what boat did your acquaintance go for, after he sold his gulet - or was that the end of his time as a liveaboard?

 

[Papapete5]

He went for a very peculiar looking kind of cathedral hulled motorboat. It is almost like a houseboat, albeit a very modern looking one. He bought it in France, and stayed there for a while but I think he realised he preferred Corfu so he brought the boat here. It is very chunky and looks very comfortable. As soon as i get invited on board I will give more details. I presume from your original post that you like to sail, hence you are looking for some kind of sailboat. Have you considered a catamaran? Gouvia marina where I have my chandlery has become a haven for cats as there is a lot of room here. Every year I meet an increasing number of people who have gone for a cat, and I must say if I could afford it i would too. Very comfortable...

 

[Talbot]

[ QUOTE ]
Every year I meet an increasing number of people who have gone for a cat, and I must say if I could afford it i would too

[/ QUOTE ]
There are a number of reasonably priced cats that offer enormous advantages for liveaboard. I have a 9m Catalac, and the accomodation is great, I would admit that performance to windward is not great (and if against tide as well I would normally consider use of the engine) - but so do most true motor sailors!