Motor yachts that are more suited for living aboard?

[lufihengr]

I have been researching living on a motor yacht. A yacht because a houseboat can't really survive long passages a sea. I have been trying to find models that have a layout more typical of an apartment, instead of a hotel.

So far the yachts I have seen, seem to have a common theme which is lots of en suite bathrooms. Now if we think about a typical house with say 3 bedrooms, it won't have 3 bathrooms. It might have one, maybe two and the second bathroom likely won't have a shower. I find this obsession with en suite bathrooms to be an excessive use of space in such a space limited application like a yacht. For a charter yacht it might make sense, but for a privately owned one I think it is excessive.

Does anyone know of any yachts that have a more typical residential layout? Of course if you custom build, you can do anything. And if you get a 100+ foot yacht it doesn't matter anymore, but if we are talking about more "normal" yachts, boats even. Like sub 10 million $/£/€.

Am I making any sense or am I being ridiculous? Any input is appreciated

 

[Hurricane]

I take your point about more bathroom than an apartment.
But a lot of houses these days will have ensuites and I really think it is nice to have one bathroom/ensuite per bedroom.
That bit doesn't put me off.

I don't live on the boat but I do spend many months at a time away on ours.
I have been known to spend 5 months during the summer on board.
FWIW, these are my views.
Bedrooms are important.
They set the standard of your on board living.
Personally, I don't like the main bedroom in the bow where the water slaps around at night.
So, high on my list is a boat with the main bedroom midships or an aft cabin.
Sticking on the subject of bedrooms, out Princess 67 is big enough to have 4 bedrooms but the designers decided to go for 3 big cabins and have loads of space for storage etc.
Very rarely do we have more than two couples as visitors so the 3 cabins works well for us.
This leads me on to another big issue - laundry.
IMO, if you are living aboard, an on board clothes washing machine is a MUST - and better if it is in the main part of the boat.
Ours is a washer dryer located in the main companionway, so when I'm on the boat on my own, I bung the washing in before going to bed and it is dry when I wake up in the morning.
OTOH, dishwashers are not that important - we have one in the galley but it rarely gets any use - I would rather the space was for storage.

Our galley is on the main deck which makes it more sociable. Even when I'm on my own, I often invite friends round for dinner and it is nice to be talking to them whilst preparing the food.
And on the subject of entertaining - think of where you will sit yourself and friends down to eat - or even just for a few drinks.
Our saloon works well for casual drinks as well as sitting down to watch TV etc.
We have 3 eating areas - one in the cockpit - one around the internal dinette and one on the flybridge.
IMO, partying is an important of the overall enjoyment of life - having friends round etc.

This leads me on to suggesting a boat with a flybridge.
The flybridge effectively gives you much more space.
Back to your analogies - the flybridge would be like an apartment having an outside garden/terrace.
The cockpit could be likened to an apartment having a conservatory but better than that because it can be opened up to the fresh air.

You have probably excluded the conventional flybridge boat but the overall layout makes a lot of sense if you are going to spend a lot of time on board.
It works for me anyway.

As I say, I don't live full time on board but I wouldn't mind doing so on ours.

There are lots of other points but maybe these will get the conversations started.

 

[lufihengr]

snip

Thanks for the thought out reply, much appreciated. Lots of good points.

For the cabin layout, having the master at midships seems smart, I think a good design would have storage at the bow or possibly the bathrooms of the guest cabins. The water slapping wouldn't be such an annoyance in the bathrooms. But I don't know what it would look like in terms of a floorplan.

Washing machine, a nice big TV, good audio equipment, a computer desk are all things that would be necessities to me.

I definitely haven't excluded flybridge boats, I agree that in the summer it would be a nice entertainment area.

It's also not easy to find boats with more unique solutions to the crew cabin/garage/storage area at the rear. I'd like to see this space be used for something else as well. Like maybe an office space. I guess the problem is that the engine room is in between, so it's hard to integrate that space with the rest of the boat. Living aboard would mean that there won't be a separate crew at all. If a temporary captain is needed for whatever reason, they would be in the guest cabins.

A solution for more space is of course to go bigger, but that also limits where you can moor up. I would like to cruise around the Finnish archipelagos, so a very large yacht is not ideal either. Some nice waterways around here are only 1.5m deep, so that's also a factor. Something like your 67 would be on the sweet spot for port accessibility around here

 

[Hurricane]

Thanks for the thought out reply, much appreciated. Lots of good points.

For the cabin layout, having the master at midships seems smart, I think a good design would have storage at the bow or possibly the bathrooms of the guest cabins. The water slapping wouldn't be such an annoyance in the bathrooms. But I don't know what it would look like in terms of a floorplan.

Washing machine, a nice big TV, good audio equipment, a computer desk are all things that would be necessities to me.

I definitely haven't excluded flybridge boats, I agree that in the summer it would be a nice entertainment area.

It's also not easy to find boats with more unique solutions to the crew cabin/garage/storage area at the rear. I'd like to see this space be used for something else as well. Like maybe an office space. I guess the problem is that the engine room is in between, so it's hard to integrate that space with the rest of the boat. Living aboard would mean that there won't be a separate crew at all. If a temporary captain is needed for whatever reason, they would be in the guest cabins.

A solution for more space is of course to go bigger, but that also limits where you can moor up. I would like to cruise around the Finnish archipelagos, so a very large yacht is not ideal either. Some nice waterways around here are only 1.5m deep, so that's also a factor. Something like your 67 would be on the sweet spot for port accessibility around here

Actually, in the Med, I find that the 67 (20m) is a bit too big for some places.
I wouldn't change it because I like the space but a lot of overnight mooring buoys around Mallorca exclude boats bigger than 15m.
We tend to ignore the warnings on those buoys and tie up anyway.
So, not exactly the same "sweet spot" that you classify for Finland.
But, overall, 20m is a nice comfortable size.
In an ideal (no expense spared) world, I would go a tad bigger - say 23m but the extra benefits for me don't justify the extra costs.

On the office side of things.
I agree but
.
.
.
.
Same as at home, I don't like the office being tucked away.
At home, my office is right in the middle of all the living spaces.
On the boat, initially, I set up a desk to work from in the mid cabin - see this pic:-



But I found it was too far away from any action - I like to be able to see if anyone comes knocking.
That chair was a little uncomfortable as well.

So, I now use the dinette table and with the ship's computer screen on a long lead.
It is great to sit in front of the computer and keep an eye on what is going on around.
This is the dinette - the computer screen removed and set for dinner.
Note how close the dinette is to the galley.



On the subject of the PC, the ship's computer is fed to all the nav screens around the boat.
It has an "always on" (4G) internet connection and connected via a tunnelled VPN to mu computers in the UK.
Giving me a real "home from home" feeling.

These pics were taken a long time ago (12 years ago) but we have tried to keep that "homely" feel to the boat rather than the bland atmosphere you get from boats at boat shows.
A warm, "lived in" space like this:-

 

[lufihengr]

Actually, in the Med, I find that the 67 (20m) is a bit too big for some places.

Looks like a real nice setup there.
Surprised to hear it's even a bit big for the med

 

[PlanB]

One crucial question is - do you have budget?

 

[lufihengr]

One crucial question is - do you have budget?

Realistically to get what I really want, no I don't

Some compromises will need to happen. And practical matters that need to really be sorted beforehand like where to go at winter. Realistically I can't motor down to warmer seas, as I'm needed at work sites here. So to find a place to keep a boat while living in it is not easy. Best bet is buying a plot of land. But then will the authorities recignise a boat as a residence? The sea freezes at winter so keeping it in the water isn't ideal. Preventing freezing anyway is a concern. It could be that my idea is not very practical as a whole due to external circumstances.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I think what Plan B meant was, "How much do you want to spend".... ? In your opening post you talk of 'sub 10 million'... that should get you something pretty decent

 

[Bigplumbs]

I think what Plan B meant was, "How much do you want to spend".... ? In your opening post you talk of 'sub 10 million'... that should get you something pretty decent

It certainly should