silver-fox
Well-Known Member
Well we have finally put down a deposit on our chosen liveaboard boat. In an earlier post I was asked to post what our choice was, and the criteria once the decision was made. So here goes.....
Firstly can SWMBO and myself thank you all for your advice, good wishes and encouragement - very heartening!
Well the deed is done, the deposit lodged with the broker and the survey booked for next Wednesday. Unless something 'orrible turns up we should be proud owners before Christmas.
So what did we go for in the end? To my surprise and delight a British boat, the Moody 425 no less, won the day.
What are our selection criteria? Well, in the end we decided the following were important to us: -
1. Capital cost below £100k, (much less if possible!!)
2. Fibreglass for low maintenance
3. Proven, stable and seaworthy (decent keel/ballast, stable, small windows, moderate size cockpit etc)
4. Reasonably fast for good passage times (lWL and fin and skeg were factors here)
5. Roller reefing main and foresail to encourage us to reef early and often and in safety from the cockpit
6. Sloop rather than ketch as the roller reefing gives great variety of sail plans without all the extra mast and rigging
7. Large enough to live on comfortably and have guests from time to time but not so large costs went into the stratosphere. In the end we decided 40ft min and 45ft max.
8. Good storage
9. Decent size saloon with straight bench seats that could double as bunks or for just plain slobbing about on.
10. Spacious aft cabin with centreline bunk (important to us this for living aboard)
11. Good sized galley with plenty of cool storage
12. Good engine access (3 sides)
13. Marinised Ford diesel (by Thornycroft) so parts cheap and readily available.
14. No teak decking (gets too hot and too expensive says Nigel Calder and who am I to argue?)
15. Clear uncluttered decks with area for SWMBO to sunbathe
16. Plenty of opening hatches for ventilation
The Moody was unique in hitting all these marks for the money and size (Along with its sister yachts the M38, M422, and M44). Other yachts we saw seriously tempted us, but in the end the M425 is the boat for us.
Do we see any inherent disadvantages in our choice? The answer has to be yes. Firstly, by modern standards, the heads aren’t as big as they could be and a few inches here and there would improve things considerably.
More importantly we are aware that with a centre-cockpit design there are constraints on the Bimini height and this is going to be a bit lower than we ideally like. Also the centre cockpit can make mooring stern-to a bit more difficult (– but at least you get a bit more privacy once moored.)
Was it an easy choice to make? In theory yes, the boat model selected itself on merit over a period of a few months and many viewings. In practice it got difficult when we narrowed our choice down to the final three 425s – all of which had pros and cons. I have to admit that the bottom lip was wobbling when it came to final decision time. That said, having had a few days to think about it, the decision is sitting well with us both so we are happy now.
So as previously mentioned, the house is sold and we have just 3 months to get everything ship-shape and Bristol fashion before becoming full time liveaboards.
Excitin innit?/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
…..Expect future posting to change in tone as I start to worry less about boat choice and more about gear and maintenance.
Anybody make a recommendation on what anchor I should buy?/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Firstly can SWMBO and myself thank you all for your advice, good wishes and encouragement - very heartening!
Well the deed is done, the deposit lodged with the broker and the survey booked for next Wednesday. Unless something 'orrible turns up we should be proud owners before Christmas.
So what did we go for in the end? To my surprise and delight a British boat, the Moody 425 no less, won the day.
What are our selection criteria? Well, in the end we decided the following were important to us: -
1. Capital cost below £100k, (much less if possible!!)
2. Fibreglass for low maintenance
3. Proven, stable and seaworthy (decent keel/ballast, stable, small windows, moderate size cockpit etc)
4. Reasonably fast for good passage times (lWL and fin and skeg were factors here)
5. Roller reefing main and foresail to encourage us to reef early and often and in safety from the cockpit
6. Sloop rather than ketch as the roller reefing gives great variety of sail plans without all the extra mast and rigging
7. Large enough to live on comfortably and have guests from time to time but not so large costs went into the stratosphere. In the end we decided 40ft min and 45ft max.
8. Good storage
9. Decent size saloon with straight bench seats that could double as bunks or for just plain slobbing about on.
10. Spacious aft cabin with centreline bunk (important to us this for living aboard)
11. Good sized galley with plenty of cool storage
12. Good engine access (3 sides)
13. Marinised Ford diesel (by Thornycroft) so parts cheap and readily available.
14. No teak decking (gets too hot and too expensive says Nigel Calder and who am I to argue?)
15. Clear uncluttered decks with area for SWMBO to sunbathe
16. Plenty of opening hatches for ventilation
The Moody was unique in hitting all these marks for the money and size (Along with its sister yachts the M38, M422, and M44). Other yachts we saw seriously tempted us, but in the end the M425 is the boat for us.
Do we see any inherent disadvantages in our choice? The answer has to be yes. Firstly, by modern standards, the heads aren’t as big as they could be and a few inches here and there would improve things considerably.
More importantly we are aware that with a centre-cockpit design there are constraints on the Bimini height and this is going to be a bit lower than we ideally like. Also the centre cockpit can make mooring stern-to a bit more difficult (– but at least you get a bit more privacy once moored.)
Was it an easy choice to make? In theory yes, the boat model selected itself on merit over a period of a few months and many viewings. In practice it got difficult when we narrowed our choice down to the final three 425s – all of which had pros and cons. I have to admit that the bottom lip was wobbling when it came to final decision time. That said, having had a few days to think about it, the decision is sitting well with us both so we are happy now.
So as previously mentioned, the house is sold and we have just 3 months to get everything ship-shape and Bristol fashion before becoming full time liveaboards.
Excitin innit?/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
…..Expect future posting to change in tone as I start to worry less about boat choice and more about gear and maintenance.
Anybody make a recommendation on what anchor I should buy?/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
