what to liveaboard

Sixpence

Sixpence

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Before anyone says it , yes I know I've already asked about moving a barge , and the moorings are my problem , the question is . I have now been offered a 132ft , former mid waters , unconverted trawler , and an 87ft unconverted barge . Anyone care to start the ball rolling on the pro's and cons because I can't decide which to go for . And yes I am serious , not just a wannabe . All responses appreciated as both vessels are nice.
 
Well - wow! Where to start. As a sparkie I suppose you're pretty competent and confident to handle the conversions whereas mere mortals might be a mite awed at either challenge.

What do you want to do? Are either or both of these up to going to sea (rather than rivers) and if so where do you want to go. And how much will either of them take to run when you do want to move it. With the price of fuel that might be a major consideration.

Otherwise go for the trawler - bigger always has advantages if you can handle the boat itself. (I would not say this about short handed sailing yachts planning to cross oceans.)
 
Do you have a mooring suitable for either

The barge will provide a much nicer home with less effort.

Trawler will need careful structural investigation to make sure any bulkheads that have to be moved are not an integral part of the strength of the vessel

Re-plating the barge will be cheaper

If the smaller size of the barge is a concern, they are much easier to alter with an angle grinder and a welder!

Barge should be a more stable platform.

height of the structure may be a factor, but will depend on the actual site chosen for the mooring.

What are other liveaboards in the same area using?
 
whereas mere mortals might be a mite awed at either challenge
Why ? . Maybe I'm being a bit dim here
Trawler would be coastal with long trips envisaged
Barge would stay on river
Running costs would be a case of , if needed , got to have , and have mechanic , welder etc in back pocket (along with soon to be empty wallet). No I'm not rolling in it but as I can't even get a mortgage now (ex-wife) I may as well go with the heart with what would have been house pennys
 
Do you have a mooring suitable for either
yes
Don't intend moving bulkheads
Wasn't aware of stability , please tell more
I understand the height restrictions (previous thread)
No other live aboards in area (I'm first and they think I've cracked) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
barge is flat bottomed - movement around onboard will not make a great deal of difference to angle of heel,

trawler is designed to pierce through waves, will probably have a round bilge. heavy weight on one side (e.g. your waterbed!) will have a pronounced effect on the angle of heel.


With both, you will need to make sure that the conversion design makes provision for some method of making the horizontal, horixontal, and that the use and replacement of fuel and liquids does not have an effect on that horizontal.
 
Ah , got you , yes we have taken balance into account , dual tanks and compensation pumps worked into the system means we will (hopefully) be able to trim as needed , but WATERBED , now theresddsdw ,,, sorry , got slap on back of head , /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
When liveing aboard a barge your very comfortable,

When you want to go off somewhere by boat you use a tender perhaps a 30foot riva orlarger cat boat with twin 600hp outboards? Modern times no speed limit no limit
 
Vessels of this size take up extrorinary quantitiys of materials,but apart from that they will dominate your life,you need proffessional help. unless your a renassance man. this cost money. Having said that Iwould choose the Barge.
 
Is the barge more suitable for sitting on the bottom on a drying mooring. it seems to be more versatile? as trawler maybe wouldn`t be able to ? tin boat is good as can cut and shut to suit, presumably tou can weld if not its not hard to teach yourself. Which vessel would have the best resale value. I would suggest that any large old engine is replaced for one a quarter the size with same HP and the space saved used for a workshop.

I quite envy you your challenge. start with major design and commence cabin(stateroom) by cabin
 
One coment, All steel boats rust i saw once a very comfortable barge for sale in Paris if the mooring in the center of Paris was truly freehold and safe to use without rick of loosing it the price then of 800.000Ffr (pre euro)was very good it did say the bottem was very thin and work would be needed!!

I wonderd just how much it would have cost to move to a dry dock for work to be done and what restrictions for towing etc would add price wise!!

Do check hull thicknes and if rivited the rivits as it only need one to fall out to need a bilge pump running once or twice a day forever!! Once the barge is fully fitted out.
 
Iam sorry didnt read instructions properly! If I had to choose it would be the barge from purely practical reasons of easier conversion,but without any more details this opinion is not validA mid water trawlwe might well havw accomodation etc ready to live in and a small dutch style canal barge also but in either case the thought of being responsible for maintenience of either vessels would give me he hibby jeebees.
 
More detail ,, The trawler has crew accomodation although it would need renovating , the barge is bare . Hull thickness of both needs to be checked but both are floating , and the trawler is on drying mooring , the barge isn't . Welding man in tow so no problem , and peculiarly , I'm not bothered about resale value , I want a home not an investment , that's what's gone wrong with the housing in this country .
 
I am not a liveaboard and anything this size is out of my experiance, but anyway here's my tuppence worth.........

I would have thought that for pure living purposes that a Barge would give you the most accomadation, and a greater degree of flexibility in it's layout and with fitting out perhaps more akin to a house.

Whilst the Trawler would have the greater potential to relocate around the UK or just to head off into the wide blue yonder at some point in the future.

Of course I may have missed what sort of barge we are talking about, whether it is purely river use or could make a hop accross the channel or down the coast (weather permitting), and therefore could also have the option of a lap around Europe, at some point in the future, which the Trawler may not be so useful for.

I guess what I am saying is that the best choice depends on what you intend to use it for (or maybe more importantly NOT use it for).

Nice choices to make!
 
what i ment that the price had to reflect the work needed on the barge.

I agree about house prices they only stopped going up in France when the rush from the UK slowed.By then the French couldent aforde to buy a house!

Recently a house advertise at over the 1 million francs was sold for 400,000Ffr nearer one third!and more representative of the value

One other point i once stayed for a few weeks on a small Dutch barge in Holland i used to think they were huge but when living in it it shrank!!! House style takes far more room than boat style!! But then you get a useful fridge and a wash machine that takes the wash in one go not four!!
 
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132ft , former mid waters , unconverted trawler , and an 87ft unconverted barge

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Just re-read your post...........132 foot is a LOT of boat.

If I wasn't going anywhere I would probably go for the barge as it would have enough room for my purposes and whilst the Trawler would probably also have enough room..........132 foot is a LOT of boat to maintain. (But I probbaly would be tempted!)

Any photos to post so we can see what we are looking at (and just to be nosey!)
 
you will at some point need to re-plate the steel below the waterline. The barge will be a much easier job as 90%+ of the plates will be flat.

The barge will be easier to design an interior for permanent living and a decent size and shaped lounge with windows. If you dont intend to remove bulkheads in the trawler, expect that the layout would be far from ideal as living space.

Barge would be my selection every time

There was a very good series on Discovery Channel a few months ago about a couple buying and fitting out a barge to live in London. The final result was breathtaking. recommend you see if you can get a copy of the series.
 
My thoughts are that the barge probably gives more space without too much difficulty but the trawler gives more options for moving home etc. If someone can tell me how to post pics here I can do that , any takers ?
 
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