Want To Buy: LOOKING FOR: First liveaboard

[HKalka]

Hey Everyone,
I am just in the process of looking for my first Liveaboard. Can anyone help direct me to where to look? I am ideally looking for a Houseboat rather then a Sailboat. Something with deck space, cooking and fridge. Ideally a Queen bed but that seems hard to come by. Any suggestions on where to start the search would be amazing! Located in Pickering, Ontario!

[tkeithlu]

Welcome to the forum, HKalka.

Wow! Ontario is WAY out of North Florida. You wouldn't need a dingthy - you could skate to shore.

Let me look at the Florida market. I'll get back to you.

[tkeithlu]

Hmmm. Plenty on the market down here. The small ones, basically pontoon boats with cabins and under 40', seem to be about $20,000; the next size up around $100,000, and then they jump to $3-500,000.

I don't know what market you are pursuing.

Let me know if you want some links.

Good luck with it. What sort of moving about do you envision?

[brendanwalls]

The boat was advertised on cruisersforum February 13. It would be a great boat for you

[Grandwagoneer0]

I have a ready to go 1985 Catalina 36 in Baltimore. Ready to move aboard!!

[TrentePieds]

Is this the sort of thing you are looking for:

https://bluewaterhouseboats.ca/?page_id=13

They will serve in the Great Lakes as well as they do on Lake Okanagan, and they'll do just fine in Ontario's Lake Country.

But be warned! They are barges - NOT boats - and behave accordingly. High winds are not to their liking and it would be dangerous to be caught out on Lake Ontario in one of these when Rude Boreas comes visiting!

TrentePIeds

[skipmac]

Have a friend selling a houseboat in Green Cove Springs FL (just south of Jacksonville). He just overhauled it and should be in good condition. Looks like a regular lake type houseboat but is a bit more heavy duty, little more freeboard and better hull.

If interested I'll send the details.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

Is this the sort of thing you are looking for:

https://bluewaterhouseboats.ca/?page_id=13

They will serve in the Great Lakes as well as they do on Lake Okanagan, and they'll do just fine in Ontario's Lake Country.

But be warned! They are barges - NOT boats - and behave accordingly. High winds are not to their liking and it would be dangerous to be caught out on Lake Ontario in one of these when Rude Boreas comes visiting!

TrentePIeds

I don't know. Blue water and houseboat just seems like an oxymoron to me

[TrentePieds]

Indeed :-)! Last year there was a thread re houseboats where a good deal was made of our opinion that "Bluewater Houseboats" is oxymoronic.

It is always appropriate to bear in mind that the most successful marketers are those "selling into a market of ignorance" :-)!

Cheers

TP

[hamburking]

Hello from Kingston...I'm just up the lake from you!

First, please don't eliminate all sailboats before you have a look at some. Boats aren't houses. If you want your boat to look like your house (or condo), you will be disappointed...unless you have very deep pockets. But if you look, you may discover that sailboats are super efficient, comfortable, and they move under the power of the wind...what could be better?

If you are a single male, you could be quite happy on something like a Pearson 30...lots of space. These usually sell (in Canada) well under $10k. I know...I had one and tried to sell it...LOL. Here's another from a 10 second google search:

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-sailboat/owe...oat/1488913322

A Grampian 30 is another inexpensive boat that has lots of space.

I'm sure you would be deliriously happy on this Endeavour 35...it looks awesome: 1983 Endeavour 35 Sailboat For Sale

However, you haven't really told us much...like your budget, boating skills, or where you intend to keep your boat....Bluffers? Whitby Marina? Frenchman's Bay?

A sailboat is like a tiny house. But better.

If budget is a constraint, there are lots of older boats out there that are excellent boats, selling for cheap. Just search for keyword ATOMIC 4 ENGINE....LOL.

If you have a few bucks, a Hunter from the Legend series (mid 90's) is great choice...KING SIZE bunk in the aft cabin, separate shower stall, all the luxuries of home...its like a beautiful condo built into a sailboat. I had a 94 Legend 35.5 and it was great.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-sailboat/gra...oat/1468411536

[dvop]

https://sites.google.com/view/y-knot/

[reTRACKERS]

Hello from Pickering as well!

I too have done extensive research; what I found was that there are a lot of options if you do province-wide kijiji searches. Set pricing from $5,000 to whatever (weeds out most of the unpriced, motors, parts, etc). I'm planning to jump into this by the end of the year!

[reTRACKERS]

[QUOTE=hamburking;3081577]Hello from Kingston...I'm just up the lake from you!

First, please don't eliminate all sailboats before you have a look at some. Boats aren't houses. If you want your boat to look like your house (or condo), you will be disappointed...unless you have very deep pockets. But if you look, you may discover that sailboats are super efficient, comfortable, and they move under the power of the wind...what could be better?

However, you haven't really told us much...like your budget, boating skills, or where you intend to keep your boat....Bluffers? Whitby Marina? Frenchman's Bay?


Hello! I agree as well (from research); I went from wanting a condo alternative to deciding to do the loop in 2021!