Downtown42

My wife and I + the dog, lived on our boat for about 8 months after a quick sale of the existing house and built a new one.

This was in 1991 and on a 30' Carver Aft cabin ( similar to the 32' Aft). Worked out pretty good. Had everything in a nearby storage facility and a rented PO box for mail. Quarters were tight but the aft and bridge added alot of extra room.

BoatShow239

I have lived on a number of boats, and each time it ended being shorter than expected, and that was no problem.

While the Formula 40 is a wonderful boat, the previous statement was very true. Not feasible. Great for maybe a long weekend, but...

I have spent time on a 32' Wellcraft, 30' Sportcraft, 34' Carver, 36' CS Cruiser (wide-body), 35' C&C, 40' houseboat (don't remember the make) 34' Mainship Trawler, 38?' Marinette Cruiser. And moved and/or crewed on a number of others.

The houseboat and the Marinette had the best living layout. Room, storage space, general facilities and overall comfort. The CS Cruiser (sailboat) would be next and then the Mainship.

For most of these times I had an enclosed trailer and a van for additional convenience. I rotated clothing and linen from boat to trailer to prevent mold

No matter the boat, where you are docked it is best to be where there is a nice bath house/restroom/laundry available. Once the salon/berths on a boat get humid/damp it is difficult to get good air flow to prevent mildew and then strange odors.

The gentle slap of water on the hull will put you right to sleep, unless of course it is during a moderate to heavy wind, and then all of a sudden you want to kill the Loch Ness monster that is slapping his tail against your boat.

OK, now you want to go for a boat ride! First, put everything away that you have put around the boat to be easy to get to. Lay the TV on the couch, latch the cabinets, get out all the gear you have put so it is not in your way for day-to-day living. Remember you must reverse this process when you get back to the berth.

I lived on the 34' Carver for most of a spring, a good part of the summer and then nearly all of the fall in the Great Lakes. Actually it was not that bad about being hot or cold. Again, humid and damp were the worst thing. And the shower/restroom/laundry were about 30' away from my slip. Amazing how small a 40 gal holding tank is!

Dockage is far from inexpensive and a decent sized skiff is better than something like a Porta-Bote.

Would I do it again... you bet cha! I might be going to Lake Michigan this fall to bring a 48' Trawler through the ditch to SWF. Likely an 8 week trip!!!

LaughingCat

Having a hard time picturing putting your motorcycle on any of those boats. Or were you referring to an actual bicycle?

BoatShow239

I would hope he is not talking about a Goldwing or Heritage Soft Tail. Of the boats I have been on for time, a scooter or small cycle could fit the swim platforms, rear deck or fore deck and you would not believe some of the things I have seen tied to the safety lines on sailboats!!! I am not saying I would, I am just saying it could be done.

I would think the wisdom would be to use public transit or rent a car to retrieve vehicle after a boat move, and keep the bike on the hard.

We used a gin pole to take a 125?cc cycle off the front deck of a 36? Silverton and there was a Grand Banks with a davit on the fly roof which on one side it deployed the skiff and the other 2 small cycles. I guess whatever float or sinks the boat!

[email protected]

Thanks for the comments and advice so far.

The bike would like be a Husqvarna TE610 dual sport bike as it's a good blend of off and on road performance. I could likely load it onto the boat with a padded ramp like you'd load it into the back of the truck.

I guess I could just buy a bit smaller boat and trailer it to destinations. I can pick and choose where I take jobs and make sure it's on the coast, LOTO, the great lakes in the summer, etc.

The contracts are typically 13 weeks so I wouldn't be in one plCe too long unless we both agreed to extend the contract.

I'm trying to wrap my brain around how I could make this work so I appreciate all of the advice.

36Envision

I'd do something much larger than a Formula 40SS, maybe a two level Carver?? I also would question placing a motorcycle on the boat, unless you had a large swim platform to mount & secure the bike too while moving from A to B. Good luck!

black thunder 46

It all depends on how far and how fast you want to go. A 40SS will not be as big as a normal cruser but you can get where you want to go faster then a normal cruser I would go with a SS if you want to travel far but you wont have a lot of space for stuff.
Brett

Need-the-Speed

AGREE -

Sounds like a good plan but I wouldn't do it on a 40 SS. If you want something that looks good and is a bit better than a 40 SS maybe think about a 50 Dancer. 15ft. beam, washer & Dryer, couple cabins, couple nice diesels. You can find mid 90's for $135K - up.

Another good looking "big" boat you can find for pretty decent $$ is mid 90's Trojan 440. Big roomy layout for a express. These might be a bit old for your flavor. I guess with the Dancer you could always get a 2012. I wasn't sure what the spending limit is.

While I'm spending other peoples money........

If you have a little more $$$ I'd say buy a 63 Sunseeker Predator. No need for a capt' liscense and they get up around 40 knots with a pair of 1100 hp diesels. 300-500K for a decent used boat that you can fill full of naked ladies and all the rum you can carry. Hell with the Enduro idea. Thats boyish. Go with a pair of Duc's. Multistrada 1200's. You know his & hers..... when you find that special lady. You can fit the bikes in the trunk of the boat... you know instead of the 15 ft. jet boat thats included.


Whatever you buy make sure you get something with a good roomy shower and a nice $hitter. Get the seperate shower stall.
Good luck have fun and don't worry about the guys on here that say it's not feasable. They are just pi$$ed because they never did anything this good. I know I am.

rfgonzo

I would do a bit more thinking on this one. JMO, Getting a divorce you may not be in the right frame of mind? and you definitely don't want to jeopardize your career, as it sounds like a good one. Good Luck. Take it slow and do some rational thinking.

dereknkathy

trailerable livaboard. bigger oxymoron than jumbo shrimp. if you can pull it up the ramp and head down the road, it is too small to live in. plus you need a huge truck and trailer being stored at each location. my vote goes to a big convertable. 42 Post or so. 15'9" beam. 2 bedrooms-one with queen bed. good sized salon. and the cockpit is the reason you live on a boat. with an aft cabin you are always inside or way up on the roof. plus it doesn't even look like a boat! also, nobody is buying big boats these days. and you could cut a tuna door in the side of the cockpit and practically drive a bike on-off the boat.