What Constitutes a Liveaboard Sailboat?
Everybody's definition of a liveable sailboat varies, but there are a few benchmarks we can use to determine if a boat is suitable to become a full-time residence.
Choosing the right liveaboard sailboat starts with deciding what you need to be comfortable. Everything is a tradeoff onboard a sailboat, but carefully-designed cabins and facilities can help improve your quality of life. Here are a few things to look for when choosing the best affordable liveaboard sailboat.
Overall Size
Size is one of the most important factors when considering a sailboat to live on. Small boats that are less than 20 feet in length are almost always too small for comfortable and clean living. The ideal liveaboard sailboat is usually between 25 and 35 feet in length.
That said, sailboat length isn't the only factor that determines liveability. Some sailboats share the same length but have vastly different accommodations. For example, the Cal 20 has barely any usable cabin space, while the Flicka 20 is suitable for long voyages.
Headroom
Headroom is key for comfortable living on a sailboat and should be considered separately from the overall length. Most sailboats over 27 feet in length have at least six feet of headroom, which is considered "standing headroom" by most people in the industry.
Some vessels may have standing headroom in parts of the cabin, but not all of it. In these situations, you may find a cabin roof bulge over the galley (where standing is necessary), but these vessels often drop the ceiling a few inches over the sitting areas of the cabin and the V-berths.
Galley
What kind of galley does your ideal sailboat have? Cooking is an essential part of daily life, and some sailboats have more than enough cooking and cleaning equipment on board.
Before choosing a sailboat, decide how much galley equipment (and what kind) that you'll need. A stove and a sink are essential, but an icebox, oven, and a refrigerator are certainly nice to have.
Head
The head is the sailboat's bathroom. Many boats come equipped with a porta-potty or similar temporary facilities, but the best affordable liveaboard sailboats have a permanent toilet and showering facilities.
Often, liveaboard sailboats have a shower/sink combo, where the faucet transforms into a shower. Holding tanks for the fresh, gray, and black water are larger on bigger boats, so consider your access to pumping facilities before deciding on a sailboat.
Utilities
How easy is it to hook your boat up to power and water? Modern connections are essential for convenience on a liveaboard sailboat. If you're looking in the low price range, it's important to inspect the condition of the vessel's systems—especially its electrical wiring.
Check the wiring and make sure all (or most) of the outlets, lights, and pumps are operational. Several broken electrical parts and dead switches could be a sign that the boat's wiring is damaged, which is hazardous and highly inconvenient.
Boat wiring is a nightmare, so it's best to find one with operational electrical systems that haven't been heavily tampered with or damaged. Look for and avoid boats with unusually cluttered wiring, exposed copper, and signs of cut-rate repairs.
Best Affordable Sailboats for Living Aboard
What makes a sailboat affordable? Cost is more than just the price you purchase it for—maintenance and spare parts also play a part. We put together this list of the most affordable liveaboard sailboats based on both the initial purchase price and cost of maintenance.
Catalina 25
The Catalina 25 is an excellent entry-level liveaboard sailboat with just enough space and accommodations to keep a single person comfortable. The overall length of the Catalina 25 is less than 30 feet, which minimizes slip fees and reduces ownership cost.
Catalina 25 sailboats were produced in 1978 and 1994, and 5,866 examples of the class were produced. In sailboat terms, that's a pretty big number—which means they're plentiful on the used market.
The Catalina 25 is about as small as it's practical to go when choosing a liveaboard sailboat. The cabin is spacious for its size, with the greatest downside being the keel trunk in the center of the cabin. However, Catalina made good use of the trunk by installing a hinged dining table on the side.
The cabin features a galley with a stove, sink, and an icebox for refrigeration. Floor plans vary, but the majority of used Catalina 25s features a head with a shower, a front V-berth, and a dinette with sofas along each side.
The Catalina 25 is an affordable used sailboat and tons of fun to sail. It's suitable for single-handed sailing, making it a great introductory liveaboard sailboat for single people or couples.
Used Catalina 25 sailboats can be found for between $4,000 and $8,000, making it one of the most affordable liveaboards out there today. With Catalina's build quality and good maintenance, a fiberglass Catalina 25 can last for decades.
Catalina 30
No liveaboard sailboat list is complete without the Catalina 30. This sailboat is one of the most popular 30-foot sailboats ever built, and it features an exceptional interior layout that's perfect for living aboard.
When it comes to size, 30 feet is just about perfect for a single person or a couple living aboard a boat. The original Catalina 30 design was produced between 1972 and 2008, and the company sold around 6,430 vessels during that time.
Down below, the Catalina 30 features a spacious cabin with standing headroom throughout. A full galley is complemented by plenty of overhead and cabinet storage, so owners can safely pack more than just the essentials.
The head is larger than most boats in this size range, and a functional shower is installed on the vast majority of examples from the 1970s onward. The vessel has large storage tanks, which means owners don't need to pump out the black and gray water often.
The Catalina 30 features a full dinette, chart table, and plenty of additional sleeping and berthing locations. A V-berth up front features storage below and along the sides of the hull, leaving lots of room for books, paperwork, personal items, and anything else necessary for living aboard.
The Catalina 30 is easy to find on the used market, and a liveable example can be had for as little as $5,000, but the average price is around $8,000 to $15,000. Parts are easy to find, and there's a wealth of knowledge on the sailing forums about how to maintain, repair, and sail this popular fiberglass vessel.
Cal 28
The Cal 28 is an old but comfortable liveaboard sailboat that's both affordable and readily available. The Cal 28 was designed in 1963 and produced until 1969. Variants of the design were produced well into the 1980s, making it relatively easy to find on the used market.
The Cal 28 is a fast and stout sailboat on the water and spacious down below. It features a thoughtfully-designed galley ahead and several well-proportioned sleeping areas.
Some people regard older fiberglass sailboats like the Cal 28 as better and stronger than their newer counterparts. This is because, back in the 1950s and 1960s, boatbuilders didn't really know how much fiberglass was necessary to build a strong boat. So instead of using "just enough," they'd often make structural components of the vessel way thicker and stronger than they had to be.
The Cal 28 measures 28 feet overall and 22.5 feet at the waterline, making it inexpensive to dock and relatively easy to haul out for maintenance. The vessel features an aluminum mast and boom, which is easy and inexpensive to maintain over the long term.
Cal 28 sailboats have 2,200 lbs of ballast and a long fin keel, making them suitable for living (no centerboard trunk) and offshore sailing (well-balanced hull design). It's also a fast boat, making it an excellent choice for destination cruising.
The Cal 28 itself is highly affordable. The going rate for a Cal 28 in clean, usable condition is between $5,000 and $15,000, especially in areas where sailing was common in the 1960s and 1970s, such as San Diego.
Aloha 28
Here's another fun and safe cruising sloop with plenty of room for living aboard. The Aloha 28 is an affordable and comfortable 28-foot fiberglass sailboat with excellent offshore handling capabilities and a sleek design.
The interior layout of the Aloha 28 is similar to the Catalina 30. Aft, there's a well-designed L-shaped galley with a stove, a sink, and an icebox. Some models came with a gimbal-mounted oven and stove combo, which is great for cooking complex meals aboard.
The center of the cabin features two large sofa-style seats that convert into berths and a swing-out table for eating, chart reading, and other activities. There's plenty of storage space along with the seats, around the galley, and below the cushions.
Towards the bow, there's a full head with a toilet, sink, and shower. The shower pan is on the floor, which makes the head a compact but suitable place to clean yourself up.
A 'master cabin' style V-berth upfront offers great privacy, though most models don't have a physical door separating the forward berth compartment from the rest of the cabin. Instead, a curtain is often present.
The Aloha 28 is under 30 feet in length, making it relatively inexpensive to dock at most liveaboard-friendly marinas. You can find this affordable liveaboard sailboat for a fraction of the cost of a new boat, as most models sell for around $10,000 to $15,000 in clean and usable condition.
Catalina 34
It should come as no surprise that the next affordable liveaboard sailboat on our list is the Catalina 34. Almost 1,500 of these fiberglass vessels were produced after its introduction in 1985, making it a popular choice for liveaboards.
The Catalina 34 is a spacious and heavy sailboat. It weighs nearly six tons, and it's 34.5 feet long overall. With a beam of 11.75 feet, the Catalina 34 is also large enough for a couple to live comfortably with a pet or two as well.
The Catalina 34 has a 7.32-knot hull speed, making it remarkably fast for a boat of its size. That means, should you decide to move your floating home, you can get to and from your destination quickly and efficiently in less-than-excellent weather conditions.
Several variants of the Catalina 34 were produced over the years, but the most common design featured a head aft, a large starboard L-shaped galley, and an enclosed master cabin upfront.
The interior accommodations of the Catalina 34 make it an ideal liveaboard sailboat, as the cabin is extremely spacious and easy to move around. The dining table features U-shaped seating, which easily converts into a large berth.
The head is large and includes a separate nook for showering. This is especially useful if you're uncomfortable showering so close to your sink and toilet. The V-berth upfront is in an enclosed cabin with a locking door and storage all around, along with a space between the door and the berth for standing and moving around.
Used Catalina 34 sailboats are pricier than smaller Catalina 30s, but they're still highly affordable given what they offer. Catalina 34 sailboats in serviceable condition run anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000 or higher, but a nice model can be found for less than $20,000 in most areas.
Tartan 34 C
The Tartan 34 C is less common than most of the boats on this list. Nonetheless, it's worth a look if you're lucky enough to find one. This 11,200-lb sailboat measures 34.42 feet in length and 10 feet in width. It's a hardy-sailing sloop, but where it really shines is down below in the cabin.
The interior layout of the Tartan 34 C varies slightly, but it has spacious accommodations for two or more people. The L-shaped galley sits in the aft part of the cabin and features a large icebox, stove, and sink. The vessel has a large table in the center, which is surrounded on both sides by roomy sofas.
There's an enormous amount of storage space aboard the Tartan 34 C, especially around the settees and berths. Storage is key for a liveaboard sailboat, as you'll need well-designed spaces to store your belongings and keep them organized. On the Tartan 24, you won't have to store all of your stuff in secluded hard-to-reach cubbies.
The Tartan 34 features a fully-enclosed head between the dining area and the V-berth. The head features everything you'd need, including a shower, sink, and toilet, along with adequate space to move around.
The forward V-berth is also fully enclosed and separated from the head and the aft part of the cabin by a wooden door. The "master cabin" layout of the Tartan 24 is a favorite amongst liveaboards, as it offers superior privacy when hosting guests.
The design of the Tartan 34 itself is unique, as most vessels in the 30-plus-foot category don't feature a swing keel. The swing keel reduces the draft of the Tartan 34 in the harbor but increases its stability and windward sailing abilities when underway.
With a reduced draft, the Tartan 34 is ideal for shallower marinas that normally couldn't cater to a vessel of this size. On the used market, the Tartan 34 can be found for between $18,000 and $50,000, depending on a few factors. For the price, you get an affordable floating home and a highly capable cruising sailboat.
