Top 5 Small Sailboats You Can Live On! Ep 257 - Lady K Sailing

I was lucky enough to get a beautiful Challenger 32 for $6,500. Everything a fellow needs to live comfortably, even a hot shower! Pretty darn good shape for a '77! I am fortunate to have good health and physical ability to still be sailing and enjoying it, at 86! Keep on "Keepin' on!" John

Go small. Go simple. Go now. Well said

I lived on an old Catalina 30 for almost 3 years. It was a dream come true and very comfortable! Highly recommend it.

I'm in the UK so this may not relate but we bought a 1979 Colvic Sea Rover 28 with a furling cutter rig, for £2500 and spent the same again fixing her up. Sails great in the Irish Sea and it's comfortable. Nice to see you talking about boats with more affordable prices.

Just bought my first sailboat a few months back, 1967 morgan 34 centerboard, 3/4 keel. paid a whopping 3750 with a running diesel engine, AC and generator. Beyond blessed for the opportunity

i know nothing about boats but love these videos

I had a 25' Erikson, I lived on that for 4yrs. I loved it.

Here in Brazil, for many years I sailed a 1974 Ranger 29 designed by Gary Mull, made in California. Strong, ralatively fast and low cost. After renewing she completely, I was really happy.

just awesome content you are producing and i really love how you always use actual examples and not just theoretical tipps. this makes your videos super relevant 👍🙌 please continue the good work

Cool video! I bought my Ericson 27 for $2500 and used it as an apartment for 3 years while fixing it up and saving money. I've since moved to land but sail and anchor out on the weekends. Great boat

I have a Catalina 25 up here in Washington state. Its perfect for the Puget Sound. Good for solo sailing. Spent over a year renovating it. I dont live on it but sleep on it quite often. I'm 6'1" and 230 lbs and fit in the V-berth quite comfortably. Love your videos Lady K!!!

About the wheel vs. tiller. You talk about doing a 100 mile day. Anyone doing that distance is going to have a wind vane, and those are easier to set up on a tiller.

I lived on a 1972 Catalina 27. LOVED it. Then a Yorktown 32. Loved it. Great times had all around.

first time i saw the galley on cat 30 was amazed. i had a cal 20 so any galley amazed me. in seattle procuring a liveaboard permit at shilshole used to take years but a liveaboard permit for a small boat was instant back then. and the small boat mooring births with power are the closest to the shore and most importantly the bathrooms showers and laundry. i was on j dock closest to the bar as well :) my little cal took me everywhere singlehanded.

I lived on my 22ft Hunter sailboat for a year, now I did keep her in a nice marina so I had the use of nice bathroom and pool ( near Annapolis MD)

Great video. I love my Catalina 25. My first boat, she reminds me of my first car decades and decades ago, a VW bug. Both have that small & simple, "you can count on me vibe." And both are larger on the inside than outside. Only thing, not for very tall people.

I'm downsizing from my 50' steel schooner to my "first love" boat that's sat forlornly in my barnyard for more than a decade. It's a 26' twin-keeled Westerly Centaur built in 1975. When I sailed her years ago, she needed this, that and the other, just like most boats, but there was always something about her -- she was easy to single-hand and was still roomy enough for my wife when she went along. There's actually 'berthing' for 5 people on this little boat -- some of the Brits actually did that and it made a fine family cruiser. I have a number of sailing dream adventures on my bucket list and this little Centaur is a perfect "fit" for a single-hander or a couple. The biggest drawback is that it's a 5.5 kt. boat. She's just not gonna' go faster than that and once you get used to it, it's not such a bad thing after all. The twin keels work wonders for stopping any 'roll' from big wake crowd and if you watch the tides closely, you can even 'beach' her in some places. A roller furling jib is one of the refit "improvements" I'm adding, but I'm keeping with the original mainsail system where the main wraps around the boom by a nice little crank handle that sticks out the other side of the mast. For my sailing, I like simple, strong and fool-proof, and most everything about these little Centaurs is just that. There's full standing headroom in the main cabin and tons of storage space throughout the boat. It compares in space to many 30 and 35 footers I've seen. Their average price about 10 years ago was around $2,500. A lot were actually destroyed to get them out of the 'dead boat' section of boatyards. But now I see the prices coming up as people are rediscovering they don't need a big pleasure palace or a combo- racing boat and would actually enjoy sailing more with a boat that actually suited their needs as economic realities. They're tiller steered, and I've experienced exactly what you described in the video regarding the need to take a quick pee or make a sandwich or get a cold drink -- but you're chained to the tiller. There are many easy ideas for a "third hand" for the tiller, but I cured my need by buying a Simrad Tiller Steer. That thing worked so well that it literally changed my way of sailing and freed me up to enjoy sailing so much more. So, if you're looking for a smaller, comfortable, strong and safe little 'mini-cruiser,' you might want to check out the Westerly Centaurs.

Tim, awesome video, really enjoyed it. But... what's your beef with tillers? I specifically was looking for a boat with a tiller and I glad I did. You can lock tiller just as you lock a wheel, look up Tiller Clutch or Tiller Tamer. I have a Tiller Tamer, but I still have it in a box, because I use the autopilot (tiller pilot) instead. Huge benefit of the tiller (besides the direct feel) is space saving - on anchor I kick the tiller up in a vertical position and have the full cockpit for myself and the guests. Last but not least, a tiller steering is 100x simpler and more reliable than steering wheel

I got a Morgan Out Island 33 for under 20K and it has lots of room and makes a great live aboard.

One thing I didn’t hear you mention which is quite important for liveaboard sailors is standing headroom in the salon. The Laguna 26 ticks all your boxes plus has standing headroom for an average sized person; pretty impressive for a boat that size.