Looking for different opinions

I am looking to build a new boat, a live aboard. I would like it to be very comfortable for two, yet accommodate at least 4, preferrably 6 for short overnight jaunts. I would really like a design that is capable of blue water trips, perhaps even a trans-Atlantic passage.

I am a sucker for gaff rigs, and a ketch gaff is preferred.

The plans I have considered myself are between 29 and 40 ft boats. I am looking for some other opinions on a boat that may fit this bill.

 

What other boat building projects have you completed? How much deep water sailing experience have you? The cost and effort to build a 40' ketch can easily be several times that of a 29' ketch. What designs have sparked your fancy? Budget, time frame, skill set . . . ?

 

Live aboards are usually burdensome hulls that end up with planters in the cockpit and a TV antenna attached to the mast. How do you degine comfortable? Minis routinely cross the Atlantic and are 21'.

 

In response to Paul, I have built a few smaller boats, a Weekender, a variety of strip-built kayaks and canoes, and a 16' Wherry.

A couple of designs that are really catching my eye are Atkins 'Little Maid of Kent' and Ted Brewer's Tern.

Live-aboard may be non-descriptive, as I just do not want to be entirely uncomfortable during a long cruise. The ability to stand up while cooking dinner is appealing...

 

You find headroom a bit tidy in Little Maid of Kent, with it generally only being available under the companionway hatch. Tern is slightly better in the headroom department.

My initial comment on this thread were in reply to PirateBass's desires for a 29' to 40''er, which is a huge size range of boat. A 29' can be a few tons while a 40' can be in excess of 15, which is a dramatic difference to say the least.

If looking for a design, live aboard or not, you must refine the search parameters as fine as you can.

 

Even if you are absolutly set on building(the expensive time consuming way) you should be looking at used boats if for no other reason than to hone in on what you need and want. In the present market buying a used boat and satisfying your building lust by doing the dingy is most logical plan. Since this site is loaded with boat lust(a good thing) you will only find little snips of reason here and there.

 

Might not hurt to read over a similar thread page 2 under this catagory, " Help with displacement cruiser for retirement"

 

Unless the boat you propose building is of unique pedigree, its much better to purchase used. So many great boats for sale cheep these days.

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