Finding our Liveaboard Sailing Catamaran
Are you dreaming of a life away from landlocked obligations and restrictions? Or maybe you can’t wait to explore our planets natural beauty, one island at a time, driven by the wind and currents? This is totally us. For the longest time we dreamt this but didn’t think it could be a reality. Surely to own and maintain a ship strong enough to cross oceans and explore the deepest corners of the earth will cost millions?
Well no, absolutely not true. And thanks to Youtube stars such as Sailing La Vagabonde, Sailing Zatara, but for me specifically, The Giddy Up Plan, I discovered that this can be done on almost any budget. This for me was such a huge revelation.. and immediately after came up this unstoppable urge to give this a go myself. Now I was lucky enough to meet my amazing wife and have our 2 children soon after, so this meant we needed a certain amount of space and comfort to cross the world’s oceans. For us this meant we would look at affordable pre-owned catamarans. After searching online for quite some time, maybe even years, in the summer of 2021, when Covid restrictions eased, we were able to travel to Greece. In the timespan of a week we viewed 3 40 foot catamarans in detail. A Lagoon 400 2012, a Lagoon 401 of 1998, and a Fountaine Pajot Lavezzi 40 of 2006.
The Lagoon 400 was the newest of all, and also the most expensive. It turned out to be non VAT paid, which immediately adds another 20% on top of the budget, for us being European. It was the boat offering the most space and probably the most comfort too. Me being 1.98 m tall (6 feet 6 inches) , the headroom in most of the boat, even the cabins, was not an issue. But the budget forced us to keep looking.
The Lagoon 410 we viewed was impressive. I just love the lines of the boat’s design. For headroom it was still impressive, in most of the bridgedeck salon I could stand up straight, and in the cabins nearly so. Although the boat looked very nice and clean on the outside, it did feel like age showed in many of it’s equipment. Engine hours were quite high and mounted below the aft cabin beds. The price was good but we were unable to speak to the owner through the broker, which stopped us for getting any further information on the boat, and didn’t fill us with confidence to buy it.
The next sailing catamaran to live on that we saw was a Lavezzi 40. It was very nicely kept, and all equipment seemed to be in good working condition and being used regularly. The engines on this boat are mounted in their own engine rooms behind the aft cabin, so they are easily accessible. A huge plus for me. The boat was VAT paid, so no surprises there. In terms of headroom it clearly offered the least comfort of the three, but in the middle of the bridgedeck salon, and the aft cockpit area, I had room to spare while standing up straight. Not so much so in the cabins, but I figured I would go there only to sleep or work on something while being sat down, so what would that matter?
Of course our search for a live-aboard sailboat was all recorded on camera, and you can see it on Youtube. Here is a link to visualize it all for you. Oh and if you have any questions related to our adventure, or any of the boats we saw.. Don’t hesitate to get in touch! We are on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube, just look for Ultimate Freggle. Link icons are also at the bottom of this page.
