We are live aboards!
We are a familly of three and have been living aboard for about three years, and loving it! We feel the boat is well laid out to live aboard for a couple and a few kids. We have just finished to build a dodger, and it adds a lot of comfort: it simply adds one more room! As far as being a live aboard while working full time, you will enjoy having a cold plate, insulation on the hull, good quality marine toilets (the Lavac head is great) and high quality sitting and bedding. What has bugged us the most was the carpet that was laid on the hull. It became full of mold, and the air became stuffy so we have changed everything to wood (I will post some photos soon!) We belive that it is important to have good quality finish material when you live so close to it all the time... The original foam wore out pretty quickly. I highly suggest replacing all bedding with high quality foam topped with memory foam for the bed. After all that is where we spend the most time. The ports were ok (but weak) and they were a pain to open and close all the time. We are almost done replacing all of them with newfound metal ports. So far we are very happy with their product and they also make a big difference to our comfort. As my wife puts it: "I don't mind living in a small space... as long as it is comfortable". The basis of the boat is good. Replacement / addition of a few system makes it comfortable and great to live aboard. A lot of the extras we have added would not be necessary for going cruising (the fridge and the flat panel TV, for example), but they sure are nice when you live in the US and work all day long)
