05/13/2026
New Blog Post Up!
Happy to answer any questions about our experiences!
How to Choose a Boat.
or is it…
How to Choose a Boat?
Or simply, How We Chose Our Boat.
So Captain tells us he wants to buy a sailboat and sail the world for a year. You only live once, right?
At first, I looked at him like he had three heads. I love a great adventure, more than the next person. But sailing? And then sailing the world? This seemed a bit out of reach for my mental capacity.
Hubby broke it down for me easily, so I could start to process it better. He suggested we start by choosing a location we were comfortable with first. We Googled “best places to sail for a year for new sailors and families”. The top two locations that topped the list were the Caribbean Sea or the Mediterranean Sea. We had met great friends that sailed the Bahamas for a year and loved it. Side note, the Bahamas are considered part of the Caribbean, but technically not in the Caribbean Sea, as they sit in the Atlantic. We watched YouTube families do it all over the world. I joined Facebook groups and asked about 1.2 million questions. I spoke with other
moms.
While we really loved the idea of the Mediterranean Sea to start more, we thought it ultimately made more practical sense to start in the Caribbean.
Benefits of the Caribbean:
-same time zone for me for US work hours
-close/shorter flights home
-great cruising communities throughout
Ok. So we had a location. The Caribbean. Now we could better choose a boat.
Second decision – power boat or sailboat. We knew we wanted to sail. That was simple. Gas or Diesel is expensive. We still knew we wanted to sail even with three of the four of us being totally inexperienced sailors.
Sailboat in the Caribbean. We were making progress.
Next Decision – Monohull or Catamaran (we’ll leave the others off the discussion for now). A monohull is a single hull. A catamaran has essentially two hulls and a middle part connecting those two hulls.
Pros & Cons for Each
-Monohulls – Cons: they heel (lean to one side) much more. They tend to rock or be less stable while on anchor and they simply have less space (in general, unless you are on a super yacht). Pros: Cheaper. They typically handle rough seas better and they are easier overall to dock.
-Catamarans – Cons: More expensive. Can be bumpier in rough seas. Harder to dock (or to fit in narrow spaces). Pros: More stable while on anchor. Much more livable space. They can go fairly fast for their design.
When I heard that monohulls lean so much during sailing and they rock back and forth on anchor…I immediately knew I preferred a catamaran. Ultimately Captain thought the space would be better suited for our family too.
Status Check
-Location: Caribbean Sea
-Power or Sailboat: Sailboat
-Monohull or Catamaran: Catamaran
The next sets of questions in finding the right catamaran are sort of all individual. We set a budget (super key). What size could we afford for our budget? There is a balance between buying older and getting more boat and buying newer and possibly not having to fix as much. Do you buy a boat that was individually owned or previously chartered? Do you want solar or do you have a massive generator you will run for power? Do you want air conditioning? Do you want electric winches? Has the boat been in a storm and had damage? There are like 756 options to choose from, potentially. Most of which are personal choices for what you can live with (or live without).
When we were looking, we had set a budget and then a timeline to be on the boat of 4 months later. This was a VERY aggressive timeline. It takes people on average, ONE year to buy a liveaboard boat.
You search for boats similar to how you would look for cars or homes. There are websites and brokers and then you talk to people in that world. We joined Facebook groups and connected with other sailors and boaters. We narrowed down our brand of boat builders we seemed to gravitate towards (based on budget).
We loved the Lagoon 450F model. First, the F stands for flybridge, which is the area up top, from which you drive the boat. This model has a huge flybridge. Seating for 6, plus a daybed in front of that to hang out in. Captain would have great visibility there for sailing and docking. This model also has a front seating area on the bow, along with trampolines (so the boys could see the water move from underneath their feet). There are two more hang out/seating areas on that level as well, one inside and one out back on the stern. This model came in two options 4 cabin (meaning two beds and two bathrooms on each hull/side) or the owner’s version (meaning 3 cabins/bedrooms…two bedrooms and two bathrooms on one side and the other hull has a larger bedroom, sitting area with couch and desk and a larger bathroom/head). We were open to both the 4 cabin or the owner’s versions.
We looked at a TON of boats online. To look at them in person can get quite expensive, quite quickly. It’s not like you are looking for a home in one area. Or a car at a dealership. Boats can literally be almost anywhere in the world. We narrowed that part of our search down to only boats for sale in the US or in the Caribbean. We narrowed them down by features (for instance, we wanted electric winches). We also knew we didn’t want to buy a previously chartered boat. We flew to see 4 different boats and drove to see many more. Some were a total waste of time and money, despite promises of them being great in video chats before.
We did a survey (sort of compared to a home inspection, when buying a house) on one boat…it came back terrible and the owners would not negotiate. So we walked away.
Then we found a boat called Rabbit Hole, in the USVIs. Atticus and Captain had to be at a swim camp in Indiana, so Nixon and I flew down to St Thomas for a weekend getaway to see the boat. It was owned by the loveliest couple that had sailed for years and were ready to move on to their next adventure. There were some quirks about it, it didn’t have enough solar for our family, but that could be added. The survey went well.
We bought the boat. We had our SV Liquid Sunshine. SV stands for Sailing Vessel.
Status Check
-Location: Caribbean Sea
-Power or Sailboat: Sailboat
-Monohull or Catamaran: Catamaran
-Brand & Model: 2015 Lagoon 450F Owner’s Version
Some of the immediate upgrades we did:
-new solar arch
-all new Victron batteries and controllers
-new trampolines
-new windlass (the motor that brings up your anchor and chain)
-new main sail
-new sail bag
-new rigging lines
-new dinghy & new dinghy engine (remember our dinghy IS our CAR, this is very important)
Best Features of our Lagoon 450F
-owners version – gives us PLENTY of room to get ready and not feel cramped
-our boys each have their own room
-there are three cabins/bedrooms & three bathrooms/heads
-we have electric winches – this was important to us…we can hit buttons to tighten lines/ropes. Making raising the sails much easier. This also makes raising the dinghy a breeze!
-we do have air conditioning (we have 4 units – one in each bedroom and one in the living room/salon) These can be used with the amount of solar we have, but it is actually rare we run them, BUT it is very nice to have!
-we have a very good generator. Some folks live without one and just keep adding solar. We like having redundancy. Our generator still has VERY low operating hours, but we keep it serviced and ready, in the even we need power.
-our toilets are electric flush toilets, making going to the loo much more like on land. We also have the option to flush with fresh water or salt water…fresh is best! But when you’re running low on water, we have the option.
-we have two sets of engine and steering controls. This is just really cool (again redundancy!). We can control the engine power and the steering from up on the helm/flybridge OR we can control the engines and steering from inside the living room/salon.
-we have a washer/dryer! Yes, we can wash our clothes! The unit in our boat is a washer/dryer combo. I must admit, the washer works great, the dryer just doesn’t. It has been serviced but just doesn’t dry things for the amount of power it consumes. We air dry everything outside and that has suited us well for almost two years. We do utilize a laundromat or laundry services about once a month…to give all of our towels and bedding a solid wash and DRY with a hot dryer.
-we have a water maker! Yes, we make water! This is by far my most favorite thing on the boat. The fact that we literally take sea water and make it into drinkable (good tasting) water is still miraculous to me! So very cool! We are actually having a new water maker installed right now and we’ll go from about 15 gallons of water an hour to 40 gallons! It’s going to be even cooler (and quicker)!
Extras we have on the boat that are totally worth it!
-Ice Maker
-Coffee/Espresso Machine
-Extra Freezers
-a BBQ
-stand up paddle board – we use this for the most random things, it has served us VERY well
-mattress toppers! Marine mattresses are not for the faint of heart (or back). Toppers change everything!
-solar lights for outside – these help us find our boat easily when dinghying back from dinner in the dark and don’t use any of our battery power!
We absolutely love our boat. It has served us so well!
Key Things to Question When Buying a Boat:
-Engine Hours?
-Taxes Paid?
-USCG Documented?
-Any prior damage or storm encounters?
-How much solar? How many batteries?
-Is there a generator? How many hours?
-Details on the dinghy and it’s engine?
-For catamarans – ask about bulkheads – have they been reinforced? If that is an option.
-For Lagoon catamarans – what is the state of the compression post?
-On older boats, has rigging been replaced? Has it been inspected?
-Is there a water maker? Built in or portable? How many gallons per hour? Have the membranes been replaced recently?
-What sails are included? How old are they? Realistically to sail in most places, having a main sail and front/head/genoa sail are very important.
Happy to answer any questions on our boat buying experience and/or on our experience with our boat and being on so many other brands at this point. What we love, what is annoying, etc.
Cheers,
the JENNeral
