Mick in Bangkok

yes a bigger living space would be worth having

Just myself and my wife with perhaps my sister visiting for some weekends

Thanks for the suggestion but I think I am not suited to a wide beam, a trad with back cabin and vintage engine ticks my boxes

Looking at an online map I understood that 10% of the canals up north would be out of reach, would you consider this estimate to be low?

May I ask is it the length or drawing 31" that limits the most and what would you recommend as maximum or acceptable in either case. Your situation sounds similar as what I am considering, 6 months of cruising each year.

I'm here to learn before retiring to the water so thank you for the correction

Mabey it is just a romantic notion but I would presume the BMC to be quite usable space for gusts while cruising, dining and as a spare bedroom when guests are on board, am I right in this thinking? Also the trads without BMC have engine rooms at the very back of something like 4f so a mid engine room of 6ft and the ability of hanging/drying cloths would be a plus considering would be a drying machine, also a bulky item

Thank you for confirming this, I was also thinking 68 to 70

I do find this boat very tempting, BMC, engine, quality and lay out but would actually prefer another 10ft of forward cabin space, I guess a 72ft would lose me some canals but still from the maps I look at enough to keep me busy. I get my information from this forum so any member reading this who disagrees please do step in and correct me. I would consider the draught more of an issue but otherwise would prefer maximum length. s handling very different on better quality built boats?

I also think the length to be odd, I would prefer something longer, between 68 to 72 as this would give best space without much more compromise, am I correct in this thinking?

This is an interesting point, I was planning to spend months on board in retirement and thinking of comfort, also with the canal network available was assuming still plenty of places to9 go even with up to 70' if boat owners with long term cruising on board find this to be the other way around I would appreciate the heads up

An odd concern perhaps but with the additional steps and raised floor height in the engine room (if pics show proper conditions) would this make for an awkward passage through the boat. Also the Dolphin M3 cocooned diesel 3.5kVA generator would seem like a big plus but as I am a novice would the experienced boaters consider this overkill?

No canal experience to speak off but I was of the mind with a live aboard that day to day comfort would out weigh some canels not available for cruising

This is food for thought thank you for your reply, I did not notice the deep draught. I guess the popularity of this type of boat would be a benefit when buying but a burden later when time to resell.

The engine room and engine and back cabin is what I like best about the boat, the is the gold nugget included in the boat, I guess each to thee own. It was 107K in July last year then reduced in January to 97K and now at the existing asking price.