Small Spaces

I belong to several Facebook groups that are for cruisers. Some specific to owning a Lagoon, others that cruise the Bahamas, and others that are for cruising in a catamaran in general. Frequently, I read comments and questions about boat size and what is too big and what is too small. Although we have not spent much time on the water in our boat, and definitely have not cruised anywhere…. yet… we have been living aboard since New Years Eve, so I think we have a good beginning grasp on living in small spaces.

When we moved aboard, Madi was still here, so each of us had our own cabin and our own head and still had one cabin and head left to store tools and supplies in. Stella of course, went where ever she pleased! Now, as I said before, we haven't been on the water cruising yet, so some of this may very well evolve-for the better-once we splash back in the water.

We chose a Lagoon 450F (45’ catamaran) for several reasons (and these are in no particular order): 1. We wanted the largest boat we could afford that Ty and I could single handedly sail - meaning, just the two of us could sail it, do overnight passages and not require a crew to manipulate the rigging and sails. 2. We had enough space inside that we could move around without bumping into one another. 3. We could have guests aboard and everyone would feel comfortable and not cramped for space. 4. We wanted to have a large enough living area that we felt at home and not like we were constantly camping every single day.

Challenges… and there are several… CLOSET SPACE! I do not know what the boat manufacturers of these production cats are thinking, but there is no way each of these cabins can support the clothing needs of one person let alone two people even if they are only chartering the boat for vacation sort of basis! We are definitely grateful for the extra space we have right now, but we’ll see how that changes as we convert the port forward cabin and head into a storage/laundry room and pantry. I can only see it getting better!

The next challenge is the galley… the amount of cabinet storage for dishes and food is a huge adjustment from living in a house. What adds to the challenge is we like to cook and have a chefs kitchen worth of accessories to boot. There is storage in the floors and under the saloon cushions, but it’s no fun digging your casserole dishes out of one of those compartments to cook. Now, that complaining aside, we are building out a custom pantry, so some of these storage woes will go away very shortly.

All that being said, in the process of boat shopping, I, without hesitation, shout from the rooftops, that a Lagoon 450F is absolutely perfect, even if it was just Ty & I living aboard. We have enough space that we feel like there are “rooms” to our floating house. We have our stateroom and head (bedroom & bathroom), room for guests (or stowaways in the case of Syd), our galley and saloon ( kitchen and living room open concept-thanks for the hip term HGTV), a rear cockpit that’s covered and will soon have an enclosure on it (covered back patio), a comfy front cockpit (front patio), and even a sun deck in front of the helm (roof top patio).

So, how small is too small? I know it seems like a cop-out, but the truth is it boils down to personal preference. I could see us going down one size from here to a 42, but no smaller - even if it was only Ty & I on board. I don’t think, even for a family of 5 (4 humans and 1 fur baby) that I would go much bigger. I think we found our perfect fit: not too big, not too small, just right.