Living Aboard A Caliber Yacht

The cruising life seems to draw people like an irresistible force. Living aboard your own boat while sailing to romantic destinations can be a truly enviable lifestyle – provided you choose wisely when buying a new or used boat. And a Caliber Long Range Cruiser (LRC) from Beaufort Yacht Sales is an excellent choice. The Caliber LRCs are built with living aboard in complete comfort and safety firmly in mind.

If you’re going to live aboard, the best approach to selecting a boat is to buy the boat you want to sail and then make it habitable according to your specific needs. To buy a boat that is very livable but sails like a wash tub will cause you great regret. If you aren’t happy with your boat’s performance at sea your cruising lifestyle may be short lived. Fortunately, a Caliber 40LRC will give you both comfort and great sailing.

In 1981, brothers George and Michael McCreary built the first Caliber, a 28 footer, in a backyard garage. Within four years they had established their own plant in Clearwater, Florida where the Caliber 33 and 38 series were produced in the late 80s. The Caliber 35 and 40 came along in the early 90s and the McCreary brothers then launched their Long Range Cruiser series and added the 'queen of the fleet', the 47' Caliber LRC. By incorporating specific details into the LRC designs Michael McCreary, a naval architect, ensured that the Caliber 40LRC would stand up to the test of time. The attention paid to even the smallest details during construction offers peace of mind to the prospective boat buyer.

In structural integrity, Caliber created “Reinforced Impact Zones” both on the modified fin keel’s forward edge and in the waterline area at the bow of the boat by applying thick hull laminates that have a higher impact strength. Holing is less likely to occur in these areas where extra layers of solid fiberglass were applied. Holing has become a legitimate concern with today’s boaters increasingly reporting collisions with floating and partially submerged objects while under way.

With a fully encapsulated keel, a Caliber owner will not worry about leaks from keel bolts or a keel to hull join. By totally sealing the ballast under the hull laminate a waterproof barrier blocks incoming water in the event that the keel is holed. In addition, Caliber yachts feature integral tanks located in the bottom of the hull where water is completely contained should the hull receive a serious blow in the bottom of the hull.

Caliber’s “Quad-Seal Deck to Hull system” is a four step deck-hull join. It is a thru-bolted join with co-polymer tape inside the flange perimeter. Application of 3M 5200 between the rub rail and deck-hull seam, and inside the deck-hull flange as well as under the toe rail adds to the integrity of the deck-hull join and you, the owner, will appreciate a dry boat belowdecks.

All horizontal and vertical surfaces in Caliber sailboats’ “Multi-Bulkhead Bonding System” are completely hand laminated to the hull with strong fiberglass tape. This practice eliminates the need for non-structural liners, a feature much appreciated by knowledgeable boaters.

And while all of the above exacting standards make a Caliber boat extremely seaworthy, is this a smooth sailing boat or the sluggish “wash tub” we mentioned earlier? The Caliber 40LRC displaces 21,600 pounds making this boat a moderately heavy cruiser. The relatively high displacement to length ratio ensures that the boat will move easily in a seaway when loaded for cruising. The forty foot Caliber long range cruiser has a sail area of just under 740 square feet but has been well rated and is considered an effective passage maker under a wide range of sea conditions.

And what about habitability? The Caliber offers comfortable accommodations with a spacious owner’s cabin forward featuring a generous offset berth. The head has a separate shower stall and the generous portside galley has plenty of storage. The hand selected teak in the warm inviting interior is welcoming and comfortable feeling. With a beam of twelve feet, eight inches the interior easily houses a cruising couple or small family.

Owners are amazed with the abundance of cruising storage throughout the interior of the boat with over 16 storage hatches, 3 hanging lockers, 12 cabinets and multiple shelves – more than is usually seen on boat of much larger size!

Overall, the Caliber 40LRC is a serious offshore cruising boat built to exacting standards that offers the knowledgeable sailor the best of both worlds – it sails well and makes a most comfortable home on the water.