A few comments about chartering a private boat. I would not count on even the minimum amount of days of charter. The "profit" is after "expenses"--and expenses include cleaning and stocking the boat after each trip, mooring, annual haul out, repairs--at the charter company's prices. They make $$ off all of the above and more. I would think that realistically you would be making 30% or so of the charter fee after expenses are deducted. How well do charters care for boats? In my experince not very well. After 3 or 4 years you will own a worn out boat, which probably will not be worth the balance on the loan. I have friends who have purchased used charter boats--and it has taken a lot of work to bring the boats back to usable conditions. Also I have seen how the charter boats are treated--some better than others. But the real winners are the charter companies. If it was such a good deal, why aren't the owners of the company taking the big chuncks of change out of the boats? You are financing their operation with your good credit! I suspect that a new boat will cost close to $600,000. You can buy a lot with that money! I would look around very carefully--and perhaps charter a few boats yourself. Is the Lagoon 43 a good livaboard boat for coastal US--probably. I believe that there is not full headroom in the aft cabin/master stateroom. This means that you have to hunch over or crawl to the bunk etc (check this out--this is what I have been told). For the Caribbean? That may be a different story. The boats are used in Caribbean charter, but usually the areas that the boats are used in are very limited to the leeward and protected waters. I would want to see how the boat does in rough weather on passages to windward between the Islands. The trip to the Caribbean is not that easy--but if you follow Bruce Van Sant's book--A gentleman's guide to Passages South it is a reasonable trip--get the book now. I also would suggest that you get some boating experience--of any sort before making such a major life commitment. I have lived aboard for about 13 years--a bit over 7 of that full time cruising. You have to be dedicated to this style of life. I don't know about the work aboard--it may be a bit more diffiuclt than you think--too many distractions!--but possiable with good and expensive satellite communication gear. Read some of the threads in Trawlers and Trawlering. There are some folks who are in the same business as you who wanted to do the livaboard and run computer programing services from the boat--I don't know how successful this has been. The further you get from the U S mainland, the scarcer are computer connections. The satellite fees are fairly stiff for broadband. If you want to get experience with a cat--buy a smaller cat, The boats seem to hold their value; and get some boating experience before selling the house and making the big jump. Just my two cents worth. Regards, Bob Austin