Why Did You Decide to Live Aboard ?

[wetsail1]

Lets begin by saying that almost every summer my wife and I would go to florida on vacation walk the docks and talk about the boats we were going to buy.but as life would have it work bills and our so called plan of attack would never be. In 2008 my life changed forever my love died on her motorcycle! I lost it and just wanted to join her but instead of becoming a drunk or drug addict i sold my house lost all my bill and went looking for our boat i now own a great 40 ft sailboat called seatrek I miss my love everyday but i feel she is with me

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by wetsail1

Lets begin by saying that almost every summer my wife and I would go to florida on vacation walk the docks and talk about the boats we were going to buy.but as life would have it work bills and our so called plan of attack would never be. In 2008 my life changed forever my love died on her motorcycle! I lost it and just wanted to join her but instead of becoming a drunk or drug addict i sold my house lost all my bill and went looking for our boat i now own a great 40 ft sailboat called seatrek I miss my love everyday but i feel she is with me

Hard to top that one.
Nice thing to do.
I hope one day the conviction that life is for the living feels right, and you find someone to share your dream.
It's probably the second best outcome she would have wished for you.

[Rakuflames]

I had cancer five years ago at age 60 and it was a wakeup call to do what I wanted to do now rather than later. I had already eliminated the lawn mower by buying a condo, only to be surrounded by condo Nazis. I adore my two cats and hate putting them in a kennel. Now I can take the boat, and the cats, on trips. They love the boat, by the way.

[Don1500]

Originally Posted by wetsail1

Lets begin by saying that almost every summer my wife and I would go to florida on vacation walk the docks and talk about the boats we were going to buy.but as life would have it work bills and our so called plan of attack would never be. In 2008 my life changed forever my love died on her motorcycle! I lost it and just wanted to join her but instead of becoming a drunk or drug addict i sold my house lost all my bill and went looking for our boat i now own a great 40 ft sailboat called seatrek I miss my love everyday but i feel she is with me

Almost the same story. Day after Christmas, 2009, my wife collapsed, 406 days later she passed. Now I'm just waiting for the house to sell so I can leave this place.

[oldcal46skipper]

I began dreaming of living on a sailboat when I was about 12 years old. That was 61 years ago. Over the years through education, experiences, serving my country, family and career, the dream was always there. In 1982 we found the boat of our dreams, Cal Cruising 46, Hull #3, "Satori" which had just returned from a circumnavigation and the owner had died at an early age, 53.

We took possession on March 17, 1982 and we still have her. We retired in 1988, age 50, moved aboard and sailed away. We cruised Mexico, Central and South America, Caribbean, Florida, Chesapeake, Bahamas, living aboard and roaming. It was even better than I had dreamed of! WE enjoyed our 18 years of living aboard and would still be living aboard if health issues had not arisen.

Why did we decide to live aboard? To answer your question...
-Freedom. If you don't like a place, neighbors, the weather, etc. move on.
-Being on the water. Beautiful, calming, loving fishing, sailing, diving, etc.
-My Boat! It is my transportation, dwelling, recreation, keeps me busy
-Shared experiences with my best friend, lover, wife.
-Meeting new people of the same ilk. Boaters are wonderful. Avoid the 10%ers. Enjoy the 90% who are great people.
-Adventure! Going places landlubbers can't get to. Repelling evil people.

I could go on. It was better than we had dreamed!!! Do it NOW! Bodies wear out, health declines, do it while you can. It can be very inexpensive, in third world countries we rarely spent over $500USD monthly and lived high off the hog.

Tom & Bobbie

[Nateman]

Thanks for the stories guys! This thread is KILLING me! I'm hastily reading this thread from a cubicle in a room with no windows - UGH....

[Jon Hacking]

Interesting - for us it was quite different from what others have posted. For us, it was a means to travel overseas - without having to live out of a backpack & without having to pay hotel bills. To be able to stay as long as we liked somewhere. To get to know the locals, & especially to get to know their culture & their values. That was in the 80s but continues today.

We moved ashore for the 90s to raise kids, but we wanted to show THEM the life as well, to show them the other cultures of the world, to show them that the US way isn't the only way, & sometimes isn't even the best way. These are not things you can teach your kids in the US - they have to learn it by osmosis, by experiencing it.

Too often, us Americans don't look far outside our borders, but we wanted our kids to have a wider perspective (they were 12 & 15 when we moved aboard in 2001). This world is getting smaller every day, & we thought it was important for all of us to learn more about other cultures, & to be ambassadors so other cultures could get to know Americans from somewhere other than Hollywood movies.

Most cruisers wait until the kids are out of the house before going cruising. We left earlier than we should have (economically) because we wanted to have the kids with us, to show them the world before they left to start their own lives (which, sadly, they've both done now).

[spostamento nobile]

Even if you (me/us/etc) live a picture perfect American lifestyle, pay our taxes in full on time, obey every law, and are in every way 'Joe America', untold harm is being done. Everything from the dirt dug up in Africa for our cell phones (look it up) and the girls prostituted there, to the international business scumbags who finance wars & war pigs, to the way we waste precious natural resources (because we can 'afford' to), I found the American dream to be a lie. A lie we tell ourselves, then we wonder why a full 1/4 of the world hates us, not for what we have, but for what we think we deserve. Once I started learning about America through non American eyes, I knew I didn't want to be a part of that system of waste, greed & ignorance. I hoped and still do to teach my countrymen that you don't need a closet full of clothes a driveway full of cars, and every damn light in the house on. I want to show you only need a few clothes, no car, and a minimal space to be happy, fulfilled, and free.
Have less, do more, see more, be more.
It took 2 seconds to realize I either get a shack in the woods or a sailboat.

[stillbuilding]

Originally Posted by virginia boy

I was 48 years old, suffering from a potentially life shortening health condition, and began to rearrange my priorities. Career, money, and social status, began to take on less importance, to be replaced with family, health, and living well, and fully. Although, i'm only just beginning a cruising life, it is allowing me to have a spiritually, emotionally, and physically healthier life.

Well done. +1

[kcmarcet]

I agree.
All the reasons and stories make me a little jealous.

[AllezCat]

American real estate seems well more expensive than the average boat cost - BUT the average house would have less maintenance costs than a boat.
I think an ex-pat friendly third world enclave has cheaper condos etc - (including maintenance).
I couldn't buy a house - I become unsettled and move/change my life/lifestyle too often. Sell/donate furniture lose possessions. Rent U-hauls/storage etc. So tired of that.
Living aboard is like permanently back-packing with unlimited storage and supplies(compared to a back-pack).
I am, so far (knock on composite), having an easy time playing the anchoring for free game.
I anchored off Dinner Key in Biscayne Bay for 2 months.
And am 3 months anchored around the Hampton's area.
Very expensive real estate and 99% of boats moored/docked in the very expensive crowded marinas. I am anchored out in some of the best anchorages/cruising grounds I have ever experienced...And its free...
I also believe in imminent financial collapse, and a boat is far safer than living in the hood...

[kcmarcet]

Very good points. I could buy one heck of a boat if I could sell the house that is paid for and use those monies for a live aboard boat. Living on the hook for free is like camping in an RV for free. but there are very few places you could get an RV where you could camp for free. But at least around here there are at least a few place one could drop hook for free.
And who wants to live in the hood? Not me. I'd take my chances on a boat.

[Bruce626]

While I have a permanent visa (SRRV) here in the Philippines, I am not a citizen and cannot therefore own land. Living on a catamaran seems like having an 90 m2 ocean front condo that provides me free access to the ocean for swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, sailing, and relaxing. If there is noise or smells I don't like (common in a third world country), I can just move. Houses here are VERY close together and noisy neighbors are a fact of life - LOUD 'music' from KTV bars and churches (no real zoning enforcement); people here routinely keep puppies/dogs tied up 24/7 or in small cages where they whine, bark, howl for months on end; people here enjoy cock fighting so many have one to twenty fighting cocks tied in their yard and they are also LOUD; in some locations up to twelve pigs can be kept before one needs a license; motorcycles are common and often LOUD (no real traffic enforcement); most vehicles are poorly maintained and spew fumes along the roads in significant volumes; - so there are a lot of reasons for being offshore for the quiet, for the air, for the view, and such.

If you like seafood, living on a boat is like living in a supermarket. If you don't catch stuff yourself, the locals will come by with fresh seafood to sell, fresh fruit to sell, fresh baked goods to sell, fresh coconuts to sell.

The water is warm (unlike California) and there are many interesting corals, fish, and other sea life to view. There are almost no marinas here so no sitting at a dock - one anchors out, typically for 'free' (generally no additional fees - if there are they are cheap or one can just move on). This means that there is new scenery every day.

[Missou]

We want to become liveaboards for many reasons :
-We live in Montreal, Canada and hate the cold, icy winters
-We own a house and hate mowing lawns and paying for mortgage.
-We own a car which we practicly do not use anymore except to go to our sailing club.
-We hate having to change tires before every winter to go to the grocery and make a few visit to our families during the winter.
-I have health issues and tend to fall a little too often during the cold and icy winters.
-We love to travel in the Caribbeans and abroad.
-Owning a condo in the Caribbeans is so expensive and would tie us down and prevent us from travelling.
-We want to see the world, what better way than on a sailboat.

We want to make our big move by December 2012!!

[Hudson Force]

Living aboard for economic reasons, to reduce your carbon footprint, to escape political concerns, to facilitate travel, to escape harsh winters........ I guess these can all be valid, but they seem like they express the negative side of choice. What about the joy of boating?