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Old 25-04-2015, 11:39   #76
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

[QUOTE=jwcolby54;1809722
Still, to say that someone can't get in the game unless they can "afford to" live at a slip is... umm... opinionated to say the least. Kinda like saying if you can't afford an attached garage on your house, you can't afford a car.
[/QUOTE]


Having read a few of "these" threads over the years I always wonder why people start them, and then look to disregard the advice/opinions they were seeking.
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Old 25-04-2015, 11:50   #77
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

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Originally Posted by jwcolby54 View Post
Uhhh no, I am currently living in NC and would initially anchor off of the coast of NC and SC.

Still, to say that someone can't get in the game unless they can "afford to" live at a slip is... umm... opinionated to say the least. Kinda like saying if you can't afford an attached garage on your house, you can't afford a car.

In point of fact I never said I couldn't afford it. I said I didn't WANT to afford it. In fact I may or may not (probably will) use a slip at various times, which in no way makes this thread any less useful to me.
Sorry wrong thread. There are many similar comments to his posted on another one about living and cruising here in the pnw my bad on location
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Old 25-04-2015, 12:12   #78
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

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Originally Posted by jwcolby54 View Post
Uhhh no, I am currently living in NC and would initially anchor off of the coast of NC and SC.

Still, to say that someone can't get in the game unless they can "afford to" live at a slip is... umm... opinionated to say the least. Kinda like saying if you can't afford an attached garage on your house, you can't afford a car.

In point of fact I never said I couldn't afford it. I said I didn't WANT to afford it. In fact I may or may not (probably will) use a slip at various times, which in no way makes this thread any less useful to me.
I didn't mean you could not afford a slip. I don't know anything about you. I just meant that if the reason you want to live on the hook is you think it's a really cheap way to live you need to account for the cost of maintaining the boat, not just the living expenses. It's common for people to see how cheap sailboats are & think buying one would be a cheap place to live.

If you want an analogy my comment was more like saying if you can't afford a garage you probably can't afford a used Jaguar. They may be cheap to buy but they're not cheap to keep running.

I'm not saying you should not do it. I think you should. Just think it might be prudent to learn how to swim before you head off across the English Channel.
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Old 25-04-2015, 13:05   #79
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

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Also (for the east coast) how do I survive severe storms and hurricanes? Is the ICW protected enough to keep the boat afloat? Are there locations that are better in that regard?
I think weather is always one of my concerns on a daily basis. No doubt, you need a plan for "hurricane season".

My wife and I are turning 63 in a few months, and we've been fulltime liveaboards/cruisers since Aug, 2012. We've travelled the ICW from Texas to Georgia, and back. Throw in two crossings to the Bahamas during this period.

No doubt, bad weather has been the biggest challenge to deal with. We anchor out more than taking a slip at a marina, but sometimes the marina starts looking pretty good after awhile. Right now, we're at a marina in Texas after completing a bottom job on our boat. Day before yesterday, we stocked up with a few things, and went over to a nearby anchorage on Aransas Bay. It was great to be on the hook again. A wonderful evening was had... But, about 4 am a thunderstorm passed over our area, with strong winds in the 40's for 2 1/2 hours. As usual, our 35# Manson Supreme and all chain kept us safe. Many, many more nights like this have been our experiences over the last couple of years. Be it riding out cold fronts that blow hard for days and nights on end, frequent thunderstorms almost anywhere you might find yourself anchored, and of course hurricane season.

Learning to sail is pretty easy for just about anyone. I mean the "basics" are easy. Navigation and storm management requires a lot of experience (your sail down to Brazil). I really believe the first thing to think about (in your case) is what ground tackle you'll need....and how to use it properly. Something not everyone is an expert at from what I've seen.




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The above photo was of a boat that dragged into the Bridge of Lions (and sunk) in St. Augustine, and the flogging jib in the one below was taken after the same storm.
Storm damage can even happen to you on a mooring, or a slip, for that matter -

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Well, good luck to you. I hope you get away from land sooner, rather than later, if that's what you really want. Tick....Tock....

Ralph
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Old 25-04-2015, 15:06   #80
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

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Hmmm... ok it seems sewage can be dumped within 3 miles of land if it is treated and if untreated then 12 miles out. No plastics.

Not that I actually found the original documents.
Nope, sewage cannot be dumped within three miles of land. Legally, that is.
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Old 25-04-2015, 15:11   #81
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

Jwcolby54, you CAN live on a boat cheaply, once you buy the boat for cash and do some basic fixing up to make her liveable. When we are cruising the Bahamas we live on about $1200 a month and that includes some eating ashore and the occasional marina. Much cheaper than living on land, at least for us.

I personally know singlehanded liveaboards who do so on $700 a month or less. By the way, St Augustine marina is too expensive.
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Old 25-04-2015, 15:19   #82
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

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Nope, sewage cannot be dumped within three miles of land. Legally, that is.
Actually Ron you can dump treated sewage after it goes thru a class one or better msd as long as you are not in a designated no discharge zone and untreated sewage may be legally discharged when you are 12 miles from nearest land that is right out of the marpol regs
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Old 25-04-2015, 15:21   #83
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

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That's right. And there is a very good reason for that. A "noobe" quite often doesn't even know enough yet to ask the right question. Instead of just giving them a direct answer to what they DO ask, many of us feel an obligation to try to point them towards the questions that they SHOULD be asking. I don't care to do someone a disservice by just answering a question when it is quite clear to me that they are going off on the wrong path, and much more than a simple answer, what they really need is to be redirected.

You've gotten a lot of good information and suggestions here. What you choose to do with it, of course, is entirely up to you. Good luck.
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Old 25-04-2015, 15:23   #84
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

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Actually Ron you can dump treated sewage after it goes thru a class one or better msd as long as you are not in a designated no discharge zone and untreated sewage may be legally discharged when you are 12 miles from nearest land that is right out of the marpol regs
I don't think he was talking about treated sewage.

In most of the USA it's legal to dump untreated sewage if you're more than three miles from shore.
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Old 25-04-2015, 15:35   #85
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

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....... I've traveled the intercoastal four times and don't recall many places to anchor.
It's the "intracoastal" and there are hundreds of good anchorages. Get yourself any of the several ICW cruising guides. Or one of several anchorage guides. https://www.tgboa.com/

Quote:
You asked about waste/holding tanks. The accepted protocol in the BVIs, where my boat is in charter, is to use holding tanks while at anchor or in a marina. Then dump as soon as you are in deeper water. You might be within ½ a mile of land, but you can dump the waste as long as no one would be in the water where you are dumping. ............
Highly illegal in the USA. Not that it's not done but if you're anchored near a town so you can dinghy to work or shopping you wouldn't want to risk emptying your holding tank there.
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Old 25-04-2015, 15:43   #86
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

I'm going to suggest something that I don't believe has been suggested yet:

Buy a boat and put it in a slip at a marina that allows liveaboards. Live on the boat in the slip for a year or two, taking it out for trips when you can. You can learn to sail and see what you need to be self sufficient on the boat but a the same time, you will be able to step off the boat and go but a toothbrush or groceries. You will find out things you need and things that you don't

Once you get comfortable on and with the boat, consider leaving the marina for an anchorage or travelling.
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Old 25-04-2015, 16:45   #87
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

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Originally Posted by onestepcsy37 View Post
Jwcolby54, you CAN live on a boat cheaply, once you buy the boat for cash and do some basic fixing up to make her liveable. When we are cruising the Bahamas we live on about $1200 a month and that includes some eating ashore and the occasional marina. Much cheaper than living on land, at least for us.

I personally know singlehanded liveaboards who do so on $700 a month or less. By the way, St Augustine marina is too expensive.
I don't want to rain on your parade but just counting your living expenses is not an accurate way to measure the true cost of living on a boat, even if you're including maintenance, haul outs & bottom paint. You also have to include depreciation of the boat & all of it's mechanical systems. Every item on your boat has an economic life. Take your sails for example. If, hypothetically, your sails will last 15 years before they need to be replaced & they cost & 7,500 to replace that's $500 per year in simple straight line depreciation. Although there is actually some fluctuation in the amount a item depreciates per year you get the point. These costs may not be visible but they are there & you will pay them one way or another, either by replacing or refurbishing an item or by getting less for your boat when you sell it.
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Old 25-04-2015, 16:55   #88
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

Hi What you desire is doable I bought Chkm8 in Huntington, LI ... Aug 2012, spent 6 weeks getting her painted rigged and ready to go. Had a couple friends with experience sail with me down Jersey shore then up the Delaware and down to the ICW In NC they left and I became a single handler. Hurricane Sandy arrived while I was in Beaufort NC no fun. I got to Hollywood Fla. in November COLD ... many nights on the hook City buses occasional Taxi. I am now 63 and live in Belize. Yes you can it works and I love it. I got a Co pilot off this web site and we got here, SV Chkm8
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Old 25-04-2015, 17:00   #89
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

I would get a cruising guide for the ICW as has been mentioned to learn where good anchorages are as well as which towns do not permit anchoring.
I had been on boats before but I bought my 24 foot sailboat and taught myself to sail it by motoring out on a lake and messing around with it. I met many people living on 25 foot boats, but not having the headroom in mine to stand up made me not like spending more than 3-4 days on it. I was a lot happier with my second boat because of what I learned on the first. I also did see a lot of people who would spend their entire weekend cleaning and maintaining their boats, where I was spending most of my time sailing my cheap little boat.
With heads, a lot of fuel docks will have a pump out station or one will be nearby, so you will want to have a holding tank that can sustain x number of days before you can go pump out. Pump out stations are usually free in the US because dumping is not. I would read about composting toilets, because having fixed and replaced almost every part of my boats plumbing, I like something simpler. I have the advantage of living near Canada where you can discharge as long as you aren't in a harbor. A number of people living at one marina used porta potties because they were convenient to take to shore and dump.
I haven't been on the ICW, but I have read a bit and they mention waiting for bridges. Bridges being the bain of my sailboat experience in Seattle where I had to wait for four bridges to open to get to the lake or the locks to get to the Sound, I would be tempted to get a trawler with a sailing dinghy or a sailboat with an easily lowered mast if there are bridges between your anchorage and sailing area.

For winter you will need heat. Diesel heat if you have a diesel motor would be a good option. Otherwise propane or solid fuel. I like the Kimberly for solid fuel but I think it takes more space where a propane heater can go on a bulkhead.

Some marinas will allow you to keep the boat there when you buy it for some months, so you could use that time to do the most intensive rework and settle in before going out to anchor.
I would consider looking for a boat with shallow draft or a center board or some way to fit into some of those creeks where you might want to anchor. A lot of keels are going to draw 4-6 feet, so you will want soft mud under you if you go shallow to anchor. I have been stuck three times when I anchored and had to wait on the tide to leave.
It should be fun. Look at lots of boats and enjoy yourself.
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Old 25-04-2015, 17:11   #90
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Re: Living on anchor in the US

We've traveled the ICW many times and never stay in a marina. We prefer to anchor.
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