View Poll Results: Which would you do, if you could do it all again?
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Buy a solid, fairly expensive boat after a while of saving up for it.
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9 |
56.25% |
Get a fairly cheap one that needs some love and do your all to learn how to fix it up proper.
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7 |
43.75% |
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11-07-2015, 11:14
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 3
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Aspiring LiveAboard Tips
Hello,
So I've lived in small spaces before [GMC conversion van for little over a year] and I've done plenty of recreational sailing [mostly in high school with lasers and the like, though I've been on a three masted square rig] and would love to smash those to passions into one. Just not to sure if I should start with saving for something that won't need as much work, or to go ahead and dive in with a 2-3 thousand dollar project that can hop around a bit while I get the feel. Leaning towards the second, but I'm not sure if I'm overestimating my ability to learn/fix it up, or if I'm underestimating how very much it'll take to get a boat like that ship shape.
Which would you do if you were to start all over again?
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11-07-2015, 11:21
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Cowichan Bay, BC (Maple Bay Marina)
Posts: 9,703
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Re: Aspiring LiveAboard Tips
A "project" boat has almost always been considered the wrong choice. It looks good at first blush, but get old pretty quickly. Most folks would rather be sailing. And even a pristine condition used boat needs work.
__________________
Stu Jackson
Catalina 34 #224 (1986) C34IA Secretary
Cowichan Bay, BC, SR/FK, M25, Rocna 10 (22#) (NZ model)
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11-07-2015, 11:23
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 3
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Re: Aspiring LiveAboard Tips
What's the average asking price for a boat that doesn't need ungodly amounts of time and money to get going? And would it be weird if I just wandered around marinas chatting with people about their rigs etc? Thank you! ^-^
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11-07-2015, 13:48
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#4
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Lived aboard & cruised for 45 years,- now on a chair in my walk-in closet.
Boat: Morgan OI 413 1973 - Aythya
Posts: 8,453
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Re: Aspiring LiveAboard Tips
Oddly enough, I'm unable to make a proper selection on the poll. Over a period of 43 years I've lived aboard three sailboats and none of them was "fairly expensive" or in "need of love". I worked hard on all of my boats and also paid a good amount for each one of them.
__________________
Take care and joy, Aythya crew
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11-07-2015, 14:11
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Cruising the Gulf of Mexico.
Boat: 1980 Morgan 415
Posts: 1,452
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Re: Aspiring LiveAboard Tips
Quote:
Originally Posted by cskerry
What's the average asking price for a boat that doesn't need ungodly amounts of time and money to get going? And would it be weird if I just wandered around marinas chatting with people about their rigs etc? Thank you! ^-^
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If your priority is sailing with somewhat Spartan accommodations then your prospects can be quite good if you put in the legwork. 10k can buy a lot of boat if spent wisely.
Walking docks has long been one of my favorite pastimes. A lot of people do it.
------------------------------
Looking for another pretty place to work on the boat.
__________________
Working on spending my children's inheritance.
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11-07-2015, 14:50
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Hailing Minny, MN
Boat: Vancouver 27
Posts: 1,090
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Re: Aspiring LiveAboard Tips
I bought a well found boat that still ended up being a ton of work to get it where I wanted it. I can see why some folks spend years and years in a boatyard and I sympathize having just spent a year in one myself. I still hear the sound of the giant compressor outside kicking on each morning at 7AM.
Ideally I think you get a spartan squeaky clean boat that you know the PO did a great job of keeping up, one that you can build upon down the line as you define your needs/wants.
Especially if you're going to be living on it, a project boat or even a well found one constantly under upgrade/repair is not a good base of operations.
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11-07-2015, 14:53
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Bristol, UK
Boat: Alajuela 38
Posts: 33
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Re: Aspiring LiveAboard Tips
Our project boat took a lot more time than we'd thought but slightly less money. For us we feel pride in our boat that comes from the time and effort. We wouldn't change a thing.
Ruth
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11-07-2015, 15:59
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 549
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Re: Aspiring LiveAboard Tips
I think a project boat is just fine as long as it meets your immediate desire, and will not suck you dry.
For me that meant it had to motor and sail. If I can do those two things then I am not stuck on the hard for ages dreaming of sailing, I can work on my boat as I move around. I have a list of things that need doing, and I can buy stuff to tackle those projects, working on them while I enjoy the actual sailing life.
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11-07-2015, 16:31
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#9
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Lived aboard & cruised for 45 years,- now on a chair in my walk-in closet.
Boat: Morgan OI 413 1973 - Aythya
Posts: 8,453
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Re: Aspiring LiveAboard Tips
Back around 1970, when I was shopping for my first boat, I fell in love with a 50' cypress hulled schooner that was selling for 6K. I could have done it, but I was fortunate enough to ask for a survey. An elderly gentleman, Pembroke Huckins, from the Huckins yard down the street gave me some advice while showing me a corroded fastener that he had pulled from the hull and I walked away. The old schooner broke apart and sunk in moderate seas a couple of years later. I was so glad it wasn't mine! I had ended up paying twice the price for a 1969 30' fiberglass Sparkmen & Stephens design in 1971 and made it home.
I was saved by a survey and advice from those older and wiser!
__________________
Take care and joy, Aythya crew
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14-07-2015, 15:52
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Texas
Boat: Baba 30
Posts: 11
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Re: Aspiring LiveAboard Tips
Any boat you're living on will require tremendous amounts of work - why put yourself behind the eight-ball from Day 1? But, that's not to say that you won't be happy with a project boat.
Having built a custom van out with a livable interior myself, I think that if that GMC van you're in is one you built out, you have been exposed to some of what you're getting into.
I think the best advice anyone can give you about buying a boat to liveaboard is to find a boat that makes you smile when you look at her - if you don't love the boat, you will soon come to resent any and all work you put into her.
What ship did you sail on and how long?
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14-07-2015, 16:03
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#11
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Seville London Eastbourne
Posts: 13,406
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Re: Aspiring LiveAboard Tips
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cap Erict3
Walking docks has long been one of my favorite pastimes. A lot of people do it.
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Looking for another pretty place to work on the boat.
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That there is just about the best advice for finding a boat ever.
The second best advice is buy a Cat. Ok, personal prejudice there....
__________________
- Never test how deep the water is with both feet -
10% of conflicts are due to different opinions. 90% by the tone of voice.
Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.
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20-07-2015, 07:20
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: MA
Boat: Ericson 30+
Posts: 11
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Re: Aspiring LiveAboard Tips
It's all about going out and getting some real cruising experience ASAP. From my experience buy a boat ready to go!
Save a fixer upper after you already know you love the lifestyle
www.youtube.com/wickedsalty
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