Best Single Liveaboard Tip

[Missou]

I prefer a kayak to a dinghy to keep fit. I like to see where I am going, especially when there is wind and rowing is not all that easy.

[Panaseaya]

1. Clean up as you go, and
2. always put everything away in the same place EVERY time!

[Missou]

Originally Posted by Panaseaya

1. Clean up as you go, and
2. always put everything away in the same place EVERY time!

That will be something that won't be so easy for my second half to get use to as I find screwdrivers lying around in odd places at home. Just for that reason, starting out with a much smaller boat would be a very good idea.

[unbusted67]

Also, not only should you do away with your shore side belongings but keep the boat gear simple too. It is easy to stock up on useless doodads from westmarine. There is nothing worse than having to pull 50 things out of a locker just to get one thing. No double stacking.

[Missou]

I am also thinking about getting myself a Wonder Wash to safe even more money http://www.laundry-alternative.com/wonderwash.htm
But that uses storage room and water.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Panaseaya

1. Clean up as you go, and
2. always put everything away in the same place EVERY time!

i would add to LABEL those places.

Storage spaces on boats are VERY weirdly shaped, and you don't always have the luxury of storing like things together. Other people may crew on your boat and they will have to put thins back where they belong, or they will make you crazy.

Also I had a very small clothing locker near the galley and i turned that into a small pantry. My vee berth is a decent size, and i put a board down the length of it. I fold my clothes small and they fit -- sorted by type (pants/shorts, tops, undies, etc.) very neatly in there. If you need dresses, buy dresses that don't wrinkle and they too can be stored folded.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by unbusted67

Also, not only should you do away with your shore side belongings but keep the boat gear simple too. It is easy to stock up on useless doodads from westmarine. There is nothing worse than having to pull 50 things out of a locker just to get one thing. No double stacking.

My rule of thumb for the galley is that nothing goes in it that can't be used for three different things. They don't all have to be GALLEY tasks. I used a corkscrew to force the bilge floor cover off after the pull broke.

[Auspicious]

Keep your bilges clean. It reduces the "boat smell" that wafts off some liveaboards.

[mrohr]

GOOD thread! Just because you have some" extra" space somewhere aboard,resist the urge to fill it with another"must have" .You will need that space to move things to get at what else is in that locker or to put items when you are pulling things apart for some project/repair.
Comments here regarding Thoreau are spot on;Sensible Cruising by Casey is a book addressing this approach.
Remember your boat may be your home ,but it will never be a house.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Missou

I prefer a kayak to a dinghy to keep fit. I like to see where I am going, especially when there is wind and rowing is not all that easy.

For us it's not either/or. We carry two 15' sea kayaks, and a 10' RIB with a 15hp zoom zoom. We enjoy scooting around in the little boats every bit as much as sailing the mothership, and end up experiencing far more of the natural history of anywhere we visit as a result.

[zeehag]

i find laundry doesnt carry well in a kayak, so i use my walker bay to deliver it to the laundry.....rowing.....

[Missou]

I didn't say I wasn't going to have a dinghy For rowing, I'll get myself an inflattable kayak but I admit, a motorized dinghy has its use.

I did a lot of research and found one made by Innovakayak that could be interresting. I could even put my groceries in it, as long as it is not too big.

Inflatable Kayak, Inflatable Canoe, Inflatable Boat, and Accessories by Innova Inflatable Kayaks and Canoes - for Touring, Whitewater, and Adventure.

[Lexxy]

Not to argue...all kinds of ideas... but we have gone everywhere we have wanted to go and not gotten a hernia with a light weight inflatable...inflatable keel Caribe with a 6 or now 5 hp Yamaha 2 stroke. We tow this baby almost everywhere under 1000 miles or so and it's still great after 5 years. I have seen lots of cruisers sell big dinghies unless they have 53' boats...I'm talkin regular folks. We had a 10' rib with a 15hp Yam we sold in a heartbeat for something smaller w/o looking back.

[Don1500]

I am within 60 days of severing my connection with the land (waiting for the house to close).

I am getting rid of everything BEFORE finding a boat. I will be living in a 19' trailer until I can sell that and the SUV that brought me. I am not bringing ANYTHING to the boat (except some clothes and my laptop). Everything else will be new, pots, pans, dishes, silverware, towels, sheets, and everything else. I want a complete break with the dirt. I will have a carved statue of Lady Fortune to attach to a shelf someplace on the boat; it contains the spirit of my wife.

OH, I will bring my tools.

[Lexxy]

Remember your boat may be your home ,but it will never be a house.
Brilliant point and the best idea yet and I will be off to another forum...don't try and make a boat a house. It's a whole 'nother world in itself!