Boatwork, Liveaboard, boating & Day Job

[S/V Elusive]

I've notice that there are more than a few of us who combine (or try to) different aspects of boat life into our existance. This often leads to conflicts and problems that are unique to our lifestyle. The title of this thread represents the major components of my living aboard; problems associated with attempting to combine all of them, and, hopefully, how to deal with some of them.

I originally had sailing instead of boating, but DOH, realized that would be the same: power or sail.

As most of us know, having a boat is a compromise in many ways. What we use it for, when we use it, how it meets our needs - how it doesn't and, what we do about it.

I've found that attempting to have my boat (and myself) fullfill my requirements of being a liveaboard, being able to go sailing, having clothing and facilities to work, and doing the maintenance and repairs on a boat, all at the same time, to be an extremely challanging endeavor.

I would like to hear from those that are in this same, or simillar, situation and how you have handled the complexities.

[S/V Elusive]

I have found that, for me, there are three major areas that cause the most problems: 1) Space (stowage), 2) Comfort, and 3) Time.

I originally started as a liveaboard with plans to go cruising (who hasn't!? ), and who also wants to go sailing as often as possible. So the first problem is where the heck do you put all the STUFF that is necessary to liveaboard, clothing for work, parts and tools for when you go cruising, parts for the current project(s) (and if you don't have at least three of them, you aren't looking very hard), and very importantly, your wine cellar.

Fortunately, on my boat, I do have a lot of storage areas and hanging lockers. And, being the anal nut that I am, I have every nook and cranny mnemonically identified and codified into a spreadsheet where I have inventoried everything. ::shrug:: It's the only way I can find some things.

However, I still have too many things that make it appear that my spaces are cluttered. Besides bugging me, it is also a bit of a problem when I want to go sailing: Where to stash all that stuff that is 'out'. The trap I do not want to get into is to get external storage and then inadvertently start accumulating even MORE stuff.

Okay - that should get this thread started a bit. More later - you've been warned! }:>

[GordMay]

Living Aboard and Cruising a small sailboat (28.5' LOA), we never discovered a way to simultaneously reconcile the two differing lifestyles. The requirements for a comfortable live-aboard are incompatible with those of cruiser. Accordingly, we cruised for six months, then lived dockside for six months, reconfiguring the boat at each changeover.

We started out intending to continually cruise, but storm damage seduced us back to the mainland (Florida). We summered in Ft. Lauderdale, doing little to accommodate the live-aboard realities, and set out cruising again in November.
We didn’t begin to optimize the boat for lived-aboard until the middle our second summer dockside, when we finally realized that we weren’t going to be circumnavigating aboard “Southbound”. It started small, but by the third summer dockside, we fell into the rental storage trap (that Thomas mentioned) - and “stuff” began to accumulate. Oh boy did it accumulate! It accumulated in and on the boat as well, ending with two TV’s, two 120VAC refrigerators (cockpit), et al...

Now I’m a lot older, a little wiser, a wage-slave, and generally AFU - and I’d go back to either (cruising or live-aboard) lifestyle in a second!

[S/V Elusive]

Sometimes a smaller boat has it's advantages. With a larger boat I feel that I can do all of the above (delusional?)

[Jon D]

In my past [oh does that feel good] work life I could not live aboard and work and sail - needed to much stuff suits, computers, scanners, printers, broadband etc.. We kept the house low key and got the boat and us ready to go cruising. Took a while but we got there. Now we can liveaboard and cruise but not work for a while. If/when we go back to work I'll do something a little different which does not require all the stuff.