Graduating college, want to liveaboard in Boston

[tartansail]

Originally Posted by wsbarnard

Looks like I've got two new books to read!
I was thinking about wintering in Constitution marina and summering in Winthrop or Nahant or Quincy to save money since CM is so expensive in the summer. I dont know of any places other than constitution and Nahant that offer winter liveaboards, are there any?

Constitution Marina is certainly the local gold standard with great access to the city. You could also check with the Hingham Shipyard Marina re: whether they permit liveaboards. The ferry to Boston leaves right next door so it makes for a nice commute.

Re: boats -- so much variation in quality in your size range. We have friends with a CS 36 that has about as much space below as our Tartan 40 and sails very well. There aren't a lot around, but, because they're not well known in the US, they are usually very reasonably priced.

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by jwing

Topic hijack: How in the world does a college graduate have $30K to buy a boat? When I graduated, my account was closer to -30K and I couldn't afford to go out to lunch with the guys at my first job until after I finally got my first paycheck!

Some of us had jobs while going to college. I bought a house, new volvo, and spend a lot of time visiting Colorado when in college. If you got the right education path, can get paid well while going to school. But English majors do eat dirt.

[wsbarnard]

Originally Posted by jwing

Topic hijack: How in the world does a college graduate have $30K to buy a boat? When I graduated, my account was closer to -30K and I couldn't afford to go out to lunch with the guys at my first job until after I finally got my first paycheck!

My account is -20K, but I have 6 months before interest starts on my student loans. I picked a college that gave me lots of scholarship money and I work 2 part time jobs, one of them at the place I will be working after college. I didn't pick engineering because of the money but it's certainly a plus. I will be living with my parents until I have enough for a down payment.

[tdoster]

So, I did this back in the late 80's early 90's in my 20's. I recommend it to any kid now with an interest as I was able to do more and see more with much less in a year than I need in a month now.

First, you are looking too big. You can go about anywhere you want to go on a 27-30' boat and even be comfortable with two. Bigger than that, you may as well wait until your 30's after you paid the loans and made a few bucks.

College prepared most of us to live on the cheap, so you are just extending that and a 40' boat is going to defeat it in a hurry.

Jobs, depending on your degree, working temp, consulting, or contract was great. Get done with the assignment and go off cruising until the money ran out and no one questions time in between like they do leaving a full time job and the pay pretty much equals out.

Instead of starting with a larger boat, I started on a 20' Newport and moved on land with a wife and kids from a 33 OI 10 years and 4 boats later. All of them took me where I wanted to go and offered a great way of life in my 20's and the transition was within my means . You can then decide to grow up and do the family/job thing at 30, and probably never miss a beat with everyone else you graduated with by the time you are 40 other than you have some great stories and adventures under your belt.

[wsbarnard]

Originally Posted by tdoster

So, I did this back in the late 80's early 90's in my 20's. I recommend it to any kid now with an interest as I was able to do more and see more with much less in a year than I need in a month now.

First, you are looking too big. You can go about anywhere you want to go on a 27-30' boat and even be comfortable with two. Bigger than that, you may as well wait until your 30's after you paid the loans and made a few bucks.

College prepared most of us to live on the cheap, so you are just extending that and a 40' boat is going to defeat it in a hurry.

Jobs, depending on your degree, working temp, consulting, or contract was great. Get done with the assignment and go off cruising until the money ran out and no one questions time in between like they do leaving a full time job and the pay pretty much equals out.

Instead of starting with a larger boat, I started on a 20' Newport and moved on land with a wife and kids from a 33 OI 10 years and 4 boats later. All of them took me where I wanted to go and offered a great way of life in my 20's and the transition was within my means . You can then decide to grow up and do the family/job thing at 30, and probably never miss a beat with everyone else you graduated with by the time you are 40 other than you have some great stories and adventures under your belt.

Thanks! I'm always glad to hear about others who have done this, makes me feel like this is less crazy. I'm glad to hear that a smaller boat will do. I was told to look in the 40' range and there are very few good boats of that size for my price range, and they are usually in very poor shape. So its good to hear that I wont need a huge boat.

[tdoster]

Originally Posted by wsbarnard

Thanks! I'm always glad to hear about others who have done this, makes me feel like this is less crazy. I'm glad to hear that a smaller boat will do. I was told to look in the 40' range and there are very few good boats of that size for my price range, and they are usually in very poor shape. So its good to hear that I wont need a huge boat.

No matter what anyone says. The rule to live by is find the smallest boat you will be comfortable on, not the largest boat you can afford right now.

I believe there is a 10' rule. For every 10 feet of length of boats in like condition, you can expect your costs to at least double. A 40' boat will cost twice as much to maintain and use than a 30' boat.

I can't help with Marinas or quality of life on the East Coast other than the winters are brutal up there and finding a year round liveaboard marina and heating are problems you will need to overcome.

[JPA Cate]

Condensation. Will, I'm sure you understand well how it happens, but what you're not yet familiar with is how this very natural phenomenon can bug you on a boat. It's just after you've fallen asleep, and drip, the first icy drop off the forehatch finds your face. You can sog up heaps of towels.

Some people put closed cell foam up their hatch, but then that makes it dark inside. Every interior surface will bead up and then run. Textbooks, anything cloth or paper has to be protected against water. Ziplock bags make acceptable "raincoats" for textbooks, etc., but the water will be EVERYwhere. So, you can do like our mate in Chile, and always leave the boat open (brrrrrr!), or you're going to need easy, fast inexpensive insulation, especially in the overheads, and under the side decks.

Wind up with surfaces you can wipe with a rag, wet in white vinegar, which slows down mildew for a bit. You can experiment with clove oil and water, it is said to kill the mold spores that do get established. Condensation will happen inside all the lockers above the waterline, so when you look at boats, look for lockers that allow ventilation, or you'll be having to create it and then varnish again. In your situation, I would look for a boat that someone has already spent winter on, about 10 degrees north of you, so that that work had already been done. And then you're set for high latitudes, always assuming you went for smaller/higher quality.

If you try to live on a small boat with another guy, you will have even more difficulty with stuff being in the way of accomplishing projects.

ann

[sailingfarmer]

It's doable..... but if it were me... I'd try to move the party south... Jacksonville Florida is a perfect place to live aboard and work on a boat and find a job.... there are many other locations.... but Boston? I remember Boston in the winter.... Count the number of boats in the water in Boston and wonder why there are none... It may be a good idea to write a Jack London-style survival book while you try to survive the cold. Yes... there are deals out there for $30K by the way....

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by reed1v

I will assume you are not the professional type and have little ambition to be part of the corporate nor university worlds that inhabit Boston. Otherwise, living on a boat means you will smell, and that will doom any career advancement. We have actually fired some folks for smelling bad.

Boats reek of diesel fumes, mildew, mold, dry rot, and the like. The lack of good air circulation in the winter also contributes. Worse, the stench gets into your skin and becomes part of your body odor.

So as long as your a laborer or a low level worker, then go for it. Realize that a career type person can usually bank on making 100k after several years working their way up in Boston. Its a generous city for young professionals. Its very rough on the working classes.

Well maintained boats dont smell.

Im not aware of the data that shows professionals as smelling better than other workers.

The OP might be a future billionaire.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[reed1v]

Here are two tips for the OP: Take it from an old Ph.D and MD, probably more personally and professionally rewarding to share an apartment in Beantown for several years so you can network 24/7. Secondly, its going to be the only time in your life you can really get absorbed into your work. Working on an old boat is romantic but you will be much better served by digging into your engineering early on when you got the energy and drive. Later when you make your millions you can buy whatever boat you want.

[sailingfarmer]

reed1v... has a great point to make... you have to weigh the romantic lifestyle versus the practical... both have their strengths and weaknesses ... life is short...but on the other hand....

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by sailingfarmer

reed1v... has a great point to make... you have to weigh the romantic lifestyle versus the practical... both have their strengths and weaknesses ... life is short...but on the other hand....

We hope he will. Boston, Palo Alto/Bay Area, and NYC(Cornell.Columbia,NYU, etc) are the only places on this planet that are in the forefront of robotics and AI. Its a golden opportunity for a young person to really make their mark and become something of themselves in their field. Hiding out in a boat in Weymouth is not going to help. He should socialize with his peers after hours, look into starting up a firm with some buddies, and join the MIT AI group for learning the latest AI technologies. So much opportunity, such a shame to waste it on living a reclusive lifestyle. Its an opportunity that will only be around for maybe another 20 years in the Boston area.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by reed1v

................
...............
Boats reek of diesel fumes, mildew, mold, dry rot, and the like. The lack of good air circulation in the winter also contributes. Worse, the stench gets into your skin and becomes part of your body odor.
.............................

I understand the source of reed1v's advise regarding these smells, but it's not an obligate condition for living aboard. I've visited boats with diesel smells, cat smells, head smells, rot, mildew and wet sour dirty clothing smells. I've also visited houses that were similar, but I understand reed1v's point that the potential for moisture in enclosed small spaces promote these conditions.

I would counter that this is an option and can be overcome with some care. My wife and I were living aboard as professionals for 32 years before retirement, including twenty years with our children aboard and we did not suffer from aroma problems.

Not always, but often the worst smelling boats that I have boarded, have been those that have been kept closed with no one aboard.

Once again, reed1V is right! Boats can stink, but it's not an unavoidable condition.

[Sailing55]

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

Well maintained boats dont smell.

Im not aware of the data that shows professionals as smelling better than other workers.

The OP might be a future billionaire.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

The issue is not well maintained boats, but rather the smell of clothing that is kept in lockers in those well maintained boats in winter climates. Cooking odors can also permeate clothing, and storing clothing in moisture proof totes or plastic bags can compound the problem. Keeping a constant flow of outside air circulating through a boat in the winter can be not only expensive due to heat loss, but downright cold.

My boat is extremely well maintained and smells sweet below, yet often times I catch a whiff of mildewy odor on my tee-shirts and underwear if they are not rotated often enough. I have detected "boat smell" on folks many times, and while not offensive to me in any way, I have to wonder what folks in a professional office might think of "the boat guy"...

Just things for this young fellow to consider in his decision.

[sailingfarmer]

reed1v...


good advice..... but I was selfishly hoping he would patent a smart robotic anchor windless... on those cold nights in Boston where the ambient temperature will kill you on exposed flesh in 20 minutes... maybe his brain would work harder to get into a more Tropical climb by inventing a smart robotic windless....