How do most work in the city, but live on the boat?

[storx]

I am curious what or how most live on their boats if they do have a non-remote job in the city. Example, im a critical care nurse, so i work at a local hospital 3 days a week, but the other 4 days im off. Just trying to understand the ways people pull this type of lifestyle off? I saw a few searches that people with sailboats leaving the boat at anchor, then dingy-ing to the marina and leaving the dingy there while at work, but also saw some just buy a dock slip and live at the dock.

[ausnp84]

I work in the City three days a week, then drive down to the coast on Wed eve and spend the next four days on the boat in a marina. It works because I can work from home but if I did have to work in an office five days a week, I’d just work closer, live on the boat and drive to the office each day.

[Dockhead]

Why would you want to?


You have the ideal work cycle for cruising. Just rent a small apartment right next door to your work, and sleep there when you're working, then go to the boat on your off days. Commuting to work from a boat, especially if it's not nearby, is a PITA, and then even much more if you don't have a walk-ashore berth. Who needs that carp unless you just can't afford to rent an apartment?

[dwedeking2]

It's very location specific.

Jacksonville FL - lived at a marina. There's plenty of anchor spots but no place to tie up a dinghy.

Key West- not many good anchor spots (little bit of sand over hard) but places you can tie up your dinghy for free. I'm in the mooring field and get access to secure dinghy dock, laundry room, and showers).

[john61ct]

Nice to save the rent money if you can swing that, but in some places can be too inconvenient.

[jtsailjt]

I agree with DH unless local apartments aren’t affordable for you. The problem with living aboard full time but working ashore is that you are forced to bring all your work life aboard, and you’ll probably want to be at a dock to avoid having to dinghy ashore in bad weather and odd hours. Too many times, boats in that situation unintentionally get transitioned into becoming condos that hardly ever leave the dock. I once found myself being guilty of doing that to my boat when I lived aboard in Annapolis. So, I think the ideal situation would be something small and cheap, even an efficiency apartment that’s nearby to use prior to workdays so you can keep your boat ready to go sailing on short notice. Another advantage to also having an apartment is that it’s a place where you can store extra boat parts, sails, or supplies or tools you only use infrequently. If you really don’t want or can’t afford an apartment, then beware lots of small, seemingly harmless decisions that will result in your boat hardly ever leaving the dock. Good luck!

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

I agree with DH unless local apartments aren’t affordable for you. The problem with living aboard full time but working ashore is that you are forced to bring all your work life aboard, and you’ll probably want to be at a dock to avoid having to dinghy ashore in bad weather and odd hours. Too many times, boats in that situation unintentionally get transitioned into becoming condos that hardly ever leave the dock. I once found myself being guilty of doing that to my boat when I lived aboard in Annapolis. So, I think the ideal situation would be something small and cheap, even an efficiency apartment that’s nearby to use prior to workdays so you can keep your boat ready to go sailing on short notice. Another advantage to also having an apartment is that it’s a place where you can store extra boat parts, sails, or supplies or tools you only use infrequently. If you really don’t want or can’t afford an apartment, then beware lots of small, seemingly harmless decisions that will result in your boat hardly ever leaving the dock. Good luck!

Very good comments.


I've done a lot of living aboard, because I cannot, indeed, or just refuse, to afford a land home where I keep my boat -- I have land homes in three countries, but two of them are far inland, and none of them is where the boat is.



Even on a large, comfortable, 50+ foot boat with all the amenities of home including laundry, it's a PITA to live on board. It has some joys -- waking up to the sound of sea birds and waves lapping the counter, etc., etc. -- but the logistics are just not conducive to an efficient working life.



And one of the biggest problems is where to store the stuff which, even if you have the discipline of a Buddhist monk, inevitably accumulates -- even, just, documents, reasonable wardrobe for working life, etc. etc. Even a tiny studio apartment, near work, is a life-transforming thing to have, and then you leave the boat in sailing condition.



Work hard, play hard!

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by storx

I am curious what or how most live on their boats if they do have a non-remote job in the city. Example, im a critical care nurse, so i work at a local hospital 3 days a week, but the other 4 days im off. Just trying to understand the ways people pull this type of lifestyle off? I saw a few searches that people with sailboats leaving the boat at anchor, then dingy-ing to the marina and leaving the dingy there while at work, but also saw some just buy a dock slip and live at the dock.

Likely depends on "where" details.

Some folks in this area live aboard. All at marinas (mostly rented slips, not owned), none on moorings or at anchor that I know of. Local problems are about winter: freshwater supply (and hot showers), sanitation tank pump out, heat, condensation, occasional snow and more often icy docks (and those pesky hot showers), etc. But most are at least within some sort of commuting distance.

Most of those could be much easier to solve in a warmer location.

-Chris

[zeehag]

i worked icu pacu and er while residing on board .... is easy. just like in a house. only different. for my hiring package i requested resident call room and a parking place for my camp van. i lived 130 miles from work. book self for 3 to 4 straight stay there and work and get home for the rest of the week. my days were weekends only, thu thru sun, my last 5 or so years. worked many many years while residing aboard, 1990-2004.
when i was pacu manager, i showered in the staff dressing rooms and napped in the isolation room. generally got to work 0500 for a start of 0600 in pacu, 0500 for emergency, nap in the van, head in to work to begin shift 0700.
had fun driving a 300 zx turbo 130 miles... see if i could make it into lost angeles in 1 hour... hahahahaha with the chip in my identification badge, i was able to do that a couple of times. ps. donot awaken the chp officer napping at 0330.....sun evening driving home i have met a very handsome chp motor officer. that was also fun...
marinas have showers. showers are necessary. marinas are affordable to rns who work icu.
my last 5 ish years were living on a mooring in san diego.

[chowdan]

My wife and I live aboard our sailboat. We work in Seattle and live on Bainbridge Island.

I work 5 days a week while my wife works 2-3days a week as an OR nurse.

Living aboard is no different than living in a home. There are some things different like your shower will be in the marina, do laundry in the marina.

I would recommend the lifestyle

[Corvidae]

Myself and at least 4 other families in our marina live aboard and work around Fort Lauderdale. Personally, we're working towards leaving civilization behind. The others just enjoy the life, and have been for years. The biggest consideration is that we are in a marina, not on the hook. We have constant power, water, cable internet, and a parking lot. So all of us can remote into work, or drive there as needed.

After that it's just a case of affording amenities. The smallest boat in our group has a galley and bunks. No toilet, no shower, and all around limited space. The larger end has 4 rooms, 2 heads with showers, a galley and a trampoline. As with many things, it can be as nice as you can afford it to be.

What I would suggest is that unless you want to sail, don't get a sailboat. There are plenty of affordable motorboats out there with more room and better amenities. The sacrifices of a sailboat design aren't worth it, unless you plan to travel a lot. At which point, wind is free fuel, and that's a real hard deal to beat.

[Captain Caliamari]

I did a year. Out of absolute Necessity. Flooded apartment.
It was like a prison sentence: only worse.
(No direct experience of the PS btw)
Nowhere to safely park the car.
Freezing cold winter and scuttling backwards and forwards to the dock from the boat.
No ramp access to the dinghy.

I learned that ' a boat gets shorter by a foot ... every day you live on it''.

Good luck!

[TrentePieds]

Absolutely location specific.

In Vancouver BC the vacancy rate is less than 1%, and a small apartment near VGH would set you back 1,500/month if you can even find one. In that part of the city the VR approaches zero. Moorage would be a LONG way away and cost about $600/month, and parking within walking distance of VGH would set you back another 600/month. Public transit to and from marinas that will take live-aboards would take 1 1/2 to 2 hours each way and the monthly pass probably would cost $200.

IOW living aboard is not a sound FINANCIAL proposition. It CAN be done in Vancouver if you have money and time to burn.

But take a small community like Port Hardy. No car required. You could walk from the boat to the hospital in, say, twenty minutes. You wouldn't need an apartment since facilities are available at the hospital to take care of personal hygiene. Moorage would be about $250/month If you DO choose to have a car, parking would be free.

So "how do you do it?" is a question that cannot be answered in a general sense. How you do it is TOTALLY dependent on location.

TrentePieds

[billknny]

I have to confess I don't really understand the problem.

I have lived on a boat, and only on a boat, for 20 years. For fifteen of those years I had a full-time professional job, and so did my partner who also lived on the boat with me. (40 foot center cockpit ketch). And this was a boat that sailed most every week, not at all a "dock queen."

In the morning we got up, showered, dressed, walked down the dock to the car, and drove to work. Sometimes we took the bus. Kind of like everybody else on the planet with a job.

If we were anchored out, the initial step in the commute of a dinghy ride to shore would have been a PITA in bad weather. Right up there with the kind of the experience that many, many, many people have walking to their bus stop in the rain.

Having a boat in a nice marina is way cheaper--in most places--than keeping a shoreside apartment, which to me means you are NOT living on the boat, but just using it as a weekend cottage.

Now, this requires a nice boat, that doesn't leak every rainstorm, isn't a mildew farm, and doesn't smell like, well.... a dumpy boat. In my experience, if you are living on a boat "to save money" you likely have such a dumpy boat and you will have issues with keeping nice clothes to go to work in.

You might have an issue with space if you work in the fashion business and need 42 different outfits, but for someone who works a normal job, either with business suits or business casual wear it's very doable.

[gwbull]

Wife and I have lived aboard for 30 years, most of them in Boston at Constitution Marina. Currently there are over 100 people doing so. Wife was a designer in hi-tech, and I was an advertising creative director. Wife worked approx 15 miles north of Boston, and I about 30 miles south. Aside from work appropriate wardrobe demands, it has been a wonderful way to live in the city with a full complement of amenities. Our vessel for most of those years was a roomy 51ft ketch, now a 52ft schooner. MUST HAVE ADEQUATE SPACE, MARINA WITH AMENITIES, HOLDING TANK, REASONABLY SECURE LOCATION, LOVE OF BOAT MAINTENANCE, AND AFFECTIONATE COMMITTED SPOUSE. Put that together and you will wonder why people even want to live ashore. And when you retire, you can sail north and south with the seasons... your house takes there. Just sayin’.