Living while on "the dry"

[markpierce]

What is your strategy, as a liveaboard, when your boat is above ground (on the "dry") for maintenance? A women we met who lived aboard Elizabeth II stayed in her daughter's apartment while the ship was drydocked.

[Seymore]

What 'strategy'!? I have often had my boat hauled and always stayed on it, nothing to it. The boatyard must have restrooms and showers. The yard puts a ladder up against the stern or side for access. Once I was moved to lock the ladder to the boat with a bicycle chain so it could not go walkabout while I was on the boat.

[Tampabayfireman]

We were in a yard last year for a 1 week haul that turned into 3 month 4 days and 7.5 hr event in the middle of summer. We stayed on the boat. Would I do it again? Only if I had to. Our biggest issue was limited 110 power. We had enough to run a fan and a power tool. Thank god we had converted a majority of the systems to low power and had good solar. But I can tell you that it was a real incentive to finish and not delay. The problem if ur not staying on the boat and you are DYI, you will tend to not be as prompt to work on it every day and the project will drag out.


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[Hudson Force]

We've always stayed aboard on the hard for DIY work, but if it's to be work done by the yard, then we usually time the haul out for our chance to do a little "land cruising".

[zeehag]

i remain aboard. hate the freeking creaky and wobbly ladder but i did it...only once ii had to find alternative dwelling, in san diego... stayed at a neighbors boat then., was southbay boatyard, san diego--i believe they have again changed name

[2hullvenus]

If you don't have an air cooled fridge, a dorm fridge is a nice way to go.

Otherwise, it's exactly like being in the water.

[smj]

Also makes life easier if you have a composting head.

[neophytecruiser]

As others have stated, it is possible, if not somewhat inconvenient, living on your boat on the hard. The biggest issue to deal with is the dust and dirt found in most yards. You'll discover in short order, your boat will become a microcosm of the yard in terms of dirt and bottom paint dust. The upside is that you'll not have to go to the gym to do step exercises. Trips up and down the ladder will keep you fit.

[Dennis.G]

It became easier once we included a pee bucket to use late at night. I'll let you figure out the details yourself on that.

[Cheechako]

It's a PITA but staying aboard is doable... be sure to check with the hauling yard that it is OK before you use that yard!

[Steadman Uhlich]

Good topic.

I was thinking about this same thing not long ago. I have a few related questions. For the purposes of discussion, I realize that there may be a lot of variation depending upon the location of the yard, and would expect some to be more expensive or hard to get into.

1. Does the yard usually charge a surcharge if you stay on the boat, such as an extra fee for the use of the facilities or electricity? I imagine they would if you have a window air conditioner running constantly.

2. Do most DIY yards provide enough electricity to the boat on the hard to run one or two small air conditioners (15,000BTU)?

3. Do most DIY yards have "WIFI" so the owners can still stay connected while on their boat?

4. Do they charge by the foot per day? If you anticipate you might need 30 days, do they give you a lower total fee (discount)?

5. What is a rough cost for a 40' boat to be kept in a DIY yard?

[southpaw]

Try putting a sign in the local library, supermarket, etc, offering your services as a housesitter. We've done this in the past. People recognise that you have your own home and and are responsible and mature, etc.
Now that we actually own a place in NZ, I've just found a couple of visiting yachties to housesit for us while we go and sail in Mexico.

[KidSheeleen]

Check with yard management, some my have insurance liability problems with living on the "hard".

[Reefmagnet]

Ha ha, reminds me of the time we rolled into town to prep our new to us boat for delivery that was laid up in a yard only to be told we couldn't stay aboard overnight. Accommodation was basically non-existent so we devised a plan to sneak aboard at night, get up early in the morning before the workers arrived, leave to have breakfast, and time our return to make it look like we'd arrived for the new day! We were also aided by the fact that a side gate was left unlocked to allow some late returning workers to exit the yard so we could leave for dinner and a shower and return later at night. The planned worked beautifully until the last night when we returned to find the gate locked. Fortunately it was near low tide so I was able to go around between a chain wire fence and the (rocky!) shoreline to open a gate to get us back in. Needless to say, we managed to squeeze a weeks worth of pre-launch work into three days!

So do indeed check that the yard let's you stay aboard first!

[captlloyd]

While working on my boat, I actually built a set of stairs which made entry and exit to the boat a lot easier. The stairs were on wheels which made placing the stairs easier and I could actually work off of it. This was for some long-term work of course.