The Live aboard stereotype.

[TCM1968]

Originally Posted by chowdan

How can one state a boat is inoperable if the owner is out traveling or not around? The boat my very well be seaworthy and operable, but the owner could be out working in another location

His marina does this 6 times a year. Why would you own a boat and use less than that? That’s how it becomes a run down wreck. But even twice a year I think would be enough to prove the boat can move under its own power. No one said anything about seaworthy, that’s a whole other subject.

[sailorboy1]

What difference does it make if a boat in a marina can move on its own power? I've seen lots of floating houses at marinas. You know what normally sets them apart from a lot of the boats there? ....................... It's they are clean and well kept.

All the liveaboard stereotypes are true!!!! They just don't apply to all.

[Good To Go]

Speaking from experience, we recently moved our vessel (a DeFever44) down the Qld coast to a marina on the Gold Coast. We did this for several reasons, to have accommodation closer to our married daughter who is growing her family ( 2 x grandchildren so-far), because the accommodation we could have brought if we were to swap doesn't compare. Finally, to ensure the upkeep of our vessel. My wife has transferred her employment close to the marina and has moved on full-time, I'm completing arrangements to rent our home out and will move on shortly. This marina is one of the very few where berths can be purchased freehold and encourages live-a-boards. We have been welcomed with open arms and there is a real sense of community here. A walk around the marina soon identifies which vessels are l-a-boards compared to absent weekend warriors. I for one cannot understand why all marina occupants wouldn't encourage their marinas to accept more live-a-boards.

[Trekka]

Originally Posted by TCM1968

why wouldn’t we instead be asking the marina owners that in place of banning live-a-boards in general why not just have rules for seaworthiness and overall looks and maintenance of all vessels. If you don’t keep up with your boat then they should ask you to remove it from the marina regardless of weather you live on it or just use it twice a year.

Amen.

In my marina this past year they had to deal with quite a few boats that were effectively abandoned, tho many still had monthly fees paid. There is still one boat, 38ft sail, that has not been visited in over 10 yrs tho the slip is owned and bills paid. Somehow it survived the culling. However in addition to looking like crap it is pumped out at least twice a year to keep afloat. Last winter a few boats had to be pumped to keep afloat, some sank. NONE were liveaboards. In many cases it was a liveaboards who sounded the alarm.

Not on this point specifically, but about liveaboards, a regional NPR station recently did a two part program on living aboard. (I wish they hadn’t because I believe that being under the radar is best. Some people will be offended that others don’t live the way they do on dirt and concrete). WYPR.org is the station, Out of the Block is the series.

[Carl-T705]

As IF this subject hasn't been beaten to death on this forum, now 6 more pages of pablum. Why do some peoples homes look nice and others .... different? why are some cars clean and others are dirty? Why do so people dress to impress and others can't even hide the crack of their butt? Why does boating now attract whiners and groupies and for decades it has attracted the independent, hearty, adventure seekers?

It seems now people seek approval for every choice from others. Maybe just quit trying to find answers to life's mysteries and live ones own life..... Your only on this planet for less than 100 years, try enjoying it!!!

[TCM1968]

Originally Posted by Carl-T705

As IF this subject hasn't been beaten to death on this forum, now 6 more pages of pablum. Why do some peoples homes look nice and others .... different? why are some cars clean and others are dirty? Why do so people dress to impress and others can't even hide the crack of their butt? Why does boating now attract whiners and groupies and for decades it has attracted the independent, hearty, adventure seekers?

It seems now people seek approval for every choice from others. Maybe just quit trying to find answers to life's mysteries and live ones own life..... Your only on this planet for less than 100 years, try enjoying it!!!

Then why would you waste your time reading and replying to it? Move on and get in with your adventure before your 100 years are up.

[Sailshabby]

Some of us don’t leave the slip because our maids get all pissy when they have can’t find us...

[The Perfessor]

If it helps, I am not a liveaboard who has a boat in a Boston marina that claims to have the largest liveaboard population in New England. Most boats are tidy, but definitely look like they have some miles under their keel. Boats I thought likely never left the dock would be gone for a couple weeks which rather changed my perspective on what a liveaboard was (I, too, imagined a liveaboard as a boat with tons of stuff on deck that never moved; well, not at this marina!)

The dumping waste overboard comments, in my experience, in both my current marina and visiting others is unfounded. In my marina, the dock hands come by your boat and pump you out for free. In fact, the dock hands walk the docks and will return empty carts, help people dock, and help with anything else. The marina requires proof of insurance to dock there, even as a transient.

The liveaboards have proven to improve security and were first to a boat fire in the middle of the night during the winter (no one was hurt). They very much care about their "community" and are extremely welcoming and helpful. They are very active on facebook and quick to lend a hand.

For me personally, the liveaboard lifestyle would not work for me. I like the space and comfort of an apartment. Full-time cruising for 10 years? That I could do as the variety of destinations would counter my need for space.

Hopefully this will help to counter the negative stereotype at least a little bit...

[barnakiel]

This is also my gut feeling.


The stereotypes are true. At least they are where we are now, and looking at the 200 or so live aboard boats here.


And because these are stereotypes, it is wise to treat each live aboard person and their boat the way they deserve.


Get rid of old dirty messy derelict boats and their owners!


Respect and let live in peace people who take proper care of their boats and lives!


The same should apply to homes though ...


barnakiel

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Sailshabby

Some of us don’t leave the slip because our maids get all pissy when they have can’t find us...

You hire an illegal immigrant and let them sleep in the car when and eat at McDonalds when you have the boat out.

In my case it's a problem with delivery persons being unable to deliver my weekly order of champagne and Beluga caviar.

[dcruz99801]

In Juneau, AK (a mostly live-and-let-live state) one of the several harbors collected more 'scruffy' liveaboard boats; a tight local housing market created the demand, as living aboard in the winter was difficult and to be avoided. In all the marinas except one liveaboards were allowed, charged accordingly and checked on occasionally, but generally welcomed as extra eyes and hands and saved a number of boats in our rough winters.

Like most "neighborhoods", peer pressure kept most boats and docks clean, but the Harbormaster had a clause in the lease that required a boat be able to leave its slip, circle a channel marker and return, as well as a "morals clause" that allowed removal of any boat that drew repeat police calls. Use of these hammers was a judgment call -- that's what harbormasters are paid to do. Neither too much drama nor public services drain, but YMMV.

[Buzzman]

Originally Posted by TCM1968

I hardly think that California’s homeless problem is from too many high paying jobs. Your facts about the job numbers and new housing numbers may be facts about San Francisco, but I highly doubt the heroin addicts taking a crap on the sidewalks in S.F. are getting out of their cardboard boxes and going to their 6 figure job everyday??

It may be true that *heroin addicts* are not getting out of their cardboard boxes to go to six-figure jobs in Silicon Valley, but what *IS* true is that the lower paid start-up and entry level workers ARE sleeping rough, mostly in cars, RVs and vans, parked around the car lots near the major Silicon Valley work sites.

This I saw on a doco on the homeless issue in SF that was screened on Oz TV a few months ago, so current data.

No doubt, there are a few of those start-up and entry level workers who have cottoned on to the 'sailboat liveaboard' option, but fomr what I saw, being within walking distance of their job was more important as a cost saving.

So for these guys, probably the marinas are too far away to commute, except maybe Westport.

[Buzzman]

Originally Posted by Good To Go

.... we recently moved our vessel (a DeFever44) down the Qld coast to a marina on the Gold Coast.

Can I inquire as to which marina this is?

We sure as heck don't have any 'liveaboard' marinas in NSW that I know of.

[Old fella]

Yes you do, try Forster NSW.

[spughy]

Actual live-aboard here - boats are an affordable refuge for some people who would otherwise not have homes and I support that no matter what they look like. There are a few at my marina that are aesthetically pleasing only from a very liberal interpretation of “eclectic” but the people who live in them are wonderful, if not entirely adapted to our current culture or fully employed.

I am fully employed; my own boat is nicely maintained and my kids share it with me half the time - with the resources I have I can visibly fight the stereotypes of liveaboards (which do unfortunately abound in my community) and my kids are proud to call our boat home. There are also lots of liveaboards at anchor in our bay, but the real problem is the people who own incredibly overvalued property along the waterfront and somehow think that entitles them to a say on the view, and anything less than a sparkling clean production yacht floating in front of them is damaging their property values and is therefore to be done away with. As our marina manager says, half of them were the ones with the dodgy looking boats on mooring buoys 30 years ago... In my experience, having been a homeowner before I bailed out of that game to live on my boat, living aboard makes one a much more thoughtful user of electricity, water, and other resources. It makes you very aware of the environment and fosters a degree of empathy and interconnectedness with neighbours that the security and isolation of conventional North American life tends to discourage. It is not by any means a viable alternative for the average down-on-their-luck person but for those who have the skills and aptitude to do it, it can be a much better life than a scuzzy apartment or couch surfing indefinitely.