Time and Money

[OhmG]

Considering a live aboard life. I want to simplify my life and get closer to the natural beauty that surrounds me and as I can't move where there are trees, lakes, and hills (my career brings me to South Texas) beauty is on the water.

My questions about this change are these:
1) How much different is the time a live aboard must devote to routine cleaning and maintenance of the sailboat compared to the routine maintenance and upkeep of a house and lawn.

2) Do you find that the costs of boat payment, insurance, slip fees, etc. equate roughly with the costs of mortgage, property taxes, and housing insurance or are they substantially less? (I am looking at a price range of around $50,000 and Corpus slip fees for mid-sized slips seem to be in the $350 a month range unless I am reading the fees inaccurately).

3) I have two other interests and avocations, reading, writing, and adventure motorcycle touring. I need someplace for my books (over 10,000 vols) and garage for the bike. These are my only possessions that I care about. Do most of you storage?

Thanks

[maxingout]

I would rather do the maintenance on my catamaran than on my house. Both items are expensive, but at least you can move a boat, but you can't move a house. When I sailed around the world I lived on $500 t0 $1000 per month because we anchored out.

Take all of your books and put them on your Ipad. Keep the motorcycle, and move aboard at an affordable marina.

[skipmac]

If you take some time there are at least a couple dozen threads that discuss this in great and glorious detail.

Not to be sarcastic but the answer depends.

Q1. Depends on the age and condition of the boat, just like a house. You buy an old house that is dirty, rundown and needs lots of repairs and fixing up you will spend a lot of time on the house. You have a fancy yard with lots of high maintenance landscaping you can spend a good bit of time every day in the yard. Same with a boat. Lots of of wood and varnish on the outside is like lots of landscaping in a yard. Old boat = old house. Once you get the boat in shape, assuming minimal external woodwork, ongoing cleaning and such is minimal.

Q2. Depends on the boat. For $50k you could buy a new, fancy 25' boat or an older, needs work 45' boat. Costs for docking, many parts (sails, winches, shackles, anchors, etc, etc, etc) have to be bigger for a bigger boat so cost a lot more. Compared to many areas (New England, south Florida, south California) Corpus is a very good deal. If you move you may have to revise your monthly slip estimates.

Q3. Some do storage but that seems to be the minority. Most either keep a home and return occasionally or move back permanently after done cruising or dump everything and take off. If you're storing books, especially in hot, humid south TX you would probably need a climate controlled storage spot otherwise you will come back to moldy, mildewed books.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by OhmG

My questions about this change are these:
1) How much different is the time a live aboard must devote to routine cleaning and maintenance of the sailboat compared to the routine maintenance and upkeep of a house and lawn.

I've never owned a house or mowed a lawn since the Spring of '65, but when comparing the time spent among my friends and family members with their houses and lawns I'm unable to say. Some seem to do nothing and some seem to work endlessly.

2) Do you find that the costs of boat payment, insurance, slip fees, etc. equate roughly with the costs of mortgage, property taxes, and housing insurance or are they substantially less?................

Many of my friends have houses, though I've never lived in one since I was 17. I know that, while living on a boat, I've had more discretionary income than my colleagues with the same income and family responsibilities. Living on a boat greatly diminishes the opportunity and need to spend money on "stuff".

3) I have two other interests and avocations, reading, writing, and adventure motorcycle touring. I need someplace for my books (over 10,000 vols) and garage for the bike. These are my only possessions that I care about. Do most of you storage?
Thanks

Other than a safe deposit box at a bank, I've never stored anything ashore.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Originally Posted by maxingout

I would rather do the maintenance on my catamaran than on my house.

I'd rather work on my boat too. It just feels better working on the boat than the house. I really don't like yard work.

[Tony B]

Originally Posted by OhmG

.....
1) How much different is the time a live aboard must devote to routine cleaning and maintenance of the sailboat compared to the routine maintenance and upkeep of a house and lawn.
When you live aboard, boat maintenance is about as close to zero as one can get when compared to a home.
Change sea water filters and Air Conditioned filters: 1 hour every other week.
Washdown boat: 1 hr/week
Misc. leaks: 10 Hrs/year.
As for normal cleaning as compared to a home: How long would it take to clean the equivelant of the inside of a large bathroom?
Mechanical stuff: Depends on how much your boat is used. Generally much less than a car. Tony B
2) Do you find that the costs of boat payment, insurance, slip fees, etc. equate roughly with the costs of mortgage, property taxes, and housing insurance or are they substantially less? (I am looking at a price range of around $50,000 and Corpus slip fees for mid-sized slips seem to be in the $350 a month range unless I am reading the fees inaccurately).
That is normal for Texas coast. Some higher and some lower, but not all that dramatically different. I live aboard in Kemah - on Galveston Bay. Probably the most expensive marina in Tx. Marina facilities include swimming pools, hot tub, tennis courts, weight and excercise room, sauna plus more for under $500/mo. This place is like living in a country club. WaterfordHarborMarina.com
3) I have two other interests and avocations, reading, writing, and adventure motorcycle touring. I need someplace for my books (over 10,000 vols) and garage for the bike. These are my only possessions that I care about. Do most of you storage?
We have been living aboard for around 14 years or so in Mississippi, Louisiana, Rockport, Tx. and now Kemah, Tx. Everyplace we ever lived, we always rented a mini-storage. Season clothing, spare boat parts, my woodworking shop, etc.
Thanks

Wish you luck. Corpus is a nice area. Always windy - perfect sailing weather all year long. Could be a little bumpy for power boats though.

[mangomuffins]

""That is normal for Texas coast. Some higher and some lower, but not all that dramatically different. I live aboard in Kemah - on Galveston Bay. Probably the most expensive marina in Tx. Marina facilities include swimming pools, hot tub, tennis courts, weight and excercise room, sauna plus more for under $500/mo. This place is like living in a country club. WaterfordHarborMarina.com""

LOVE waterford!!!
watergate suxxxxx

see post in snob thread.

The folks at Waterford treated me like family.
Watergate...not so much

mm

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by OhmG

1) How much different is the time a live aboard must devote to routine cleaning and maintenance of the sailboat compared to the routine maintenance and upkeep of a house and lawn.

2) Do you find that the costs of boat payment, insurance, slip fees, etc. equate roughly with the costs of mortgage, property taxes, and housing insurance or are they substantially less?

3) I have two other interests and avocations, reading, writing, and adventure motorcycle touring. I need someplace for my books (over 10,000 vols) and garage for the bike. These are my only possessions that I care about. Do most of you storage?

Thanks

1) Depends on the boat's condition, materials she is made of, and the desired standard of upkeep. If you get the right boat, it may be way less maintenance hungry than an average house.

2) Depends on where you are moored, what the boat is and how skilled you are with boat jobs. It is relatively easy to pre-calc the costs based on a couple of emails asking the relevant parties for their quotes.

3) No idea about your books and bike other than I say do keep them. Perhaps talk to your family about the books and to a fellow rider on the bike. It is better to keep your stuff with ones who understand what these things mean to you.

Cheers,
b.

[Ex-Calif]

Buy a 15 yo van. Say a Toyota Sienna with 130k on the clock. Buy a 30 yo house. Add their maintenance needs together and buy a 30 yo boat.

Buy a new van, buy a 5 yo house. Add their maintenance needs together and buy a new to 5 yo boat.

Now you have the expectations fenced off...

BTW - maintaining and living on a boat has to be way more fun than cutting grass and changing mcpherson struts.

[impi]

One just cant compare life on land to life at sea. The best thing we ever did was to scale the business down and head for sea. Having said that, I would hate to not have our luxuries on board and those would include ample power (as in electricity), plenty of water (and heated for hot showers and washing down the boat), Decent size fridges and refridgerators, our 6KG washing and drying machine is a huge 'MUST HAVE' (to have clean and crisp linen and clothes daily feels really good) ... plenty of maintenance even if you think it looks good, maintain it 'cos it will otherwise catch up with you ... forget about money and impressing your friends ... that stuff becomes sooo 'Old' when experiencing the REAL things in life, but hey, you dont want to do this on a 'shoe string', so make sure you can have a decent monthly budget as you go, and take inflation into account!