Advice for the Wannabe Liveaboard

[ACActual]

Been lurking on the forums for a long time now keeping an eye out for advice on moving from land to 100% liveaboard and thought I'd throw my two cents in.

I began my liveaboard life just after Covid broke out. Not because I chose it but out of necessity. Like many others the government deemed me nonessential, I lost everything, my business of 12 years, my home and of course my relationship. I'm not seeking sympathy so please don't think it.

On to the advice, I never thought about living on an old small sailboat but since moving aboard I couldn't be happier. All I think about is cutting the bonds of the material life and setting off on an sailing adventure.

Living on a sailboat is dirt cheap reducing living costs to levels well below that of any landlubber. I own my little boat and the slip fee is a 10th of the cost of any apartment. Had I known of this life option decades ago I would have jumped on it.

My advice; Just Do it! It's well worth it.

Unfortunately I moved from a large House into storage and therefore have an incredible amount of, as George Carlin called it, "****" to sell, disburse, get rid of, etc. I can't wait to complete the unshitting of my life and get this old boat under sail.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by ACActual

Living on a sailboat is dirt cheap reducing living costs to levels well below that of any landlubber. I own my little boat and the slip fee is a 10th of the cost of any apartment.

I have been living on my boat 6.5 years and it hasn't been less expensive for me. Either you had a poor choice of apartments or great luck in a slip.

[dwedeking2]

When I lived in Jacksonville a slip cost me $500 less than an apartment to rent. In Key West a mooring ball costs me 1/5th of what land housing would cost me. So it's dependant on location. In my experience people that move onto a boat purely for financial reasons don't do so permanently, more comfort in land living.

On my way to Key West I took a month just hopping down the keys. That was a most perfect month and why I live on a boat

[Mickeyrouse]

W’ve cruised and lived aboard for a number of years, but now have returned to a conventional shore-based life, using our boat for day-sails as well as lengthy cruises a couple times a year.
In my experience and observation, live-aboards sail very little. Especially if one or more parties have shore-based employment. Life falls into a shore-oriented routine. Shore power gets plugged in, city water, cable, etc. etc. When one comes home from work, there is no immediate imperative to stow things away and make ready to shove off in the morning. You may be leaving, but it’s in the car and you’re going to the office.
Live-aboard life seems to permit more clutter on the deck, in the cockpit, in the cabin, dockside. Responding to an urge to enjoy an afternoon sail means tidying up all the crapola, then un-tidying upon the return.
When we lived aboard full-time, we sailed our boat less than we ever have, before or since. The list is long of live-aboards who haven’t untied the dock lines in years. I can think of several who hadn’t done it in twenty-five years, and at least one , who never did.
Yet there is a perceived romance of the live-aboard life, probably arising from “ If I wanted to, I could shove off tomorrow.” But tomorrow seems to rarely come.
I’m not speaking against it. But just know how it works out for lots of folks.

[SailingHarmonie]

There are cruisers, and there are liveaboards.

For quite some time, I was a liveaboard. I had a land life, a job. I was tied to a single point. I did regular day sails and weekend overnights.

Now we are cruisers. We have no land home. The boat is our home. We are rarely in the same place for more than a week or two. We range from Nova Scotia to Grenada. Our life now could not be more different than when we "lived aboard." Most of the liveaboards we see are dreamers with no realistic plan to really go sailing.

Living on a boat is NOT sailing... Maintaining a boat in condition to actually go sailing in the ocean is NOT cheap.

[5BTM]

I would suggest that once the euphoria wears off, look into getting back on land, if not a house a condo or an apartment.

Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur, so build something new.

Storing your **** in a tank under your bed or keeping it in a glorified blender will not increase your chances of building new relationships.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie

There are cruisers, and there are liveaboards.

True and just "living aboard" can be pretty cheap. Maintaining the boat in a "cruiser" condition not so much.

[MicHughV]

Keeping a boat at a marina these days is not so inexpensive anymore. Figure $20-25/ft/month....plus add tax, electric, liability insurance, etc.
Don't forget the annual or bi-annual haulout plus various and sundry other repairs, etc.

Off course, if you can get away from the marina and spend 6 months of the year in the B'mas, etc, this will cut down those expenses somewhat, but you'll end buying a lot more diesel, gas for outboard, etc.

Living on the hook invariably requires a substantial investment in solar panels, batteries, generators and so on.

As pointed out several times above, maintenance, will dig into your wallet in a big way.

[MicHughV]

One more thing...a boat is a depreciating asset...keep that in mind...

[Scorpius]

If you are enjoying the lifestyle, either liveaboard or cruiser, then go for it! Shore life has its pros and cons; so does living aboard. Do what makes you happy!

[ACActual]

I'm sure it depends upon your location. I imagine liveaboard slip fees in the south (Florida, Texas, etc) are pretty high. Unfortunately since writing the thread my slip fees quadrupled. It's still less than half the cost of an apartment in my area.

[the stargazer]

Your slip fees quadrupled since last week? What the heck happened?

[Jetx]

Originally Posted by ACActual

I'm sure it depends upon your location. I imagine liveaboard slip fees in the south (Florida, Texas, etc) are pretty high. Unfortunately since writing the thread my slip fees quadrupled. It's still less than half the cost of an apartment in my area.

Texas is CHEAP. Florida not so much.

[OS2Dude]

A lot of marinas charge extra if they know you live-aboard, if they let you do so at all.

One person at our marina who lives aboard told me once that it would take him a week to clear everything away in order to take his boat out. (One of his side hustles is boat salvage. He hangs metal parts over the side and under the nearby docks.)

Another individual uses a small boat for a cheap apartment when work brings him to town. His boat looks like a Russian spy job with all the antennas, and he cut a hole in the cabin side for a window A/C. While he is in town, he stores a ton of crap on his deck and the adjoining pier.