Average Liveaboard Cost / Foot

[troymclure]

I moved aboard a 35' in september last year. Ive spent most of that time at a Marina in brisbane, good spot, nice friendly boating community there, was $550 per month +$60 liveaboard and no elec charges. Thats aus dollar and it'd be difficult to find an apartment for that price here in aus.

Besides living at a Marina i've spent nearly 3 months living on the hook. I spent from xmas till february living on the hook at morteon Island near brisbane. Was mostly a shadedown cruise too see how i coped with living on the hook and what boat modifications needed doing.

Since then i've gotten 2 more solar panels, a net set of batteries and an internet antenna (3g, as australia has a pretty good 3g network).

I left dockside about a month ago now and I'm slowly cruising/meandering north. Had pretty much max net reception everywhere i've been anchored, doing fine for elec. Oh I also do currency trading online/nomadic office small business office type stuff. So i don't need to head ashore for work.

I spend alot less money on the hook then i did at a marina. There is the $610 on fees too start with, and then the fact that i can't get takeaway once a day while i'm on the boat. As I bought my food supplies before leaving (only restocking on eggs etc at next town) my only expenses nowadays are bills.


I imagine that living on the hook and working a 9-5 job might be a bit more difficult, though i did read about one couple in brisbane that lived on the hook and worked office jobs. They just joined a gym and showered there every morning before work. Not sure what they did about water besides that.

As to the whats it like not too live near a city? Well so far so good. Admittidely i'm more of an introvert then an extrovert so I don't mind the solitude. And with a net connection it's easy too stay in touch with people via email/skype etc anyway. I do miss the general busy hub-bub of city life, the conviniences, going out on weekends and takeaway food.

But then again, two days ago I heard a noise outside the boat so I went to investigate, turns out it was a pod of dolphins chasing some fish around the boat. I looked up and i could see the milky way, not just stars but the actual band of the milky way galaxy (literallly impoosible to do in a city due to light pollution).

Last night I was anchored in a little anchorage in the great sandy strait surrounded by wetlands/shrub and birds.

Today the view from the cockpit is frasier island, theres a nice deserted beach with about 20 feet of sand and then bush, the view comes complete with a couple of hawks sitting on a dead tree branch, I even saw a dingo walking along it yesterday and i think i'll go for a kayak too see what it's like to stand on land again later today.

There are upsides and downsides too living on the hook away from civilization. Right now for me, the upsides definately outweigh the downsides. You mileage may vary.

[Doodles]

Right now we are living half the year on shore here in Thailand and the other half on the boat in the US (Virginia). Our last stint on the boat was for a year and a half at the marina so we got a good feel for the costs, etc. of living at a marina. And since we had moved from a house in a major metro area we found out what we were missing. Our marina is fairly traditional but it is also very rural. We found it cheaper to live aboard but most of the saving have been in the slip fee versus the mortgage, and in things we just didn't do any more. For example, we don't eat out as much anymore and we don't go to movies. There just aren't many place to eat out that are worth it and the closest movie theater is too far away. Food at the supermarket is about the same cost-wise but we are able to get some fresh fish from time to time from a local fisherman. Also, fruits and veggies can be cheaper when they are in season. We cut back to just one car and don't drive as much so we save there as well. We have never been big mall shoppers (where you going to put it on a boat anyway?) so no saving there. We did get a storage unit for things we just couldn't get rid of when we sold the house ($65/mo) and I'd love to get rid of that expense but its full at the moment with mostly boat stuff. My advice re storage units is to never get one and avoid the problem from the start. If it can't go on the boat or in the car get rid of it.

[unbusted67]

So basically what everyone is saying is that San Diego is ridiculously expensive. From me poking around, it would apear that Boston is too.