College student looking to liveaboard after graduation

[thevangoghist]

Hello! I'm currently in my junior year of college and recently I've been looking into living aboard after graduation. I grew up around boats and stayed on a sailboat for a week a couple of times so I'm not completely clueless about boats but I still have a lot to learn before I'm ready to liveaboard. I'm listing a few specific questions I have down below but if there are any tips you have regarding boats/liveaboard life that aren't included in these questions please let me know.

Which boats are the most suitable for liveaboard?
What red flags should I look out for when buying a boat?
What are some good liveaboard marinas on the east coast?
How much should I save/plan on spending for the first year living aboard? (including possible maintenance costs)
How much do you spend on insurance on average?
How should I start expanding my knowledge of boats especially regarding boat maintenance?

Thanks!
- thevangoghist

[Sam Woodbridge]

Hello

I’m kind of surprised no one has responded. I pay around 1300 a year for insurance. I would advise reading and reading. These forums are great for information. About how much to save for a year all depends how frugal are you? If you where to buy a boat be sure and get it surveyed by someone with a good reputation.

I don’t know the east coast at all, but someone will probably chime in.

Good luck!

Sam

[Ballsnall]

Originally Posted by thevangoghist

Which boats are the most suitable for liveaboard?
Houseboats

What red flags should I look out for when buying a boat? No holes in the hull.

What are some good liveaboard marinas on the east coast?
Sorry, no idea.

How much should I save/plan on spending for the first year living aboard? (including possible maintenance costs) $32,276.01

How much do you spend on insurance on average?
12,500.00

How should I start expanding my knowledge of boats especially regarding boat maintenance?
Get a job working on boats.

Good luck in your search.

[Captain Graham]

What part of the world do you plan to live once you graduate?
The East Coast of the US is a big place.

I would recommend (like I always do with questions like this), buy the smallest cheapest sailboat that will fit your needs today.
Then after a year of living on the boat you will know what will suit you better.

I am 65 years old and I would target a 27-30 ft sailboat for $5-10K max.

I just purchased a Watkins 27 for $4k and put $2,500 into rebuilding the engine.
She still needs some work but she is in a useable condition.
I am also paying $100 per summer for insurance because I am not covering the cost of the boat just liability that the marina wants.
My dock is $2,200 per summer for a 32 ft dock.
I live in Ohio so I also bpay for winter storage I do not know what it will be but my budget is $1,000.

Please also understand not all marinas will allow you to live on your boat.
My marine will allow weekend overnights but not during the week.

[Arabellawaters]

I'm also new, but where's the cheapest place to live? I'd like somewhere where it costs a few hundred dollars a month to live.

[Manateeman]

Stay in school. Further your education as much as possible. Marry an intelligent and kind woman. Build a small boat and sail it. Save your money. If she is still with you, get a plan and continue as above.
We built a small cabin in a Lightning hull so we could sleep next to the centerboard and stay safe and dry. You could just about sit it up in it so it didn’t change the basic boat much. You don’t need a big boat to have a great time.
It was the most memorable sailing adventures we’ve ever had because it was simple not expensive and so much fun.
Happy trails to you.
Mark and the manatee crew

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Arabellawaters

I'm also new, but where's the cheapest place to live? I'd like somewhere where it costs a few hundred dollars a month to live.

South East Asia? (or a village in Africa where you grow your own food. You can easily do that on a few hundred dollars a year. A few hundred dollars a month is really living high on the hog!)

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Manateeman

Stay in school. Further your education as much as possible. Marry an intelligent and kind woman.

Or man, depending on your gender and preference.

[Jfjunior]

Originally Posted by StuM

South East Asia? (or a village in Africa where you grow your own food. You can easily do that on a few hundred dollars a year. A few hundred dollars a month is really living high on the hog!)

If this is not sarcasm, then I will add a couple of words. Perhaps it was like that 10 years ago, but now the prices you are talking about are not relevant. In Africa, a couple with no experience is likely to die at the hands of the natives, who will be against outsiders cultivating their land. In Asia, they face a host of intestinal infections that will cost far more than a couple of hundred dollars to treat.
Answer the question: thevangoghist said that she did not understand anything about boats. This is the answer to all his questions, because he definitely should not consider liveaboard.

[Fore and Aft]

Dugong lover that first sentence had my head knocking the keyboard as I fell asleep. Thankfully the rest of the paragraph was full of advice a young man would want to hear.
Vangoghist it costs what you have, the only thing will be how much beer you can afford to drink on any given week. The wife and I at 21 (1996, pre You Tube BS) purchased a 25 foot Folk boat for $5000 on the great lakes and then spent two seasons cruising on her and working during the winter to finance the voyage. Smaller is better when your young, mainly because it increases the size of your beer budget and your friends will all be younger, more flexible and not too stressed when there are six of you crammed in the boat for dinner and drinks.
Cheers

[GreenWave]

Hate to rain on the parade here but getting insurance for a 20 something who has never owned a boat will be damn near impossible. Without insurance no marina will let you live aboard.

[Tetepare]

If you’re on your own and not living in the parents basement, your live aboard costs will be what they are now.

[OldManMirage]

Originally Posted by GreenWave

Hate to rain on the parade here but getting insurance for a 20 something who has never owned a boat will be damn near impossible. Without insurance no marina will let you live aboard.

Progressive has liability insurance for just about anything, including boats over 40 years old. Liability is all "most" marinas are looking for.

My wife and I lived on a Catalina 27 for 3 years soon after we married. We saved quite a bit in that time and paid off the boat. Slip rental was only about $200/month. It would be more now of course, but we are only paying $291/month for our 1980 32 Endeavour now, which Progressive insured for us no problem.

For just living aboard you have a whole lot of choices, almost anything in the 27 - 30 foot range would be fine. Standing headroom is important. If it's just you there will be plenty of room.

Keep us posted, we want to know how it goes !