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09-01-2009, 21:18
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#31
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 16
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i commend anyone in this post!
My wife and i are really thinking about selling our house, land and business and living aboard, getting out of the rat race. were thinking about southern fla. or key west area.
were wondering about employment and other survival issues, can someone shed some light! buy the way, we know very very little about bat life but feel we can handle it, we live, work and play together now. any tips comments
thanks in advance!
Judy and Kevin
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10-01-2009, 03:56
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#32
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: South Pacific
Boat: Islander 36
Posts: 1,598
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I can't imagine anyones opinion about my decision to live aboard being important enough to have had any impact on me. But the stupid comments are still real treasures to me. Someone mentioned that a neighbor was selling the ski boat in his driveway. Maybe I should check it out.
Several years ago, my ex once tried to use my livaboard status to deny me visitation. She wrote my lawyer and said "and he lives on a boat !!". I just told my lawyer that "she lives in the dirt with walls and a roof that she stole from me".
__________________
Minggat
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10-01-2009, 07:43
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#33
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Cruising
Boat: Privilege 39 Catamaran, Exit Only
Posts: 2,723
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gostanggo
i commend anyone in this post!
My wife and i are really thinking about selling our house, land and business and living aboard, getting out of the rat race. were thinking about southern fla. or key west area.
were wondering about employment and other survival issues, can someone shed some light! buy the way, we know very very little about bat life but feel we can handle it, we live, work and play together now. any tips comments
thanks in advance!
Judy and Kevin
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You should go visit south Florida before you sell everything and make the move. Unless you have a megayacht and megabucks, you may not find south Florida to your liking. Taxes, hurricanes, and a negative attitude toward liveaboards (not many marinas want liveaboards in south Florida), and many marinas make you move your boat when a hurricane comes. Of course the question arises where you are supposed to move your boat to?
Moving to south Florida may be jumping form the frying pan into the fire. South Florida used to be friendly toward cruising yachts and liveaboards. When I returned to Florida after my circumnavigation, I was shocked and disappointed by all the changes.
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10-01-2009, 08:51
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#34
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Back to the game
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Medellin, Colombia
Boat: Pearson Countess 44 wannabe
Posts: 545
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I hold two citizenships (US and Colombia) and I can surely tell you that South Florida (Dade, Broward and even Palm Beach counties) has been and will be a zoo as a result of thousands and thousand of low income latino migration that made the area very dinamic but also very very hectic to the point in which an english speaker will have problems to communicate in the official language of his/her own country.
If you want to have an overall picture of the crazy situation, visit the Miami Airport for two hours on a Sunday afternoon...you may then seriously consider your liking to South Florida
__________________
JC
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10-01-2009, 12:37
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#35
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lakeland, FL
Posts: 1,296
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I echo Dave and JC. South Florida can be exciting, dynamic, and lots of fun if you have lots of money. I would not recommend extended living aboard or on land there. For cruisers, south Florida is revered because it is a great place to shop for a boat and a great staging place for the jump to the Bahamas - that's a place where I could live on a boat for more than awhile.
All real cruisers are at least a little bit crazy - they had to be in order to cut the line in the first place - and that's why you will find a fairly close knit community wherever they go.
__________________
"There's nothing . . . absolutely nothing . . . half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats."
Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows (River Rat to Mole)
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12-01-2009, 07:55
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#36
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Kemah tx
Boat: Allmand 31
Posts: 12
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The life is not for everyone, if you can be in the same room all day without feeling crowded you will probably be all right. Be careful selecting the boat, if it feels cramped while you are trying it out you will not enjoy it living on it. A good sea boat will not have wide open cabins to fall across pitching around at sea and a good liveaboard boat needs open space or it feels cramped. If you have a child consider a center cockpit so you can have some separation when you want it. I have grand kids now and when they come to sail with me on spring break and summer vacation I need the separation of a center cockpit boat. I am looking for a 37 to 40 foot one now. I made a trip with one of them to Jacksonville and back to Houston and found I wanted more room. I found some Florida communities to be somewhat hostile to liveaboards and even pass laws to discourage us stopping in their waters. I live on Galveston bay and have cruised Texas over 30 years and never experienced hostility like I found in Florida. You might want to consider the panhandle area of Florida to Texas for a warmer welcome when you become liveaboards. The cost of keeping a boat in Florida is higher than elsewhere also. The marina where I live is organized as a condominium and we own the slip and have a deed to the land under our boats. We have a maintenance fee for upkeep and a board of directors we vote in or out. My 45 ft slip runs about 220 a month, electricity is metered, water is free. I have not seen anything comparable in my travels so far. Do your research and you will be ok.
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12-01-2009, 09:53
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#37
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Sausalito, CA
Boat: 42 ferro, La Vanagada
Posts: 37
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Lack of maintenance
The problem I see with liveaboards, from what I have seen of boats I have come across while looking to buy one, is that once a boat becomes a 'liveboard' it is no longer maintained, nor is it sailed any longer.
In general when an ad says 'great live aboard' it is just politely saying: 'it is no longer sea worhty'. The engines do not run, the starter and alternator are shot, the sails are moldy or missing, the floorboards have been covered with carpet and are rotting underneath, the thruhull valves are stuck and are not cycled regularly, the standing rigging is rusting, the electronics are disconnected or have parts missing.
And of course, the boat has not been out of the water for a hull clean up and maintenenace in 10 years plus.
So If you are going to be a liveaborder, for God's sake, maintain your boat and take her for a spin in the water once in a while. I dont want to run away scared next time I want to buy a boat and come across yours.
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12-01-2009, 10:33
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#38
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: San Francisco Bay
Boat: Alerion Express 38-1
Posts: 34
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I'm not a live-aboard but I'll chip in with a comment. I've kept my boat on the same dock for several years, and I'm there enough to have met many of the live-aboards. Most of them aren't going anywhere but almost without exception they are content, happy people. The contrast with the land-dwellers (including me) is striking.
With one or two exceptions, I've not noticed the maintenance issues that "andrejsv" mentions, but I have in other marinas. Our marina is very well managed. The Harbormaster and Dockmaster appear to know their tenants and are clear and consistent about rules and expectations. There is always a waiting list for live-aboards so standards can be kept high.
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12-01-2009, 11:03
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#39
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Kemah tx
Boat: Allmand 31
Posts: 12
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There is an element of truth in the lackof maintenance entry. I think the order may be reversed, the rundown condition probably happened first then the boat was bought cheap by the liveaboard.
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12-01-2009, 17:14
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#40
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: SC
Boat: None,build the one shown of glass, had many from 6' to 48'.
Posts: 10,206
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I don't think it can be put into one bucket. I believe your all right. Then there are the elderly trying to live a dream, no strength and limited money. The young no money and no sense. And those that are doing it and maintaining their home very well.
olgy, your right, stay in Tx. $220/mo. might get you half a slip elseware.
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12-01-2009, 19:33
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#41
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Cincinnati, OH (for now)
Boat: custom built 47' wooden trawler yacht
Posts: 71
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Why in the hell would any body want to live in a boat that is going to stay tied up in one place? I would take a tent in the woods to a boat in a marina any day (but of course my tent would have a wood stove and a cot).
As long a you keep a boat moving to new places it wont get too small.
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13-01-2009, 08:47
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#42
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Eternal Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Las Brisas Panama AGAIN!
Boat: Simpson, Catamaran, 46ft. IMAGINE
Posts: 4,507
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Sometimes life keeps the boat to the dock. When I lived on Frolic on S.F. Bay it was the most used boat in the marina. The Bay is a wonderful place to sail, and the view magnificent. There is inspiration to get away from the dock.
I bought Imagine in the Caribbean, and sailed her constantly during the 4 years I wasn't working. Hurricane season was mostly tied to the dock, but throughout that time she was always getting attention.
Now I am back to work, and doing at least 60 hours a week. Sunday being my only day off. I still give Imagine attention. I don't sail the river, because of the lack of wind, and the water is a filthy brown. When there is wind it can be fluky, intense thunderstorms, and squalls.
Every day I push towards the day I can escape again, and forever this time. As far as liveaboards being run down. Well go into any neighborhood where the owners can't afford lawn service, and the likes. You will see the same thing. A mix of how people live. Some let their homes deteriate from lack of pride, lack of money, and sometimes both. I'd be careful about generalizing what happens with a liveaboard. We all get through life differently......i2f
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13-01-2009, 09:36
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#43
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Boat: 1989 Carver Santego 3067 - BADFISH
Posts: 220
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Quote:
Then there are the elderly trying to live a dream, no strength and limited money. The young no money and no sense. And those that are doing it and maintaining their home very well.
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GIVE ME A BREAK, age has nothing to do with it! I'm young (26), and my boat is as highly maintained and clean as any at the dock. On the other end of the age spectrum, the majority of the retired (elderly) folk have the time and savings to keep there boats in pristine condition. The most derelict of boats I've come across are owned by those that are irresponsible, and irresponsibility is not discriminite of age.
If you don't adequate money, work till ya do. If you don't have the time, get someone else to maintain your boat. If you don't have the energy, then sell.
It all boils down to responsibility, not age. I know a young kid who sleeps in his small cuddy cabin because he's too lazy to get a full time job. I know a middle aged guy who's boat looks like ****, cause he'd rather go to the bar than work on it. I know an elderly widow whos boat is rotting in the water, as she is unable to maintain it but won't sell because of it's sentimental value.
I dream of getting out there cruising, but I work full time as I still owe on school/car/boat loans. However, until it is financially viable, I will live my dream to the fullest extent currently possible, by living aboard while I work.
BACK TO THE ORIGINAL POINT OF THE THREAD:
Yes, I believe every liveaboard has been called crazy for their decisions. "It's not a good investment." And financially, it's not. But it is a good investment in life experience and living your dreams(cheesy, I know).
Cheers
Bill
__________________
Q: "How do you stay fit?"
A: "Passing the vodka bottle and playing guitar." - Keith Richards
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13-01-2009, 10:00
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#44
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: SC
Boat: None,build the one shown of glass, had many from 6' to 48'.
Posts: 10,206
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I believe you took me wrong. Didn't mean all young or old. Just an observation of some factors. I think you made my point in paragraph three.
I saw my Mother and Father's live aboard, of 17 yrs, go down the tubes due to age. I ended up with her and had it burnt after trucking a 48 footer from NJ to SC. Sad situation.
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13-01-2009, 10:02
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#45
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Eternal Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Las Brisas Panama AGAIN!
Boat: Simpson, Catamaran, 46ft. IMAGINE
Posts: 4,507
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BadFish,
Tell them what you really think....good post....i2f
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