Is liveaboard lifestyle a dying lifestyle

[laika]

The golden age may be past, but it's still a great lifestyle if you are lucky enough to enjoy it. As was said by others, the trick these days seems to be further off the beaten path. At least as of 2019 there still is an "off the beaten path". The world will not stop getting smaller and more "broken in".

Go, enjoy this still-wonderful lifestyle, and leave a good wake.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Chotu

This is a great sub topic.

Can anyone come up with a boat that doesn't need marinas?

I'm sure stumped.

Neither of our boats ever need to be inside a marina, they are both completely self-contained and routinely go six months continuously in anchorages. Saves us at least $35,000 USD per year.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

I'm guessing pelagics is one
Ours is another

Not just asking you, Simi 60, but...

So careening for bottom paint or just get out the hookah and scrub every week or 2?

No zincs or thru hulls?

Never replace standing rigging or do this at sea?

What about when refrigeration or other important systems break or need replacing?

Do you fuel up or strictly sail?

New sails ferried out to the boat when needed?

General refits?

New anchor chain ferried out to the boat too?

Repowering?

I've never seen a boat that is self sufficient enough not to need a marina and boy have I tried over the years. As an experiment years ago I tried to do it all without a marina. Boat was as self sufficient as they get. I could dry out to do various things to the bottom. However, the bottom paint issue got old real fast.

[El Pinguino]

Ten years with my first keel boat, kept on a mooring, slipped on the local boat club's marine railway, when out and about either anchored or tied to public jetties, never ever used a marina......

[john61ct]

People these days are a **lot** less willing to "suffer" basic discomforts, cramped living space etc.

Ever more true with those raised with all the mod cons from birth, even parents that never knew living without aircon and refrigeration never mind hunger or outside toilets or fetching water from the well.

This sets the financial bar much higher, and the proportion of people willing to "camp" full-time with millions of assets is shrinking even faster.

I think if there is absolute growth in liveaboard numbers, it's mostly driven by the crazy-crisis level rises in rents relative to incomes in recent decades.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Not just asking you, Simi 60, but...

So careening for bottom paint or just get out the hookah and scrub every week or 2?

No zincs or thru hulls?

Never replace standing rigging or do this at sea?

What about when refrigeration or other important systems break or need replacing?

Do you fuel up or strictly sail?

New sails ferried out to the boat when needed?

General refits?

New anchor chain ferried out to the boat too?

Repowering?

I've never seen a boat that is self sufficient enough not to need a marina and boy have I tried over the years. As an experiment years ago I tried to do it all without a marina. Boat was as self sufficient as they get. I could dry out to do various things to the bottom. However, the bottom paint issue got old real fast.

Hookah for bottom work.

Two watermakers

Tankage for 525 gallons of diesel

Solar arrays

12.5kw genset

New sails

Tankage for 375 gallons of fresh water

Haul out one per year at the end of the six to eight month season for hard storage

Need I continue???

The boats never enter or pay for marina services, are very well-maintained and we are extremely comfortable spending only 15-20 euros per day including eating out several times per week.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by john61ct

People these days are a **lot** less willing to "suffer" basic discomforts, cramped living space etc.

Ever more true with those raised with all the mod cons from birth, even parents that never knew living without aircon and refrigeration never mind hunger or outside toilets or fetching water from the well.

This sets the financial bar much higher, and the proportion of people willing to "camp" full-time with millions of assets is shrinking even faster.

I think if there is absolute growth in liveaboard numbers, it's mostly driven by the crazy-crisis level rises in rents relative to incomes in recent decades.

Who’s “suffering”? Who’s “camping”? It doesn’t have to be done that way.

[Sojourner]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Who’s “suffering”? Who’s “camping”? It doesn’t have to be done that way.

Haha no chit Ain't no one suffering anything on our boat either Except maybe hangovers...

[Franziska]

Basically any boat set up for extended cruising which does not need resupply often and has a good ground tackle.

Beeing able to dry out helps and low draft too.

A good dinghy helps for shore transfers, a watermaker and solar/wind help to make you independent.

Of course you need to be a bit vigilant as to where you anchor weather wise, if in doubt don't hesitate to move location.
Of course there are some times in the year when it's better to have a good hide out.

We hardly ever pull into a marina. I just hate the camping site atmosphere.
I would say if you pull in for a day every 6 weeks is pretty self sufficient and cost saving.
Of course you do major refit stuff in a boatyard or similar, but that's a special situation coming up not too often.
Be it when beeing full-time and, as at the moment, part-time.

The only thing which is sometimes tricky is how to get rid of trash.
Admittingly we do use marina dumpsters once in a while.

Still lots of good free anchorages around. At least in Europe (except for some parts of the Med perhaps).

Originally Posted by Chotu

This is a great sub topic.

Can anyone come up with a boat that doesn't need marinas?

I'm sure stumped.

[Jim Cate]

For Ann and I, marinas are where you go when you need to do certain kinds of boat work that require shore access, lots of power or water, or getting out of the water... or occasionally, to visit land friends or do medical things.

This adds up to a week or two per year for us, some years none at all. Our day to day lives do not involve marina stays.

Jim

[Dockhead]

This can vary a lot by cruising area, and preference.

One of the many fabulous things about cruising in the Baltic is the huge abundance of pleasant "guest harbours" (don't call them "marinas" ) AND at sometimes ridiculous prices like €20 or even €10 or free, and then besides that there are literally millions of places to anchor, and far from dealing with hostile homeowners like we did in Florida, you on the contrary have the right here to even go onto private property to have a wander or a picnic.

So, you know, it depends. I love anchoring in wild places, but I use harbours quite a bit as well.

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

For Ann and I, marinas are where you go when you need to do certain kinds of boat work that require shore access, lots of power or water, or getting out of the water... or occasionally, to visit land friends or do medical things.

This adds up to a week or two per year for us, some years none at all. Our day to day lives do not involve marina stays.

Jim

[sailorboy1]

Being anti-marina "just because" is just being silly.

I'm currently in a marrina for hurricane season and for the electric to the run the AC and it's costing $16/day. This past winter I stayed in a marina that cost me $11/day. At each of these there was no practical place to anchor.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Being anti-marina "just because" is just being silly.

I'm currently in a marrina for hurricane season and for the electric to the run the AC and it's costing $16/day. This past winter I stayed in a marina that cost me $11/day. At each of these there was no practical place to anchor.

We don’t like staying in marinas period.

1. We find the checking in and out of marinas to be a waste of time..

2. Don’t like being so close to others we can hear them fart.

3. Enjoy daily swims right off the boat in pristine waters.

4. Don’t need air conditioning in anchorages because we get a daily sea breeze unlike in hot stuffy marinas.

5. Zero daily cost for anchorages

6. Enjoy the solitude and privacy anchorages offer instead of being on display 24/7 in marinas.

To each their own... we prefer anchorages over marinas for many reasons. You prefer marinas because they offer electric hook up for your air conditioner. There’s no right or wrong answer, there’s many ways to cruise.

[daletournier]

Although I'm rarely in a marina ,I often enjoy them when I'm there. I dont live on land often therefore a marina is as close as it gets. I enjoy the just stepping off the boat rather than into a dinghy for a change, I enjoy not checking the weather, I enjoy the chatting to neighbors etc etc.

It's just a different cruising experience, just different.

[Mike OReilly]

I've long been saying cruising as a past time and lifestyle will decline as the babyboomers sail off into the sunset. And this indeed seems to be happening. My view is that it is fundamentally economic and security. Expect this pattern to continue for at least another generation.

Of course, this kind of macro effect means little to the individual. There are still lots people out cruising. And you definitely don't need to be tied to a marina. We're sailing the northern end of Newfoundland right now. Haven't seen a marina for many weeks, and don't expect to see one for another month.

I do use marinas in my cruising life. I haul out for winter. But I don't hang out in one longer than necessary. Our boat is equipped for long-term self sufficiency. And yes, I still have cold beer. I am definitely not camping.