Liveaboard - Realistic View

[Liam Wald]

Hey wait... I just got it. Drugs. Makes a big deal no big deal. For real. It's easy to deal when you just can't feel. Somebody stop me I'm acting like a heel... a frickin' schla-meal! Oh my god, I just OD'ed... I'm gonna keel.

[Hudson Force]

Good times,....hard times,.....just go,.....adventure,.....little money,....risk? Maybe so, maybe not. This coming summer Nancie and I will start our fortieth year of liveaboard cruising. We're living our mundane lives in the manner we a accustomed. We have our occasional stress and excitment that comes with most lives, but we choose to cruise in the best of weather with short days and anchored early. We spend more time than those in houses planning food, fuel, laundry, water supply and waste management. We also spend more time alone in wilderness areas than most. We both worked full careers while living aboard; saved much for retirement; spent much time at the docks and with the last 9 years mostly off the docks. Yes, we are "cockpit potatoes", not reaching days to windward or out in heavy weather. We pretty much spend the summers in Maine and the winters among the low 20's lattitude, without goals to take our own boat elsewhere; however, we cruise far away on other's boats. Although, I've never lived in a house as an adult and this leaves me without half of the equation, I can only describe living aboard as easy. Maybe some would suggest that easy is what you are accustomed too.

[wildshore]

Originally Posted by Liam Wald

Yeah, daily big deals are really a big deal. The best way to deal with a big deal is deal it out. Hey... what's the deal? Just forget it, I can't deal!

Deal with it

[farotherside]

also, daily big deals become just day-to-day life. I do have to snicker a bit about the part where boaters at anchor have a hard time getting exercise... followed by the bit about rowing to shore being too much of a hassle. I think it's good to live hard for a while, just so you really appreciate how much the average person wastes every day, and exactly how much we take for granted in our society. when you have to account for every litre of water you use, it makes you think.

two years into the life-at-anchor thing and I'm in the best physical condition of my life... to go hang out with friends I have to row 300m to shore, drag the dinghy up 100m of wet, sandy beach, then ride my bike to the other end of the city. When I think of how much time (and money) I spent at the gym trying to get into shape, vs. how easily that shape came when I just started living a little harder...

[stuborndancer]

Thanks everyone for the imput and good wishes. I'm 22 at the moment, and do plan on doing this even if it ends up meaning I am flat broke afterwards(I have work as a firefighter lined up for whenever I get back). I'm incredibly excited to do it not only because living on a sailing boat in the tropics is a idealistic life style, but because it is realllllllly far from my comfort zone. I want to spend my youth working hard at the things I find interesting, and am passionate about rather than spend it working a normal job just so I can pay the rent which enables me to sit around.

The life experience is far more valuable to me than any hardship I might incur. I'm young, and fit, there is no reason my life should be to easy as of yet .

The only reason I want to work as little as possible is so I can actually sail, and hopefully after I get fairly comfortable sailing for a year or two do a lap around the globe.

I know my plan might be fairly Idealistic but until I actually try it its all I have to work with, hence me asking everyone for there input. Thanks again guys, really appreciate it.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by stuborndancer

Also from what I have read many people who design systems of collecting rainwater to flow directly into there tank have more than enough water as long as you keep it clean with a bit of bleach. People crossing the alantic with full tanks when they arrive. Now it does make sense if I were to take this route to build or add some integral water tanks to make sure if there is a dry spell I wouldn't be in trouble, but from what I have gathered it seems completely reasonable.

While cruisers have been able to augment their water supply by harvesting rainwater, you may want to double-check your sources about people crossing the Atlantic with full tanks when they arrive.

Honestly, if you can devise such a system that works in such a way that it won't interfere with the normal operations of the boat, you'll end up making enough money to buy a boat you'd want to insure.

[stuborndancer]

Originally Posted by drew23

re: insurance - you only really *need* liability insurance in most places. ie, places that want you to have insurance before you dock are basically saying they want to know that if your boat catches fire and burns down the whole dock, someone's going to pay for it. a million bucks in liability-only insurance shouldn't run you more than a couple of hundred per year.

That makes sense. I will have liability/health insurance.

[Liam Wald]

Originally Posted by stuborndancer

Thanks everyone for the imput and good wishes. I'm 22 at the moment, and do plan on doing this even if it ends up meaning I am flat broke afterwards(I have work as a firefighter lined up for whenever I get back). I'm incredibly excited to do it not only because living on a sailing boat in the tropics is a idealistic life style, but because it is realllllllly far from my comfort zone. I want to spend my youth working hard at the things I find interesting, and am passionate about rather than spend it working a normal job just so I can pay the rent which enables me to sit around.

The life experience is far more valuable to me than any hardship I might incur. I'm young, and fit, there is no reason my life should be to easy as of yet .

The only reason I want to work as little as possible is so I can actually sail, and hopefully after I get fairly comfortable sailing for a year or two do a lap around the globe.

I know my plan might be fairly Idealistic but until I actually try it its all I have to work with, hence me asking everyone for there input. Thanks again guys, really appreciate it.

FANTASTIC!!!
You are doing the absolulely right thing.
I never saved a penny until I was 40... but do I have some stories to tell.
If anyone tells a 22 year old to can adventure and plan for the future, don't listen to them. They are likely humans who regret their past.

[LauderBoy]

Here's a 22 year old living aboard anchored out in the keys with his girlfriend and has been for 2 years: Live-aboard sailor here! : sailing

[stuborndancer]

Originally Posted by LauderBoy

Here's a 22 year old living aboard anchored out in the keys with his girlfriend and has been for 2 years: Live-aboard sailor here! : sailing

Haha thats heartening to see. Thanks for sharing that

[wildshore]

Originally Posted by LauderBoy

Here's a 22 year old living aboard anchored out in the keys with his girlfriend and has been for 2 years: Live-aboard sailor here! : sailing

That's quite an interesting set of discussions....of course, so is this one.

[stuborndancer]

Originally Posted by wildshore

One is maint., and there's a couple of ways to look at that. First, just being in water, especially SALT water, means you'll have to pull, clean, and repaint the hull periodically to prevent your very own marine garden from growing beneath your feet. I know Dave Zeiger at Triloboats (Triloboats.com) designs his boats with copper sheeting on the hull to make a lot of that unnecessary but that's a pricy option. (He does have some great livaboard designs and ideas though). Your only real option here is to develop the skills to do you own basic maint. work. This can influence your choice of vessels as well. Wooden boats require more work, but are easier and cheaper to fix if you have the skills, plastic ones don't require nearly the attention, but when they DO require it, the fix tends to be pricy, messy, and kinda toxic. A mix of skills WITH an emergency fund is a practical approach. A bit of catastrophy insurance wouldn't hurt either. (parenthetically, I like wooden boats. I can work with wood and am a journeyman blacksmith, so that kind of stuff is well within my comfort zone. ..Fiberglass is not.)

Really wood is easier and cheaper to fix with the skills? The only reason I have leaned towards fiberglass was because by comparison it seemed to be a easier skill set to learn, with cheaper materials. But I could definitely be wrong. Wood boats are beautiful.

[wildshore]

Originally Posted by stuborndancer

Really wood is easier and cheaper to fix with the skills? The only reason I have leaned towards fiberglass was because by comparison it seemed to be a easier skill set to learn, with cheaper materials. But I could definitely be wrong. Wood boats are beautiful.

I've had a number of wood hulled (largely ply) boats, only one of which even had fiberglass/epoxy seams. The rest were wood, paint, and glue, lived largely in the water, and I never had a major problem as long as I pulled the vessel once a year for a clean and repaint. I have heard nightmares of wood rot, worms, etc., but I've often suspected that those vessels were neglected. Most of the repairs I've had to do were accomplished with a hammer, sabersaw, and screwgun and a bit of scrap wood from the boatyard.

You DO have to keep after wood. You have to pay attention and keep it painted and react fairly promptly to any problems you see, but on the whole, I love the warmth, quiet, and feel of wooden boats.

That may be more romantic than practical in some cases, but hey.....

[Liam Wald]

Originally Posted by wildshore

I've had a number of wood hulled (largely ply) boats, only one of which even had fiberglass/epoxy seams. The rest were wood, paint, and glue, lived largely in the water, and I never had a major problem as long as I pulled the vessel once a year for a clean and repaint. I have heard nightmares of wood rot, worms, etc., but I've often suspected that those vessels were neglected. Most of the repairs I've had to do were accomplished with a hammer, sabersaw, and screwgun and a bit of scrap wood from the boatyard.

You DO have to keep after wood. You have to pay attention and keep it painted and react fairly promptly to any problems you see, but on the whole, I love the warmth, quiet, and feel of wooden boats.

That may be more romantic than practical in some cases, but hey.....

I comletely agree. Wooden boats a quite simply wonderful. I owned an Al Mason designed 33 foot cutter in the 80's. It was beautiful, warm, and sailed like a dream. Built of two inch African Mahogany on oak frames and fastened with silcone bronze... a real sweetheart. No major issues, just the usual maintinence. But she was in great shape when I bought her.
That is really kind of the key issue... if a wooden boat is in good shape when you buy her it isn't too hard to keep her tight. But if she is rough, it may be hard to get caught up and bring her back.
The problem now-a-days is that really good lumber is getting scarce. I can't even image how much it would cost to build a 33 footer today using African Mahogany.

[farotherside]

you're 22 years old, and you haven't got anything built up that you can't rebuild. you've clearly got your head screwed on at least partially straight - ie. you had the wits to find this place, to second-guess your ideas and to ask questions, which is more than 90% of the world. as long as you use common sense w/r/t safety, you're pretty unlikely to f*ck up anything badly enough that you'll regret it for the rest of your life.

go for it. the reason you're having problems finding validation is because it's an unconventional take on a pretty standard decision - thousands of mid-20's folk spend years backpacking around Europe. living on board - no matter how small the boat - isn't any harder than living out of a tent. you can do it.

it's going to be hard at times, and it's going to be awesome at times. living an adventurous lifestyle is basically hardship stacked upon hardship punctuated by moments of intense beauty. do the world a favour and write about it as you go; it's better to regret things you have done than things you haven't.

maybe see you out there sometime.