I don't yet have a
boat, when I do have my
boat (hopefully next spring) she'll be an antique 40' wooden yacht, new enough to have a
power motor, old enough to pretty much not have anything else "modern" (the guy who has her now "thinks" she was built in the 1940's but he's not sure.) My goal is to
rebuild her (a huge
project as she's been grounded behind a barn near on 20 years and needs a lot of
work to get her sea worthy again) and than live in her for pretty much the rest of my life.
While this would be my first time living in a boat, it'll also be my biggest living space ever, as I grew up in a 16'x9'beach
cabin, me 1 of a
family of 7 people, 9 cats, 5
dogs, and 4 birds. Living right on the ocean on the icey cold coast of
Maine where storms lash out at us every week all year long, our
electric system was touch and go, and during a hurricain, blizzard, or ice storm we always
lost power and could be in black out conditions for 3 or 4 months as a result. Lived there 27 years, still live there actually, except a flood took the house and for the past 6 years I've lived in a
Volvo and a 4'x6' tent both parked where the house used to be.
Today it is just me, 12 cats, and 1 bird. If all goes as planned, next March will see the addition of the boat and a small motorhome. I plan to move out of the car and tent set up into the motorhome, while spending the next 3 or 4 (or more) years rebuilding the boat. Well, 6 years in a tent means this: 6 years with 100% no electricity, no running
water, no
toilet, no heat...now granted it's not the lifestyle for every one, I know, and most people scream hysterics at me while reminding me this is not the 1600s. If you want modern things, fine, me, I don't need them.
Okay, so I've told a lot of people about my plan, seeing as I've been wanting this boat for near on 20 years and I've finally convinced the guy to let me have her before she's rots away completly. The past few weeks several people have said the same thing to me which runs along the lines of this:
"Rebuilding the boat is a lot of work and well be expensive, especially considering you'll have to install electric systems and a GPS system..." than they lecture me on the dangers of building an electric system on my own and rants about how I'll need to put at least $10k into a
GPS system. I just stare at them clueless and let them rant.
I joined this forum a few days ago, hoping I'd get info towards this
project, and so far I've gotten a lot of great info, and also I have seen several posts mentioning GPS systems on
boats Than, just now I was reading the thread:
Preparing Yourself for a Liveaboard Lifestyle, and saw a few comments there which made off handed mentions of electricity and GPS.
Now part of the reason I want THIS specific boat, is the very fact that she DOES NOT have electric systems! If you hadn't noticed by now, I don't really need it seeing as I've never had it in my life to begin with. Electricity is an optional luxery, and has been for 36 years now. I mean, if it's there, fine, but if not, it's no big deal seeing as I rarely use it anyways.
Of course I've also been told several times that this specific boat is too big and too insane a project to begin with...uhm, yeah, part of the reason I want this particular boat is the very fact that she does need so much work, because I'm basically building a
new boat with the templates all provided, and I don't know, I guess you have to be the type of person who likes to build things to understand that.
I know this is a long post, sorry, but getting to my question: see I only planned to
rebuild the boat the way she already was. That means no electricity and no GPS. Later on, I plan to add
sails too her, to have a "backup" option in case of
fuel run out or sudden
motor outage, but that's not too much of a worry considering, I'm not a travelling sort of person, I like where I am and once the boat is parked in the
water, she'll likely never move away from the
dock, so I may never do the whole sail thing anyways.
Anyways, I've been thinking about what folks tell me about how I need a GPS so I don't get
lost and all that, and yeah, that's a good point and all, but I mean, unless a storm rips my boat off the
dock and tosses me out to sea, is that REALLY something I need to worry about? I mean, it's not like I'm planning to be out there island hopping or anything. I'm where I want to be, I've lived in this tiny village for 36 years and have no intention of leaving it, and I'm not somebody who "goes vacationing" either, so no short weekend trips either.
I don't see that I'll need electricity for any reason other than a GPS system and I don't see that I'll really need that, seeing how my plan is basically to drop the boat in the water, move onboard, and never move her again, for oh I don't know the next 70 years or so. But than when I say this to people they freak out and get all
"well why don't you get a house and not a boat, the whole reason for a boat is to go places and travel and see the world..."
So I guess I'm weird because I don't want to travel and I'm perfectly happy to live without electricity in a boat that never leaves the dock. But all this leaves me wondering are there others out there who do this sort of thing?
I guess my question is this: Electricity and GPS Systems - Do I REALLY need them? Are there other liveaboards out there who DO NOT have either onboard?
How many liveaboards are there out there who never move there boat and just live in one place for years on end?
And why do other folks live on a boat? Is it for traveling on the sea to various places or are you like me and just like to live as close to the ocean as possible and find it annoying to have to rebuild your house every time a
hurricane runs off with it because you built it as close to the ocean as possible?