What does it take to become a liveaboard cruiser?

[rickschnurr]

I've been a live aboard on my current boat now for 10 years. What's the most important thing to have? A willing and enthusiastic mate. My wife loves our live aboard life as much, if not more so than I do. After that, you have to have the wisdom and patience of God to keep the toilet working. Everything else will fall into place.

ps... don't let anybody tell you that it's a cheap way to live.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by 2hulls4me

Aside from al the sailing / mechanical / problem skills, THE most important thing to learn in how to live in close spaces with your family for extended periods of time. Everyone has to learn how to move around each other, both physically and social/emotionally. Everyone has to learn how to live with periodic high-stress and boredom, how to communicate, how to not take things personally, when to back-off and give space, etc. This is INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!

This is accomplished by taking a series of tiny trips (e.g., weekend anchor-outs), then longer trips (1 week, then 2-weeks, etc.) so you build up to an actual life-style. Many fools think that can just shove off and everything will work out. It seldom does.

When I scanned through the posts on this thread, this advice from 2hulls4m3 caught my attention. The dynamics of family interactions and individual needs can be stressed when confined to a small space. Our children were with us cruising from the birth until leaving as adults on their own. This may have made this easier for us because we were not adjusting from a former larger space, but we were aware of the need to plan for the challenge.

It might seem illogical, but we found it important to have redundant space on board for similar activities, ....'not just one desk to sit at, but two or three; not just one place to eat, but two or three....

We split our large aft cabin into separate smaller cabins for individual use. I know many appreciate large, bright and airy open spaces, but there is also an advantage that comes with more bulkheads.

Over our many years of liveaboard cruising we appreciated the small cool and dark "cave" out of the sun.

This living in close spaces with your family and the skills that 2hulls4me speaks of is essential.

[SailMoonShadow]

As someone in a similar position I've found the comments on this thread really useful. A few of the resources I've found helpful:

Books -
Get Real Get Gone by Rick Page (sailingcalypso.com how to be a "Sea Gypsy")
Sail This Way by Stuart MacDonald (cruising tips and etiquette)
The Long Way Home by Stuart MacDonald (inspirational "warts and all" account of his four year circumnavigation)
You already have Nigel Calders book, good choice!

Youtube -
Sail Life very entertaining and informative but his Athena refit is an abject lesson in why NOT to buy a "fixer-upper" if you want to get away before the end of the millenium!!
Free Range Sailing - a couple of totally laid back Auzzies


I see from your sig that your location is Devon. I live in Exeter but keep my boat in Plymouth - if you'd like to chat for mutual encouragement or pay a visit (maybe go for a sail) you'd be more than welcome. PM me if interested

[carlosproa]

Look at the YouTube channels of young couples like you
Sailing Zíngaro, Gone with the Wynns, sailing UMA, untie the lines, etc.
They all make money by posting videos

[john61ct]

Just like any showbiz, 99.99% make nothing, .01 make a little, .001% do well.

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by rickschnurr

I've been a live aboard on my current boat now for 10 years. What's the most important thing to have? A willing and enthusiastic mate. My wife loves our live aboard life as much, if not more so than I do. After that, you have to have the wisdom and patience of God to keep the toilet working. Everything else will fall into place.

ps... don't let anybody tell you that it's a cheap way to live.

Not sure about that. We have been underway 12 years and we do not think we could live in the USA on dirt for what it costs us out here. But it also depends on how you live.

[john61ct]

He did not say it can't be cheaper

He said don't tell anyone. First rule of Fight Club 8-)

[carlosproa]

Millennials are really into YouTube subscriptions, and most of the people with these videos have evolved in their story telling. Fun to binge watch their first timid attempts on recording their trips and slowly they add the right camera, the right drone, the right script, the right shot, and about 30% of it might be staged - the end result is they make a basic living cruising, filing, editing - and more importantly, they get either free or discounted gear from vendors

Not for everyone , you do not have to look like a million bucks ( see the warram YouTube LUcky Fish, or Lady Afrika), but you should be providing useful information, a dram, and empathy.

[BlackHeron]

Originally Posted by SailMoonShadow

Youtube -
Sail Life very entertaining and informative but his Athena refit is an abject lesson in why NOT to buy a "fixer-upper" if you want to get away before the end of the millenium!!

You do know that Mads planned all along to buy a major "fixer-upper" and spend years on his project just "fixing it up." It was all part of his dream from the very start, as much as the sailing part to do major renovations and personalizations to his dream boat. Perhaps Athena had some hidden issues he didn't quite expect like the major deck core repairs and the "joker" of the wet hull framing, but he budgeted plenty of time to do it all in his many-years master schedule.

People used to buy bare hulls and build them out themselves rather than have the production factory install their own stock internals. Pam and Andy Wall did just that back in the 80's and went on to cruise for years all over the globe after years of backyard boatbuilding. Many other boats out there were built the same way, by hand. Some folks even built from scratch in their garage. I don't know why all of a sudden people are so offended by the idea of hard work and doing something yourself rather than buying a ready-made product built to generic standards for the "average buyer."

I guess it is the sign of the millennial times that folks today just get offended by anyone taking on and spending more than a few months to complete a major DIY project. If it is worthwhile just do it. Why are people so quick to judge someone who is having fun doing what he is doing as "making a mistake?"

Also, Mads is already living on a smaller sailboat that he did extensive refitting on previously as a practice run before buying and starting this larger project. This was all to plan too, and he isn't far behind schedule in the large scheme of things. If anything has slowed him down it has been the documenting the process on video which has paid high rewards back to him in the form of fame/notoriety, a nice little income stream that will be there as long as he wants to keep producing videos.

Finally it has taught him a very useful skill in producing and starring in his own videos, as well as his English skills are phenomenal and his on-screen presence is amazing. If you go back and watch his very first videos the transformation into the DIY sailing video superstar he is today is amazing.

"Abject lesson" my sweet patootie!

[john61ct]

Abject lesson, for those with different priorities.

Certainly restoring an old boat is a more "reasonable" DIY project than building up a new hull by hand from scratch.

Whatever floats your boat.

[theDangerz]

Originally Posted by Puddleduck

Apart from a boat and being able to sail, what are the most important skills and traits to learn before we jump in? My time and money are limited so I guess I’m trying to prioritised what I need to do to move forward.

All help and advice is greatly appreciated!

My responses to these questions seem to be less than "well received" by the longterm sailing crowd... but i'll answer just the same.

The simply true answer to your questions is - Nothing
In fact, it's far less than you already have!
All it actually requires is you and your family making it happen.

6months ago we had never owned a boat, lived on a boat or sailed a boat.

Now... we've been living aboard for almost 4months, have island hopped our way down through the Bahamas and now over the last week have done multi-day crossings in order to make it onward to the eastern Caribbean so that we can spend all year cruising the Caribbean.

You already have more skills/knowledge than we did when we moved aboard and set sail... so at this point the only thing you "need" is to buy and move onto a boat, and that is simply a decision, or you and your family making it a priority.
Otherwise, like most... you risk asking this question all over again when the "10yr alarm", "20yr alarm" etc go off in your head and you wonder each time where the time went.

Cant wait to follow along on your journey, and certainly...if we can help in any way let us know!

[Fore and Aft]

I agree Hudson Force it’s the learning to live in a small space with family that is important. It’s like dancing, you just learn your partners and kids moves so no one gets there feet stood on. There’s always those days that you can’t move right but they are few and far between.
Cheers

[Dignity too]

Originally Posted by Puddleduck

About 5 years ago my wife and I had an idea of travelling the world on a sailing boat without ever having stepped aboard a sailing boat (familiar theme right). Tried a few local sailing weekends, loved it. Took a couple of courses, loved it. Bareboat Chartered a couple of times in the med and really loved it. So decided to go whole hog and sell up and go boat shopping. Then life got in the way....wife and I fell pregnant so our plans were put on hold.

2 years of learning to be a parent and 5 years on after that initial spark and my 5 year plan alarm bell has started ringing! So it’s time to pick up where we left.

Back to the original point.... Apart from a boat and being able to sail, what are the most important skills and traits to learn before we jump in? My time and money are limited so I guess I’m trying to prioritised what I need to do to move forward.

All help and advice is greatly appreciated!

go for it, Boating Dreams 10 the journey by Trevor Martin, never been near a boat, bought one refitted it, circumnavigated the UK, and sailed all over Europe and The Baltic. no knowledge of sailing, no experience, nothing.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Dignity too

go for it, Boating Dreams 10 the journey by Trevor Martin, never been near a boat, bought one refitted it, circumnavigated the UK, and sailed all over Europe and The Baltic. no knowledge of sailing, no experience, nothing.

And for every one of them, there's a heap of stories like this one:


http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...fl-225007.html


To the OP - don't let "survivorship bias" anecdotes fool you. That said, I realise that you have indeed done preparation.

[Dignity too]

You just have to want it, and go for it.