Marine Forum

How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

02 April 2007 19:20:43

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

What main materials do you need to go out on a boat and live?

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

EDuncan

02 April 2007 19:30:18

Joined: 02 April 2007 19:29:29 | Posts: 1

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~Erica

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

21 June 2007 18:41:07

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

water and food may help :)))

How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

25 June 2007 19:16:50

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

its fantastic - been lining on a boat for 25 years now! when you get fed up with one area you just up anchour and away!

How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

30 June 2007 14:48:38

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

living on a boat is the best thing i have ever done! FREEDOM!

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

sailmatch

02 July 2008 12:46:46

Joined: 01 July 2008 13:16:38 | Posts: 6

If you wish to give up living on land alltogether it is quite liberating to just live on your boat - like being a gypsy but on the sea. I am a single handed female sailor living on my boat with a cat for company but I meet loads of new people all the time and I am not living in a box going to work like an ant everyday. It's much cheaper than living on land and free from a lot of the regulations forced on us nowadays. Practicly - wooden boats are beautiful but require constant upkeep - fibreglass is much easier to maintain - steel or aluminium are solid boats and easily spotted on radar. Condensation is a pain depending on the climate but easier to manage than many problems that you encounter with house maintenance. Hope this helps - I can give you more information if you want.
Sassy
http://www.sailmatch.com

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www.sailmatch.com
Online Dating and Crewfinding Service

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

linnetwoods

17 July 2008 19:57:51

Joined: 17 July 2008 19:48:25 | Posts: 15

You need plenty of clean drinking water and water to wash in (even if it's just a rinse after bathing in sea water). Plenty of food supplies in case the weather gets unpleaant and you don't want to have to go ashore to shop. You need patience, a sense of humour and a willingness to learn how to do things for yourself unless you have a very large amount of money to spend...

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Linnet Woods
http://www.linnetwoods.com
The pen is mightier than the sword. Except when the other guy has the sword...

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

24 July 2008 18:50:40

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

We want a to buy a 60" ish ketch or sloop to take us to Gran Can for a life change - any ideas?

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

linnetwoods

24 July 2008 20:02:59

Joined: 17 July 2008 19:48:25 | Posts: 15

A 60' sloop is going to have a very large, and heavy, sail. If you are taking a beefy crew along, no problem but if you are planning to travel short-handed, the ketch is a much better idea. Apart from sails being easier to manage on a ketch, you have the advantage that, in many winds, she will sail herself once you have set up the sails and helm suitably, so you don't need an autopilot.

If the weather is too rough for that, it's probably too rough for an autopilot anyway and on a ketch, you can heave-to (put the staysail over to one side and the helm hard over in the opposite direction and bob about calmly like a cork until the storm has abated) which maks all the difference between gritted teeth and a game of cards in the peace and quiet of the saloon while the winds howl outside...

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Linnet Woods
http://www.linnetwoods.com
The pen is mightier than the sword. Except when the other guy has the sword...

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

25 July 2008 12:30:08

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

fabby - but space is very important to us. we have a min pin (dog) and would like to feel that the boat was our home. I would be very worried about crossing the atlantic or any large ocean in anything smaller...

A 63' Motor Sailor Ketch would be too big for for two strong lads then do you think?

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

linnetwoods

25 July 2008 12:59:39

Joined: 17 July 2008 19:48:25 | Posts: 15

No, I think a motor sailor ketch sounds ideal!

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Linnet Woods
http://www.linnetwoods.com
The pen is mightier than the sword. Except when the other guy has the sword...

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

25 July 2008 16:59:14

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

What type of Ketch Motor Sailer would you recommend?

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

linnetwoods

25 July 2008 23:10:34

Joined: 17 July 2008 19:48:25 | Posts: 15

One that is as basic as possible - years of long experience have taught us that the only electronics we really feel we need on a two-masted vessel are GPS and radar. A depth sounder is nice, as long as it goes on working, but it's a good idea to have some stout thin line and a lump of lead as a standby in case a barnacle decides to take up residence on the transponder...

As far as I'm concerned, fibreglass is king - it responds well to treatment but doesn't disintegrate if you're too busy doing other things to do much in the way of maintenance. You are also much more likely to find that what you see is what you get with plastic.

A steel boat can be freshly painted and gleaming on the outside and turn out to be dangerously rusted when you get down in the bilges inside the hull... Wood requires a great deal of caution and care, special skills and very careful handling in rough weather. A sprung plank can mean endsville in quick time...

Concrete boats I would also avoid like the plague - they not only tend to be quietly rotting their steels away within the concrete but they are extremely difficult to sell on if you find a boat you like better, Aluminium is, in my opinion, the most ridiculously unsuitable material to use for soethin that is going to spend it's life immersed in salt water. A coin dropped into the bilge can make a coin-sized hole right through the hull in a matter of days... Still, those are just my opinions...

I have no idea which boat would suit you - the best thing to do is decide what you want from your boat and list the things that ae most important to you as a guide - for example, plenty of storage space is important to some people, others don't care to have a lot of possessions aboard. For some, a sheltered cockpit is very important, for others it is not a concern. Some people feel speed is important at the expense of comfort. Others prefer comfort at the expense of speed.

I'd recommend having a good look around at what is on the market and start short-listing boats that, on paper at least, sound like they may be worth looking at. Every boat is a comprise - that's why you need to decide what you want most from your vessel. It is unlikely that you can have absolutely everything you want out of one boat, so you need to give your priorities some serious consideration.

Good luck with finding the right boat for you!

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Linnet Woods
http://www.linnetwoods.com
The pen is mightier than the sword. Except when the other guy has the sword...

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

28 July 2008 09:40:44

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

Thanks so much for the reply - so did you live on a boat once?

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

linnetwoods

28 July 2008 21:57:14

Joined: 17 July 2008 19:48:25 | Posts: 15

My pleasure! I have been living aboard a 72' staysail schooner since 1996 - not the first boat to be my home but certainly the last, I hope... Once you have found the right boat, there is no looking back!

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Linnet Woods
http://www.linnetwoods.com
The pen is mightier than the sword. Except when the other guy has the sword...

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

29 July 2008 09:31:36

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

so do you handle the boat yourself or do u have a crew?

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

linnetwoods

29 July 2008 22:27:28

Joined: 17 July 2008 19:48:25 | Posts: 15

There are just the three of us: me, my man and Sweetie Pie the ship's cat...

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Linnet Woods
http://www.linnetwoods.com
The pen is mightier than the sword. Except when the other guy has the sword...

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

30 July 2008 09:19:17

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

I atke it thats two humans lol?

What made you live on a boat?

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

linnetwoods

30 July 2008 11:41:16

Joined: 17 July 2008 19:48:25 | Posts: 15

Well, according to Samuel Pepys, a few centuries ago, "A man who likes to live at sea is not fit to live on land" so maybe we only count as one and a half LOL...

Generations of my family have been sailors, some full-time and some part-time, so I have always been around boats. My father taught me to sail a 9' dinghy when I was six years old, on Lake Naivasha in Kenya, dodging the hippopotami and, from then on, I never turned down an opportunity to be out on the water if I could help it.

The first time I lived aboard as an adult was in my twenties and the vessel was a little old river boat, all wood and brass. I worked nearby and lived alone and that's how I learned not to get involved with wooden boats - I seemed to spend all my free time pumping!

The Internet has made it possible for many of us to work without having to go ashore to do so, which is wonderful. I have met people who did all manner of things for a living aboard - buying and selling rom a boat anchored off the coast of France, playing the stock exchange at anchor in the Caribean - you name it and there's probably somebody doing it!

Like any other choice of 'lifestyle' as living is called these days, being a permanent live-aboard has it's upsides and downsides. For me, there is nothing about living ashore that I miss enough to consider doing it...

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Linnet Woods
http://www.linnetwoods.com
The pen is mightier than the sword. Except when the other guy has the sword...

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

30 July 2008 12:11:59

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

you are a star!

I would love the freedom of the seas one day!

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

linnetwoods

30 July 2008 15:10:57

Joined: 17 July 2008 19:48:25 | Posts: 15

Make a plan, cut it down into one-step segments and then take the first step... if you really want to do it, you'll find a way or die trying (which, to my mind, would be better than living without a goal...)

Everything is possible... I fully expect to meet you out there some day not too long from now... If anyone tells you that you can't do it, the limitation is in them, not you...

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Linnet Woods
http://www.linnetwoods.com
The pen is mightier than the sword. Except when the other guy has the sword...

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

30 July 2008 16:02:55

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

the other half needs to be turned around to the idea! I have always wanted to do it but never had the chance lol

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

12 August 2008 17:48:58

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

i thinik the other half is coming round to it now...

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

13 August 2008 00:42:49

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

It is important to build up slowly to these things if your partner is reluctant. Make a weekend trip first, in which you agree not to go ashore at all from Friday night until Sunday night and, preferably, not to be where you can see anyone else. Then do it for a week in the best weather possible and so on, so that the accumulation of experiences is pleasurable and the idea of doing it for extended periods seems more and more attractive.

We hide little treats on the boat for each other, ready to bring out just when one of us gets the impression it would be a good idea to cheer the other up... Chocolate, Werther's Original candies, a book of crossword or Sudoku puzzles, a magazine - nothing too fancy or expensive, just a thoughtful offering.

People comment on how unbelievably polite we are to each other but, if we were not, life would be very difficult at such close quarters. I don't mean we are formal but we always thank each other for every little thing, say 'excuse me' if we need to get past one anoher - lifefor us isn't about grand gestures, it's about the endless string of little gestures that make up the days...

We can't give each other expensive material possessions - to do that we'd have to give up this freedom - but we give each other appreciation and that is worth a great deal more to us.

Neither of us would ever want to live ashore again...

Good luck with the persuasion! Cheers!

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

04 November 2008 05:28:08

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

I am in the process of a change of life. i don't want to be the person that i am or continue the life that I have. I have always loved the sea as both a fisherman and now an avid scuba diver. i have never sailed. I am seriously considering selling my apartment and heading up the Coral Coast (I'm in Brisbane) to maybe Lady Musgrave or further. I am looking at buying a multihull becasue a friend of mine who is a boat builder says that they are easy to handl single handed, draw less and you can beach them for repairs or maintainence. I'm thinking of going 25-32 feet as all the advice I'm recieving points me this way. I can simplify my life to adapt to life on the water no problem. I guess my question is; how hard is it to really learn how to sail competently a boat of that size? I have spoken to a few people who say it's not that hard but i really wanted to canvass a wider range of people. I realize that i will need to do a lot of bay sailing with someone who knows how before trying to go offshore. Also, how much money should i keep liquid for living expences? I don't mean, tell me all your horror stories of what can go wrong, just the basic sort of stuff that it's prudent to be prepared for. i realize that i am green and haven't sailed or lived on board a boat for any real time before (except three day dive boat stints) but I am determined not to be a slave for the rest of my life (I'm 39) and I know that this lifestyle will suit me. Whether I'm diving or fishing, when I'm on the water it just feels right. Always has. I just need to research what I'm getting myself in to and work out the kinks.

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

linnetwoods

09 November 2008 12:11:54

Joined: 17 July 2008 19:48:25 | Posts: 15

How long is a piece of string? Sailing is 90% common sense and 10% knowledge. The latter is easily gained...

Cash in hand? How long is a piece of string? The more the merrier because there is nothing as reassuring as knowing that it actually doesn't matter what gets broken one can afford to replace it.

On the other hand, necessity is the mother of invention and it is more important to figure out how you can manage if there is a cashflow problem at some point than to worry about how much is enough...

Ideally, you would ensure that you can change your mind if you want to at soe point, although that rather takes the adventure out of it...

You didn't mention whether you are free of liabilities or responsible for any dependents - that would make a big difference. If you are free as a bird, I would just go for it as soon as possible - life is for living.

I would list what you absolutely must have in terms of living expenses and allow another 10% for the boat after it is all up together and you should do fine, provided that most of what needs doing can be done by you once you have studied the subject.

The internet is full of practical advice on websites and forums, there are great books and plenty of people you meet on other boats wil exchange their skills for yours too...

If you have skills that are easy to sell or exchange for what you need along the way, it helps a lot. Good luck and fair winds!

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Linnet Woods
http://www.linnetwoods.com
The pen is mightier than the sword. Except when the other guy has the sword...

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

09 November 2008 22:16:18

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

Thanks for the advice. As to my situation; I have nothing to keep me here. I have no kids and my wife just walked out (for no reason that I can understand but that's another story). Anyway, thiings are painful for me here now and i want to live my dream, or at least try and fail, rather than wonder what could have been. I just want to bolt down a small dive compressor and head north, and then south, and then maybe some east and west. I have dived the reef a lot and i know a few spots that i would love to spend some real time on. Plenty of good fishing too. I live pretty frugally on land so I suspect that i could do it far more cheaply on a boat anyway.

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

22 November 2008 08:09:33

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

Hi!
I also thinking about spending some years on a boat and traveling around the world. How much money do you need a mounth if you whant to be not too basic?

Waldo

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

linnetwoods

22 November 2008 10:05:15

Joined: 17 July 2008 19:48:25 | Posts: 15

You cannot seriously expect anyone to be able to answer such a vague question! Which countries do you plan to frequent? Will you be mainly at anchor or in marinas? Must you have air conditioning and all the other power-hungry frills of modern life? Will you be motoring a lot and using up fuel? Do you intend to eat caviar for breakfast or manage on poorer fare? Will your boat be high or low maintenance? Etc., etc.

If you could give more information about how you see yourself living the life it would be easier to try and help you work out the likely budget involved and then, of course, you also have to consider whether you are also going to be maintaining any infrastructure ashore that requires a slice of the monthly total.

Perhaps you could create a word sketch of how you imagine yourself living - it may also help you to decide what you really could not live without and what could be considered icing on your cake - this varies tremendously from one person to another. Sorry if that sounded like a lecture, it certainly wasn't intended to :-)

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Linnet Woods
http://www.linnetwoods.com
The pen is mightier than the sword. Except when the other guy has the sword...

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

22 November 2008 11:13:15

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

Hi!

Thank you for your fast reply! Ok , I do not need Champagner or other fancy food and drinks like that. I like my red wine and a nice steak. I like to go from location to location and be mainly on anchor. But from time to time I like to stay in a marina. Aircondition is not asked. I am a gliderpilot and I hate using the engine in my selflaunching glider. And I want to use the engine on a sailing boat not to often. I think, that I’ll go for a fiberglass boat.I think this boats are low on maintenance.
So, what are the normal monthly costs for food, fuel, marinas, maintenance and normal life on a boat? I do not need an exact number, but a idea what the ranges are.

Best Regards
Waldo

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

linnetwoods

22 November 2008 16:47:05

Joined: 17 July 2008 19:48:25 | Posts: 15

Hi Waldo,
Marinas vary enormously in price so I think we should leave those out of the sums - none of them that I know of are cheap! That part of it you can research through a search engine on the Internet - many of them have a website and others are included in listings on other marine websites.

My husband and I live pretty much as you describe - he likes his red wine and I am a tea fanatic - we eat very well but mostly because he's a brilliant chef and can make a delicious meal out of almost anything and we treat ourselves to the odd little luxury from time to time (being rare, each treat is all the more appreciated!); we use fuel to generate electricity but we are careful not to waste any and we have an inverted to make the most of the power - storing some in batteries to feed it with while we are using the rest 'live' whenever the generator is on.

My husband likes to have a newspaper every time he goes ashore and I have unlimited Internet access at anchor (although that's because I earn my living online!) and we can manage on about 900 euros per month quite comfortably NOT INCLUDING the costs of boat maintenance.

As you, so rightly, pointed out, a fibreglass boat requires the least maintenance, provided you buy a reasonably solid one in the first place and if, like us, you are happy to go searching for spares in second hand marine outlets, maintenance need not be as expensive as all that.

We no longer anti-foul the bottom because permitted paints just don't last the course and we find it easier to use a large, heavy stainless steel scraper that we had made for us, on a long handle, to scrape the barnacles and weed off before we set sail from an anchorage. Thus we only haul the boat out every few years and that saves a fortune in boatyard fees and all the inconvenience involved. Hope this helps.

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Linnet Woods
http://www.linnetwoods.com
The pen is mightier than the sword. Except when the other guy has the sword...

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

retlaw

22 November 2008 17:23:03

Joined: 22 November 2008 11:22:49 | Posts: 1

Hi!

Thank you for all this infos. I think we are on the same level! I am thinking about buying a cat in fibergalss.
Where are you (mostly) located?

Cheers

Waldo

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live and let live

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

linnetwoods

22 November 2008 20:23:08

Joined: 17 July 2008 19:48:25 | Posts: 15

Hi Waldo,

We have often said we would have had a catamaran if we hadn't already been aboard the boat we love most in all the world!

Lately we have been lying of Mallorca for a while - the Balearic islands are really great. We've been to many places, though, and all are good in their way... We will maybe visit Croatia next spring and stay for the summer - we have family who spend their summers there and it would be fun to join them.

As long as we have Internet access so that I can work, it is all fine with me - I don't like to go ashore so much, I am perfectly happy on board!

Speaking of work, I had better go and do some...

Cheers!

Linnet

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Linnet Woods
http://www.linnetwoods.com
The pen is mightier than the sword. Except when the other guy has the sword...

Re: How is it like to live on a boat?

Anonymous user

29 July 2009 20:26:11

Joined: Unknown | Posts: Unknown

Hi sassy, we now live in Turkey we have been here for 3 years we have a 37 ft Jeanneau here and love sailing and are thinking of selling up and buying a bigger boat and living aboard. I cant wait to sell our villa quick enough and start sailing the med. We would love to hear your veiws on living on a boat and any problems regards Roger and Denise