Living Aboard

M

mjsiega

New member
Has anyone on here actually lived aboard their boat for more than a few weeks at a time? How do the costs compare to living on land? If you don't include the purchase price of the boat and compare it to owning a house out right, what is the cost comparison? Living in what size house would correspond to living on what size boat? I know there are may variables, just trying to get some info from anyone that has done it. Thanks.

-Mark
 
Mark,

Our resident experts on long term living on board a C-Dory are Bill and El Fiero on Halcyon (a 22' CD!). You and read about their adventures at their web site or by searching through their many posts on this site.
 
I lived aboard a 30' sailboat for about 10 years in seattle. I was alone so space wasn't that big of a problem, but storage is always a problem. To have a boat of a size that is even comparable to a small house you would be in the 50-60 foot range at least. If you choose to live in a marina, and I can't imagine not living in a marina if on a boat, there is a premium for the liveaboard fee. My boat on a normal lease would have cost about $250/mo. As a liveaboard it was about $470. Laundry and bathing are huge considerations. Going up to the showers at 5am in the winter brought no joy. Friday mornings were laundry day. Go start the washers, take a shower and shave, go back and put the clothes in the dryer. Have breakfast, pick up the clothes and put them in the car and leave for work. You get a really regimented schedule after awhile. But I really enjoyed it. No lawn to mow, no gutters to clean. Maintenance on the boat always seemed more enjoyably and made more sense than working on a house and lawn. If Sue would do it I would be on a boat now. A C-Dory just wouldn't work that well. I am not that into that much sacrifice. I like my creature comforts. Large sinks, large tv, garbage disposal, efficient heating, lots of hot water. No pointy end on the bed. But come friday afternoon, cast off and go somewhere was the best.
 
To be more specific about costs, living on a boat is much cheaper than on a house, even without factoring in the cost of the house or the boat. You just live differently and more modestly on a boat. Less waste. You can't store that much food so you are more sensible about what foods you buy and use. You don't have much storage so you really think about what clothes and shoes you actually use. Insurance costs on a boat in a marina are at least twice as high as average homeowners insurance however. Usually your water is free. There might be a slight fee for cable tv or internet. Power is usually pretty inexpensive on a boat. My power never was more than $5 or $6 a month. A boat forces you to be more austere in your lifestyle. It is then that you discover how much you love, or dislike, the boating lifestyle. If a clean shiny hull brings you more satisfaction than a green well mowed lawn then you are probably good to go.
 
$470/month for a 30' liveaboard slip compared to $250/month w/o living aboard is a big difference, for basically just using a little more water?
 
For the past three years I've trailered my C-Dory 22 Cruiser to the St Johns River in Florida and lived on it for several months at a time. I do this alone, and have plenty of storage space at home, so storage isn't a problem. It would definitely be crowded for two people, I think. If my wife were willing to go with me, or I lived aboard for more extended periods I'd want something like the 25-foot Rosborough, or even better the 36-foot Krogen Manatee, which has more live-aboard space then any other boat I've seen of its size (Google will give you hits on both). But then I'd not be able to trailer it to and from Wisconsin with a 6-cylinder Explorer. For me in my present circumstances the C-Dory 22 Cruiser is ideal.

Marina slip costs depend on the location, $300 a month at the low end, twice that or more in someplace like Garrison Bight City Marina in Key West. I don't mind walking a hundred yards to use the bathroom and showers, or the laundry, which might be more of an adjustment for some. To me the joy of being on the water outweighs what I think of as very minor inconveniences. I also do a lot of canoeing and kayaking, so the confined space on a 22-foot boat doesn't bother me either.

I guess I'm rambling a bit. Bottom line: If I had my life to do over, I'd do it living on a boat.
 
Part of it is the laundry and shower facilities, some for the parking, some for the addtional garbage pickup, and some is probably a little bit of "luxury" tax. Liveaboards do require more care and attention, but they also add to the security of a marina. And the costs I mention were from 10 years ago. I am sure they are higher now. The marina I was in was a first class marina, one of the largest on the west coast. Elliott Bay Marina didn't allow young children or pets. None. They knew what they and their clients wanted and they were very strict about it. I heard recently that a couple with an infant wanted to live there and were refused and a court case was started so the marina decided to not go there and quit allowing liveaboards. The only ones there now are the original liveaboards, no new ones. When the census was done back in I believe 2000 there were 53 of us liveaboards there according to the census taker assigned. And we were spread throughout the marina. We were always on the lookout for strangers and theft, but mainly someone would always be there at night for when the occasional fire would break out, especially in the winter months.
 
I lived aboard in Ventura for 12years on a wooden schooner. She was 42 feet on deck with a 11.5 beam about 10 inch on each side were taken up with planking like living in a tube. It was some of the best times of my life. I had one of my boys with me his last 3 years of high school his grades went from Ds and Cs to As and Bs. I took most of my showers at a Gym but knew where all the showers in town were. I would describe it as camping out with a comfortable bed. I still think of laying in the bed and looking out the open hatch at the masts swaying. I think I was paying $4oo something for the slip. I found the wooden boat maintenance to be about the sane as a house. I had to give her up when I got married I guess my wife didn't like me knowing where all the showers in town were.

I would go for it while you can. How do to handle your stuff you just don't have much stuff.

Guy
 
For some people living aboard is the best life has to offer. When you come home to a house you come home to chores and neighbors and stuff to clutter up your life. When you come home to your boat you are coming home to a friend who you are happy to see. Hard to describe how your whole attitude changes each day when you hit the dock and look down to where your boat is docked.
 
I have lived aboard for a total of a little over 13 years (not counting years when we lived aboard for 6 months out of the year-another 4 years). The size boats were from 29 to 62 feet in length. A number of those years were full time cruising, often in foreign ports.

Lkoyds sums it up fairly well, but in the bigger boats (35 feet on up, we had good showers aboard and holding tanks, so we didn't have the 5 AM run in the snow plus I don't do winters where there is snow!). On the larger boats we also had washing machines, so although we did some big loads at the laundrymats, most laundry was done aboard.

I cannot comment on current live aboard fees--but many times it is only $50 a month more--some places no extra, but you do have to pay for metered power in some areas.

You don't have much "stuff"--and we were always ready to race or cruise, so there were basically no extras aboard. We had a storage locker for that stuff.

As for doing it on a 22 or 25 C Dory--it could be done--and I know folks who have done it--but that becomes a pretty spartan existence. Yes, it is much cheaper than living in a house. When we were cruising and living aboard in the 80's we spent about $1000 a month, for all of our boating needs, including food, fuel, mooring etc. Health insurance was outside of that cost. A lot depends on what your "needs" or wants are in life. I think we lived like Kings for that amount--but others might disagree...
 
From what I am hearing the Cdory 16 Cruiser is a bit out of the question. :lol: I think some of this advice is fascinating. It has always been a dream of mine and I read the books about people doing it all the time. One day, while still working in downtown Portsmouth, I was talking with a cruiser at mile 0 there in the ferry basin, and he equated a 40' power boat with maintenance and costs for an 1800 sq ft house. That seemed a bit high to me.
 
Judy and I have lived aboard journey on, a CD-25, for up to 3 mos at a time. It can be done, but we're always glad to get back to home after the summer. Figure our bathroom has about the same square footage as the boat. And we don't have to sleep in the bathtub.

So for 2 people (of complementary sexes) I would not recommend more than a summer. A winter is beyond my comprehension.

Though I did meet a single man living in a 23' Newport sailboat, Los Alamitos Bay, once. I guess it can be done. And I know there are a couple of undocumented workers living in a 24' Bayliner. If you have to, you have to.

Boris
 
We have spent up to 5 months at a time on Wild Blue, our CD-25; pretty evenly divided at anchor and in marinas. We were moving most of that time, so we weren't able to take advantage of weekly rates at marinas. The marina rates vary widely, depending on the part of the country... pretty reasonable through most of the PNW, pretty pricey at the other corner of the country in the Florida Keys. Fuel use and cost is higher that when at home. Food is generally less, because we can't always eat lunch out (which we do when home). Even though our home is on a canal, there are intangibles that are hard to measure: time on the dock vs time in the cockpit.

In the boat, we have the "something in/something out" rule. You buy a new shirt, you have to toss an old shirt. Storage space is finite. And another consideration: we figured anything you do off the boat (shopping, laundry, running for parts) is going to pretty much eat up the whole day. It's more work to take the dinghy to the docks, hike a mile or more to the store, haul back 10 bags of groceries, load 'em into the dinghy, haul 'em up onto the boat, then put 'em away. That's assuming you're at anchor or on a mooring ball. A bit less work if you are in a slip. Even easier if you have a car or truck at the marina... a rarity for the kind of cruising we do. If you're covering big distances on land, you may have to use public transportation. We took our fold-up bikes on our Erie Canal/Trent Severn cruise last summer and got plenty of use out of them, even during our stay at Liberty Landing, the marina by the Statue of Liberty and across from Manhattan. Oh, it was real pricey there... and SO worth it.

The big deal with extended time on one of these small boats is the compatibility of the couple (assuming a couple, 'cause a single guy can put up with stuff his lady friend might not).

Visiting with folks who live aboard or full-time RV, you will find that their lives are not so different from when they were living in the sticks and bricks... if you eat out a lot, you will tend to do that also when your cruising allows. If you like internet connectivity, you will find a way to make that work on the boat. We generally don't watch much TV while boat cruising. We do spend more money on charts (paper and electronic) and cruising guides than we would if in our home area.

So, it's leading me to that old stand-by: it depends. You can certainly spend less than when at home, but if you are doing lots of touristy stuff, you can spend more... and justify it by saying, "Hey, we may never be this way again." ;)

Unlike some folks, I am rarely anxious to get back to the house. In fact, that's the reason we have listed our house for sale: we'd rather be on the boat or in the RV.

It can be done, it can be good. Or, you might find out you don't enjoy THAT much togetherness. Some people don't like the unknown - where will we be able to resupply next? There's a nasty norther blowing in - anchor or in a slip? Everything you can do to make the boat comfortable for you both makes it easier to stay out longer.

I don't think I'd care to live on our boat in one fixed location for months at a time... when you're cruising, there is always something new to see and explore as you travel, making it easy to be out of the boat.

And then there's the inclimate weather. :shock:

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
We are really enjoying this thread as we are planning to live aboard our new 27 Tug for about 4 months this summer. Willie and I are not inexperienced in living together in small places. We lived in a 20 foot travel trailer for the better part of two years. We were planting blueberries in North East Texas and building barns and and houses. We have traveled extensively on our touring motorcycle spending a lot of time in a pull behind popup camper and tents on the ground. As we aged, we moved from the ground to more comfortable accommodations. We were in a 39 foot motor home for 3 months while touring Western Canada and Alaska. We currently have a 42 foot motor home that we live in for more than 6 months each year. We spent about two years in this motor home while we were building our house. Since Willie retired 10 years ago, and since I do not have real job, we spend most of our days and nights together. We built our home here in Port Isabel and while we enjoy it very much, we find that we use only a fraction of the space most of the time. For that reason and others, we plan to sell our home. We will put it on the market soon but I want to give Jim's home time to sell. We do not want to flood this market with too many available houses. :wink: Even so we are a bit apprehensive about our summer plans. We are making plans each day to be ready when the time comes. Last night we slept in a sleeping bag and sheet setup that Willie put together with items we had around the house. We had two City Bags with tapered ends that zip together. Willie sewed two sheets to fit inside the bags ala Traversak. While it was comfortable, we are glad we tried it out before we put it in the Tug's vee berth, as we will make some changes to the set up before the design is final.

I say all this to let you know how much we value the C-Brats and the TugNuts for the wealth of information available from the collective experience of the group of like minded friends.

I would like to contribute a link to a site that we are enjoying for its wealth of boating information in the Northwest. http://threesheetsnw.com/ This site is great for local information, Destinations to visit, and live aboard hints.
 
We lived on our Tom Cat for three months when we were in Florida a couple of winters ago and had a great time. I don't have much to add to what the others have said, they've covered it all pretty well.

Warren
 
Walldog,
We use queen sheets in V berths, and then blankets or sleeping bags over the sheets.

With your experiences the 27 tug will have plenty of room, and you will have a ball!
 
We have lived for three months on our TomCat, three different times. Summer of 2006 in British Columbia, from the border to the Broughtons. We spent 1/3rd in marinas, and 2/3rd's on the hook. We spent two winters in Florida, mostly in the Key's. About half and half on the hook vs. marinas.

We second the advise the others have given. Its easier in a warm climate, Florida winters, than in a cool rainy climate like BC, but we enjoyed both.

Brent and Dixie
 
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