Living on a sailboat. Tell me about it.

[kenny301]

Does anyone have experience with this? It seems like a pretty cheap way to live and if you get tired of your neighbors you choose another slip or marina. Also, want to take a vacation in a nearby coastal city? Sail your house there and dock up for a few days and sail back.

I don't really work close enough to a marina that allows live aboards but I am eyeing a job that is right near the water. I'd also have to take some sailing lessons. My only experience is with Hobie cats.

Edit: obviously if I was to do this it wouldn't be a 25 footer. Something more like 30-32 feet. I have no problem with living a spartan lifestyle and getting a small storage for extra clothes and such.

[Roverdude]

Depending on the boat it could be fairly comfortable, but be prepared for a fair amount of noise (depending on the marina and weather conditions), mold, upkeep, limited fresh water, pumping out, pumping out, pumping out, shore power, and a litany of other issues. It can be a ton of fun, but be realistic about it. Camping on the water is the best way to think about it.

[kenny301]

That’s kinda what I figured. Noise doesn't really bother me when I sleep or otherwise and I'd use the facilities at the marina as much as possible to avoid constantly pumping in/out. I did find a marina out that way that has live aboard slips. The price includes cable TV, water/sewer, and $10 towards your shore power bill. The marina has washing machines/showers/a bar. This would be 6+ months away from now anyway. I guess it’s time to take formal sailing lessons and grab something small to putt around in for practice

[GeoffD]

I have quite a few friends who have lived aboard sailboats over the years. If you're at a full service marina, it's no big deal. 30 to 32 is way too small for me. I could probably manage with a 38 to 40 foot center cockpit with an aft stateroom. Somewhere like Maryland, the big issue is going to be staying cool in the summer and staying warm in the winter. 30 to 32 foot sailboats don't usually have heat or air conditioning. Trying to sleep in 90F/90% humidity with little ventilation gets old after the first night. Walking down the dock to your cold boat when it's 15F and blowing 30 also wears thin fairly quickly.

[kenny301]

Very true. I figured that I could probably add heat and AC. Yeah, it does get cold on the water but most of the winters down here it only kisses the teens a few times at most. I'm not sure that I could afford something 40ft long and the draft would be too deep for a few things I want to do, such as sail to Ocean City, MD.

[arethirdytwo]

I'd say it's more like living in an RV than camping. That being said I could not do it, I hated traveling in an RV and both times were Class A bigguns.

[BsickPassat]

Does anyone have experience with this? It seems like a pretty cheap way to live and if you get tired of your neighbors you choose another slip or marina. Also, want to take a vacation in a nearby coastal city? Sail your house there and dock up for a few days and sail back.

I don't really work close enough to a marina that allows live aboards but I am eyeing a job that is right near the water. I'd also have to take some sailing lessons. My only experience is with Hobie cats.

Edit: obviously if I was to do this it wouldn't be a 25 footer. Something more like 30-32 feet. I have no problem with living a spartan lifestyle and getting a small storage for extra clothes and such.

I know people that have (I mentored under a person that lived in his sailboat at Annapolis).... I've done small weekend excursions on a 30 ft sailboat

personal hygiene = use the head at the marina.

food = grill or eat out... Get a good cooler for cold beverages and such...

If you need AC..... there are AC units that go onto the hatch... of course, you'll be using shore power

if the marina has WiFi connection... even better.

[morbs_gt]

I lived on a 47ft sailboat with my dad 15yrs ago. I'd put it in the top 3 best learning experiences of my life.

Besides living space, electricity and water on demand are definitely a plus. When I say on demand, I don't mean wastefully, I simply mean having the resources around you will make your life easier, and you eventually realize how little you can acually do with which helps in the long run when sailing to somewhere.

This wasn't just a home docked at some marina, we actually sailed it frequently, and even lived-off charters. I've been up an down the caribbean with it, and as with most watercrafts, maintenance is paramount. You'll always find something to clean, fix, improve, and that's when things are under control with a boat/home that size.

We had wind and solar power for the service batteries, dual alternator setup on a mercedes 300 engine, a 600lt diesel tank, an 800lt water tank, replaced a bunk bed with an 800lt self-built fridge complete with freezer (thank you danfoss, you keep the fresh tuna fresh!), handheld magallen map reader/gps, ****load of coastal maps, vhf and a sine-side band (reciever and transmitter, there are always enthusiasts on mainlad you eventually find out).

Time off from cleaning, fixing, and improving meant taking the windsurf for a spin, going surfing, or chilling out chatting on the sine-side band meeting people, sketching out diagrams for a new project, prepping for the next trip, etc..

If you have the budget to give it a shot, I say do it, just know that it's a lifestyle, not just weekend fun'n'games. My 2¢.