Should I live on a boat?

Question

Has anyone lived on a boat. If so, what is it like?

Answer 1

Go for it. A boat is just a big hole in the water that you pour money into... but so is a house.

Consider this, where else can you gat a house for $20,000 with an ocean view where you can fish right off the porch?

Wife and I lived aboard for five years and circumnavigated the world for four.

Do it.

Don't buy a wood-hulled boat.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

My wife and I are full-time liveaboards. We live on a 45 ft Jeanneau sailing yacht in Greece and we absolutely LOVE it. We can't imagine living any other kind of life now.

What's it like? Well it's much live living in a large RV. Our yacht has all the comforts we need; a large master cabin for us with a huge double bed, we have two double guest cabins (though we use one for storage) we have a galley (kitchen) with a 3-burner gas cooker, a large refrigerator, double sinks and an automatic washing machine, a big saloon that will seat 8 in comfort and a huge cockpit that we've had 14 people sitting down in (though not at sea!). True, the living area in total is only about 40 feet by 14 feet, but in the summer in the Med we live ON the boat and not IN it. In the winter here it's still pretty warm and we have a complete cockpit enclosure so it's like having an extra room. Marinas are rare here so if we're not anchored in a remote bay with crystal clear water, we're probably in a small fishing harbour (as we are now - Sitia on the island of Crete). For the winter months we do stay in a proper marina and they have showers, mains power and fresh water etc. The community of other "yachties" is second to none and we had an absolute ball last winter and made many new friends.

If you're thinking of living aboard, there are a number of factors you must consider first:

1. Why do you want to live on a boat? Are you just looking for a cheap home, or do you want to travel? You need to understand why you want to do this to be sure you choose the right boat for your needs/expectations.

2. What do you want to do with the boat? If you want to cross oceans then you'll be looking at a different type of boat than if you want to cruise the coastal areas. If you just want to live on a boat in a marina then your choice of boat will be different again.

3. Where do you want to live? This is a BIG question because it most affects your choice of boat. If you want to live in the cold northern climate then you're going to be cold sometimes. If you want to live near (or in) the tropics your going to be hot sometimes! You must be sure to choose a boat suited to the place you want to live.

4. What experience of boats do you already have? You can easily learn the basics of the marine rules of the road, navigation and basic sailing skills, but you really should get lots of experience if you intend travelling long distances across open seas. Boats take a LOT of maintenance, stuff is always either breaking or about to break. The more you use the boat, or rather the harder you work it, the more likely stuff is to break. You need to be reasonably handy because often you'll be miles from help when stuff breaks.

If you really fancy the idea then do some sailing holidays first. If you have little experience join a flotilla holiday first. Eventually though you want to be chartering bareboats (that means with nobody else, the boat will have all the equipment you neeed on board!).

It's the closest you can get to being really free in today's world.

Fair winds........

Answer 4

Avast Ya Swabs - lol.

Living on a boats is both good and bad. I lived on a boat for many years, as I was a commercial fisherman.

You get a lot sounder sleep on a boat v/s an apartment or house, I suppose because the air is heavier at sea level.

If the boat is to be tied to a dock with other boats, it is noisy during windy times, especially if the boats have a lot of rigging. Wind whistles through rigging and the more you have the more noisy it becomes.

Space is always a factor on a boat, and things must be placed in a certain fashion to maintain "even keel", or zero degrees list port, or starboard, (left or right).

Maintenance of a boat is extremely high, and if you cannot do it yourself, then extremely expensive, and different hull materials very greatly.

Having said the negatives, there are many positives also.
If the vessel is mobile, then it becomes like a motor home of the sea, wherever you go your home is with you.
No one bothers you at sea.
You get all the free fish you can eat.
And if things go bad, head for a fog bank, and get lost...........

Answer 5

I live in a 30' sailboat in a river estuary/marina. Its always very calm waters in here, even though it may be blowing 25-30 knots at times. Yes, wind blowing on a boat can be noisy, but you can choose not to live in a windy area...

I like it very much because its so quiet. We seldom get neighbours with noisy kids and anti social behaviours. And if we cant stand our neighbours, we could move to another spot. That you cant do with a apartment.

Once a year, we do a long vacation. Sailing 500 miles to another marina or anchorage, staying there for a few weeks, doing fun things like exploring caves, diving, sightseeing. We save on airtickets and hotel. It seems to work out very well for us.

The problem with living on a boat is, space is limited. Unless you are super rich and a mega yacht is within your budget, you wont be able to fit in that big refrigerator from your apartment into your boat. I wished that I had space enough for that, plus the washing machine, plus a big flat screen TV and home audio system, plus a dog, plus a few big plants. All things that I used to have living in an apartment. I still do miss those conveniences (or opulance), but I wont give up living in a boat any time soon.

Answer 6

If your thinking of living in a boat , consider the noise that sailboat rigging has when the weather is bad , I find it very antagonizing and very annoying , also in bad weather the constant rolling and banging against the dock you have to have lots of patience and sleeping pills, other wise is very claustrophobic on the long run , clutter builds up and it starts to look like a tenement ,with bikes garbage cans , boxes etc... all the things that wont fit inside and have to live it on deck , the water pressure is not sufficiently strong , and in many parts you cant dump the head affluent into the water around you , it has to be pumped out or you will be facing fines , for a short haul is OK but permanent living get your self a apartment .

Answer 7

Like living on a boat.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

It depends which boat.

If its a canal boat then just letting you know that it is narrow and small. You have everything but you could easily get chrostrophobic and stressed out if its not for you.

I don't know how it would on a sailboat, however.

The real problem is the fact that, if you loose your house due to flooding or any other problems. What then?

Houses are good as they are real secure place. You won't loose it and it has proper space.

I personally think about mobile homes a lot. The same advice I give myself goes to you. If you want to live in a boat, caravan or any sort of motorhome, Buy a small cheap house first and then buy your mobile home. Depending on location and type of house, if it was a cheap, small house in a pretty unatractive (but not dodgy) area it would be around £60-80k (obviously I can only give you figures for the UK) and then, depending on which mobile home, another £20-30k on that. Good luck!

Answer 10

Cruised> sailed on my endeavor 40= 8yrs Bahamas to Grenada great life> Have a 48 sport fish looking forward to exploring the Bahamas again. Try it it's what others only dream about>>>It"s the freedom of being your own person>Going when you want to an doing what you want.It's has it's moments with the weather>But i would do it all again>Just pick some 1 that doesn't have issues or it a living hel=>>>