Live-aboard or Survive-aboard

[LadyDeMize]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

I couldn't let this continue to pass by! I'm all for cutting down those pesky loving expenses!

Damn autocorrect! I could NEVER cut loving expenses!

[Wavewacker]

I'd say loving expenses are high regardless of where you drop your anchor and the better the surronding area the more expensive it is, doesn't matter if you're on land or water. Those that hurt the eyes are pretty cheap for a quick outing, but long term they seem to get into maintenance issues. You could just avoid much of the costs by renting on an as needed basis I guess and probably get into to something much better looking, not to mention better performing!

[Thorne]

True story: When I first bought my boat it had just come from the Bahamas and had been used as a cruising boat. It was "Ready" to go, just needed a bottom job.


Ok, after a year and a half on the hard of messing with this and messing with that. Electrical, engine, A Bottom Job, port hole leaks, battery replacements,.... it Was "ready" to go. ( actually it was as ready as I wanted to get it, I mean how ready is a 30 year old boat )


It looks nice now from the outside, but inside there are still a million things I want to do to it. and after 5 years in and out of the water it still looks pretty good on the out side.


Sometimes it looks great, sometimes it looks like there is a construction crew building a sky scraper somewhere near by.


Same boat, same owner, just different projects, going on.


No difference between a boat and a house.


Fix it up, it looks good after your done.


Maybe not so good at different times.


I don't judge folks on where their boat is in it's life.


Guy dies, his kids don't care about the boat. It sits at the marina collecting bird poop with the diesel filler port uncovered. I cover the diesel filler port.


Somebody will come along and wonder about that boat, buy it, and spend a year or 2, or 3 fixing it up. And then it will be back to business.


Just the way it works with boats I guess.




Paraphrasing a great speech from a great show.


You know what the first rule of sailing is? Well, I suppose you do, since you already know what I'm about to say.


Love. You can learn all the math in the 'Verse, but you take a boat out to sea that you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps her afloat when she oughta sink, tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keels. Makes her a home.


If you don't believe the above you've not been through a really bad storm on your boat "Yet".


Something to think about.

[33trippindaisy]

In eight years we stayed in two different marina's about 20 miles apart. Neither allowed full time live aboards by rule, and yet both had full time live aboards present. Both had Dock Masters, one of which was quite rule oriented ie the rule says white hoses, so only white hoses. No fishing from the docks meant no fishing from the docks. In both cases when I woke up the first morning after getting in my slip, and yes I beat the sun every day, I would quietly walk the dock and check lines and boats with my coffee in hand . Then I would grab a dock cart and I would pull the trash bags, and head for the dumpster. By then the Marina store would be opening and I'd pop my head in and ask for the trash bags to replace them all. From the beginning both DM's would say thanks but I'll get that, and I'd say hey no problem I got it. It gets me my morning walk in, and lets me make sure everything is floating. When the trash was done (Marina #1 had 45 boats, Marina #2 had 110) I would walk it again, grab the water hoses and spray poop off the fingers and the mains, and later with the permission of absentee owners I would spray off the boats as well. It would take me about an hour, and it was my exercise each morning. Seemed like no one really understood why but they did not stop me either........hey a little free help is hard to turn down. You know pretty soon it was "You need bulk ice, just get it" and well of course I needed free ice every day! I own my Brownie lung and clean my own bottom, and it took very little time to pick up a few neighbors close to my boat to hit their's while I was in the water anyway. Nothing too much, just four or five other than my own. Payment you might ask......oh a nice bottle of scotch each month would never be refused, LOL! I think the Dock Masters both appreciated my efforts, I got my exercise, and well I would spend more than 200 nights a year on the boat with nary a look my way about that! So there are ways to make things work. Sometimes a helping hand really helps. Some times folks really appreciate it. Sometimes things just work out the way you need them too. Oh, and I always fished the docks in the mornings and late evenings without a word from anyone. Shared a lot of food and fish as well!

[Group9]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

Many of the disappointing vessels are occupied by people who are living aboard for the purpose of low income housing. Most of the well found vessels are occupied by those with a passion for boating and cruising.

Exactly. They have quit becoming vessels and are merely a floating hovel. Not real boaters any more than the people living in tents under the bridge are campers. We’ve all seen them, Florida is a magnet for some reason.

I actually think our boats looked the best when we were living on them and/or cruising. When I was a sneak aboard in my Miami marina, the harbor master told me I could live aboard until the day my boat looked like someone was living aboard. I knew exactly what he meant and kept it looking like it was for sale.

[valrichardson]

I've been a happy live-aboard for about a year in a "moderate" rent district in an inner-city. You have to be really tolerant of other people who might have noise, animal, and cleanliness levels that don't match with yours. However, our group's members are very proud of their vessels and keep them cleaned and well-maintained.