What Are the Disadvantages of Living Aboard ?

[imagine2frolic]

Life is full of comprimises, and living aboard is one of them. I have done the live aboard in the S.F. area. There were families, singles, honeymooners, and retired folks. Every one seemed to be enjoying themselves, or they would've left, and many are still there decades later.

Same thing goes for live aboard in Florida, and for cruising. It depends on what you want out of life. Roverhi hit the nail on the head. The marina is a community. Where most neighborhoods the neighbors keep to themselves.

I am in an anchorage right now in Panama, and it is a community of 60 boats including all of the above mentioned, from all over the world. I have typed it before, and I will type it again. Most cruising kids are the most polite, and matured kids I have ever met. They understand being responsible, and their conversations are truly engaging......i2f

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by dropanchorfor3

Not the best for public schools. Your right one thing to remember your children's education always comes first. Part of being a parent, even if it means your dreams are on hold for a bit. Don't make your children suffer it's not worth it. Maybe you can rent something in San Diego and stay on the boat on weekends.

Yup.... get them into the system... then they can join the 'drones' the Governments want instead of the free thinkers like Branson etc...
Give them the broadest view of the world you can and let them make their own choices... too many parents lay their failed dreams and ambitions on the backs of their kids...
I remember a very wise Headmaster who told my parents...
"You can lead a horse to water... but you can't 'make' him drink....'

[somecountrygirl]

"disadvantages to living on a boat" this makes me chuckle a little. just some background on my situation...my husband has a dream of sailing around the world and i support him as any loving wife would and somehow i and the two children have ended up on a 41 foot Formosa in deep cajun country. i was just looking at all the posts of everyone gung-ho for their sailboats and came across this one and thought "hey, i have something to say about this!"

i dont know if many of the women here grew of on sail boats like jaja martin, jessica watson or abby sunderland but im no jaja. the most experience i had on a boat was on some fishing boats on lake martin in alabama.

the disadvantages...the head stinks. unless i have a super human sense of smell, every boat has the worst smell due to the head. there is a boat close to mine, a very dear neighbor, but when they open the door to their boat, the chemical smell of their head is sickening. when i first moved aboard, i had every outlet in the boat taken up with glade plug-ins to get the smell out.

dont live aboard in Louisiana - the mosquitoes are mutated by chemical plants near Lake Charles and they are as big as birds and you have to worry about alligators and your children.

if you have children and you want to homeschool, buy some beer for yourself while you buy their school supplies or at least for your wife if she is doing the teaching or well...for yourself too even if your wife is doing the teaching. i guess honesty is the best policy...being in a cramped space with children that have tons of energy and having to get them to want to sit down and learn something instead of being on deck playing in the sun...it difficult and trying at times.

but seriously, there will always be repairs. as i type i am dreading the morning as i have found another leak in my daughter's bunk. and what do you know? hubby is offshore so i get to hunt it down with a caulk gun tomorrow. oh, and teach your wife about bilge pumps...my husband didnt tell me about it, luckily the water didnt reach the engine. true story.

i jest about not liking it - there are those special times that really make you think you are living the dream...like your morning coffee on deck, times you get to sail in what i call "soft wind" when the boat doesnt want to heel you overboard but just glides on the glassy water. thunderstorms are wonderful. boat people are great - except some of the arrogant know it all's or naysayers...

- we all have a story, each day you write a new page...
welcome aboard

[zeehag]

somecountrygirl---are ye still on a formosa 41 in louisianna?/ where in la are ye?? are you the one moved into the slip near my friend in mandeville?
if you throw some vinegar into your head it wont smell. i promise. and odorlos chemical--is only thing i have found doesnt stinkup boat. you are in brackish water and that stinks itself.
ye need a shotgun for killing skeeters in louisianna. they are size of chihuahuas
btdt. loved the place, couldnt eat skeeters-- they ate me.
the flies sukk also.
lovebugs are just double flies.
but is beautiful there
i also have a formosa----and formosa my life i will be repairing her. same with you, as long as ye own the boat-- but she is sturdy boat. leaks do fix. is the packing gland pouring in? if you are in the marina with mac and his gulfstar, please go see him and tell him i am introducing ye. he is a good and righteous guy.
ye know--as much as goes wak on these boats, i would rather be in my formosa than any other boat i have seen, with very few exceptions. at sea they are solid. they sail well in winds and seas. perfect boats for cruising. difficult to raise 2 kids in, tho--- but ye l do well. s a good boat... is also a weird place to end up all alone with 2 kids....but it really is better than inner city and urban bs.
welcome and enjoy that formosa--i hope to meet ye out there some day!!!

oh! i fergot--get tarps--they are a formosa owners friend. they keep pillows dry and sleep uninterrupted.

[rgscpat]

Sanitary grade hose, lots of pumping, and heavy duty cleaning/policing?

[zeehag]

the water also does the stinky--vinegar is the answer--i have smelled that brackish water toilet smell. is particular to brackish water and is nasty. hoses wont fix it. is the water in combination with sitting and pee and all the other involved chemical reactions. vinegar fixes it.
when i was in gulf i sailed out of slidell, louisianna-- brackish water there too. is how i know what i know about brackish water and cruising boats.

[somecountrygirl]

well zeehag, i will soon have a boat smellin like a pickle. ima gonna buy a bottle for the bilge, holdin tank, and one to flush the pipes - lol. dont know of a mac anywheres....im near lake charles, near the factories.

speaking of the stupid leak....i walk on deck this morning to fill my water tanks and wouldya know....storm is coming. so i rush to fill my tanks as my 6 yr old is babysitting my 8 mth old below, and run to check out this leak. now i dont know what a packing gland is but i do think i have found where the leak is coming from. it looks like from one of the shrouds, port side near bow. where it connects to the deck, it looks like the caulking is cracking. so i go to find caulking - anything for a quick fix - and caulk is gone. so i have stuffed towels in there for now and im praying for a break in the rain long enough to dry the deck so i can plan my attack. many days this boat is my nemesis. today is one of those days. the head is ALWAYS my nemesis. we even changed out the toilet and pipes there to see if it would help and no go.

thanks for the vinegar idea...wallie world here i come for vinegar and caulking...

"as the world turns" on a boat from somecountrygirl that knows nuthin 'bout boats with two kiddos...

[zeehag]

TARP IT!!!!!!!!! cover the boat and see how much better it is...with heat and with wet...will also prevent further deterioration of the coach house....i cover mine. works great. hurrycames need different kind of tarping..i have yet to discover the proper layout for those.....is cooooming.....

[somecountrygirl]

well i do have tarps up for sun shading...the thing is where the shroud is is where the water follows through a little tunnel to go overboard. the water that is getting on deck is from where the wind is blowing the rain onto deck. the tarps are working somewhat....rain seems to be slowing though and i know one thing....gotta get this fixed before tropical storm Don wants to come this way....my luck, he will slam right into us

[zeehag]

ok so ye rebed EVERYTHING and should work out ok..i still have to rebed stanchions, as i have rivers-- we have to consider the deck core--is plywood and with constant incoming water of a fresh nature, will rot-- so we have to keep that from happening. \
packing gland is under the dinette aft seat and under a ledge on which mine has a 3 man and a boy battery(d8) there is a huge nut and a prop shaft in there and it is spozed to drip SLOWLY into bilges. if is peeing like a young child, is time to either repack or replace the stuffing. someone nearby can help with that---i have a friend who does mine--
rain will come into bilges also-- need to run pumps about 2-3 days after a goood rain--if is a named storm, keep pumps ON during it. makes too much rain inside to ignore this lil feature.....

and since i am heavily into boat porn, i wanna see a pic of your boat --and yer neighborhood--is sooo gorgeous in louisianna in the bayous!!!
please!!!

[somecountrygirl]

just dripping right now and this is the second day of unusual rain....the rain gods knew my hubby was offshore - something ALWAYS happens! lol
Example of past occurences, boat flooded once, another time breakers kept tripping in slip, next there was an apocalyptic beetle swarm before we got hatches fixed (that wasnt too pretty - actually pretty darn horrible and we became nomads at a friends for a few days) - there are really too many to name really.

whats really bad are MY BABYSITTERS (aka men from marina that help while he is gone ) are crewing a sailboat to honduras. just one fella here and i dont know him real well

anywho - will keep you posted

[svcambria]

Originally Posted by boatman61

...
I remember a very wise Headmaster who told my parents...
"You can lead a horse to water... but you can't 'make' him drink....'

I remember the quote as "You can lead a girl to Vassar but you can't make her think..."

Michael

[somecountrygirl]

hardy har har

[zeehag]

country gurl--you will do well--you have an awesome boat-- get spray for bugs also--lol helped me survive nicely with only a few termites and many flies and skeeters...but is solved for the moment, until a more nuclear skeeter comes along---i expect those next week or so
skeeter netting
screens
pix of boat in slip and alladat!! please!
\
that sitter thing could get to be a problem.

[roverhi]

Polysulfides and polyurethanes caulks will work in the presence of water. In fact, believe water is needed for them to cure. LifeCaulk makes some stuff called Liquid LifeCaulk. It's a thinner version that flows. If you have a leak that has gravity working for you, LLC might work to stop the leak. Chainplate leaks are especially bad cause the plates are normally attached to bulkheads and the leak can cause the bulkhead to rot.

West Marine also sells something similar to Liquid LifeCaulk from England. It's got a weird name like Captain something or other leak stopper. Have heard good things about that stuff.