Why Do You Live Aboard?

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by osirissail

It may just be the old "grass is greener on the other side . . ." syndrome. Sure there are some real "grating on my psyche" land stuff like zoning boards, condo committees, building permits and inspectors, and a hundred other what I consider intrusions into "my life."

But then again living aboard and cruising can have its own irritants like anchoring / mooring restrictions, marina rules and requirements, potty police, coast guard random inspections, State registration and boat taxes, getting to/from grocery and other stores when you don't have a car, Customs/Immigration hassles and/or costs when moving from country to country, and a hundred others.

So "the other side" looks great until you get there and stay for awhile . . .

It's not that the grass is greener. It's that it's wetter, and deeper, and rocks you to sleep.

And what is one person's irritant can be another person's adventure. When people ask me why, the short answer is -- "I'm 66. If not now -- when???"

[rrranch]

Worldwind. We're in the same boat. My inlaws can't swim, don't like the wind and definitely don't like boats. It's perfect!

[bouncingyellow]

I am nearly finished moving out of my unit ready to move aboard ,and hopefully be full-time live-aboard . I have read all the posts and find a relation to each one. What I find the hardest thing to overcome is to let go of all the material things that made my life so comfortable and also to change my spending ways, I would always jump at a new gaming machine or consumer electronics, now I must turn my back on consumerism which has given me such short term joy, but I know the decision I am making is the best for me , I am still young and hope I am doing the right thing because the amount of stuff I have recently given or thrown away has got me questioning my financial objective. Oh well let's see how things plan out, cheers.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by bouncingyellow

. . . What I find the hardest thing to overcome is to let go of all the material things that made my life so comfortable and also to change my spending ways, I would always jump at a new gaming machine or consumer electronics, now I must turn my back on consumerism which has given me such short term joy,. . .

Unfortunately, when you only "move" your "bed" from land to boat, you don't change the way you live - only the location. There is just as much room and time available to indulge in things like "e-gaming" and this or that latest electronic gizmo.

To break the "habit" I would suggest you need to move you and the boat to a remote location where you can live and the access to linking to or accessing/using e-games and other electronics is not available or very difficult at least. Kind of like going "cold turkey" to break the habit.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by bouncingyellow

I am nearly finished moving out of my unit ready to move aboard ,and hopefully be full-time live-aboard . I have read all the posts and find a relation to each one. What I find the hardest thing to overcome is to let go of all the material things that made my life so comfortable and also to change my spending ways, I would always jump at a new gaming machine or consumer electronics, now I must turn my back on consumerism which has given me such short term joy, but I know the decision I am making is the best for me , I am still young and hope I am doing the right thing because the amount of stuff I have recently given or thrown away has got me questioning my financial objective. Oh well let's see how things plan out, cheers.

Breaking the bonds of consumerism is harder than giving up crack. Don't ask me how I know.

However, living on a boat doesn't have to be purgatory. When I was married I had lots of crap I didn't need. It was quite liberating to dump all the BS trappings after she left (3 years ago). I also travel a ton, often staying 4 weeks plus in hotels. Last year I travelled over 230 days.

I also join boats for 7-9 days at a time. I am down to one bag for travel and one set of clothes for a week. I can go an unlimited period of time on one bag that fits an overhead. And that is not suffering.

The best investment I made was the ipad and the right connections. It has games, email, netflix, itunes, CF app!, and more diversions than the average person needs. With google and maps it is my knowledge center. With Navionics and a gps it is my navigation tool. With the component video cable it is my media center hooked up to the hotel television.

I have joined boats and streamed movies in the cockpit to the delight of skipper and crew. With no WiFi I have prepared and stored media.

All my "boat" clothes are dry fit low maintenance. I rinse shirts and hang to dry.

When I join a boat all I need is a small locker to store my bag. Everything stays in the bag and I can ditch the boat in 30 seconds.

People still give me inappropriate gifts. i.e. stuff that doesn't fit my lifestyle. I got a sharper image foot massager and a lcd/usb picture frame last year. I regifted them.

I still have a half a closet full of work clothes but I don't buy extra. When something wears out it gets replaced.

You will get used to it and feel liberated. The things you will lust after will be boat things. A great gift I got recently was a vhf handheld. That goes in my bag now.

I actually went to Best Buy with a $100 gift card last week and could not figure out anything I wanted or needed. That's crazy...

[wingNwing]

Why? Because it's more fun collecting experiences, memories, and friends than it is collecting material things.

[wolfenzee]

If you rent you are at the mercy of your landlord, most people in this country who say they own are actually just paying the bank for the privilege of sayng they own their own piece of dirt when the bank really does. I own my boat out right and don''t owe anyone who could put a lean on my home. I secure in where I live both financially, emotionally and spiritually for the first time in my life...basically my boat is more of a home than any house I have ever lived in. On top of that live aboards are for the most part nicer nieghbors

[scape]

I contemplated buying and living on a 20 something catalina fixup, mostly because I could afford it and it seemed slick to sail my home around. I ended up not going for it got a nice deal on a FROG (furnished room above a garage) on the water, but still somewhat wish I did it; that winter it was in the teens and that summer in the 110's. So not to thread jack, but how does one cope, realistically and somewhat comfortably, while living aboard?

[tager]

You don't live where it gets in the teens and the 110s. Puget sound has excellent liveaboard weather.

[wolfenzee]

I live at the north end of Puget Sound and had to shovel snow a couple days ago,I am not happy with the rain and wind the rest of the winter here.

[bouncingyellow]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Breaking the bonds of consumerism is harder than giving up crack. Don't ask me how I know.

However, living on a boat doesn't have to be purgatory. When I was married I had lots of crap I didn't need. It was quite liberating to dump all the BS trappings after she left (3 years ago). I also travel a ton, often staying 4 weeks plus in hotels. Last year I travelled over 230 days.

I also join boats for 7-9 days at a time. I am down to one bag for travel and one set of clothes for a week. I can go an unlimited period of time on one bag that fits an overhead. And that is not suffering.

The best investment I made was the ipad and the right connections. It has games, email, netflix, itunes, CF app!, and more diversions than the average person needs. With google and maps it is my knowledge center. With Navionics and a gps it is my navigation tool. With the component video cable it is my media center hooked up to the hotel television.

I have joined boats and streamed movies in the cockpit to the delight of skipper and crew. With no WiFi I have prepared and stored media.

All my "boat" clothes are dry fit low maintenance. I rinse shirts and hang to dry.

When I join a boat all I need is a small locker to store my bag. Everything stays in the bag and I can ditch the boat in 30 seconds.

People still give me inappropriate gifts. i.e. stuff that doesn't fit my lifestyle. I got a sharper image foot massager and a lcd/usb picture frame last year. I regifted them.

I still have a half a closet full of work clothes but I don't buy extra. When something wears out it gets replaced.

You will get used to it and feel liberated. The things you will lust after will be boat things. A great gift I got recently was a vhf handheld. That goes in my bag now.

I actually went to Best Buy with a $100 gift card last week and could not figure out anything I wanted or needed. That's crazy...

Hi calif, I liked your response , I am writing this lying on my mattress which is the last bit of furniture in my house before I move aboard, the idea of just having one bag of clothes is so true, I was talking to Kevin Rudd 2weeks ago at the airport who was Australia's ex prime minister last year and he pointed to a small carry on bag and said he had been living out of that for two weeks, so even the best can do it. I got the iPad too and it certainly helps in not having to have half a dozen different gadgets. I am not feeling as sad now moving out, I don't care what anyone says but it is difficult moving out of a place that you put so much into, but living a cruisers lifestyle and sailing to exotic places has always been my dream and I not going to let materialistic ties hold me back, so look out world here I come.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by bouncingyellow

Hi calif, I liked your response , I am writing this lying on my mattress which is the last bit of furniture in my house before I move aboard, the idea of just having one bag of clothes is so true, I was talking to Kevin Rudd 2weeks ago at the airport who was Australia's ex prime minister last year and he pointed to a small carry on bag and said he had been living out of that for two weeks, so even the best can do it. I got the iPad too and it certainly helps in not having to have half a dozen different gadgets. I am not feeling as sad now moving out, I don't care what anyone says but it is difficult moving out of a place that you put so much into, but living a cruisers lifestyle and sailing to exotic places has always been my dream and I not going to let materialistic ties hold me back, so look out world here I come.

Congratulations on your liberation!

A big part of it is following your own compass and not worrying about what others and especially what the tv describes as success. Bigger house, bigger car, better lawn mower - crap, crap and double crap.

About 13 years ago I moved to suburbia with the whole McMansion dream thing - pretty much her dream. Standing in Sears I was approached by a nice fellah who started talking about the various pros and cons of different riding lawn mowers. I remember thinking that my "real" life was over right at that point. I did buy the lawnmower and spent 5 miserable years mowing grass in the summer and shoveling snow in the winter. I re-escaped about 7 years ago.

Never be a slave to a house - that was crazy!

[Wavewacker]

Mowing grass...LOL! I have a house that has a large lake in the backyard, lake front and hit sits on a rocky slope with only small level areas that have grass, the rest is in natural green spaces that blend with the neighboring forrest owned by the State. My grass mosing is with a weed eater no more than 4 times a summer. It's owned clear of any encumbrances, so it doesn't eat any hay, just taxes. Living there, just over a thousand sq ft, my utilities were never over $80 mo. for electric. Propane is about $700 a year. Downside (sorta) is that it is secluded and it's a almost 40 miles round trip to a Wal-Mart. That hill is steep and the road is 80' up the hill, no driveway to the house from my private road. So living there has to be as tuff as walking from any dock to a parking lot that a liveaboard might do.

My city house OTH is more expensive to keep, my mortgage is under $400 a month, utilities are $140/175 depnding on the seasons. My John Deer drinks gas. I'm in a subdivison and while I mowed the front several times I just let the lower backyard go natural. The grass gets just a few inches higher than if I kept it mowed and again, I have woods behind me so there is no one to complain about the 1/3 acre lot. The lake is down the street about 300 feet (can walk the canoe down there) but can't see it from the house.

Moral of the stories is that where you have a house depends on what kind of maintenance you'll have and how you want to keep it....if just for looks. I have owned others where I had to keep a lawn trimed and raked leaves, but no more. So, I guess it's beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
And, from what I have been reading, most liveaboards are spending more than I do living on a boat. I should probably hang a bell at the front door and put an anchor in the yard.

And I still want a boat large enough to live on! Go figure...LOL

[wildbillca]

You sound like you have it pretty good there but I myself and I guess the rest of us live aboards have ocean front property also.My front yard is full of pretty people and white sand.I pulled anchor and I'm going to one of my other houses for a couple of days to chill on the beach with suntan sweeties who just can't wait to come aboard for the day.Oh and the gardeners are out raking the beach as we speek.I think I'll have a Rum and coke...And some crab cakes.Enjoy your front door bell.Oh and that anchor of yours point it south.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Originally Posted by Wavewacker

I should probably hang a bell at the front door and put an anchor in the yard.

This reminds me of seeing someones signature here on the board with a quote along the lines of "a house is a boat so firmly run aground that no one would think to refloat it."

I would love to live aboard. Right now, I have a fiancee who is so against a boat, telling me not to get one or even LOOK at them, but is talking about wanting a huge $350K house that I keep saying is too much.

I still want a boat to make my own "great escape".