Working While Living Aboard

[deepstar]

ssanzone
as A Brit living in CO.... I could not understand why I paid National and State taxes... and one seemed to effect the other. Messrs LR Block did some paperwork.... and it was sorted.

However As this is a Cruisers web site... I and (I hope) many others are hoping for a more global view - dare I say a less CNN view ????

My slightly tongue in cheek comments about state tax.... were trying to make the point I was looking more globally rather than parochially (my experience in the US) seems to dictate.

So people living on a river boat in CO - but who manage to work in NH.... are not the issue.... think bigger.... no bigger.. Yes GLOBAL

Tim

[RainDog]

Originally Posted by deepstar

Err... I think the question of "Working While Living Aboard" meaning outside your county of residence/domicile

As I read OPs question, this is not what is being asked. The question seems about living aboard instead of on land while preparing to cruise.

In my case, the idea is not to avoid taxes, the idea is to not pay rent/mortgage/utilities/taxes on a land based residence in addition to the boat. This means saving money much faster, thus leaving to go cruising years earlier than otherwise would be possible.

[deepstar]

So if this is simply a US thing .... could it not be placed in a US-Only Forum ????

[Stede]

To all: Thanks for the input. A lot of good stuff here! For clarification, my original question was based on U.S living aboard. But more particularly, the lifestyle of living aboard while working (blue collar.) I would imagine the lifestyle issues and concerns would be similar regardless of what country you live in? My intent in raising the question was to gain some valuable insight into what it would be like to work (blue collar) each day, and then return home to a boat. If things go as planned, I'll live aboard for a couple of years, build up a nice cruising kitty, and then take off to cruise full time when my employment pension kicks in during the two year work/live aboard period. I guess really what I was wanting to get is a better feel for the knitty gritty adjustment that has to come from living aboard a boat in comparison to land based living. What's it like for those that live aboard at anchor, and work a regular job? Or what's it like for those living aboard at a marina? How do you handle issues like trash,laundry......getting it back to and from?, emptying out the holding tank,keeping the boat's tanks full of water, etc? I've lived on a boat for a few weeks at a time before, but I never stayed in one place long enough during those stints to get a good feel for the day to day life, week after week of living aboard.

[ssanzone]

i thought we had originally addressed the OP's discussion topic about having a 'regular job' while living in a 'floating condo'...

since the OP is in NC, and the topic of 'avoiding taxes' came up, i provided some additional off topic but related info.

[wingNwing]

Lived aboard and worked (white collar job!) 7 years. When I had in-office stints, it was similar to living in a small condo. We stayed in one place (a leased marina slip) and had a car ashore. Differences: clothing - I kept everything in one color scheme (say, black-white-red-gray in winter; blue-white-beige in summer) so I could get away with only one set of accessories; a lot of separates and mix-and-match. Kept a lot of clothes hung in a van in the marina parking lot. Never wore heels on the dock; went ashore in tennis shoes and changed when I got to the office. Sometimes I came in to work late because the tides made it impossible to leave the boat ... but sometimes the land-based came to work late because they were waiting for the appliance repairman, so it all evened out anyway. And in general I was more aware of the weather than my land-based colleagues; once in a while I'd leave early because of anticipated bad weather, or stayed out of work for several days because of a hurricane. But really, very little difference.

When I was tele-working we paid for a hard line to the marina slip - tough to do a 2-hour teleconference on a cell phone! If I was just reading and reviewing documents and sending in comments by email, I did that at anchor somewhere glorious, and tethered the cellphone for use as a modem because I didn't need fulltime connectivity. The whole working-from-the-boat thing was less of an issue than its made out to be ... the problems were just a minor subset of the learning-to-live-aboard project.

[wingNwing]

Oh, and BTW, the money savings were enormous, because we would have had the boat anyway. So it was a choice of paying for house + boat; or just boat. Duh.

[spostamento nobile]

OP, if you are in a slip, then it's no different than living in a teeny tiny apt. If you are on the hook, well sometimes it can be a real drag. You always have to think/look ahead. You can't just get up, and run out the door to the car if you are late for work, you have to get up and check the weather. IE is the Dink ride to the dock going to take the regular 20 minutes, or is it pouring cats/dogs and ill have to leave earlier? Whatever you do, I'm sure you will find it worth it. Parking the car, taking the Dink home, getting undressed/showered and sitting in the cockpit with a cold beverage beats ANYTHING with fourwalls and a porch.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by ssanzone

i make sure i always have dry cleaning in the office because cramming business clothes into my too small on board lockers defeats the purpose of dry cleaning (i do NOT iron on board) and for the days when i show up and coworkers say 'you reek of diesel'. . . .

That should not be difficult to deal with - see: Diesel Perfume and Diesel Cologne - Best Fragrances Available : Shop Perfume.com

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Stede

. . . I guess really what I was wanting to get is a better feel for the knitty gritty adjustment that has to come from living aboard a boat in comparison to land based living.
What's it like for those that live aboard at anchor, and work a regular job?
Or what's it like for those living aboard at a marina? How do you handle issues like trash,laundry......getting it back to and from?, emptying out the holding tank,keeping the boat's tanks full of water, etc? I've lived on a boat for a few weeks at a time before, but I never stayed in one place long enough during those stints to get a good feel for the day to day life, week after week of living aboard.

As others have posted all the above questions you have are really not any different or often less complicated than living in a condo or rental unit. Each of the items in your list of questions is easily taken care of in a marina. And as others have said the compactness and feeling of coziness inside your little vessel is quite joyful.

[PEACETIME]

I lived aboard at anchor and at a marina doing the same job (mechanic). I can tell you it is so much easier at the marina due to the ease of the ammenities, unlimited hot showers, shore power (air conditioning), and parking arrangements. Though these are very nice to have, they do come at a price and that price is high here in south Florida. I would not trade living on the hook for any of these comforts though. It is just better for me to feel the boat move with the water and wind instead of being securely tied to the dock. The down side to a 8 to 5 job while living on the hook is, for me, as follows. The dingy has to be left all day at a dingy dock, At winter it is dark coming from and going to work (safety), there are no assigned parking places (first come first serve), energy conservation and production has to be top issue, there are more but you should just try it to see for yourself. The first year out really showed what systems needed refining to allow living aboard in comfort. Good luck

[MikeinLA]

Originally Posted by DiverChick71

This is a great topic and ironic because I was JUST thinking about thy comment and it's prison analogy today. (it WAS on this site) I plan on loving aboard while working part time (I'm a nurse and have done short term contracts and travel for years). I'm so glad to know it's not all that much like prison!!

Either this was a Freudian slip, or you're gonna have a REAL good time.

Mike

[callmecrazy]

Had to read thar about three times.. yeah, froidian slip

[Cheechako]

Very doable...however, need an ironed shirt to meet with a client?...hassle. Clothes all in the dirty pile?...walk up and down the dock a few times. Getting late for work? Oops....water tank needs filled before shower.... If you can put up with this youre good to go!

[MikeinLA]

Originally Posted by Stede

To all: Thanks for the input. A lot of good stuff here! For clarification, my original question was based on U.S living aboard. But more particularly, the lifestyle of living aboard while working (blue collar.) I would imagine the lifestyle issues and concerns would be similar regardless of what country you live in? My intent in raising the question was to gain some valuable insight into what it would be like to work (blue collar) each day, and then return home to a boat. If things go as planned, I'll live aboard for a couple of years, build up a nice cruising kitty, and then take off to cruise full time when my employment pension kicks in during the two year work/live aboard period. I guess really what I was wanting to get is a better feel for the knitty gritty adjustment that has to come from living aboard a boat in comparison to land based living. What's it like for those that live aboard at anchor, and work a regular job? Or what's it like for those living aboard at a marina? How do you handle issues like trash,laundry......getting it back to and from?, emptying out the holding tank,keeping the boat's tanks full of water, etc? I've lived on a boat for a few weeks at a time before, but I never stayed in one place long enough during those stints to get a good feel for the day to day life, week after week of living aboard.

I lived aboard a Catalina 36 with my GF and our boat-sized Shih Tzu for a year or so. I have always worked for myself and was able to keep my suits, etc in my office. The GF kept all her work clothes (including silk blouses, etc) on the boat. We converted the aft cabin into a closet with a rod and Rubbermaid drawer units. I don't tolerate smells on my boat, so her clothes were always minty fresh. We both showered onboard each morning, the water heater did fine. I found I would fill the tanks about every 3 days. Were I to do it again, I might plumb in city water. The GF cooked most nights, and very well I might add. I built a large dockstep and inside I put a Norcold freezer, so we could stock up on frozen veggies, ice cream, etc that wouldn't fit in the measly boat frig. Our marina has laundry facilities, so no problem there. Just fill up the duffle bag and bring a book. Trash cans were at the dock gate. For sanitation, we would either pull up to the pumpout station or pump out when we were MANY miles offshore. This was all a while ago. I imagine that with all the convenient inventions since (like Ipods, mobile internet, Kindles, flat screens, etc) it would be much easier today. We enjoyed it and had no real troubles. I say go for it.

Mike