Still taking your boat out?

Hi,

I am new to the forum and a prospective live aboard. I have questions for those of you who already live aboard. How often do you take your boat out and do you still like taking extended vacations aboard? I know that part of going out on my boat (currently a sailboat) is the "getting away" aspect. When you are taking your home with you does it still feel that way?

I'm concerned that after some time of living aboard the novelty of going out for the weekend will wear off and that I will stay at the dock for months on end.

I'm sure much of it has to do with personality and lifestyle choices. I'm curious to hear from those of you who have done this.

Thanks

Richard

Welcome to the forum Richard! Can't help you with your question as I still live on dirt most of the time.

Ted

Not exactly what your looking for we live on ours just short of 6 months out of the year and have not been doing that long

but each time we have a long list of trips to take and really look forward to it

O C Diver said:

Welcome to the forum Richard! Can't help you with your question as I still live on dirt most of the time.

Ted

Click to expand...

Ted,

Thanks for the nice welcome. I plan to be dirt free by the end of the summer. Still need to find the right boat. Working on that one. We will see!

Richard

siestakey said:

Not exactly what your looking for we live on ours just short of 6 months out of the year and have not been doing that long

but each time we have a long list of trips to take and really look forward to it

Click to expand...

That's good to hear. I'm wondering if "familiarity breeds contempt" when it comes to living aboard full time. Will the novelty wear off and the trips out tail off too? I don't want my boat to become a "dockominium".

Richard

Welcome to the forum!



We live on dirt and take the boat on planned trips; many along with members of this forum. We keep our boat in Vallejo. About 10% of the folks live on their boats at our marina. I have noticed that very few liveaboards, if any, take their boats out of their slips. I can't think of anyone, actually.

You know, I thought a lot about that very question when we the boat began to languish at our dock. After a year or so of owning the boat, it became clear that it served us well in some aspects and not at all in others. We like to do sunset dinner cruises and it great for that. But we also like to swim off the boat, you know, like throw the anchor out in a nearby cove or off a sandbar, and the boat wasn't outfitted for it. Our transom had a fold down tailgate but the ladder was hard on the feet and the bulwarks were high for side entry, so we ended up not using the boat for things we would have liked to. Now, I've added a swim platform, modified the transom tailgate to swing inward, and I'm looking for the right ladder that will make it all very easy. My guess is that adding these features to the boat will triple our usage of the boat for those local jaunts. The moral is, if you're going to spend money for a boat, make sure it will facilitate the ease of enjoying the water in the activities you love. If it's a pain to do it, you won't.

I don't think it is a matter of "familiarity breeds contempt". The biggest issue really is....do you take your boat out in the first place???? And you cannot answer that question because you do not own one right now. The vast majority of boats you see in marinas do NOT go out. It is because people had this image of what it is like to own a boat(live on a boat). And reality and that image were too far apart. I will say the boat I lived on for 5 years....I had it for 2 years before I moved onto it. I used the hell out of it in that two years and I continued to use the hell out of it when I lived aboard.

With that said, most liveaboards do not take their boats out very often. One begins to start trying to make their boat home much like the dirt home that they left....and you end up with crap EVERYWHERE. Crap everywhere is not very conducive to taking your boat out. Then getting the boat ready to go out requires that you stow and secure said crap and then it just becomes too much of a hassle and you do take your boat out. If you can limit your crap and keep your boat in a state of "semi-readiness", it would serve you well.

So those are two issues. Will you take your boat out a lot in the first place regardless of being a liveaboard. And will your boat be overcome with crap to the point that it is a PIA to take out.

I will be dead honest with you. I think I took my boat out more when I was a liveaboard. But I do not think that is normal. It is awfully nice to not have to go spend $200 at the grocery store and haul wheelbarrows full of crap down to the boat just to do one measly little overnight. You are already stocked up on food. You already have all of your "crap" with you. You just hit the store to fill in the gaps of food and untie and GO! I loved it!!!

Giggitoni said:

Welcome to the forum!



We live on dirt and take the boat on planned trips; many along with members of this forum. We keep our boat in Vallejo. About 10% of the folks live on their boats at our marina. I have noticed that very few liveaboards, if any, take their boats out of their slips. I can't think of anyone, actually.

Click to expand...

Yes - that's what I've heard too. I want to buck that trend. I looked at a GB46 - made an offer even - but it didn't work out and I've moved on. Still trying to find the right one for me.

Richard

healhustler said:

You know, I thought a lot about that very question when we the boat began to languish at our dock. After a year or so of owning the boat, it became clear that it served us well in some aspects and not at all in others. We like to do sunset dinner cruises and it great for that. But we also like to swim off the boat, you know, like throw the anchor out in a nearby cove or off a sandbar, and the boat wasn't outfitted for it. Our transom had a fold down tailgate but the ladder was hard on the feet and the bulwarks were high for side entry, so we ended up not using the boat for things we would have liked to. Now, I've added a swim platform, modified the transom tailgate to swing inward, and I'm looking for the right ladder that will make it all very easy. My guess is that adding these features to the boat will triple our usage of the boat for those local jaunts. The moral is, if you're going to spend money for a boat, make sure it will facilitate the ease of enjoying the water in the activities you love. If it's a pain to do it, you won't.

Click to expand...

That's a good point. It's an interesting tradeoff of livability vs. taking trips. Unless I go to the Sacramento Delta, I don't go swimming off my boat! I have to have something that is a competent coastal cruiser since that's one of the things I like to do. That will mean less live aboard space than some other power boats.

Richard

Baker,

Very good points - the "crap everywhere" comment is one I have heard before. The truth is that when I go to the boat (Catalina 36) I always go out - I almost never spend a night at the dock. Recently, with family changes, I haven't been there as much. But in the fall when my younger daughter goes to college I will be on my own. That's when I plan to move aboard a trawler yet to be purchased. I hope to go out a lot. We will see...

Richard

O C Diver said:

Welcome to the forum Richard! Can't help you with your question as I still live on dirt most of the time.

Ted

Click to expand...

By the way - love the Cherubini - it's been on my list of possible trawlers. Not many on the market though.

Richard

When we started to live aboard we had the same concern. Our solution was to refuse a dockside pumpout service. We would force ourselves to move the boat when we needed a pumpout.

This way we ran the boat at least every two weeks, checked out our systems, practiced docking and usually decided to take a longer spin while we were away from the slip. It worked for us.

We have lived aboard four to six months a year for years almost always at anchor, and still enjoy moving the boat to another anchorage/island/country depending upon what we feel like doing.

Find no excitement in the ride, in fact preferred to be bored, but moving our "home" to a new location is exciting.

The biggest part of the equation is why you liveaboard and what kind of boat you have.

If you moved aboard to cruise...you already had in mind where to stow EVERYTHING and that is necessary...so getting g underway isn't painful.

If your liveaboard is a sportfish, chances are it is that because you had this idea of using it to fish....so getting underway is a bit of a priority.

There is no pay answer....just the ones that I personally have or have seen with other liveaboards.

Britannia said:

By the way - love the Cherubini - it's been on my list of possible trawlers. Not many on the market though.

Richard

Click to expand...

Yes, I like mine very much. They were built in New Jersey, and I can't recall seeing one for sale on the West Coast.

Ted

Baker said:

I don't think it is a matter of "familiarity breeds contempt". The biggest issue really is....do you take your boat out in the first place???? And you cannot answer that question because you do not own one right now. The vast majority of boats you see in marinas do NOT go out. It is because people had this image of what it is like to own a boat(live on a boat). And reality and that image were too far apart. I will say the boat I lived on for 5 years....I had it for 2 years before I moved onto it.

Click to expand...

Very well put

on my dock we have 4 live aboards all take there boat out very often. The next dock over mainly big boys I never see them go out. One of them has a 28 foot tender that he takes out daily.

As a new live-aboard, since June, I plan on taking my boat out more than I did when I wasn't living aboard. I understand the clutter issue but I've maintained a level of semi-readiness to get underway. I turned the 3rd stateroom into a walk-in closet and the only real clutter I have is in the galley and that is all my spices that I cook with. Other than that I find that I do more maintance on board due to being there 24/7. Everything is subjective. What one considers going out a lot compared to another varies greatly.

knotheadcharters said:

As a new live-aboard, since June, I plan on taking my boat out more than I did when I wasn't living aboard. I understand the clutter issue but I've maintained a level of semi-readiness to get underway. I turned the 3rd stateroom into a walk-in closet and the only real clutter I have is in the galley and that is all my spices that I cook with. Other than that I find that I do more maintance on board due to being there 24/7. Everything is subjective. What one considers going out a lot compared to another varies greatly.

Click to expand...

Hello Knotheadcharters.

For those of us who cook spice jar storage is a point of concern. I look at other galleys of course, and always check for spices, and what the ladies have done with theirs.

On Moonlight Sue (a 40' Hunter) the wife has hers in clips on a bulkhead. She said none have fallen. I don't like dusting so that wouldn't work well for me.

One place online had a spice rack that bolted under the upper lockers (for a RV) but it didn't look like it would fit enough spices for me. The case was beautiful though.

It was essentially a wooden box with the hinged lid bolted to the locker. You unsnapped the latch to access the spices -- it would be quite nice for knives...

Onboard Seaweed mine are kept in a locker under the sink (next to the stove)

Pictures:


and


The most used are of course at the top. I made another spice shelf and the how-to is in this article:
Janice142 article Budget Spice Shelf (costs less than $1)

Good luck.

You're right though: Being prepared to leave means it's far more likely that you will do so. I've been reading, decided I wanted to go and left -- in less than 15 minutes *without* rushing.

It's easy and if I can do it, so too can you.
P.S. - Museum Putty is your friend.

And so too is keeping things put away. In a 23' boat that's a given. I like tidy.

Even though it's Christmas and the tree is out, the base is taped to the dinette table. Even if rocked, that tree is not going any place.

Little things like that make all the difference in the world, and after this many years afloat it's second nature to consider what would happen when the boat moves.

All of us that have been out any length of time start to think that way. I find myself, when visiting dirt dwellers moving items from the edge of a counter. Of course the house won't rock, but 'cha never know.

We live and work aboard essentially 24/7. During the summer, we are out cruising/working. We "winter" in a slip. Like Rsysol, we fire her up every 12-14 days and move over to the fuel dock to pump out. Other than that and a few trips to the islands or Seattle, we would like to get out more during the winter months.

We just installed a Wallas forced air diesel heater, so that has us now ready to go no matter how cold it gets. We'll still avoid winter storms and such, but plan on getting away more often.

As far as all the live aboard "stuff" one typically accumulates, it is a challenge to try and balance a comfortable daily lifestyle with a state of semi-readiness for departure and full on "rigged for sea" mode. My wife has glassware and "collectibles" all over, but it still only takes about 15 minutes to stow everything for a trip. 20 minutes if we make things extra secure (depending on the forecast).

I think that if you WANT to take your live aboard boat out often, you will. It's simply a matter of deciding that is your specific live aboard lifestyle...

I've been living aboard for 14 months now. I typically take the boat out at least a couple times a month and all summer.

One of the reasons I decided to live on the boat was I was sick of schlepping stuff to and from a cabin in the San Juans. Each trip, no matter how short, required a ton of work...loading the car, unloading the car, loading the boat, unloading the boat, loading the golf cart, unloading the golf cart, putting everything away in the house. Too much work for short trips.

Living on the boat makes it easy to get away. Everything is already aboard. I can normally be underway in 10-15 minutes from deciding to go.

Here are a few things that contribute to being able to cruise on a liveaboard.

• Living alone. Working around someone elses schedule would complicate taking the boat out.
• Eliminating clutter. Keep surfaces free of stuff so you don't have to stow everything when getting underway. Buying a big enough boat is important in this regard.
• Owning an easy boat to run. Pilothouse doors that I can get to the dock from, and a bow thruster, make maneuvering easy. Easy maneuvering means more time spent using the boat.
• Fuel and water capacity. Having enough that I'm not constantly worried about it (or having to fill up) makes spontaneous nights away from the dock easy.

Wow - what a great selection of responses - thank you so much!

What everyone says makes sense. I am single (for now) and so spontaneity shouldn't be an issue. I can see the benefit of avoiding clutter build up so getting ready to leave is easy - hopefully I can do that.

I will be working (commuting) and living aboard for many years - I'm not close to retirement yet. So this is certainly a lifestyle choice. The comments some of you have made about the work involved in getting ready for a trip resonate with me. I currently live an hour from my boat (need to stay here so my daughter finishes her last year at high school). The work involved in getting ready to go out even for a weekend is significant. I love the comment about spending $200 on groceries for a weekend away - that is entirely my MO. I never understand how I can spend more than an entire week's worth of groceries for one weekend!

So I like the idea of being mostly ready to go with a stocked fridge - just taking off when I want. Also - living aboard will allow me to have the size and type of boat I couldn't have if I were having to pay for accommodation on the dirt as well. I'm looking at displacement boats in the 46-50' range. Defever 49 pilothouse is a strong contender. I recently got very serious about a Hatteras 48 LRC too.

Thanks again for all the comments. I can see that in the end it's about what I choose to do. I suppose deep down I'm a little concerned that the novelty will wear off. None of you can help me with that!

Richard

We have lived aboard for a couple years now. (1.5 in a sailboat, now in a trawler) and I concur with some of the ideas here... you find yourself making excuses for not going out (tired from work, chores to do, family you have to go see, etc).. but we use one idea already mentioned. We have to start up every 2 weeks for a pump out.. and since the engines are started and should be run at least up to temp.... it turns into at least a jaunt around at the minimum...

as for knick-knacks (whose wife doesn't have them?) Lock-tite sells a blue gummy putty like material... holds things great.. so she can have her smaller ones in place and they don;t move. Of course, the added benefit of a trawler over sailboat is vastly less heeling... so things sit quite well without moving.. if you have to put things away on a trawler, maybe you are in too rough of water?

tmiller1116 said:

We have lived aboard for a couple years now. (1.5 in a sailboat, now in a trawler) and I concur with some of the ideas here... you find yourself making excuses for not going out (tired from work, chores to do, family you have to go see, etc).. but we use one idea already mentioned. We have to start up every 2 weeks for a pump out.. and since the engines are started and should be run at least up to temp.... it turns into at least a jaunt around at the minimum...

as for knick-knacks (whose wife doesn't have them?) Lock-tite sells a blue gummy putty like material... holds things great.. so she can have her smaller ones in place and they don;t move. Of course, the added benefit of a trawler over sailboat is vastly less heeling... so things sit quite well without moving.. if you have to put things away on a trawler, maybe you are in too rough of water?

Click to expand...

The pumpout suggestion makes some sense - once underway there are places I could get to to anchor within an hour - so I could see combining a pumpout visit with a quick overnight at anchor. I do see risk in that approach too. I know from personal experience that there's little worse than a full holding tank!

I'm fairly knick-nack free, for now - no partner. As for too rough water? I hope so - I love to cruise the Pacific Coast up and down from San Francisco. It's rarely calm out there - and almost never predictable. I absolutely plan to get out on the coast as frequently as I can. There are lots of destinations inside the SF Bay too.

Richard

9 months a year since 2010 on the upper Mississippi River. I'am out a couple times a week with the 38', either a couple hour trip up or down the river or anchor out, a lot of the time overnight. I also have a 17' cc that depending on the weather I'll be out in it almost everyday. To take the 38 only requires removing the power cords, cable TV coax and dock lines, the 17 is on a lift so the walk to f dock and the time to lower the lift is about equal. The river isn't that rough so nothing special to do inside to take a cruise, only the desire to go.

What I cannot fathom is folks at anchor who run their engine to charge the batteries. Why not lift the anchor and toodle around? With a windlass it's simple. Nothing fancy and I might only go five miles (or even return to the same area) but at least the boat moved.

I do need to practice docking when the newest engine install is complete. Betsy (the 18hp Kubota) is in the holy place though no attached as of yet. Soon. Well, after the new year... it's a boat and stuff takes time.

Anyway, one of my favorite aphorisms is:
Until it leaves the dock, a boat is just substandard housing. Move it! Janet Groene.

Folks who want to move their boats do so. Often there is a level of fear to overcome. Experience helps with that and being paralyzed by it is not unknown. I suspect that's why some boats stay tied to a pier.

Janice - I like your substandard housing comment. That's exactly where I don't want to be. As for fear - it's inertia and not fear that would keep me tied to a dock. Inertia can be more hard to overcome than fear, however!

Richard

We have been living aboard full time for around 17 or 18 years or so.
We take the boat out about twice a month for day trip and an overnighter or two. It may not sound like much but around most marinas, that is a lot.
Twice a month is about average for the avid boater in most marinas. However, avid boaters are probably 5% of the total boaters in most marinas I have been in.
We can untie and be out of the slip in under 20 minutes at any given time except for when I undertake some big projects. The key is to keep the boat looking like a boat and not a house. Don't make any major design changes to the boat, like adding shelves and cabinets where the manufacturer did not intend them to be. Shelves and cabinets mean more stuff. More stuff means things to move to take the boat out. The more things to move, the less likely you are to take the boat out.
Other than stocking up for a long trip, our boat looks like the manufacturer intended it to look.
If we spontaneously decide to take the boat out here is the basic procedure: Other than the obvious like transfer the 120V to the inverter, disconnect power cables and dock lines, we take the two coffee pots and place them in the sink so they wont fall off the counter and that's it. No hanging flower pots or other non-necessary items that have to be moved around.

Tony,

I would certainly consider twice a month to be a goal. If I could be out every other weekend I would feel good about how much I use the boat.

The message is coming through loud and clear from all of you - no clutter! On my own I think I can do that.

Richard

When you liveaboard and this is your home do you feel different about taking guests aboard for an afternoon/evening cruise?


We took guests aboard our smaller express cruiser but that boat was not our home and other than some decorating touches it was not our personal space.