I have been lurking here for years, and kicking around the idea of buying a trawler to live on and enjoy. I now find myself in a position where I can actually buy the type of boat I want-a late 70's/early 80's diesel powered trawler in the 40' range-and follow through with my dream. My budget is $70,000. I am sort of getting cold feet, though, and for a few reasons.
1) I worry about the difficulty of having a large dog on the boat. She is very well-behaved, but I don't know how hard it will be to get her on and off a floating vessel every day. Also, this will mean that every single restroom visit for the rest of her life will be with me on the end of the lead. I've done it before, but it's a big responsibility. There are times when opening a back door and letting the dog out is such a nice luxury.
2) Will I get claustrophobic? I am not sure how I will feel living in such close quarters with other boats. The interior space is fine for me insofar as size, but I don't know if I will feel somewhat cooped up because of the surrounding boats everywhere. I like a little privacy. I know getting out on the water will offer freedom from that, but I also realize I will spend much time in the marina.
3) Should I even buy a boat without a slip lined up? There are waiting lists (I am in the Puget Sound area), and it would really stink to buy a boat and have nowhere to put it. I have called around to a few marinas, and they will not tell me how long the waiting list may be, only that there are people ahead of me and that I can pay to get on the list. Also, and I will not mention any names, I have found a few of the people I talked to a little snotty. I don't like that sort of thing, and hope I won't have to deal with that in the marinas. Are the people running the marinas generally nice to liveaboards?
I have many more questions and thoughts, but I will leave it at that for now. I am basically trying to decide if I want to do this or not. I really like to think things through, and can't take a purchase of this nature lightly. I won't even get into my concerns of finding the right boat!
1) I worry about the difficulty of having a large dog on the boat. She is very well-behaved, but I don't know how hard it will be to get her on and off a floating vessel every day. Also, this will mean that every single restroom visit for the rest of her life will be with me on the end of the lead. I've done it before, but it's a big responsibility. There are times when opening a back door and letting the dog out is such a nice luxury.
2) Will I get claustrophobic? I am not sure how I will feel living in such close quarters with other boats. The interior space is fine for me insofar as size, but I don't know if I will feel somewhat cooped up because of the surrounding boats everywhere. I like a little privacy. I know getting out on the water will offer freedom from that, but I also realize I will spend much time in the marina.
3) Should I even buy a boat without a slip lined up? There are waiting lists (I am in the Puget Sound area), and it would really stink to buy a boat and have nowhere to put it. I have called around to a few marinas, and they will not tell me how long the waiting list may be, only that there are people ahead of me and that I can pay to get on the list. Also, and I will not mention any names, I have found a few of the people I talked to a little snotty. I don't like that sort of thing, and hope I won't have to deal with that in the marinas. Are the people running the marinas generally nice to liveaboards?
I have many more questions and thoughts, but I will leave it at that for now. I am basically trying to decide if I want to do this or not. I really like to think things through, and can't take a purchase of this nature lightly. I won't even get into my concerns of finding the right boat!