If you have an old boat;how was your first year aboard

Hi to all,
Well, we have been living aboard for about 5 months and I must say it's been a little rough. She is a 1985 Defever '41 with good bones. However, as we were starting to move aboard the holding tank cracked, and what a stink. I measured and ordered a tank with a little larger capacity, unfortunately it was about 1/4" to tall so I reordered a smaller capacity tank thus smaller in size. Now, I must buy another tank( custom) because the capacity is way to small for two living a board.
The old Dometic Refrigerator quit so we spent $200 for a repairman to say the cost to repair it would exceed its worth. We bought a regular fridge that we will soon run off of an inverter. (just bought)
The aft cabin air just quit working.
There are other things not mentioned.
Has anyone else had these kind of experiences.

Thanks for letting me cry in my beer.

P.S. An evening cocktail over looking the river with a cool breeze blowing seems to make it all worth while.

You ask the wrong question. You should ask "Has anyone with a 30 something year old Taiwanese Tub not had those experiences?". Keep an eye on your fuel tanks. They will go next. Ahhh, that wonderful aroma of diesel....

I am on my 4th year aboard on a 1982 President. Your experiences are common, but frustrating. I rationalize it by the fact that boats are designed to be "entertainment" and not used 24/7 as we do.
Get to know all of your systems and make sure they fit how you will use the boat.
Newer replacement items are much better designed for efficiency and space. Every time you make an upgrade life gets better.
We use the Marina features as much as possible, dock water supply, marina head, 120 VAC etc...

We lived aboard our '84 38' Fu Hwa for three months this past summer. Very pleasant place to be...but that was the problem. We were in one place (and we still are).

We were: Awaiting new fuel tanks and their installation. Rebuilding ER wooden equipment shelves and associated parts. Reassembling water system onto the new shelves. Removing stray and poorly done wiring. Redoing a bunch of the wiring with more to do. Removing varnish. Rebuilding sliding door rollers. Adding VHS radio and antenna. Replacing water system hoses. Rewelding stainless steel water tank. Replumbing galley sink drain. Replumbing head tank vent. Adding most of a second bilge pump. Adding a forward bilge pump. Scrubbing diesel out of the ER and bilge. Adding swim ladder. Troubleshooting port engine wiring, successfully. Troubleshooting starboard engine random overheating, so far unsuccessfully. Topping up and bleeding helm pump. Reading and napping!

We're back home at the house to lots of projects here.

Gordon, your experiences are not limited to livaboards, old, or Asian boats. Boat-break out another thousand.

One of my favorite quotes, from the old salt pro captain of a high end custom sportfisher"

"Even as we sit here enjoying our drinks, all tied up and safe and sound, something is breaking"

6 years of pretty solid project accomplishment ...cant say most were 8 hr days and averaged 4 to 6 month trips to Fl that were not that much in major project completion.

But just about everything except the main and genset engines have had major work or replacement.

Sometime wonder if building new would have been less or at least easier work.

We've owned our boat now for 5 years. We're not living aboard so I know our projects are easier to deal with than yours. I had a lot of projects early on but most were planned for. Complete rebuild of wheel house and v berth. All new teak caprails, doors and anchor pulpit. New paint on the cabin inside and out . New paint on all deck space,custom made davits and new bottom job that included some fiberglass work. Mechanical work here and there.The boat had the tanks already replaced before we bought it. Right now it needs new ac unit, all the hatchs need reworking and I have some more woodworking projects I want to do.
Hang in there man everything you do to your boat adds a sense of pride and accomplishment and she will thank you for it.

We've quit calling them repairs and changed the term to 'upgrades.' And yes, very common. Our take on it is, now that we're living aboard, pushing the systems every day 24/7 the 27 yr old stuff is showing it's age. Taking our time, doing most of the work ourselves, we're getting her tuned up. It beats cutting the grass and washing cars, re-roofing the house, etc. I'd rather be in the 'man cave' below decks than doing any of that stuff.

Frustrating - can be. I'm learning patience and taking my dirt home / shade tree mechanic skills to a whole new level. But you are in fine company, and we can't beat the view.

Cruising is just doing boat maintenance in exotic locations. Perhaps living aboard is doing the same but standing still?

I'd like to offer some guidance but I have to get home to check the furnace, take out the window AC units, fertilize for fall, rake the garden out...hoping to finally paint the bedroom this winter and I really should figure out where the roof is leaking!

Thank you all

Thank you all for you responses. I will read them them to the co-captain as I know it will calm her nerves as it did mine.
Gordo

I love this quote

Best quote of the day.

caltexflanc said:

One of my favorite quotes, from the old salt pro captain of a high end custom sportfisher"

"Even as we sit here enjoying our drinks, all tied up and safe and sound, something is breaking"

Click to expand...

Gordon
Sometimes the breakdowns do have a lull. It just crossed my mind that it's been about 6 months since I've had to fix anything at all. Knock on wood.

That's after replacing the engine, gearbox, fuel tanks, batteries, navigation instruments, radios, cockpit hardtop, fridge, thru-hulls, hoses and skin fittings, windlass, anchor, rode, 90% of all wiring and lights, bilge pumps, battery charger, propellor, standing rigging, running rigging, sound insulation, fuel lines & filtering system. The only thing I've replaced twice is the damper plate.
Having done all repairs myself, I can say that I know my boat inside out.

It helps having a boat with very simple systems. (single small engine, no a/c, no heating, simple manual toilet, metho and butane stoves, all 12V, no inverter, basic electronics).

There still are a few original components besides the hull. Water tanks (built-in fiberglass), water supply pump, toilet, mast and boom, and the old metho stove are all original.

Be happy when you will have fixed and upgraded everything, you will have nothing to do ( well for a minute or two )
The way I see it is that a boat is more a house with an engine so always something to fix or maintain, but if done on a regular basis it's staying under control instead of doing nothing and waiting everything to fall apart.

L

Lou_tribal said:

Be happy when you will have fixed and upgraded everything, you will have nothing to do ( well for a minute or two )
The way I see it is that a boat is more a house with an engine so always something to fix or maintain, but if done on a regular basis it's staying under control instead of doing nothing and waiting everything to fall apart.

L

Click to expand...

. . . what he said.

I sure would prefer to be ignorant to this, but that’s pretty much the way it is. I, on the other hand, seem to have a project fetish, so for my experience, add 40 percent to everything said so far. My boat is an ‘87.

A lot of the workload, if not the majority, is based on what your standards are for seaworthiness, livability and cosmetics. One man's "broken" is another man's "I can live with that in that condition".

"Something is breaking." As ol' time ballplayer Satchel Paige used to say, "Don't look back, something's gaining on you."

The first year you live on a boat is the worst. After living on the same boat for 16 years everything was perfect and I found myself bored so I bought a boat that needed lots of TLC. I’ve been happy ever since.

There were times when I felt over whelmed, like the time my boat had a 15 degree list because both engines and transmissions were on the starboard side of the boat, one in my saloon, while I replaced an outboard fuel tank all while living on the boat in my slip. I survived it.

For me, living aboard is only a five year plan, that I have renewed 4 Times now.

Most yachts are not built as a liveaboard. They're built for weekenders and to be competitive in the market. Most builders only worry about you getting thru warranty. On a liveaboard, you're better off replacing failed appliances with more expensive models made of stainless steel, with heavier wiring and heavy duty components. My boat is a 1942.
Everything wears out, just faster on a boat.

Just remember we pleasure boaters should always be thankful.

Boat breakdowns are 1st world problems!!

I've been part time living aboard for 9ish months in my 78 C&L, the difference is I knew mine was a bucket and spent a month working on it before I moved on. It still has issues to put it nicely. I'm soooo not looking forward to cutting fuel tanks out :-/

We also have a 30 year old Taiwanese boat. Things break, we (I) fix them. Once you catch up the main items, things get more fun because you can choose what items to fix/upgrade instead of the boat selecting them for you. Hang in there...you're going to get to know your boat very well.

41 year old DeFever Passage Maker. I recently checked the log book, and we have spent 64 days since mid April cruising the PNW.
The only thing that failed was the main engine alternator. We have made a few upgrades/changes to suit us, but no other breakage. We bought the boat in January.

Everything on a boat is broken - you just don’t know it yet. Or that has been my experience we are entering month 5 of our new to us boat and have spent of 23 boat bucks on getting the rudiments working. No sexy chartplotters yet - no glossy reprints just getting systems working and almost all done by the two of us. That’s half the fun ?

Less expensive than airplanes and race horses, so I've heard.

Trust me when I say that these problems aren't restricted to old boats or personal small vessels. Ive spent the last two years essentially living on the newest and most "advanced" ship the USNavy can create and the same problems exist...


VCHT down for weeks at a time and Honeybuckets on the flight deck? yep
Refrigerators down for the count for weeks at a time? yep
Loss of power constantly? oh yeah...
as im writing this the space im in is sitting at 94*f because we have a loss of space cooling in 1/4 of the ship...and these aren't problems. its just life on the water.

No need to worry Gordon! Those who do not livaboard are missing a great life and are jealous!


We bought our tub Sept 2013, moved aboard in April 2014. So far we have been to SE Alaska twice and put almost 10K miles on ASD. Things break. This year it was our windlass. But that seems to be the norm in Alaska this year, broke windlasses. It also happened to our friends on Pairadice and on Mr. Fleming's 65ft Venture. There were also a few more...


Hang in there buddy! Its a GREAT life!

Dream or nightmare. Choices. Gotta get the boat across the strait cause I have to be at work early tomorrow at 4 AM. Lesson one , being on a schedule with the home might not be a good idea.

Putting the coffee maker on a timer for first thing in the morning might not be such a good idea with such things as say a water heater on while on a 15 amp circuit . 3 AM coffee pot turns on lights , heater , water tank , coffee pot and ALARM clock shut off. Wake up late with zero coffee, no hot water for a shower, and f n cold. Yup first 12 hours as a live aboard.

That was 1993 , Give it time it can be a very rewarding life choice with lots of learning curves. Something to keep the blood running.