Considering 2-Year Live aboard

[jbloyd]

I’m not trying to be funny. Point Roberts has no waiting list for liveaboard slips. However, I have no idea how you can get there other than by boat.

Thanks, TR, but Point Roberts isn't even accepting live-aboard applications. I had looked into that last week. Even Squalicum Harbor has a 5-year wait for boats 44' +.

 

[thataway]

We have lived aboard a total of about 13 years, 8 of which were mostly full time cruising. A 59 to 70' boat is a huge maintenance issue. Who is going to do the washing and waxing, cleaning vinyl windows etc? When we were in our 40's we sailed a 62' Pilot house motor sailor to Europe and Back from Long Beach Ca. 3 staterooms were great--because we had our children aboard part time, and lots of friends to join us. (Started with a 38' traditional sailboat--and wife realized that being cold and wet was no fun). Voyaging is different than living aboard in a fixed marina. We got the larger boat, and for the most part sailed it with just a couple. A few years later when we retired, we got a 46 foot pilot house motor sailor. That was a lot easier to maintain, dock and maneuver. It still had two state rooms; it is rare that you want more than another couple aboard.

The smaller the boat, the easier it is to find dockage, to get into interesting harbors, and most likely the more you will voyage. If you are getting to the 60 foot size you are looking at crew for maintenance. Something to consider. Also going to come with both water draft and air draft which may preclude going many routes. For example if you want to do the "Great Loop" you cannot have more than a 17' air draft.

There is a large amount of room in the "Sundeck Motor yacht". Starting in the low 40' to 50' size. That would good good for much of what you want. Maybe not as good for going to the Caribbean below the Bahamas. A boat good for passage making may not be as desirable for coastal cruising.

How is the boat going to be stabilized? Active fins? Gyro with a generator running all of the time when underway/at anchor?

Think of the logistics of provisioning for even a couple of months in the Bahamas. Then the adaptation to the availability of supplies there--and potentially crowded anchorages.

If I were doing this, I would do a lot of reading on what the cruising is like on the East Coast (We happen to like it-- but also agree that the PNW is a fantastic place. We spent 4 seasons (April thru Oct) cruising the inland passage to AK, left the boat in Sequim for the winter, and RV ed in Florida--eventually bought a home.

Your idea of a month here and a few weeks there works well. But..moorage may be hard to find in some areas (especially the larger boat).

 

[NCheaven]

Check out eastern N.C. for cruising destinations, reasonable dock fees, ample anchorages, etc. My 38’x15’ slip cost $12,500 and annual fees under $1,000 annually. ICW is just down stream from here. Play with Navionics and build potential routes from N.C. to destinations of choice. Smaller trawler works great on inland waterways from Cape May to South Florida and the Gulf. But sparsely populated Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds and tributaries in NC are the best cruising grounds I know of, many small historic colonial towns, and many offer free docks for one or two nights. Fishing is great, too. Bottom line - NC is trawler heaven.

 

[Mitch L]

Mitch L...

Good luck. Think you can find the boat (little house with all the comforts 59-70’) you want for about $1.5 million. Expect operating costs (i.e., maintenance, insurance, fuel, dockage and modest repairs) to run about $75,000 per year.

Consider the smallest boat that checks all your boxes. Something in the 50 foot range with two staterooms may be ideal for a couple to provide all of the comforts you expect.The trouble with bigger boats is that they can be limiting with draft and dockage since most marinas can accommodate a 50’ boat but getting toward 70’ may be challenging. Also, most moorings don’t do well trying to accommodate boats 60-70’ due to weight, windage and length.

garychurch -

That is very helpful. That's about was I was thinking regarding purchase price, but your estimate of operating expenses is most helpful. I was paying our $8k homeowners insurance premium today (fire issues have push that up here in CA) which made me wonder around how much it cost to insure a boat is this size range? Probably close to the same?

One of the "must haves" is a king size bed which seems to be a common feature of the GB 59, but there don't seem to be many smaller boats that meet that criteria. I really like the 59 and don't really want anything bigger for all the reasons you and others have mentioned. I believe some of the Marlow 57s meet the KS criteria as well. I like the Marlows too, but it might just be the blue paint which you can apparently get on a GB as well, so I need to keep that in mind

I don't know if it is possible to do so, but it would probably make a lot of sense (to SSobels point and that of others on the forum) to do a multi month charter and see how we really feel about living on a boat. While I would never buy a new boat, it is still clear to me that vessels in this size range are not very liquid and obviously depreciate. Lots to think about and consider - the forum definitely helps in that regard.

Also gets my thinking about the PNW (thx to rsn48 and others). That would probably be as good a place as any to conduct that type of live aboard experiment.

 

[tiltrider1]

Thanks, TR, but Point Roberts isn't even accepting live-aboard applications. I had looked into that last week. Even Squalicum Harbor has a 5-year wait for boats 44' +.

Interesting, last Sept my neighbor moved to Point Roberts from Seattle. He told me they didn’t care or event think about liveaboards. This must be a new change for them, possibly even related to Washington’s no eviction order. The no eviction order could possibly have put a moratorium on all liveaboard slips in the state.

At the moment I’m not sure if I want to refill any of my apartment units after tenants move out until this no eviction order is canceled.

 

[Benthic2]

There are a number of youtubers with hundreds of videos describing the liveaboard experience that you may want to check out.

Also, you said buying a boat in San Diego for a while, selling it, and then buying a boat on the east coast is a hassle. Pulling up roots, a cross country move, buying a boat and not being happy would be a bigger hassle I would think. Your San Diego boat would give you the chance to sample the lifestyle for a week or two or more, get familiar with all the systems and maintaining them, brushing up on electronics ( they have come a long way in 30 years ) and MOST IMPORTANTLY, get your wife on a boat for a few extended periods. Asking your wife to learn how to handle a 60 foot boat with no experience could be intimidating for her. It would be for me!

Another thought, and hopefully some others will chime in here, if you haven't boated in a while, it may be hard to find insurance if you get too big of a boat. Owning a west coast boat for a while might make that process easier as well.

 

[Knot Thirsty]

My wife and I are kicking around the idea of buying and living aboard a boat for a couple years - before we get to old. Me more than her. I have been away from boating for many years but grew up with boats, worked at a Marina during HS and college and know a bit about boats (such as you can always count on things to fix, boats depreciate and it is will be more expensive than you anticipate).

While we are currently on the West Coast we are primarily interested in cruising the East Coast from the West Indies to Maine. We don't care about speed and would rather trade that for range and efficiency. I'd say the odds of getting this done are about one in ten, but it's nice to dream.

I joined this forum to dig into the whole process a little deeper and figure out what I need to do to get this done.

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1986/president-41-double-cabin-3710258/

 

[Knot Thirsty]

fresh water and very favorable exchange rate

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1986/president-41-double-cabin-3710258/

 

[IfItsWorthDoing]

FWIW Mitch L I'm in a somewhat similar situation to you - some (limited) boating background during my teenage years (dad had a Hallberg-Rassy 312) but my wife of 31 years has none.

Now we are both 2 years from retirement and keen on converting our 'dirt house' into a 'liveable' boat for the summer months to explore the Mediterranean - not least to define where we wish to retire to ashore (currently looks like it might be Menorca).

Our boat will be a small cruising catamaran though, albeit new - thereby swallowing pretty much all our ready cash although hopefully not requiring much mending until I've learnt how do do it.

Like you, we initially intend to familiarise ourselves with both the actual boat model and living aboard in general through a couple of onboard courses/rental cruises.

My wife has a bad back and therefore absolutely requires a stable boating platform, and describes the lovely wide cockpit under a hard Bimini (with massive solar paneling on top) as being like a wintergarden.

That said, if our preliminary weeks spent on the water this autumn and next spring prior to signing up for a purchase prove that a live aboard existence isn't compatible with my wife's condition then it will stop us sinking most of our worldly wealth into a vision that's doomed to fail ...

 

[Kintala]

Couldn’t agree more

Wifey B: Why?

You haven't boated in decades and she's not really interested. Doesn't sound like a recipe for success.

Get beyond the dream and what do you expect it to be like? I'd suggest you and your wife charter a couple or more boats for a week at a time and then perhaps that will give you both some clarity. Remember, one convinced against one's will, remains unconvinced still. Stole that one from hubby who stole from professor but it's so true and if you talk her into it with a hard sell or guilt, it won't last two years. She'll fly home for a couple of weeks which will turn into many more.

I love boating, love the water, but I see people like you who know nothing about living on a boat and cruising and all in involves deciding from afar it looks like a fun thing to do. It is fun, but only if you prepare and understand what you're in for.

How do you think she, at least somewhat a non-boater, is going to like it when you take your nice coastal cruiser and cross from Turks and Caicos to the Dominican Republic and the 3' seas turn to 5' seas with short periods and you bounce around like kids in a bounce house?

One advantage we have is that not just the two of us but all those who regularly cruise with us are avid boaters and use to boating off shore and prefer calm but deal fine with adverse conditions. Charter enough that you encounter some less pleasant seas.

I want to encourage boaters, but only if it's right for them. There are many here who have zero desire to boat from the West Indies to Maine unless you're limiting the West Indies to one country of the 13, the Bahamas. Some people start out thinking of circumnavigating and end up boating happily forever after within 300 miles of home. Many in your situation are happy coming down the coast and visiting the Bahamas and returning north once a year. Still step one is get the two of you on some boats and see then how you both feel.

I couldn’t agree more. We cruised for six years on our sailboat before selling her in preparation for buying a trawler. We decided to retire onto a boat with no previous boating experience and while it was the most worthwhile thing we ever did, it was also the most difficult. In the six years we cruised on her, we saw so many people give up, mostly because he wanted to go and she didn’t. In our case it was me that had the idea and my husband came along, but it was still very difficult for him. We wrote a book about the experience that might be helpful to you called How NOT to Buy a Cruising Boat that’s available on Amazon. Even though it’s about the disaster that was our experience buying a sailboat, the principles are the same for buying s trawler.

I also want to encourage you to try it, because it fundamentally changed who we are for the better, but you must be prepared for the challenge or it will ruin your relationship.

 

[Salish Nomad]

People liveaboard year round in the Pacific NW and winter cruising can be great! We certainly don’t pull our boats out of the water for the winter. It’s not that cold, and most locals have good heaters. Avoid the winter winds that can kick up though ....

Yes, it’s warm and sunny in the summer, but boaters get out in the fall, winter, and spring too!

Yes indeed, we enjoy winter cruising. We stay warm, and dry on our relatively small tug.

 

[Bwester]

It’s Doable!!

Hi Mitch, my wife and I just went through the same scenario you are talking about and I just wanted to say it’s doable. I would just say that the only difference is it sounds like you have more experience than we did. I have owned a whitewater kayak and a Hobie Cat, that was the extent of my boating knowledge. My Dad was in the Merchant Marines all his life and he would take me aboard when they would come into Norfolk and I would Ride down to Southport with him on the cargo ship. Guess that’s why I have a little salt in my veins.

About a year ago as I was pondering retirement we were trying to come up with an adventure plan for while we were still in good enough health to tackle. I always had rose colored glasses about living on a boat and traveling. I started planting the seeds with my wife by watching on the YouTube channel shows such as: Searching for C-Shells, Sailing Zatara, Gone with the Wynns. I followed that up with our first cruise after Christmas before Covid hit. To my surprise my wife went along and thought it would be a fun adventure for retirement. I spent the next 6 months researching all kinds of boats, developing a budget we could afford, and reading everything I could find on the internet. Long story short we sold our home, downsized to a 12 x 14 storage unit, bought a boat, moved from a Idaho to San Diego to live on it full time as of July 27, 2020.

We bought a 1985 Kadey Krogen 42 ft which is the perfect size for our goals . There Are a lot of things I would have done different if I had knew then what I know now. But if you wait and wait for all the stars to align, you probably will have waited to Long.

We are in San Diego for next couple months. Send me a private message if you want to talk more or come down to see Amelia (KK 42) to get some idea of hoops you will need to jump through. Good luck. - Barry

 

[ScottC]

Hi Mitch,
"2-year live-aboard" may help you and your wife justify making the jump into a (temporary?) experiment. Just realize that it could easily take 2 years to get the boat just the way you want it in order to start fully enjoying it. From a financial perspective, for sure, you would need to own a used boat more than two years in order to justify the expense and hassle. For a new boat, many more than two years to justify the expense, hassle AND initial (steep) depreciation.

 

[Juggerknot]

My wife and I are kicking around the idea of buying and living aboard a boat for a couple years - before we get to old. Me more than her. I have been away from boating for many years but grew up with boats, worked at a Marina during HS and college and know a bit about boats (such as you can always count on things to fix, boats depreciate and it is will be more expensive than you anticipate).

While we are currently on the West Coast we are primarily interested in cruising the East Coast from the West Indies to Maine. We don't care about speed and would rather trade that for range and efficiency. I'd say the odds of getting this done are about one in ten, but it's nice to dream.

I joined this forum to dig into the whole process a little deeper and figure out what I need to do to get this done.

Go for it, you only live once and, if things go south on you, you can always return to landlubbery! It probably would do well to do a couple bare boat charters on something approximate to your desired vessel and see if things go well or, the wife is calling the divorce attorney =) as soon as you cast off! In all seriousness, this life is short and if the sea runs in your veins, listen to her call and explore the feasibility.