Does a weekend live aboard make sense?

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Weekend liveaboard

We spend pretty much every weekend we aren't busy on our boat. About 75% of the time we just stay in the marina. It is our weekend waterfront condo. We love it and highly recommend it.

One thing to consider is where you are going to find moorage. I moor in Everett, WA. I know Everett and perhaps a few other marinas typically allow you to keep the slip (with approval by the Port) if you purchase a boat that is already in the marina.

There are long waiting lists (can take years to get a 40+ foot slip) at many if not all of the marinas in Puget Sound. Where to keep the boat is almost as important as the choice of boat.
 
Weekend live aboard...

Seems to me a weekend live aboard makes more sense than a full time live aboard... A balance between perceived freedom and the structure of modern living.

I'd say go for it! You'll have a foot in one world an one foot in another...

Garry
 
weekender

We live on the other side of the country. We were looking at buying an apartment, townhouse in Destin FL.. WOW the prices were crazy.. So long story short we found an older bayliner 3888 and found a very nice marina, pool, hot tub lounge etc.
We live about a hour 30 mins away and are at the boat almost every weekend. We have feel in love with the boat life. But I will agree with all everyone said it is a commitment of both time and money but we think is it worth it!!
Good luck with the search
 
I think it's a great idea to buy a boat up in the Seattle area and go up frequently to visit kids and boat. There are much more cruising opportunities there than in Portland. If it turns out you'd rather have the boat in Portland, it's not difficult to get it from Seattle to Portland.

One thing I would add, if you're planning to use the boat in the future to go to Alaska, I'd get a seaworthy boat. I might get flamed by the Ranger Tug owners, but that boat seems a little light to go to Alaska in. In terms of seaworthiness and size.
 
Interesting thread. The OP was asking for some ideas on what boats to consider. We’re planning to do something similar. We’ve fallen in love with boats from 36 to 52 feet. Wife likes the larger ones for comfort. I’m leaning towards the smaller ones because the reality is she has limited physical abilities and I need to be able to confidently single-handle whatever we decide on. It seems there are a lot more of the larger boats available. We are in Florida so the pickings here are a little different from the Pacific Northwest I think. However some nice ones that we have both liked are the Hatteras, Kadey-Krogen , Nordic Tug, American Tug, Pacific Seacraft, Selene, Island Packet, Monk and Great Harbour. Heck, I would even settle for a Northhavn.
I know there are a lot of others out there. But these are the ones we’ve been able to see and they would all fit the bill. In our case the biggest difficulty is working out a compromise between a boat that’s manageable and seaworthy vs. something that is huge and has green cushions.
 
Last edited:
La Sirena said:
...One thing I would add, if you're planning to use the boat in the future to go to Alaska, I'd get a seaworthy boat. I might get flamed by the Ranger Tug owners, but that boat seems a little light to go to Alaska in. In terms of seaworthiness and size.
Click to expand...

Interesting, we're taking the same approach. Right now our boat is trapped on the Missouri River above the a dam and we mostly use it for our weekend retreat. It's surrounded by houseboats and lake boats and some old boats with engines that haven't run in years -- floating weekend condo boats. We bought ours in Narragansett Bay though, and we're keeping it ocean-ready. Federal documentation, radar, extensive electronics, AIS, FCC ship station license, all the nav lights work and they're all CG compliant, the fire extinguishers are current, my flares are current, the works -- because someday we'll have it trucked to Duluth and sail Lake Superior back out into the world. Well okay, for now I did change to magnesium anodes for fresh water, our "zincs" are not zinc, but other than that...
 
yes

We lived in Vancouver WA and had a 40 foot sail boat in Olympia. Used it as a week end condo. Loved the area so much, we retired there. We presently have a Ranger R29C and have had it out in some hairy water over the cabin conditions. It is comfortable for 2 and while you have to pick your weather conditions it is adequate for Cape Caution and Alaska
 
Perfect sense - just don't buy too small if you intend to retirement cruise.
 
I bought my last boat first, a N46 but then, the yard dropped and poke a big hole in it.
I declare this AT34 as my last boat. Smaller but more flexible than the N46.
 
Look for moorage first

If you are thinking about mooring your boat in Lake Union, especially near the UW, you might think about looking for a boat in a transferable slip, or get your name on some waitlists early. There are 70 people on my waitlist and only 65 slips in the marina. (Although most will have found another spot in the 2-4 years until their name reaches the top.) Also be sure to check the overnight rules at the specific marina you find - my marina allows no "sleepovers" at all. Good luck!
 
moorage options in Seattle

Sounds like an awesome idea! Would recommend you look for moorage on the Sound side of the locks. There's only a handful of places you are allowed to anchor on Lake Washington. Also, getting through the locks, especially on a busy summer day, can be time consuming and stressful. Elliott Bay Marina is about a 15-20 minute drive from UW. They do not allow liveaboards, but we frequently stay overnight on our boat to get away from the hustle of city living.
 
Yes, the Camano is a good choice.

We do exactly what you're talking about. We live almost 300 miles from our Camano, and enjoy driving over to the NC coast, spending 4 or 5 days on board, cruising to towns on NC's "Inner Banks" (Oriental, Belhaven, Bath, etc., from our home port in Chocowinity). Having a good marina facility and staff helps a lot. We're retired - sort of, and the Admiral does some online teaching from the boat while in port, thanks to very good net access at several marinas. The Camano is very comfortable for two, all systems work well, and it cruises well. You can find plenty of well informed Camano owners on TF and the Pacific Camano Owners website who know about your area. As for cruising, I bought mine in Rhode Island, spend 15 days on board, 11 in transit down the East Coast - a trip of a lifetime so far, portions of which I plan to repeat (the trip.....would love to repeat portions of the lifetime, too, if I can figure that out....)

My biggest mistake....waiting far too many years to buy my Camano! No kidding!

Best wishes for happy weekending and cruising!
 
Late to chime in, but just want to let you know that this is pretty much exactly how we use our Nordic Tug 32/34. We spend the week in our condo in the city, and most weekends on the boat (friday evening or saturday morning through sunday). We also stay on it over some holiday weekends. We probably take the boat out 50% of the times we are on board, and stay in the slip taking advantage of the view and marina amenities the other 50%. We often refer to it as our second (now third) home. Best of luck!
 
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