Liveaboard boat guys, what’s it really cost?

[Racerbvd]

A few years ago, my primary doctor sold his practice so he and his wife could sail around the world. A few years later, he 5ook his practice back over. And a few years later, he fully retired, sold the practice and his plan was to sail to Australia, and explore Coastal Australia . After the trip, his plan was to sell the boat and return home.. No resent updates, and he is also a Porsche guy.

[drcoastline]

Originally Posted by cstreit

Virtually none. …but neither does anyone until they learn right? I’m not just gonna buy something and figure it out. I’ve got 5-6 years to learn. Florida area would likely be home base.

I hear lots of cautionary tales from experience here. Reminds me a lot of conversations I have with people who want to go racing, “Whynwould you want to go burn a bunch of cash for 30 minutes of fun and 100 hours of misery?”

I love boats, have spent my life on boats, from my first Sunfish to 100 foot Bergers, I have lived on boats for summers never year-round. We have had big power boats, big sail boats, small power boats, small sail boats. So in no way I am trying to discourage you from living on a boat but there is a lot to consider. "Big" is relative to what you are comparing it to especially in cost. A big boat is no where near the size of a "big" house when it comes to how much you get for your money. I have closets in my house bigger than the Master stateroom in my boat and the pantry is bigger than the master head (bathroom) and we have what you might consider a "big" boat.

The first two question is what is your budget to get in? Are buying new or used? Each has their pro's and cons. The boats posted by Dpmulvan in post #16 are nice and look "big" and roomy in the photos but are not nearly as roomy as the photos appear. They become far less roomy when you are stuck inside for a week because it is raining. These are also multi-million dollar boats used.

Every boat is a compromise sail boats even cats are less roomy by their nature of propulsion than a power boat. A fifty foot sailboat is not nearly as roomy as a fifty foot power boat.

Living on a boat is not for everyone, it is a commitment, living on a boat is no where near the same as living in a house or even an apartment. The first thing is you need to comit to a minimalist life style. There is no attic, no basement, no garage and no shed to store stuff. So all the extra's we have laying around go away. Better run that one past the misses if she likes clothes. My wife can't go away for a weekend with-out packing a U-Haul full of clothes.

Things we take for granted in modern life in a house or apartment need to be thought about and planned such as flushing a toilet. In our house we flush it goes down the drain and some else deals with the mess. In our boat we flush, and it stays with us until we deal with it at a later date. Wet, mold and the odor of mildew and Eau de Bilge are a constant.

Climate will also play a role in maintenance. Northern climates and fresh water are far less destructive than Southern climates and salt water. If you do intend to keep a boat in Florida the sun will beat the living $h!t out of it. Your HVAC will run non stop 24/7/365 in the southern sun. Every morning the moisture rich air containing dissolved salt will condense all over your boat, on every surface. The hull sides, cabin top, windows, fabrics, chairs, wood tables, everything. You will need to get outside with a hose and a rag hose it off and dry it before the sun gets up in the sky evaporates the water and leaves a layer of salt on every surface and turns into ten trillion little magnifying glasses burning the crap out of every surface. How do you get around this attack? Put the boat under cover. Being in a covered shed costs more than being out in the open. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any sheds that can accommodate the big stick poking out the top of a sail boat. If you truly intend to use the boat you will need to get in and clean the bottom every few weeks to keep the growth down or hire a diver to do it. But this doesn't eliminate pulling the boat once or twice a season.

I know this all sounds negative, but it is not, just things you learn over the years. If you are going to go the live-a-board route and it were me and I have been there I would do the following;

Don't buy a sailboat your options are very limited. You are restricted by height, with a monohull you are restricted by height and depth. They are less roomy than a power boat of comparable size. Even a fast sailboat is slow when you want to get back to the dock, they are less maneuverable, and so on. Buy a powerboat and keep it undercover as your live a board.

If you want to sail buy a small sailboat such as a Hunter 25 or a J-24 both capable off shore sailboat with a small cabin a head, galley, and bunks for overnight or a weekend. and both can be powered. The Hunter has an engine and the J can be fitted with a small outboard. You can keep it on the hard (cheaper storage) and no cleaning the bottom and have it dumped in when you want to use it. That keeps the maintenance down. Both can be purchased in good operating order for a few thousand dollars or rent one when you have the urge to sail, hand it back and let somebody else deal with the maintenance or join the local yacht club someone is always looking for crew.

EDIT: I forgot or the best thing to do is get your captains six pak license and let someone pay you to move their boat from place to place. The pay the maintenance, the fuel, your expenses while you are operating their boat.

[hcoles]

^^^ 100% right on.

[GH85Carrera]

One of the guys I knew retired about the time Miami Vice was first broadcast. For some reason living on a boat like Crocket just really appealed to him. His wife had recently died, so he sold everything, and moved to Houston, and bought a boat to live on. That lasted less than a year. He said the simple cost of living on a boat was more than a luxury condo. He only went out on the ocean a few times and he really missed having a garage, and keeping his Mercedes locked up and going for drives.

The funny thing to me is he sold the boat and bought a nice motor home. He sold virtually everything he had left and started driving the country with a girlfriend. That lasted a few years before he was tired of her, and the motor home. It would be interesting to learn what he got into next, but he moved to the middle of nowhere in the Texas Panhandle. Last I heard he was into raising horses.

[greglepore]

As much as I love to sail, doc is probably right. Were I to live aboard, it'd likely be on a trawler type boat. Sips fuel, more stable than a v hull powerboat, many have a steadying sail to reduce roll, and more room per foot than most powerboats. The tradeoff is speed. But a "real" powerboat is crazy expensive to operate with these fuel costs.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Last I heard he was into raising horses.

Strike three

Great thread, btw. I have learned a lot.

[nota]

be very careful who built a big cat

https://casetext.com/case/etm-iv-special-llc-v-pedigree-cats

some try to do the job without the people

https://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/boa/d/miami-shuttleworth-52-aerorig-catamaran/7464183024.html

note location ad said miami
boat is on land in washington

btw that rig is not really a good idea

[908/930]

Looking forward to changing my signature.

...now how to explain this to my wife...

So what should we call you? Mr Rail meat, meat fluffer? LOL.

This does not help with your original question but, have you considered a small condo in FLA near a Yacht club and a 30' sailboat to sail the coast on, and charter a cat in the islands for a couple of weeks a year? Likely less than the operating cost of a big cat.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by drcoastline

Living on a boat is not for everyone, it is a commitment, living on a boat is no where near the same as living in a house

It sounds so wonderful when it's Travis McGee living on the Busted Flush in Ft. Lauderdale, living the life of the untethered free-spirit. You're saying there's tedious chores, circular upkeep and previously unknown problems that need to be sorted?
What about the girls, parties, voyages and wall to wall fun?

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Strike three

Great thread, btw. I have learned a lot.

Yea, I figured next he would get into airplane racing or a private jet, something else insane expensive. I can only guess he had done a great job of inheriting a lot of money.

[beatnavy]

Originally Posted by greglepore

As much as I love to sail, doc is probably right. Were I to live aboard, it'd likely be on a trawler type boat. Sips fuel, more stable than a v hull powerboat, many have a steadying sail to reduce roll, and more room per foot than most powerboats. The tradeoff is speed. But a "real" powerboat is crazy expensive to operate with these fuel costs.

Friends of ours are considering buying one of these:



Those Kadey Krogens are impressive. At 7 knots the range on the 52 footer is over 3000 nautical miles, meaning you could cross the Atlantic from the East Coast and cruise a good part of the Med before having to refuel. All at a leisurely pace, of course.

[Arizona_928]

So is there an annual property tax on a boat like owning a house?

[pwd72s]

My friend Stan passed on March 22. Back in '19, he wrote a brief autobiography for Dean's Garage. Under "yachting" he described some of his liveaboard experiences.
You can read it here:

https://www.deansgarage.com/2022/stan-motts-autobiography/?unapproved=696575&moderation-hash=d7c201d3b174b4c1ba924d87b34f8bd3#comment-696575

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

So is there an annual property tax on a boat like owning a house?

Registration like a car and monthly slip rental unless you moor on a booey or dock at a friend's who has waterfront.

A very good friend in Charleston introduced me to a friend of his while we were doing the bar cruise on his boats, the guy he introduced me too had converted a vintage trawler into a sweet live aboard world cruiser. This thing was fantastic, I will try and find the pictures I took, as it was extremely impressive.

[Tishabet]

Originally Posted by beatnavy

Those Kadey Krogens are impressive. At 7 knots the range on the 52 footer is over 3000 nautical miles, meaning you could cross the Atlantic from the East Coast and cruise a good part of the Med before having to refuel. All at a leisurely pace, of course.

It is crazy to me when I look at the MPG and range for a displacement hull with some appropriately matched diesels... like you said in the example above, literally thousands of miles in range for some of these albeit typically at ~7mph. My Grady (a 30 foot 5 ton beast) has 600HP worth of outboards strapped to it and will do 50MPH... and my absolute best cruise is around 1.3mpg (at around 30mph) giving me a range of around 360 miles before the tanks go dry. The perfect tool for pushing 60 miles offshore, snagging a bunch of tuna and getting back before the winds pick up but
Hope the fuel prices keep going down for the summer!

[cstreit]

Originally Posted by drcoastline

I love boats, have spent my life on boats, from my first Sunfish to 100 foot Bergers

Thanks for taking the time to write all this. Very much appreciated.

I'm not planning on year 'round living. Just winter living.
I've lived in an RV and understand the nature of "mobile" appliances and maintenance. An RV is like a tiny house experiencing an earthquake once a week.

That said - I need to get out and experience this before I commit to anything.

There's a suggestion above about a Condo and a boat club. This is something else I've considered and depending on health and where I am 5 years from how - could also be an option.

Obviously I've romanticized spending 3-4 months sailing the coasts, Caribbean, Panama, etc.. a bit. ...and naturally there are GREAT things about doing that. ...but I'm also paying a LOT of attention to the not great stuff.

THing is - I'm pretty sure I'll be able to make a go at this - try it out for a while - and if it doesn't suit - dump it all without compromising my lifestyle. However I am doign my best to go into this eyes wide open (Which is not how I did the 20 year racing thing).

[HobieMarty]

Man, it has always been a dream of mine to live aboard a boat and the newer cats are super nice. Your dream is my dream, as for now, I'll keep sailing my Hobie 16, I guess I could put a tent on the tramp and live on it. Lol.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[cstreit]

Originally Posted by HobieMarty

Man, it has always been a dream of mine to live aboard a boat and the newer cats are super nice. Your dream is my dream, as for now, I'll keep sailing my Hobie 16, I guess I could put a tent on the tramp and live on it. Lol.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Username checks out. 😊

Suggest you watch this guy: https://youtu.be/QXnnx2ve0sQ

Personally I think some of this adventures are pretty sketchy, like “coast guard rescue” sketchy, but I admire his sense of adventure.

[hcoles]

Well... it can't be said we didn't do our level best to provide some heads up. It will be an adventure, that's for sure. I wouldn't want to be one to say don't have an adventure.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by HobieMarty

Man, it has always been a dream of mine to live aboard a boat and the newer cats are super nice. Your dream is my dream, as for now, I'll keep sailing my Hobie 16, I guess I could put a tent on the tramp and live on it. Lol.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Think about it...you probably spend more time actually sailing than 90% of the liveaboard cruisers...who spend 95% of their time on board moored or in a slip.

Stan & I once exchanged letters about that with he doing the math...my sailing on summer weekends with family in a little 15' Chrysler mutineer vs. his "house moving", as he called it, aboard his 53' gaff rigged wooden ketch. I spent more hours actually under sail than he did.

Also, no better way to learn how wind works moving a boat than to start small, in either aa small cat or unballasted dinghy. Trim mistakes that a large boat owner can get away with results in a dinghy or cat sailor going for a swim.