Posted on 03/10/2019 9:48:59 AM PDT by amorphous
Yep, go to either the San Juan Islands or the Caribbean and rent a boat for 1 to 2 weeks. If they like it then shop for a boat. If they find out this is not for them they are only out the rental money. Much cheaper than trying to sell a boat (they would never get close to their purchase purchase price back).
First considerations: Are these friends subject to seasickness?
If not, then would suggest watching several of the countless you tube videos which discuss the pros and cons of living on a boat. There is numerous video channels with living day to day on a boat on the seas as well as living on a river boat moored in a community.
Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ7NWDmzvG0
That sounds like a little fun surrounded by misery.
Not for the faint of heart or the novice, I would say.
For decades in Yokohama and other Japanese cities, extended families lived on flat-topped house boats along the river systems.
I remember seeing the same in Bangkok.
There was a mom, holding out one of her youngsters while he peed in the river. Two houseboats down from her was a man in the river, vigorously brushing his teeth...
Watch out for torpedoes.
Like tiny house owners, few boat people last long. I’d look into this carefully before trying it. There must be some associations for boat life people.
I do know some people who do boat life part-time, but they also spend 6 months of the year in the Bahamas, taking their boat there but staying on land. Such a lifestyle requires more money of course.
Land Yacht,,
My plan is a 22 ft. MINNIEWINNIE
pulling my ‘05 Wrangler all
Over Arizona.
Next Year,
Arizona!
Get a hold of John D MacDonald’s Travis McGee thriller series. McGee lived aboard a houseboat docked at a boat slip in Southeast Florida and the stories are chock full of info on how it’s done from the maintenance all the way on up to the odd social connections this kind of lifestyle provides. Guess no one reads books anymore.
The idea that living on a boat is a vision of freedom is delusional. I know several couples and individuals who have done it and live that way today. They are great fun to visit. I am not sure I would adapt the lifestyle on a permanent basis. The reasons are many. But in one sentence, NOTHING and NO PART of your lifestyle will be convenient or easy or simple.
First, it sounds like they are newbs to boats. Boats have considerable maintenance requirements, and those requirements are often costly. OK, so they buy a brand new boat and those are reduced, but the marine environment is brutal on most things. As the boat ages, they do too, and those req’ments shall deepen, as sure as the sun (and salt air) rises. Stuff on boats breaks.
Even if the husband is “handy” around the house, things on boats are done rather differently and need to be done to considerably higher specs and it is only the experience of years that would inform you or anyone else that learning or experimenting on your own boat is a bad idea.
“Traveling outside the US” sounds great until you realize that transoceanic travel on a small boat is a very, very serious matter. The layup of supplies, emergency provisions and the anticipation thereof, is simply not an elementary item.
I could give you twenty more reasons but others on this thread are undoubtedly supplying them as I attempt to formulate them.
If they are long-time sailors or boaters and have boated for a dozen or more years, that would be a bit different but the full functionality (or not) of the lifestyle is IMHO a PITA. It certainly has its elements of romanticism, but romantic visions, once tarnished,often turn into nightmares.
I’ve lived on a sailboat.
If you’ve never lived aboard, you imagine that you want a giant, luxurious showpiece of a boat.
But after you’ve lived onboard, what you want is the smallest possible boat with the fewest things that can breakdown.
It’s a lot of work to live aboard.
It’s 10 times as much work to actually sail instead of just living in a harbor slip.
It’s a neat lifestyle.
It’s not for everyone.
A boat in decent condition with enough room for comfort will be very expensive. Maintenance is also costly. It is not a cheap way to live. Also very important: there is no privacy. Anywhere. Ever.
The first thing a boat owner of any kind learns: “A boat is a hole in the water, lined with fiberglass, into which you pour money.”
While you can find such advice online, it often comes with an agenda, having originated from one related blog or another. Several things about FReepers are: honesty and vast experiences in just about every corner of life!
Downsizing, is something he has in mind in making the move from a house to a boat. But, sounds like a wash between home maintenance and maintaining a boat. Same for energy costs, anchorages and marinas.
From the comments, pumping out waste tanks, replenishing groceries and having access to some type of land vehicle are major live aboard headaches.
There aren't many marinas with a Walmart.
Still, there is the living life to the fullest aspect, verses just comfortably growing old.
Many thanks to all of you, for your considerate and valuable advice. The more the better! :)
I totally agree with the Full Timers RV idea. If you want to get outside on a boat there is the outside deck, but it is still on the boat. With an RV you can walk around, drive around, leave the RV in storage and visit friends.
And I totally agree, if they are out to sea and get sick, they are screwed. The only medical care available is to get a helicopter to get the patient to a big city, but then the boat is abandoned or left with only one person to sail it. And you have to be within fuel distance of a helicopter for the rescue. (Years ago had a cruise ship adventure out in the middle of the Pacific included an airdrop of medical supplies for a patient bleeding to death. The staff had to go out with one of the tender boats to pick up the supplies for the cruise medical staff. They were asking for blood donors with a particular blood type on the ships PA system ) Is it a one person craft or is the person left going to risk death to try and get the boat to a safe harbor?
What about pirates?
Harbor fees? How do septic systems work?
Storms?
Lose power?
Fire?
If he’s never tried it, he needs to follow your advice and do it for a full year (all the seasons) before making the leap....I have a few friends who love boats and the water and none of them made it more than two years when they decided to “live the dream”....
It’s hard to love a ship, they rot - Bully Hayes.
As much as I love sailing I couldn’t do it.
Let’s face it, cabin fever!!
Spent 10 days on my 24’ sloop in the Fla Keys. Every other night in a marina to get ice, water when needed, dump toilet. Then alternate nights in the boonies.
Was fun but we were young. Not sure we could do it today.
Do the RV thing.
Travel to one place, stay awhile. Maybe work at a KOA campground a few months. Then move on.
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