Mokusiga-
Buh-bye... I'd point out that back in post #2, I asked Tiaraswake a series of simple questions, most of which were never answered. I'll quote the post here.
Exactly what are you looking for? A free boat??? Help fixing the boat you have?? Just curious, what kind of boat are you, your husband and the toddlers living aboard currently? How did it get into such bad shape-certainly that did not happen overnight? Why did you not address the issue prior to it becoming such an issue, especially given that this boat is also your home??
She never said what she was looking for.
She never asked for help fixing her current boat, which is a far more reasonable request than asking for a free boat.
She never posted photos of the boat in question or the transom or did anything that might help solve her problem.
She never said what kind of boat she, her husband and two toddlers were living on.
She never really addressed how this boat came to be in such bad shape that it is at risk of sinking shortly.
Here are all of her replies:
Let me first say that I am not trying to save a "lifestyle". My family hit hard financial times. Our cars were repossessed, our home foreclosed, etc. We moved so that my husband could start at another job. We cannot afford rent in this area so the cheapest thing is to live aboard. We survive much cheaper than any apartment would ever allow. Living on land would be four or five times more expensive here, at least. Secondly, we bought this boat with the only bit of money we had, because we couldn't afford an apartment. We knew nothing about boats and were told that the boat was in good shape by the previous owner. We believed him, in part because we were living in a tent and we needed a roof over our heads. That is why this issue with the transom exists. We didn't know the boat was going bad, but we needed somewhere to live.
We certainly aren't living an exotic lifestyle, and cannot live any more frugally than we already do, so that is not an option. We do not eat out or go out or anything. We get groceries each week and that is it. Please do not assume that I am just someone who doesn't want to give up some glamorous lifestyle. We live in a space as big as some people's bathrooms. We have lost everything and are only trying to get by.
Nice sob story, but doesn't answer any of the questions, nor give any information regarding the boat.
We have done plenty of work on this boat ourselves already.We are eager to learn and have had good times fixing things together. We have put some money into the boat and are good about keeping up with what it needs, however, the leaking transom means that in turn, our core is probably wet and would require either the inside or the outside of the boat to be ripped apart for a whole overhaul. Another boat does not mean that it would end up being junk in the long run because we do take care of things. It just so happens that this problem is far too expensive. I realize that people are trying to give good advice as far as moving to land, but these same people don't realize how cheap it is to live on the water. Even with insurance and slip fees, we don't pay much at all/ Rent in this area runs between 1600 and $2000 a month. Slip and insurance and electric costs us only 500 a month. So you can see that an apartment would not be within our reach. Now, before anyone tells me that we should live somewhere cheaper, let me say that there are not a lot of companies in my husband's line of work, so we go where the job is.
Fixing a leaking transom isn't necessarily an expensive repair. I've done it on a couple of boats. Yes, it would require the boat's aft end being taken apart a while..but saying that it is just too expensive to do without saying what boat it is or what else is wrong with it is just more sob story. Note, she doesn't say what her husband's line of work is, just that there aren't many companies that do it... and that they have to "go where the job is". Again, nice sob story, but AFAICT, there hasn't be any real investigation on what the actual problem with the transom is... just her say so, without any elaboration on how she came to the conclusions that it is "too expensive". Also, she says that the core is probably wet-if she had investigated the problem, she should know that it either is wet or it isn't. If it isn't, it may not be that big a problem.
A lot of the work we do for the boat doesn't cost us anything anyways, because my husband does a lot of things himself, as far as zincs go, and other things under the water. Even with maintenance, it is really cheap, and that was what we needed. Owning a house only gaurantees that someday the roof will need replaced, the water heater will go, etc. We have already been there and done those things. Believe me when i say that this is cheaper, unless of course you have a 60 footer, two deckhands and a boat yard to pay every time you need to pull it.
Again, lots of sob story here....but NO SUBSTANTIAL FACTS OF ANY SORT.
This whole thing is pretty ridiculous. I never expected anything to really come from the post, but it made me feel better temporarily. I am not going to try to convince people that boat living is cheaper. People are set in their own ways and will believe what they want, but the truth is, Tager knows what i am talking about, and so do the many people that live in this marina. Many of them were forced here because they hit hard times. It doesn't have to be expensive. Sure, it can be, but it doesn't have to be. I would spend more on an engine for a piece of crap RV that I know nothing about either, and i would have nowhere to park it or to get electric hook-ups. We have been living aboard for a year now, and we have learned a lot. The beautiful thing is that people in this atmosphere are friendlier than any in any neighborhood i have ever lived. They treat each other like family. When one person needs something, chances are that you can find someone who will offer to help you out or even barter services. It just so happens that we got a bad boat, so that fix would be expensive, but there is no way we would ever be able to spend nearly two grand a month on an apartment. Our fixes have only ever cost us a couple bucks at a time. Ok, so I am still trying to say that the boat is cheaper, but that wasn't my intention this time. People don't really know how bad things get until it actually happens. When you are sitting beneath the trees in a fabric enclosure with lightning and rain pouring down and your kids looking terrified, you have to change your thinking a bit. When you are in an expensive place, with your family in other states and very few companies to search for work, you have to find a means to survive. That is what we did. We coudn't think too much about years down the road and whether or not our old boat would still be floating or even whether it would be big enough to sleep our kids. We needed to get out of the rain and the boat was our only option. I wish that no one would ever go through what we did, but that is really the only way for people to understand. In the same aspect, no one knows about living aboard until they do it. The people that live here certainly aren't rich. I guess that's all. I'm sure i'll remember something else i wanted to say and have to post again.
AGAIN, mostly sob story, no real facts. Note, that her "friendly people who treat each other like family" obviously aren't taking care of TW or her family all that well.
Oh, yeah, and another boat wouldn't end up in the same situation as this. I never said that we couldn't afford to do any maintenance, because we have. Regular maintenance, which we can afford due to cheap living and helpful neighbors, has been done; inexpensively i might add. The problem lies in that we cannot afford a major overhaul to replace the transom and probably the core. Regular maintenance would have avoided this issue if the previous owners would have done their part, therefore backing up the whole "cheaper" issue. They did not though, and the boat was neglected. So, another boat does not mean that it would fall apart because we are neglectful. We live here. We would not let it go, just as we did not let this one go. Our problem exists only because someone wanted to make a buck and leave out the details.
Basically, all this post is saying is "We want a free boat, and all the problems with our current boat are because of the previous owner..." Yeah, right... if they had not let the boat "go", why is the transom leaking and so expensive to fix.... Note, again there are NO DETAILS of any sort.
While Dave's offer back in post #10 was quite generous, AFAICT, TW never replied to it. I'd point out that none of TW's posts contain anything like facts about what kind of boat they live on, or photos of the transom, leading me to believe that the boat does not in fact exist.
I've seen way too many people try to take advantage of the goodness of others to not be cynical-I'd be far less cynical if there were more facts and less sob story to TW's posts. But, TW didn't see fit to reply with any substantial facts about her boat, her problem or assist in any way to repair it...aside from asking for a free boat.