Living on a sailboat

[doglover444]

anyone ever camped out on the water ?

[tommays]

Started out on a J24 with FOUR people doing weekends in the eighty's and find that we need the Cal 29 to be comfortable with TWO people now

[capta]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "camped out" but what would you consider all the thousands of people living aboard to be doing? Of course many of us have boats that are pretty "homey" with many of the conveniences that make living aboard pleasant, such as water, cooking, beds and shelter from the weather.
I've known a few small cat sailors who have tent like structures over the deck as their living quarters and galley at anchor, with the bunks in the hulls, but that's a pretty hard way to go, even in the tropics, and you will most likely NOT get a woman to endure that life too long.

[jameswilson29]

If it is nice out, I will pull a cabin berth cushion out of the cabin and onto the cockpit seat in order to sleep out under the stars. Nothing quite like it, much more comfortable than a tent, and you can be rocked to sleep with a full view of the stars and moon.

When I was a kid, my dad rigged a boom tent with a light nylon tarp so we kids could sleep out in the cockpit, even though there was enough room for us belowdecks in the forepeak.

I still like to use some camping gear on my boat for the sake of convenience: sleeping bag, propane stoves, battery-powered laterns, collapsible water bags, plastic utensils, etc.

In addition to "The Dove" by Robin Lee Graham, I read "Tinkerbell" when I was a kid, about a Cleveland man who sailed a 13' daysailor across the Atlantic Ocean, after building his own cabin on it. Before he took the trip, his family did some boom tent camping on the boat on the Great Lakes. Just goes to show you do not have to have a large boat to have fun. Sometimes, simple is better.

[Tim R.]

Sure. My wife, dog and I have been "camping out" for over two years now. ;-)

[Tim R.]

Originally Posted by jameswilson29

...When I was a kid, my dad rigged a boom tent with a light nylon tarp so we kids could sleep out in the cockpit, even though there was enough room for us belowdecks...

Yeah James, he did that for your benefit!

[zeehag]

is living aboard a formosa 41 considered camping out??
why do folks consider living on a boat camping out??
i do everything i used to do in a house on my boat--and have since 1990. is that camping out?/
i hate camping out. i prefer luxury to a degree and i provide that for my self on my boats.
only thing i do not have is a fridge. that will be settled sometime in next 2-3 years, as i can afford it.
camping out--kinda brings to mind a macgregor 26 in zihuatenejo with a tent on beach.....

[jameswilson29]

Originally Posted by treilley

Yeah James, he did that for your benefit!

Come to think of it, he did lock us out with the companionway boards in place...

[Minnewaska]

I can live on my boat, I can't sail my house.

On the boat, we have everything we have at home except cable.

[kellysails]

When we do bareboat charters in the Caribbean we consider that "camping out". But on our own boat having some mod-cons to make it more homey is ever so nice.