live-aboard a 21ft''er

[bullseye]

whats the smallest yacht youve lived-aboard?

im considering living aboard my 21ft tralier sailer,it will be anchored in a harbour,just for a month or two,while im between houses & finish studying.

am i silly,will i go stir-crazy?

thanks for any advice

[Jeff_H]

For a short while, I lived aboard a 25 foot Folkboat with no interior when I was in my twenties. It wasn''t comfortable but it wasn''t too bad. I was in Miami where I could wear jeans and teeshirts most of the time. i kept a lot of stuff in my car and used public showers ashore. It worked.

Jeff

[MaryBeth]

Go for it. You will have a lot of relaxing, undisturbed time for studying. I am TV addict myself, yet the time I have spent at anchor or at sea I have barely missed it. You will have your studies, and they will benefit from the time spent on anchor. What better time than in the summer when everything is reruns anyway. If you miss the chatter that much, get an SSB receiver - loads of lovely chat from all over the world. Want to cure yourself from talk/game shows? Listen to a few British ones on the SSB. <G> If not an SSB, leave your VHF on and listen to the world close by. Of course, there''s always the stereo. Take the time to really listen to what you have been wanting to hear, be it the water sounds or the late night University channel. After a hard day of work on the boat, I found some music relaxing, then shut it off to the music of the night.

If you have the boat, put your stuff in storage, learn how to live at a minimum level. It will, I think, help you later in life. I wish I had had that experience as you do now. When you learn first hand what you can live without, you grow to appreciate the things you are living with so much more.

So jealous,
MaryBeth

[sv_rocklobstah]

After having lived aboard my 29'' Seafarer for the past six months I can relate to alot of the advice given and actually said "hmmmm...not a bad idea" to other postings on the board.

Upon my moving aboard my newly purchased pride and joy, docked on the Potomac, I found my boat in a varied state of neglect and well, for lack of words in need of some TLC. I purchased it from an "ol nautical buddy of mine" sight unseen over the phone due to a cross country sea-bag drag and I''m glad I did. The boats name at the time was "Wisper of Hope" and I actually chuckled to myself at the irony of the situation and the name of the boat.

The price was right and having run a few deck gangs in the US Navy (you only have to get hit upside the head a few times with a monkeys fist by the ship''s boatswain mate to get a clue) I set my sights on priorities. These are just a couple things of that worked for me and I just wanted to share them.

1) Shore Power. In the northern latitudes during colder months the obvious task at hand is heat. I bought on of those adjustable temp. space heaters from West Marine that drew a few amps and worked okay but at times I think it could have used, at least in my opinion a nuclear reactor to get the space heated up at night. I wasn''t confident in the onboard wiring at the time so I re-ran all of it. That way if I woke up and had to run down the dock as a screaming fireball I only had myself to blame. If you are not sure how to do it, have an electrician do it for you.

2) Potable water. I didn''t have any holding tanks at the time for either Potable or CHT so a quick fix was jugs of spring water and a about a week later a bought a couple Brita filter rigs and that gets the chlorine smell and any other bio-type hazards from making it into your morning coffee from the dock hose. (On that note a 10 cup coffee maker can cook Ramen noodles for a quick snack by just putting them in the carafe and fill up the maker just like making a regular cup of coffee (sans the filter and grounds).

3) Those velcro tie downs for hoses and cables I have found to be invaluable for many uses and they are rather cheap too.

4) I bought one of those one burner Kenyon butane stoves that uses a canister that will last about 3 hours of cooking time. The stove was about $60.00 and each canister is about $5.00 each. Hey, it works and until I have further adventures with a Dewalt "Saws-all" on the Galley it''ll do the job for now.

5) Heads. I didn''t have an installed system at the time, so a porta-type was purchased and used. When they say "empty every other day or so and flush out" they aren''t kidding. Ladies of the non-seafaring type do not like them and it can save a bit of embarrasment in the "How yew dewin" department. Enough on that topic.

I just wanted to share a few things and I really look forward hearing from folks with ideas. Should anyone drop hook in the Washington D.C. area drop me an E-mail and we''ll lift a pint or two.

Take it easy.

Dave
Aboard the Rock Lobstah

[jmedina2]

Hey Dave,
This is off the subject, but just bought a 1974 29'' Seafarer myself and was wondering what you think are the highs & lows on these. I have only sailed her a couple of times on the river in relatively light air so I haven''t really put her to "the test", yet. Mine just came from an extended voyage to the Bahamas and the previous owner had nothing but good things to say. By the way, If you didn''t know, Seafarer owners have a neat web site...seafareryachts.home.att.net.

Regards,

Jamie
Aboard S/v Morning Star

If you''re ever in the St Augustine, FL area give a shout to tip back a couple.

[WHOOSH]

I guess this is one more vote in favor of trying life afloat despite the small length of your boat. Our family (dad, mom and 4-yr old son) lived on a 20'' Flicka for almost a year, most of it cruising but a few months at a dock while house- and job-hunting in a new city (Annapolis, MD). We found ways - pretty easily, I might add - to make it work, including privacy zones, "quiet time" that gave eveyrone a break from each other, a shelf for each person where anything could be stashed in any fashion without complaint or criticism by the rest of the crew, etc.

It''s not unlike what you hear folks say about sailing long distances in small boats: It''s not so much about the boat, it''s about YOU. Good luck - I hope you give it a try.

Jack

[toucantook]

I lived on a Sanibel 17 for 5 years while I was building my Liberty 28, which I have subsiquently lived on for the last 24 years. I have considered downsizing, but since I already have the 28, which is a great boat...
If I were to lose the 28, I would probably build another around 20 or 22 feet. If you can live out of a backpack, you can live on just about any size boat, I think. The major factor is how minimalistic you are. The less you feel you need, the smaller the boat you can put up with. Know thyself.

[sv_rocklobstah]

Jamie,

Likewise here. I haven''t really taken her out for a good shakedown yet. The deisel is out of commission for now and I''m having problems with getting a new registration from the District of Columbia. By any chance do you know if there are any other manufacturer names that may have been used other than Seafarer Fiberglass Boats? Reason I ask is that for registration purposes they go by the "blue book" value as opposed to sale price. They couldn''t find Seafarer in any book they had and I''m not a big fan of having someone make a "judgement call" for an assessment. This could get way out of hand $$$$-wise. Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Dave
Aboard the Rock Lobstah

[sailor12345]

There is no life onboard a 21-footer.

You still can enjoy sailing, thou

[jmedina2]

Dave,
It is odd they can''t look up Seafarer in their blue book, especially for a manufacturer that was around for so long. As far as I know, they''ve always been "Seafarer Fiberglass Yachts". Try the web site I mentioned earlier or join the Seafarer e-mail list here at Sailnet. Hopefully someone out there has a better answer.

Good luck!
Jamie