Liveaborders that never leave the slip? I don't get it. Help!

[Sasha_V]

Actually, I care because it means there are up to five year waiting lists to get a berth at a marina of 500 boats, even though fully half of them are not actually used or sailed as boats.

I care because prices for places to park and store your boat have sky-rocketed into the ridiculous.

I care because the few clubs out there that are "all about sailing" are having their rates and taxes jacked up by local city councils who want to get rid of them and replace them with more profitable huge marina developments which will be full of yet more expensive stand-still yachts that never leave and clubs, and bars that more closely resemble casinos then club rooms where sailor's can gather after a race.

I care because when you are interviewing someone for crew and they used to say "My dad has always owned a boat" it meant that it was used as a boat and the guy's kids probably knew how to sail...Now it may well mean that the guy screams "what the f*ck is that?" when you first hoist a sail.

Sasha

[therapy23]

Originally Posted by arbarnhart

I bet some of them are boats that people thought were the deal of a lifetime and need serious cash injections before going much of anywhere.

My friend did this and ended up selling for a loss.
I feel for him.

[StoneAge]

We live aboard. We sail as much as we can possibly sail. We were gone from the dock for about 5 weeks this summer and we try to get out at least one weekend a month through the winter. It does get cool here in the Pacific NW Gulf Islands, but we try and get out anyway. AND our boat is under construction for our world trip.

I have lived on sailboats for the past ten years and my Grampian 26 (Yes, I lived on it for 2 years and sailed it extensively for the next 3) and it was the most used boat in the marina. I went sailing every day.

Today, I am married and have 2 children in high school. They wanted to try the public system so we decided to let them. Unfortunately, that gets in the way of sailing much more than the homeschooling ever did.

Even though we are still doing a re-fit.. I insist we sail as much as we possibly can so that we get used to the boat before we are ready to head offshore. It's a BIG boat. (32 tons) and yes, sh*t happens. It does get scary. It can make for excuses. We try not to use any.

On average it takes us 1 1/2 hours to get sailing after making the decision to go, If plans are made, we are 1/2 hour from getting the sails up. Then we are ready to up anchor in 15 minutes each day after.

So we have weekends, Christmas and New Years as well as March Break before heading around Vancouver Island next summer. Hopefully we will get out for 25% of the time available. Use our boat..

Then again, when I lived in Winnipeg, I BBQ'd in February (40 below) so I'm weird anyway ;-), I do my best to use what we have for it's intended purpose, not to just be able to say "I have one of those!"

That's our bent on it.

[Sasha_V]

And I want to be you when I grow up!

[CapnHand]

I want to be him and not grow up

[HoffaLives]

There might be another reason as well. My wife and I recently ran away from an older life - shooed out the kids, sold the house, moved away, new job, bought our beloved CS 36T to liveaboard right downtown. We started all over broke but with a fabulous lifestyle and some of the best sailing possible. The PNW and Gulf Islands are spectacular areas to sail in. Anyway, not three months after all this we are out sailing in a bit of a heavy chop, and a stiff, old mooring line (that I was going to replace) unflaked itself from the bow and slipped under the boat. I guess you know what happened next.
The long and the short of it is it will take about a month to repair prop shaft, redo shaft log, replace strut, etc, and so for about a week we have been living out of a VW bus. We are officially homeless, and know few people in town. Even with insurance we'll be lucky to get out of that yard for less than three grand. If we move into a motel or some such it'll cost around 1700 or so. A nice afternoon sail ends up costing near 5 thousand dollars that we don't have right now, plus we don't have a place to live. This has got me thinking a lot about the whole enterprise; I wanted a simpler life, and I wanted to sail; perhaps these are mutually exclusive. At any rate until we get some money in the bank, I'm gonna think twice before I leave the slip. I'm starting to think that it's better to do what my neighbor did: you have a boat for living and a boat for sailing.

[maxheadspace]

I know of a number of New Yorkers that have boats down in the Chesapeake Bay area that only use the boats as cheap, stationary vacation cabins with a waterfront view. Drive down on the weekends, a couple dozen margaritas, and then head back. I also know a gentleman in the area that does a liveaboard (power boat) as his home due to the relatively inexpensive cost. He NEVER takes the boat out, and probably wouldn't know how to captain it if he did. Boats can make good homes, they have great waterfront views, can have a wonderful, nautical social atmosphere about them, and cost less than a house on dirt. That in itself can be attractive to people who have no interest in sailing (although it's hard to imagine).

[bambam]

When I bought my C27 I was informed it had not sailed in over a decade now it is out on S.F Bay atleast once a week. Here is the sad part at my marina there are alot of drg addicts that live on their boats, with little or no law enforcement there is no one to stop them. unfoutunatly a sad but true theme to many times. Fair winds to all.