People who say that living aboard is more expensive than living on land need to take a look at the numbers.
Seattle Area: Cheapest room in a co-op house: $399 + utilities
Liveaboard Moorage: $350 incl utilities
So... as much as you think that you are giving good advice about the moving onto land part, you may not be!
Tager, If only it was as easy as just paying moorage buddy......
Respectfully, I think your talking crap. The point the 'people' above are making are that boats are maintenance intensive.......this means a continued outlay of money.
You don't just get to 'live' on a boat....
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'Life is either a daring adventure or nothing' - Helen Keller.
I think living on a boat can be inexpensive, but it means doing a lot of work yourself, which very few people actually do - people say they want to do things themselves, even read up on how to do it themselves, even waste money buying tools to do it themselves, but then when the day comes most people will find some lame excuse not to do it and pay the $$$$$$$.
You CAN find a sand bar and wait for the tide to go out, careen your boat over and get your ass out there and work on the bottom without ever handing anybody a single zinc penny to do anything for you, but its a rare and salty sailor who will actually do that. In the end, most will pay the $$$$$$$ and have the boat put on the hard for them, or even pay someone else to do the work for them - you pay for every one of those little conveniences, and in boat world you often pay BIG.
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What are you pretending not to know ?
Liveaboard dock space is far more expensive than that where I'm living... The minimum is about $100 per foot for a six month season... and a 30' boat would cost $500 per month plus utilities and insurance. In most marinas, at least around here, you can't keep a boat there unless you have at least $100,000 in insurance. Then there's the liveaboard fee... which varies. Then you have to figure out what to do for the winter—as few marinas allow winter liveaboards, if they're even open in the winter.
No, living on a boat is not the inexpensive way out, unless you're living on a mooring or at anchor. With four people, two who are children, that is probably not a great solution.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tager
People who say that living aboard is more expensive than living on land need to take a look at the numbers.
Seattle Area: Cheapest room in a co-op house: $399 + utilities
Liveaboard Moorage: $350 incl utilities
So... as much as you think that you are giving good advice about the moving onto land part, you may not be!
I really hope you get the new/free boat! I was raised in a trailer, and I turned out okay!
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Sailingdog Telstar 28
New England
You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)
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$45. to $ 69/ foot in season where I am. If you moor in state waters, there is no fee, and you row or motor a ding.
Regardless, seems that discussion is another thread. Over the years, I know many people who have been gifted boats. However you've reached your decision, I wish you and your family well.
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Imogene Z ODay Daysailer II
Hobie 16
Shopping for coastal cruiser 28 to 32' The cure for everything is salt water~sweat,tears or the sea. Isak Dinesen
I wasn't trying to say you were living an extravagant lifestyle, but the cost of maintaining a boat and the insurance required by marinas is what kills most budgets. If you are sailing anywhere near other people, you need to have liability at the minimum to protect yourself. That's not a luxury in the US, that's a necessity. People here are ridiculoulsy litigious. I would think an RV or trailer could be had for far less maintainence costs.
If you end up getting a gift boat, God bless and take care. I just hope that you don't find yourself in a similar situation due to a lack of maintainence in a couple years time. I want to see you and your family move ahead, not tread water. It can be done, it just sucks big time when you are in the midst of it.
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.
