Liveaboard Family Looking for a Miracle

[TiarasWake]

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.

[Mimsy]

I understand completely staying where the job is. I understand completely that rent is expensive. What I don't understand is how you can in one breath say you know next to nothing about marine maintenance but are "eager to learn" and yet try to state that it is less expensive to live on a boat with the associated costs than it would be to live in an RV. or trailer. It is only less expensive to live on a boat than it is to live on an RV if you do not do regular maintenence.

An RV or trailer would absolutely, 100% be less expensive. Even if you do the work yourself, the parts that are of suitable material for a marine environment are much, much more expensive than those you can use on land.

Look, I'm really not trying to beat you up and I hope that something wonderful comes your way. I'm coming at this from a place of concern. If it happens that you are gifted a boat, I'm happy for you and your family. I'm just afraid that you do not have a realistic view to the hidden costs of boat ownership. My fear is that you will be given a boat and it will eventually be a curse, not a gift.

[tager]

Originally Posted by chall03

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....

Saying "Respectfully" before a disrespectful proclamation is kind of stupid. In that it weakens your argumentative rhetoric, while making it no more respectful.

In short, you sound like an idiot. And you are.

These numbers come from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE....

Oh, and guess how much it cost to replace my standing rigging?

$40

Yes

Forty Dollars.


So, in conclusion, it is not expensive to live on a boat. It's only expensive if you make it expensive by buying frivolous crap.

[tager]

Originally Posted by SEMIJim

In many parts of the country you can get a house for next to free, these days.

True... but irrelevant. Neither I nor the OP live in a place where these are. If you want to live in a depressed rural area, then by all means, get a free house.

However, I live in Seattle, and the OP presumably lives in a rather urban area as well.

A free house is great if you do not have obligations outside of the area surrounding it. I would love the lifestyle, personally, but it does not work when you have a JOB!

[chall03]

Originally Posted by tager

Saying "Respectfully" before a disrespectful proclamation is kind of stupid. In that it weakens your argumentative rhetoric, while making it no more respectful.

In short, you sound like an idiot. And you are.

These numbers come from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE....

Oh, and guess how much it cost to replace my standing rigging?

$40

Yes

Forty Dollars.


So, in conclusion, it is not expensive to live on a boat. It's only expensive if you make it expensive by buying frivolous crap.

Respectfully, I don't think It was a disrespectful proclamation, I was simply saying that I think your probably wrong......respectfully.

I still do.

Glad to see you choose to take it personally though and felt you should start calling someone you never met an idiot on the internet.

Your mama would tell you that is being disrespectful

[Winderlust]

tager,

You sound like MacGyver. I hope you're not saying we could all get our standing rigging replaced for something like $40 and the fact that you did it once, you don't mean to say: you'll be able to duplicate the bargain the next time you need it replaced. Which maybe sooner than normal.

Anyway the OP is pretty vague. Obviously a gift of a boat or free use of a boat would be cheaper than anything, initially. And hey, if you can do it once you might be able to do it again.

However, using the all things being equal approach to logic tells me a low end rental would be cheaper than a sinking boat. It May not be cheaper than a gifted boat, but then that would not be all things equal, would it?

Let's see: if the stove goes out, its the same. If the refer goes out, the same, the toilet same, Paying the utilities, same. Replacing the $40 rig, the $50 diesel, the thruhulls, the nav. lights, the any other boat part or system, Not the same! An apartment doesn't have them. As for the roof, that's the landlord's.

You can take any logical shortcut you want to justify the economics of a live-aboard, but it's just self delusion. Why encourage it?

[delan]

Ok I know I'm off topic, but where I come from, the word respectfully is usually followed by "I beg to differ" or " I have to disagree"
Saying "respectfully, you're full of crap" is redundant, you're obviously showing no respect.
You may as well say "shut up, you f****ng moron"
Just let it out, if that's what you're thinking.
Respectfully, JD.

P.S. I know I'm kind of cynical, but this thread kind of reminds me of the guy who wanted a free boat to get back to Jersey or somewhere to see his family. Dude needed to stop posting to websites and go home.

[wind_magic]

Originally Posted by Winderlust

tager,

You sound like MacGyver. I hope you're not saying we could all get our standing rigging replaced for something like $40 and the fact that you did it once, you don't mean to say: you'll be able to duplicate the bargain the next time you need it replaced. Which maybe sooner than normal.

You not only called Tager delusional, you managed to slip in a bust on his rigging job!

Anyway the OP is pretty vague. Obviously a gift of a boat or free use of a boat would be cheaper than anything, initially. And hey, if you can do it once you might be able to do it again.

However, using the all things being equal approach to logic tells me a low end rental would be cheaper than a sinking boat. It May not be cheaper than a gifted boat, but then that would not be all things equal, would it?

Let's see: if the stove goes out, its the same. If the refer goes out, the same, the toilet same, Paying the utilities, same. Replacing the $40 rig, the $50 diesel, the thruhulls, the nav. lights, the any other boat part or system, Not the same! An apartment doesn't have them. As for the roof, that's the landlord's.

You can take any logical shortcut you want to justify the economics of a live-aboard, but it's just self delusion. Why encourage it?

Your all things equal argument is fine, but you are using faulty assumptions as a premise. Ceteris Paribus, with all things equal everyone has the ability to get online and ask for help when they need it, with all things being equal anyone can learn to do rigging themselves and borrow tools from each other to get the job done, all things being equal learning to do things yourself can be an effective survival strategy, we don't always have to pay people to do things for us just because there are people there to pay, etc. If everything in the world were market driven no woman could ever get her mom to watch the kids on a Saturday night ...

Joshua Slocum didn't need no damn help fixing his rigging ...

[Winderlust]

magic,

You missed my point. Even an extreme example of a $40 re-rig is more than $0 for an apartment that has no rig, etc, etc. Maybe this is also a faulty assumption, but I don't think we're talking about someone like Josh Slocum here. Do you?

Everything else in you post is right on.

[wind_magic]

Originally Posted by Winderlust

magic,

You missed my point. Even an extreme example of a $40 re-rig is more than $0 for an apartment that has no rig, etc, etc. Maybe this is also a faulty assumption, but I don't think we're talking about someone like Josh Slocum here. Do you?

Everything else in you post is right on.

You know, I did actually miss that part, I didn't see that your argument was the economics of land vs. water, I thought your argument was consumerism vs. minimalism.

I won't take the land vs. water argument because it is less expensive to live on land, all things being equal.