I own a Hartley Tasman 27' bilge keeler anchored on the Brisbane River, a Hartley Queenslander 33'er on a swing mooring in Sydney and a decrepit house on 1/3 acre in Wairoa NZ. I alternate between the three of them, restoring a bit more at each visit. Neither of the yachts has an engine and all three run 100% off solar power.
The yachts can't be sailed as yet but the plan is to eventually take one of them - probably the Tasman - around Australia, then head out for a longer trip once I have more experience. So far my only real sailing was a trip in Dec 2013 from Newcastle to Christchurch via Lord Howe Island and Nelson in a friend's 42' steel yacht. It was an awesome experience.
I'm 62, single and retired.
I bought the Queenslander first, just over three years ago, as a substitute for paying rent in a shared house. I was caught in the trap of paying inflated rent for very little comfort and it seemed like a better idea to live on a yacht. Being a handy guy I've done a lot of work to that one, including a complete rewiring job, adding VHF and SSB radios, antennas, AIS (via Bluetooth), OpenCPN on a laptop for navigation, windex, macerator head, replacing all lighting with LEDs, painting, etc etc. It's fairly liveable although the cabin is in need of a lot of timber work due to earlier neglect and leaks a bit. Major issue is replacement of the engine; I have a new 40hp engine but no way of installing it while at anchor, and the companionway is too small to remove the old one. So, this yacht will have to be slipped and the cabin and engine replaced at one time, which is costly. Long term project.
The Tasman came along a year later, and costs me almost nothing since the mooring is free. It will happily run with a 6hp outboard and I'm looking for one right now. Sails are a mess so I'll be repairing those soon. She also has a small hull leak that needs a haulout, I'll do that when I paint her. Surprisingly this one is far more comfortable, having had a new glass-over-ply cabin fitted a few years ago. Ebay special, price was peanuts compared to the value I've had there.
I love living aboard and plan to keep doing it until I can't manage it any more. The house is my final retirement plan.
Biggest issues right now are a storage room full of "stuff" that I keep paying for, and the cost of keeping a VW Transporter van registered even though I rarely use it. But for trips to the shops and for hauling supplies it's necessary.
Here's a photo of the Tasman: