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Just beginning to shop around... would love feedback/ideas...

43K views 128 replies 51 participants last post by  Pendrith 
#1 ·
K, I'm gonna put this out here, though I still have a ton to research...

I've been wanting to live on a boat for years. At this point however, I haven't decided what size/model would make sense. I do realize that decision is largely dependent upon lifestyle, etc.

I'm aiming for a fix-me-upper bc I like to fix things. At the same time, I don't want something that needs serious overhauling just to live on. My goal is to be settled aboard in time to take sailing lessons by next summer. I would fall into the very very novice sailor category, btw. As all I've done is to crew during sail boat races here in the SF Bay area. And that was actually some time ago. So, yeah, I'd need sailing lessons.

But anyway...

I've had 35 footer in the back of my mind but that's likely bc the boat I crewed on was a 35 Santana. Very nice, very roomy (to me). At the same time, after reading this forum, I'm noticing a lot of people seem to be going for 27 to 30 footers. So, I'm beginning to think that might be a better size. For a number of reasons, the least of which, it would cost less to buy/upkeep, and would be easier to for a single, small, female, to sail.

Um, will add more as I think of it. And thanks in advance for ideas, advice, etcetera!
 
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#61 ·
I am psyched for you and can't wait to do this myself. My wife and I are moving back to Florida and looking for a boat to sail and eventually sail away on. We are novices so we have a few years to learn before any potential live aboard situation, plus we have a 1 yr old so until he is a bit older we will take more lessons and improve our safety while having fun. At any rate, I read all these threads and loved the update. Good luck to you and please update on your trials both for our curiosity on your success and b/c others following in your steps will read and learn! Good luck!
DW
 
#62 ·
Thanks!

I take her out for her first sail on Wednesday. Since I don't actually know how to sail, I checked out Lattitude38 for someone wanting to crew with lots of sailing experience. We'll see how it goes. Wednesday will be mostly a rig check and introduction, so to speak. But am glad I'm getting the chance to start sailing her. :)

Also, at this point, again, since I'm a novice, I plan to stick to the estuary, where winds are fairly light. It's a large enough area for me to get to know my way around the boat without having to worry about currents, or high winds, for that matter. SF bay is notorious for both.

And finally, I've already taken time getting to know how my running rigging is set up. She's set up with the main halyard (of course), two jib halyards, and a genoa halyard. And everything is running aft for single handing.

As for doing this with a little one? Awesome. Hopefully you've checked out the cruising and sailing with children forum. We have a couple of families at our marina. They're just passing through. The kids are older (teens) and being home schooled. Imo, getting kids acquainted with sailing early is a pretty neat idea. :)
 
#63 ·
.....And finally, I've already taken time getting to know how my running rigging is set up. She's set up with the main halyard (of course), two jib halyards, and a genoa halyard. And everything is running aft for single handing.

...... Imo, getting kids acquainted with sailing early is a pretty neat idea. :)
Unlikely that a Catalina 27 has 3 jib/genoa halyards (which would all exit below the forestay tang) More likely you've got a spinnaker halyard (with the block outside/above the forestay) as the 3rd one.

Kids and sailing? Naturally!.. I think the key is getting them involved in the handling of the boat asap.. and avoid the electronic gizmos if you can. Our son first 'sailed' at 18 days of age, his daughter at 1 week.. Nearing 30 our son is an active sailor and boat owner himself - very gratifying indeed.
 
#65 ·
Okay, some observations from my experience, so far. Ymmv.

I "legally" moved aboard on New Years eve. At the time, I was sick as a dog and it was raining... cats and dogs outside.

My boat does not have a head. So, that meant trekking up to the facilities, sometimes, in the middle of the night. In addition to the rain, it was cold (though not as cold as it can get on the northeast coast... I live in the bay area, so my cold is likely shirt sleeve weather to truly cold-hardened types.). Think camping only now, having to navigate sometimes slippery docks. Yeah, we do get frost on the docks during winter, though, they rarely ice over.

My boat does not have a stove either. I use a jetboil for cooking stuff that cannot be grilled. I do have a large rail grill. Which is great when it's not raining and blowing like a son-of-a gun.

Amazingly, I do have a fridge with a real freezer. Though, I'm swapping that out. Mainly bc the thing takes up too much room. That, and I live right across the street from the grocery store, so I don't need to stock up on a ton of food at once. This will also keep electricity costs down.

Requirements, of course, will differ, should I decide to, say cruise down the coast. At this point, however, I do not consider my boat to be cruise worthy. Bay cruising, yes. Blue water cruising. No. It only has a little outboard motor, after all.

But back to the cold bit. My boat is small, so it was fairly easy to keep warm and dry. Though, to keep electricity costs down, I made a few adjustments. Like only running the heater at night in the evenings and when I was up. Also, layers. Layers of clothing that is. Several, in some cases. And, if I felt really chilled, I'd sit out on deck for a bit, then coming inside felt cozy.

And then, there's the rain. Rainy season is a good way to find out if the boat has leaks. I did find a couple of leaks. One took me forever to finally figure out where it was coming from. As it turned out, some deck hardware had been removed but the holes made by the screws had never been resealed. Obvious, once I found it.

I also set up a "boom tent" to go over the back deck so I could sit outside when it wasn't too cold. I also ran into a guy who was tossing a window that was only two weeks old. He was redoing all his canvas. Since his boat was way bigger than mine, the window fit nicely across my bimini arcs, thereby making an "almost" enclosed porch. Being able to sit out on the back deck in a torrential downpour really helped to keep the cabin fever at bay. Moreover, it was way kewl. At least to me.

Getting out of the boat with a boom tarp that drapes down past the lifelines, however, can be a challenge. To address this, I installed a a 6 foot zipper (which I originally hand sewed, and have since replaced with a tarp zipper that's designed to take the stress without unravelling the tarp material) and tied a string to the zipper pull to make it easier to open/close. Oh, and I rigged a mini-tent (ala a paint drop cloth with plastic backing) over my hatch, so I could open that if it wasn't too cold. Primarily to keep the air flowing.

Okay, so rainy season seems to be pretty much over. Now we get really hot days. I still use the mini-tent over the hatch bc it keeps the afternoon sun from heating up the vberth, and basically acts as a makeshift air scoop. For the back deck, I use a canvas tarp that extends from my dodger to the bimini arches to keep out the morning sun. And, I've got a bamboo window shade draped across the companion way to let the air in while also keeping the sun out. This setup, so far, has resulted in an almost chilly cabin climate. Though, I suspect that will change when we start creeping into the 90s. Nonetheless, this setup is extremely easy to take down and stow away for sailing.

Then there's the marina I'm at. It is very much like a resort. Extremely nice, well kept facilities. Oh yeah. And free ice. The slips are also wired for cable. I have very high speed internet, and could have TV if I actually watched TV. And of course, there's dock power and water. The setting is quite nice as well. We've got a large waterfront park with exercise equipment and jogging path, as well as a mall across the street that includes groceries, mailboxes, and eateries. And, there's a bus stop right out front. There's also lots of wildlife. Additionally, the marina is fairly well protected from both weather and tide elements. The trade off is that it takes about 20 minutes to motor out to the main bay area. This, of course is fine by me.

And finally, there's the people. It's a mix of young and old. And while this is a live aboard friendly marina, it's not a water-logged trailer park, so to speak. That is, on nice days, just about everyone is out sailing or power boating. It's very active. Importantly, it's full of lots of really nice folk.

Okay, so, it's now May, and I'm still waiting for the honeymoon to end. Bc frankly, I love living aboard. Though, no doubt, some would be horrified at some of what I've described above. Unsurprisingly, living aboard, like any other lifestyle, is not for everyone.

What I think helps, for me, is that I've always been very adaptable. I've lived in a high rise penthouse with amenities up the wazoo and the most amazing views. I've been a basement dweller as well. I even lived in a tent trailer, which had way less room than my boat, while traveling around the states. The only thing I haven't done, is live on the street...or in a war zone, for that matter. That is, as an adult. Though, I suspect if either ever turned out to be my lot in life, I'd make due.

Guess what I'm saying is, imho, adaptability is key. Esp if you're purposefully trying to live on a shoe string budget. Which I do.

Btw, speaking of budget. I budget everything. I also prioritize. And, I buy used as much as possible. Luckily I have a chandlery nearby. Which is a tad like a candy store to me, so I even budget how often I visit and try to only go there if I "think" I need something. Also, I generally cook at home and my entertainment, outside of family, friends, sailing and putzing around on my boat projects, is a good book or a movie.

Most of my boating friends have predicted that I will end up trading up. I may. We'll see. Regardless, some might say I live a minimalist life. Though, I would say, I live a simple life. One that makes me happy. Importantly, a life that makes me content.

Anyway, that's my experience, so far. Ymmv.

Btw, side note, I've run into a surprisingly large number of young people (as in college age, young) who are going the live aboard route. Some, even living on the hook. It's kinda kewl, actually. :)
 
#67 ·
This sounds great. My wife and I have been travelling for over a month with our pets and a 1 year old and realized how many things we don't "need". Bet it's the same for you.
Totally. When I first moved aboard, I brought way too much crap with me. Within a week, I was off loading it. And just yesterday, I ditched my fridge and picked up an igloo ice chest from west marine. Boy, talking about a difference that made! I still have too much crap, imo. But at least what's left is fairly small and easy to store.

I thought your boat had a head? That's an item I want when we begin shopping next month!
Nope. No head. And from various reports ( link ) and the fact that the head would be only a couple of feet from where I sleep? Moreover, the immaculately kept facilities are close. That, and even if I had a head, I wouldn't use it anyway... as noted in the link above (concern about the smell).
 
#69 ·
Another semi-mini update. Can't believe it's already August! Still loving living aboard.

Picked up an MSD porta potti. Also picked up a single burner origo stove. I tossed the dorm fridge for an ice chest. Took up less room, electricity, etc. Then a neighbor comes by one day, banging on my cabin, asking if I wanted a fridge. Turned out to be a haier thermoelectric cooler. Thing smelled to high heaven. So I spent some time giving it a good scrub over, took it apart. Literally. Still smelled. Considered tossing it but decided to check the google machine, first. Thanks to ground coffee, the smell is gone and I can actually use it.

I did finally break down and buy a van, even installed an insulated floor in the thing. Was thinking about turning it into a hippie van... you know, eye sore shag rug, bean bag chairs, lava lamp... J/K! Actually, I plan to use it as a make-shift camper during haul outs.

Let's see, what else? I've turned into somewhat of a dock rat... sorta like bljones post describes. I do a lot of scrounging and bartering. Mainly trying to save in the event I do trade up. Boat size-wise, that is. So far, have managed to score stainless steel bimini arcs (which I mounted with Genoa track cars from Catalina Direct), dock steps w/storage (which I didn't really need, but now that I have them...), new dock lines, marine power cord, marine pigtail, a boat bell, dry-dek, and a few tools.

As for the important stuff? You know, the sailing stuff? Have been going down a check list to ensure the boat meets USCG regulations. Also met some folks who own a sailing school. So, have had the opportunity to take sailing and docking lessons. Still have a long way to go.

As for the day to day minutia... I do a lot of BBQ'ing. Becoming quite creative in that department. Am learning about the different birds who frequent the area, who, TG, are not crapping all over my boat. Have been enjoying my aquatic neighbors, as well. Schools of fish shimmer on the water's surface at dawn and dusk. Of late, have been hearing a lot of mysterious splashing around the hull. Couldn't figure out for the life of me what it was. Every time I'd look, nothing. Finally decided it must be a diving Cormorant. Well, I was totally wrong! As it turns out, it's a freaking huge manta ray! Of all things. Think I'll call him George since he seems to have taken up residence under my boat! lol

But anyway... all things considered? Yeah, life is good. Wouldn't trade it for the world.
 
#70 ·
Another semi-mini update. Can't believe it's already August! Still loving living aboard.
Great! I like when people make the leap and tell how they did/are doing. Sounds like you are settling in really well.

As it turns out, it's a freaking huge manta ray! Of all things. Think I'll call him George since he seems to have taken up residence under my boat! lol

But anyway... all things considered? Yeah, life is good. Wouldn't trade it for the world.
Melissa in Miami (melrna) has a manatee that hangs out around her boat. I think she named her.

I've had nothing more exciting that turtles and jellyfish. Oh well.

Good to hear from you.
 
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#72 ·
Hi all. :)

It's been awhile since I've posted an update. Just passed my 1 year anniversary aboard, and still loving it!

Although I'm trying to keep my living space sparse, I broke down and picked up a little wire shelf unit to house my computer/monitor etc. I dropped the dinette table and picked up a twin foam mattress from ikea. I'm using the dinette cushions as a couch back, so to speak. Remember the old daybeds from the 60s? The setup is something like that.

As for outside and winter? Or, in our case, rainy, cold weather? I replaced the white tarp tent with a clear 10x12 vinyl tarp from mytarps.com. I installed a tarp zipper on that thing too. So, now my cockpit is like a mini sunroom during the day. The temperature differential is quite noticeable, so I can keep the companion way open during the day, which I didn't do last winter. The tarp also keeps the condensation off the cabin while allowing for ventilation. So, my boat is staying quite toasty and dry.

All things considered, I feel pretty lucky. I have a neighbor who moved aboard a few months ago. I was lounging out on deck during one of our downpour days, watching her try to make a makeshift tent, so I wandered over to offer a hand. As it turned out, her boat was leaking like a sieve, the whole headliner had rotted out and her vberth became water logged, so she ended up having to couch surf at various friends' houses. I think she finally gave up the liveaboard bit, as I haven't seen her around for well over a month.

As for serious boat projects? I haven't really done much of late. Have been spending most of my time coding. Writing wild-hair iOS apps. Though, I did take a break over the holidays to just veg and read, watch movies, that sort of thing.

Anyway, that's my mini-update for now. Importantly. Happy new year, all! :)
 
#75 ·
Thanks! :)

I've been out sailing a few times, though, on neighbors boats as opposed to mine. Mainly bc I had a bit of a catastrophe in docking (long story), which pretty much scared the carp out of me. Though, tg no damage occurred to my boat or the boats around me. In any event, I haven't had the courage to try that again. At least until I have a few more docking lessons under my belt.
 
#81 ·
As an aspiring liveaboard, this thread was extremely educational and a great read. I especially liked hearing about your fixes to problems, and things you did to make your living experience more comfortable, shadowraiths.

I've noticed a lot of threads get started and then never updated again, really refreshing to see the progression here.
 
#82 · (Edited)
Thanks, walt.

I set up my lappie table with a pulley system so I can raise it up out of the way... for example, when I needed room for the sewing machine to sew my cabin curtains. Which, btw, I love. Besides providing added privacy & shade, the curtains really spruce up the place. As for my hanging table, I can also just slide the table out of the way when I'm not doing puter stuff.

The bulkhead is tacky... I know. lol.

I used shelving contact paper that I picked up from the dollar store and colored out the seams with a magic marker. The bolts were painted over, so I used fingernail polish remover to remove the paint, then removed each bolt, and popped it through the contact paper as opposed to trying to cut around them. This way, I could decide if I want to redo the bulkheads with decent wood, to get a feel for how the finished product might look, without spending a lot of money up front.
 
#83 ·
Shadowraiths,
Nice to hear others with the geek-fliction are making the leap. Among the hurdles/opportunities of all the normal things that go along with minimizing ones life enough to migrate onboard full time. I have a pile of server hw I need to figure out what to do with. I really should look at a colo of sorts in the end, but its not really in my budget right now to house my cab in a DC, would imagine you know how expensive this can get. work will let me fire up some extra gear in the cage at there DC for now. But my HW is the hardest thing I am having an issue detaching from, I run alot of different things on it and it serves MANY functions, dev/prod/lab, in my life/career.

Wondering what your input on this is?

Also have done several "carputer" installations in my volkswagens through the years, and recommend looking at some of the sites related to that, all DC power so no loss through inversion of the signal nor need for gear that does an unnecessary function and can fail w/out notice. Also really good things coming out of the pico-ITX embedded hw these days.. Pico-ITX - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
#84 ·
Yeah, I get the hardware issue. I ended up picking up a shuttle, and cannibalizing my other puter. It's set up with an i3, 16G ram, 500G internal hard drive for the OS, dvd drive, and external hard drives for data. The primary downside about this particular setup is that it only has two expansion slots and a 350W power supply. This limits what I can do with it (i.e., adding a high end gfx card which would take up the two slots and requires a larger power supply, for example). I'm presently hanging my 21" monitor from a pole that runs from the companionway to the bulkhead, similar to the way I have my laptop table setup. I would prefer a setup like this.


Some of my dock mates use a monitor mounting arm attached to the bulkhead. That allows them to fold the thing out of the way when they're not using it. As for the keyboard/mouse, I'm running a usb cable to a usb hub, as opposed to using a wireless kb/mouse.

If I were cruising, or doing a day sail, for that matter. All of this stuff would get packed away. In the event I needed to do any coding, I would rely upon my laptop, with a usb temporary storage, and backup it up every now and then to my web server, or one of the cloud services I use. Assuming, that is I had inet connectivity.

That said, there really are different considerations here. For example, I'm sitting in a slip with shore power and cable. And as such, I enjoy the "luxuries" of having a full blown network setup, and am even considering picking up another shuttle to setup as a nas. If however, I were cruising, I would do things differently due to not only power constraints and connectivity (or lack thereof) but also space considerations.

Btw, and aside, you might find some useful ideas from this guy's site. He's using pillow blocks to mount his monitor to the pole in the above pic. I wrote him and asked! lol
 
#85 ·
Nice, thanks for the link and input. Been fun stripping it down, feel in the end as I am pretty close to packed to move out.. big gear aside. I can make it work pretty well, with my gig being unix admin I use way less graphics, terminals mostly. an IM in the background, some other stuff going but can for the most part run in a very minimal power save mode. Even using a monochrome setting on the monitor will slice a few watts of its end use draw.

I remember somewhere in a thread someone saying the power save of ssd vs. hdd was negligible. imo it is indeed NOT negligible, after moving to a 128G ssd for my laptop I get an additional 2-3hrs of use out of a charge. Though for a larger storage medium the 1TB-SSD's are about 1K$, soon less but well u know...

Another thought on the hdd tangent, quite often the platters in a laptop drive, so anything 2.5", are made of glass with a thin layer of magnetic material bound to the platter... seriously reducing the impact tolerance of most of those models in practical use. and resulting in a fairly useless though interesting sounding box of glass chunk, perfectly well sealed from the elements.
 
#86 ·
Another thought on the hdd tangent, quite often the platters in a laptop drive, so anything 2.5", are made of glass with a thin layer of magnetic material bound to the platter... seriously reducing the impact tolerance of most of those models in practical use.
Well, that's not quite the issue wrt hdds. That is the platter binding. Rather, primary problem with hard drive impact involves head crashes, which are floating microns above the surface and are extremely tiny. For example, a dust particle to a drive head would be akin to a bowling ball to a needle. This is why the drives are sealed... to keep these particles out. In an earlier post, I had wondered about potential corrosion issues. Though, not to the drives, themselves, rather the drive controllers, which are exposed. As for motion, they have come some way wrt mitigating head crashes. At this point, outside of head crashes due to electricity spikes, the primary failures appear to be mechanical... bearings wearing out, that sort of thing. And, unfortunately, from what I can tell, MTBF seems to have dropped.
 
#90 ·
Hey Shadow,
Just stumbled on this thread. Your posts have been very helpful to a fellow bay area coder thinking about buying a small boat, probably also a c27, to liveaboard. Have had so many "yeah, but" reasons not to, but it's stories like yours that remind me it isn't a big deal. Just do it! Especially easy decision to try it, being a single renter in an overpriced rental market. Slowly moving my precious crap -- r.i.p., George Carlin -- to storage in preparation.
In fact, I was hoping to get a legal slip at the same marina you're in -- they still had a few liveaboard slots when I first checked during the winter -- but the lady on the phone says the waiting list is back up to a year. If you can share the magic trick to getting a legal spot, there are free docking & sailing lessons in it for you! I currently sail a smaller boat out of Alameda Marina.
Anyway, keep hacking. Oh, and if there are any pics of how your boat is setup, that'd be awesome. (picasa link from your early posts is broken).
 
#91 ·
Don't give too much heed to your friend who sends you "living aboard sucks" messages; give it the same grain of salt as people who say marraige sucks, living on the east cost or west coast sucks, etc. - their experience with any of these things is not necessarily a bit like yours will be. While it is true that living aboard a boat is definitely not for everyone, you'll never know if it's for you until you try.
 
#92 ·
Hi there, thanks for the new replies. I just finished redoing the inside of my cabin. Again! Though, I still need to work out the galley... which had very heavy tile all over it. I used a crow bar, of all things, to remove the tile, but now it has fugly wood. I am seriously thinking of rebuilding the galley area, while using the existing drawer & doors, icebox, etc.

Also, picked up a haier 1.7 cu ft freezer (been jonesing for ice cream and hatch green chiles), and a 0.7 cu ft microwave. And, I changed up the dinette. Last post, I dropped the dinette table and picked up a twin bed mattress from ikea. It fit perfectly, but over time, I realized it was not all that comfortable.

So...

The mattress is now in my van, as a second bed. I tossed the dinette table in storage bc, even though I wanted to make a bench setup, didn't want to cut up that table. So, I picked up some 36" x 11" shelving from urban ore (in berkeley) for $6. I used the table as a pattern to get the angle, and now have a sort of u-shaped couch. Then, picked up a drop leaf table from ikea. Which is arguably, not the best setup, in that I have to scooch around it. But, since I'm fairly small, the scooching isn't too bad. lol Had the laptop hanging on a pulley system from a closet pole before, but needed more table room, without taking up too much space.

Also, since we do have mosquitos every now and then, and bees have been flying into my cabin, I picked up some mosquito netting from an army surplus store. It is hanging over my companion way. No more bees or mosquitos! Yay!

As for the naysayers? Not to worry. They finally realized that I really do love living aboard. Funny thing... I think some of my neighbors are fascinated with the various things I do with the boat. I've *always* got a jury rigged project of some sort going. One could argue that I'm somewhat of a marine hax0r. lol

Speaking of projects...

I scored a dinghy from craigslist. It's the west marine rollup 260. Came with dock wheels (which are absolutely great), a floating tow, and a perfectly fitting cover. Had oars & the air pump, of course. So, I spent part of the day making a dinghy dock. Then took the dink out for a spin. I've gotta learn how to row! I think I will also attach a bicycle mirror or some such, so I can see where I'm going. Or would that be rowing? Found out my right rowing is stronger than my left, but expect that to change by summers end. That, and that means good exercise too!

As for the live aboard slips? I will talk to them to see what gives. I know we had open LABs avail throughout last year. And, last I heard (a couple of months ago) they're hot to trot for getting more LABs. Once I get the scoop, I will pm you. And yeah, I am def motivated to see what I can do to get you in here. Afaics, this is the best marina in the bay area. That, and it would be great to actually learn how to... erm... mainly dock my boat. lol

And finally, the picasa thing. Yeah, I rebuilt my puter so my picasa got messed up. Also, if you're in the bay area, feel free to pm me. I'd be happy to show you my stuff. Though, beware, it's still a work in progress that may never complete, should I choose to move up. Which is, at this point, still just a maybe bc the biggest motivation for staying with my rig is the fact that she's paid for.

Whew! That was long, eh? lol
 
#93 ·
Ahoy there -

I just came across this thread; I spent a bit of time going back and reading the history. I love your spirit! Back in the late 90's, my wife and I, along with our golden retriever. Live aboard a Paceship 26, pretty much the same as a C27. We were in Baltimore, so much close in the winter and hotter than hell in the summer, with 100% humidity to boot. But we loved it. Going sailing was a bit of a chore (packing everything up so it would crash on the first gust), so picked up a sunfish for cheap and kept it across the dock in the shallow side. Come home from work, grab a beer and the dog, haul up the halyard, and I'm underway in 5 minutes, relaxing in the sunset. I highly recommend a sailing dinghy; the small boats are a great way to learn, especially as the consequences (capsizing) are a bit closer to hand. You learn respect for the elements that a keelboater can ignore...

I'm in Sausalito myself; just picked up a Farallon 29 that needs interior workings. I'm curious about your live aboard marina; when I was looking for slips, they were all warning me that no liveaboards were allowed. Fortunately my GF lives close, so it will be more of a retreat, but I'd like the option...

I've taught sailing most of my life; PM me and I'd be happy to give you a hand getting comfortable with docking. As someone here said earlier, it's all about spring lines. And, as the Brits say, keeping calm and carrying on.

Cheers,
Greg
 
#94 ·
Going sailing was a bit of a chore (packing everything up so it would crash on the first gust), so picked up a sunfish for cheap and kept it across the dock in the shallow side.
Yeah, this is what I'm thinking since I've been adding more "stuff" that isn't anchored down. So, that means, throw everything in the vberth every time I want to sail away... or do like you did and get a very small sailboat. I will look into the sunfish. Cuz, rowing ain't the same as sailing. Even though it still gets me out on the water. lol

Btw, wrt saus. They do have LABs there. You just need to get in the loop, then you can find something. Walking into a harbor master's office and asking, though... Well, as they say over there, LAB is a dirty word. Calling and asking is worse. But imho, that's mainly bc of some of the more negative issues, such as folk who are into drugs and alcohol, or just plain inconsiderate dock mates, end up causing the harbor masters all sorts of grief.

As for LABs on the estuary? Since your GF lives in saus, I would say, fuggedaboutit. Between the bridges in traffic, saus may as well be on the other side of the world. Now, otoh, sailing over... Yeah, that's not only doable, but way more pleasant. However, you'd still be faced with where to dock... unless you moored in Richardson Bay and took a dink to shore. Anyway, just my opinion. ymmv.

As someone here said earlier, it's all about spring lines. And, as the Brits say, keeping calm and carrying on.
Yup. Spring lines are wonderful things. Almost as good as duct tape. A friend and I were docking (his boat) at Jack London square and the spring line worked wonders! I think the main issue I have, at least, for now, is not having an extra person aboard in the event I get in a bind. It's the confidence (or lack thereof) factor. But yeah, totally agree about using spring lines.
 
#95 ·
I too am looking for a retirement boat. I'm in Fl. This is the very last of my bucket list, I wish it had been the first!! I'm looking at 26,28' Cats. If that proves to be beyond my financial grasp, just like a woman, I'm going with the width of the beam, solar, maybe a Watkins or Island Packet. Just the thought of the possibilities fills me with joy!!! When I get my vessel, will definitely post and probably be a pain with my blogs looking for info. :)
 
#96 ·
Hi Shadow -- apparently I can't respond to PMs until I have 15 posts, so I'll save everything I started writing for a future reply. But, to be brief: yes, please do let me know if you hear anything else; hopefully we'll be neighbors sometime soon.
And get your boat out there! Best piece of advice I ever got wrt docking: "go slow like a pro".
 
#97 · (Edited)
Latest and greatest update. Haven't done much work on the boat, as I've been out exploring the estuary. However, I am itching to take my rig out. Unfortunately, she has a ton of stuff that has to be stowed before disembarking. So, I've decided my next big project is to redo the galley. Though, I prolly won't start the real work on that till August, bc I am still playing around with ideas/plans. Was going to whip up a maya or max 3d model but you still can't really get the feel from those, so I've decided to cut up some card board... you know, play around with the ideas in RL 3D. lol
 
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