Thinking of Living Aboard a Sailboat

[bgkast]

My fiancée and I are just about to graduate from collage and it looks like we may be moving to the Bay Area. Due to the cost of housing and the fact that we may have to move around the area due to our jobs, we are considering living aboard a sail boat in the 40 foot range. I have sailed almost my whole life, but never in boats larger that 25 feet or so.

Any body have any experience living aboard a boat?

[TheDon]

ask brandon

[Hatterasguy]

First make sure the marina where you are thinking about keeping the boat, allows live aboards.

Secondly you have to minimize your "stuff". Boats in that size range don't have walk in closet's!

I may live aboard in the future, being on land sucks frankly. It's a blast, I know several people who spend 3-12 months a year on there boats.

Another plus about living aboard is you can take off for a few years and see the world! World cruising would be an amazing thing to do for a few years.

[unkl300d]

san francisco bay area??
my lawyer lives on his sail boat in berkeley. he hates it and wants to buy a bigger one. or another. one to sail and one to live in.
takes time to stow stuff and change functionality modes. also some marinas allow only 3 overnighters then you have to sleep elsewhere.

try a houseboat.

berths are hard to get unless you buy a smaller boat.

treasure island is more affordable I've heard.

might be interesting hold over option for a while...you may part ways with girl friend tho

[bgkast]

We're fairly used to tight quarters having lived in a 10'x10' bedroom together for awhile. Got to love life on a student budget. How long is the boat you lawyer lives on? Power or sail?

[John Doe]

Where to start--i will have to give some thought to this tomorrow. Lived on a few boats. You gonna buy one over 40 loa though, you may as well rent a 700sq. ft. apt. in SF.!!

[bgkast]

Have you seen the prices of apartments in SF?

My $300 apartment in my Podunk college town would cost $1500 there.

The boat will cost more per month once you factor in the payment for the loan, but at least we would own something for our monthly payment. The boat has the added advantage of being mobile and easy to move to near the next job site (we would likely both be working as construction engineers). Plus we can have a bit of fun.

[Jim B.]

You won't like the prices for docking at the bay area marinas.

The nicest place to pick would probably be the SF Marina YC or Sausalito.

Then Alameda or Berkeley.

I don't know what their live aboard policy is though. I knew a Judge who had a real nice 65' yacht berthed in Sausalito and he lived on it for awhile from time to time

In Sausalito back in the early 80's out in Richardson Bay the bohemian artists had the "Anchor Outs", boats and houseboats that simply parked out in the bay for free.
It drove the Sausalitans crazy because they dumped their sewage directly into the bay...they tried to get them out for years unsuccessfully, they were always there, I don't know what eventually happened with that

[R Leo]

Originally Posted by bgkast

Any body have any experience living aboard a boat?

It will redefine "intimate."

FWIW, my son owns an ancient 30ft sailboat that is moored in San Diego harbor (he now lives in Idaho). He lived onboard for over a year, starting out with TWO other friends that had cycled with him down the west coast. None of them communicate with each other anymore.

I've been out there a couple of times to spend several days at a stretch onboard. The biggest single hassle in his case is that it's a 20 minute paddle to the dock; otherwise it's outrageously fun for a short getaway. The views of the city are unobstructed and it's fairly quiet on a mooring ball. But, I couldn't imagine living onboard that particular boat for any length of time. It's just a 70's-era racing sailboat and isn't well suited to permanent life aboard or, offshore cruising for that matter.

If you wish, PM me and I'll expound further.

[John Doe]

Originally Posted by bgkast

Have you seen the prices of apartments in SF?

My $300 apartment in my Podunk college town would cost $1500 there.

The boat will cost more per month once you factor in the payment for the loan, but at least we would own something for our monthly payment. The boat has the added advantage of being mobile and easy to move to near the next job site (we would likely both be working as construction engineers). Plus we can have a bit of fun.

The only things that depreciate more than a car is a boat. If you spend about $10K/foot, you will be able to get a 40 ft. sailboat that may not need $1500/month repairs to stay 'mobile' and 'easy to move'( ) For a livaboard consider something like an Island Packet, which would have more headroom than a low-slung beat up fleet racer. Keep in mind that mooring/berthing rates in SF will probably range from $12-$20/foot/month + electric in most cases. Oh yeah, don't forget you can't discharge in coastal areas anymore, so no matter what you get, unless you are going to pump out frequently (not) you will have to find a marina with a head and showers.

RLeo is gently suggesting what my thoughts are, I think, which is that the idea sounds romantic, but you probably can't afford to do it yet in a way that won't destroy your relationship.

[John Doe]

Originally Posted by bgkast

Any body have any experience living aboard a boat?

I almost forgot! I lived aboard a 65' aft cabin M/Y for a year in college with my g/f. It was one of the best times of my life. The boat was probably in the $2.5M range and I was spending $3K/month (of the owner's money) keeping her in shape. The slip fee wasn't really an issue, because the owner owned the marina.
Ahhh the good old days......

[jeffoc]

My dad was one of the first houseboaters in Sausalito and lived there on a redone tugboat until 2003. It is beautiful and with the square footage he had (~800) it was doable for a single man.

To give you an idea of slip rents, he was grandfathered at $1200 a month. New slips in the houseboat area are not available and probably never will be. He sold the rights to rent his slip for $225k when he moved to Washington state. I know the bay area well and if you look on the Marin side of the bridge there are affordable apts.

[crash9]

If your right for it you'll love it, but having lived aboard in LA for 5 yrs I'd throw out a few things to consider.
1)As you turn the boat more into a living quarters you'll take it out a lot less. Just to much clutter and stuff to put away. Being at the docks all the time you'll have plenty of opportunity to pick up on deals and if your really into going out a lot you'll wind up with more than one boat.
2)This is like camping out and you can't get away from thinking of it that way. You can set a storage locker up as a large walk in closet type of thing. Even if you can get a good size locker at the docks you'll want a second larger one at a public storage place.
3)Have a full boat cover made – unless your a duck.
4)Most people would be a lot more comfortable on a older, larger Chirs Connie or the like, than living in a cigar tube, but it's a lifestyle thing. A very few types can be at values that will not wind up costing you that much. We lived on an L-40 Lapworth (wooden Cal 40) and I'd have found a Yankee 30 no less confined. Some of the older Columbia's are huge inside, but aren't very desirable otherwise. An older Cal-40 will always hold it's value. That's the era you want to look for as they can be found pretty cheap and then your just paying the boat instead of the bank. I think this may be a good way to sit out the RE mess up in the Bay area, but this is not a way to make any money. You'll save by not being able to accumulate a lot of crap and that is a good idea when your young. As newly weds who'd given everything to our ex's we were in about the same spot just a lot older.
5)I don't know what the Bay area is like for living aboard, but in LA the best liveaboard marinas are in the pits. A place like Marina del Rey is like living in a fishbowl. Spend a lot of time researching marinas
Bottom line is it just isn't for most people, but for those that it is – it's great.

[crash9]

Originally Posted by jeffoc

To give you an idea of slip rents, he was grandfathered at $1200 a month. New slips in the houseboat area are not available and probably never will be. He sold the rights to rent his slip for $225k when he moved to Washington state. .

OMG - It's a Brave New World. Just ten years ago you could buy a 99yr. lease on a can down in Newport Beach for only 25K, but not being able to plug into shore power and needing to row in and out all the time - couldn't deal with it. This just sounds over the top. Is this house boat area what I'm thinking of? Back in the late 60's there were a bunch of derelicts tied all togeather in Sausalito full of dog food eating hippies? Spent a weekend I can't remember there.

[jeffoc]

Is this house boat area what I'm thinking of? Back in the late 60's there were a bunch of derelicts tied all togeather in Sausalito full of dog food eating hippies? Spent a weekend I can't remember there.[/QUOTE]

Yes it is the same area, my dad was one of those dog food eating hippies.
Then like most of the rest of Marin, in the 80's it just went crazy. It went from a parking lot full of VW's to MB and Porsche, the boats are now custom made barges. My dad was a hold out and lived there the whole time. Now he lives in WA and makes biodiesel. Still has a little rebel left I guess.