Living on a Boat
I’m sure many people like me have had the romantic dream of living aboard a boat: being rocked to sleep by gentle waves and waking up to new neighbors in the marina, chatting with friends over drinks in your cockpit while cooking a freshly caught fish on a tiny stove. Having your home on the water can be both extremely rewarding and more work than you ever thought.
People who live on boats are probably the top experts on how to live in a small space and how to conserve limited water and power.
Courtesy of Bumfuzzle.com
Living on a boat does take some adjustments to the way that you would live in a house. Space is a major factor when living on a boat and every inch needs to be used effectively. While most boats are built with an eye on efficient storage, you will have to downsize your possessions quite a bit to get things to pack neatly into the boat.
Life Lessons: Moving onto a Boat
Living on a boat is also different from living in a small house. Water and weather is a constant threat to the integrity of your home and your comfort. While many newer boats have everything you need for comfort, some older, less expensive boats may need constant upkeep and maintenance. The ability to know your boat inside and out, and be able to make repairs yourself can save you big headaches and bills.
Courtesy of Toast Floats
Once you do have a boat, if you are not cruising, you will need to find a marina or dock you can rent or buy. Prices for docks vary for different areas. They are usually priced by the foot or the yard. However, not all marinas are liveaboard friendly. Many marinas consider someone who lives on their boat as a transient. On the other hand, you can find a few marinas that offer showers, storage, laundry facilities, electricity and cable TV to liveaboards.
If you are able to create your own power (many boats come with solar panels), haul your own water and wastewater and be as self-sufficient as possible, you may be able to live very cheaply on anchor or on a mooring ball.
Dock Search is a database of docks and marinas around the world for rent and for sale. Some offer liveaboard options. Marinas.com shows aerial and map views of marinas around the world.
Mark Nicholas, who lives on a sailboat, has written the book, The Essentials of Living Aboard A Boat, and also has some interviews with liveaboards that are available as video podcasts. His blog also has loads of information and links about how to be a successful liveaboard.
I found some additional excellent blogs, videos and websites about living aboard a boat and each covers the issues of space, boat problems and maintenance, cruising, cooking and docking.
Living On A Boat: One Woman’s Transition to Living Onboard A Boat
Toast Floats: A Family of Five Living on a Catamaran
Sleeping with Oars: Living on a 47 foot Hans Christian Traditional
We Live On a Boat: Family of Four Living on a 40 foot River Queen
On the Boat Where She Lives
Hillary Johnson is a writer who lives on her 35 foot sloop, Surprise in Ventura County, Calif.
So You Want to Buy a Boat: Liveaboards in the UK
Bumfuzzle
Although they no longer live on their boat, Bumfuzzle, Patrick and Ali Schulte have an excellent blog about their travels aboard the 35 foot catamaran.
They now live and travel happily in their VW panel van. But that’s another story.
Courtesy of Sleeping with Oars
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13 Responses to “Living on a Boat”
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An absolute gem. I’m hooked on the tale of the Bumfuzzle!
[...] Nellemann recently wrote an article here on the Tiny House Blog about living on a boat. In it she pointed out some of the challenges and pleasures of life on the water. My husband [...]
I have recently become single again and I am seriously considering moving onto my 1993 SeaRay 330 Sundancer. I lived on it for 6 months 4 years ago in Cincinnati OH while waiting for my home to be built. I loved it, and I am ready to get rid of everything. I want to move to a different body of water like the Florida area. I hate Cincinnati winters and want to be able to boat year round. Any suggestions on locations? Most places in Florida don’t allow liveaboards. Cincinnati has some great marinas on the Ohio and are liveaboard friendly. I found a few nice places on the Hudson River that will allow great river boating and big water boating. The only down side is New York winters are worse than Cincinnati. I would appreciate any helpful information to my big delima, thanks.
Hi paul, I myself just bought a sailboat and moored Port Salerno, In Fla. Its beautiful here. It is the east coast sturat area. I been on my boat for 1 mo now and LOVE IT. Come on down and enjoy the weather.
Hello Paul,
When doing research for this post, what seemed to be the issue was not a lack of live aboard marinas, but finding open spaces with no long waiting lists. It seems that once someone gets a spot, they hold onto it.
Have you looked at Living Aboard Magazine? How about Docks.com? Do a search on the Living Aboard magazine forum for the area in Florida you want to live. There are tons of very helpful people on those forums.
Good luck and let us know about your new journey! We might want to do a post on you in the future.
[...] having to scrape out our wallets for that last little penny to fund it all. Whether it’s a boat, mobile, or studio living, the fact is a majority of Americans are downsizing their dwelling [...]
[...] having to scrape out our wallets for that last little penny to fund it all. Whether it’s a boat, mobile, or studio living, the fact is a majority of Americans are downsizing their dwelling [...]
[...] having to scrape out our wallets for that last little penny to fund it all. Whether it’s a boat, mobile or studio living, the fact is a majority of Americans are downsizing their dwelling space. [...]
[...] having to scrape out our wallets for that last little penny to fund it all. Whether it’s a boat, mobile, or studio living, the fact is a majority of Americans are downsizing their dwelling space. [...]
Fabulous article. I loved it. I have also written about living aboard
in Marina Del Rey.
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-MARINADELREYBOATPeople
This is so interesting to me! I own two sailboats and two VW vans! I found the best place to live on a boat or in a van was… Mexico! In the summer, take the van into the mountains and enjoy cool breezes. The winter is perfect sailing and every marina is a full time liveaboard deal. You are expected to live on your boat in Mexico! Food is cheap (I’m a vegetarian and my food budget is about $30 a week). Free wifi everywhere. RV parks right on the beach. I’ve been coming to Mexico each winter for sailing since 1997, but moved here full-time in 2006. I still earn a living, but now work over the internet.
Thanks Jim for the information. I have heard that about Mexico too. Have you seen Misty Tosh’s blog?
http://sweettooth.typepad.com
I am going to look at your blog. I would love to learn more about how you live. We may do a post on you!
Living on a boat might a good move if you consider conserving energy and water etc. This could be a “Go Green” direction. We like the “Go Green” idea. It is safer on the environment and can show us a new way to live better. It seems it might be the eccentric way of living only having access to certain material products that we have all grown so accustomed to. We enjoyed this information- Thanks