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"Brien Alkire" wrote:
Would anyone like to share opinions or their experiences in living aboard a
sailboat? What did you miss about living on shore? What did you wish you
had considered before you made the move?
I won't address the SoCal part of this because we are on the East
Coast. We live aboard about 6 months of the year because we still
have a house. That also means that we haven't had to get rid of all
our 'land stuff'.
We are also both retired, and all our children are grown and married.
I have no regrets about making the move, nor do I have anything to
offer as to what we didn't consider. I think we considered almost
everything.
One thing I considered was that my husband not only loves sailing, but
really LOVES to work on stuff. (When we are home in the summer he's
always doing something to the house - this year he put a tin ceiling
in the family room, last year he rebuilt the whole porch which wraps
around two sides of the house.) He complains a bit because I don't
like to work on stuff and so I don't, but the boat keeps him busy and
happy.
He's also willing to tackle almost anything (this year he installed a
larger holding tank), and do the maintenance required. For instance
we were offshore between Charleston and the St. Mary's River and the
water pressure pump started to leak and spray water all over the
engine room. He was pretty quick to diagnose the problem, and he
fixed it while we were in Fernandina Beach.
If you aren't the kind of DIY person that he is, you need to have a
bunch more money - it's always more expensive to have someone else do
it and they may not do it as well as you would like. A live-aboard
boat has more SYSTEMS to learn about than a boat that's simply for
racing or daysailing.
If you are going to be in a marina full time, ESPECIALLY if you are
still working, the things you will miss will be different than the
ones you will miss if you are cruising full time. I have never lived
in one marina for any length of time. Usually when we are on the
boat, we are moving around. For instance, we left home (on the
Potomac) at the end of October and are now in Miami. We are going to
try living at a marina down here in FL this winter instead of going to
the Bahamas.
Living aboard while you are still working will mean that you will have
to have a working wardrobe. This will take more space than if you
just want boat clothes. Also once you live aboard, you have more work
to get the boat ready to sail, and you may not do it as often as you
now think you will.
We also love being able to live in the center of small villages and
towns where we can walk or bike to things. We do belong to the
live-aboard list, and we get email while underway via pocketmail. I
also like being outdoors where I can observe nature. I love
photography, painting, snorkeling and scuba diving.
I'm not terribly enthusiastic about wild weather (high winds,
thunderstorms etc), and I'd happily motor across a glassy sea when we
have to do a passage offshore while Bob would much rather sail, but I
know the boat is much tougher than I am so I'm not worried exactly,
and I don't usually get seasick, but it does increase my anxiety
level.
grandma Rosalie
S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id2.html