On Fri, 01 Aug 2003 16:12:25 +0000, Dave Skolnick wrote:

At the moment my question is hypothetical, so there is lot's of room for
adjustment. I'm changing jobs and may decide to live aboard to cut down
on commuting. Living on the hook gives me more location flexibility;
there are not many marinas in the D.C. area that allow liveaboards.

I have a grip (or at least an initial plan) on heating and maintaining
electrical power for the boat (diesel heater like Webasto or Espar and
solar and wind power supplemented by the generator -- still cheaper than
slip fees).

Still unclear to me is getting back and forth to land in the winter. If
the distance to a dinghy dock or other landing where I can keep my car
is too great for rowing, how do I keep an engine operating through the
winter? Any specific suggestions for a commuter that minimizes how wet I
end up in the rain?


I've thought about the same thing many times!

First, where will you be docking your "commuter boat"? Here in
Vancouver, there's no place that would allow you to dock, say, a 16ft boat
for the day, every day, for free. Essentially you'd have to rent dockspace
for the commuter boat.

If the anchorage is quiet enough, you might be able to get by with an
inflatable or portaboat that you could collapse and take with you in your
car. Or a Walker Bay or equiv that would fit on the top. You'd probably
need some kind of bimini to keep at least the rain out. Sounds like a lot
of work every day...

If you CAN get dockspace, a 14-16ft runabout with hardtop (you may have to
make it or have it made), with maybe 20-50hp should be fine. Because of
the all-weather nature of your boat, the more usual options of inflatable
or Boston Whaler would not be viable. Rip out everything but the driver's
seat, add a coffeepot and you're set!

Here on the Wet Coast, we have some wonderful welded-aluminum commuter
boats that would do you fine, but they're Not Cheap:
http://www.armstrongmarine.com
http://lifetimer.boats.com/

You might want to work out "telecommute" days with your Boss - if it's
Real Nasty out, just work at home. It's amazing what can be done with a
cellphone and a modem...(and HE doesn't have to know exactly WHERE you
are, if you get my drift...)

Lloyd