Living on a boat year round
 

I'm thinking about moving onto a boat. I'm a bachelor and living on
the shore in New Jersey, was looking at house but they're insane right
now. I'm thinking about buying an old Chris Craft (wood hull) and
moving on the water. Has anybody ever done this in NJ? Know about good
marinas for such a thing? I'm worried about the water in the winter,
heat and the wood hull. If anyone has any experience I would appreciate
some feedback.
Thanks!

Living on a boat year round
 

wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm thinking about moving onto a boat. I'm a bachelor and living on
the shore in New Jersey, was looking at house but they're insane right
now. I'm thinking about buying an old Chris Craft (wood hull) and
moving on the water. Has anybody ever done this in NJ? Know about good
marinas for such a thing? I'm worried about the water in the winter,
heat and the wood hull. If anyone has any experience I would appreciate
some feedback.
Thanks!


I know a couple that have lived aboard an older, wooden Chris Craft here in
MA (Cape Cod) for several years and survived fine. There are bubblers
installed at the marina at each piling and although the water iced over in
some sections, the area around the hull was fine. Last summer they got rid
of the Chris Craft and got an older, fiberglass houseboat and spent their
first winter on it last year.

I left my boat in the water last winter. I had it hauled, had the hull
cleaned, replaced all the zincs, winterized the engines, generator and water
systems, then put it back in the slip. I have four reverse cycle AC units
and, although they were winterized in late November, they still were
producing adequate heat. After they were winterized as a precaution, I
installed 120v outlets tied to each of their electrical services and bought
four, 1500 watt ceramic space heaters. I left the refrig running and had
use of the convection/microwave and stove top. I didn't live on it ... but
I did visit off and on during the winter and spent a couple of overnighters
on it last January and February. Surprisingly, I was quite comfortable
after the heaters warmed it up. I only ran a couple at a time and was able
to maintain the pilothouse and main cabin at around 65 degrees with below
freezing temperatures outside. At night I ran one heater in the main
stateroom and was very comfortable ... in fact I had to turn it down after a
while.

Obviously without the water system, I had to use the marina head and shower,
but it wasn't bad. They have heated, clean facilities, open year round.

My slip neighbor told me he did the same thing one year but ran his engine
block heaters all winter. His engine room stayed nice and warm once the big
diesel engine blocks warmed up and he never had to winterize his water
system. I've installed heaters on my engines and I plan to see how
effective they are this coming winter.

I enjoyed it. It was very different sitting on the boat during the middle
of the winter with snow all over everything and nobody around. I plan to do
it again, but I doubt I'd ever be inclined to live on it full time.

Oh ... I also did not shrink-rap anything. I just buttoned up the full
enclosure and it survived fine, despite a couple of heavy snowfalls.

Eisboch

Living on a boat year round
 

On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 17:24:37 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:

Oh ... I also did not shrink-rap anything. I just buttoned up the full
enclosure and it survived fine, despite a couple of heavy snowfalls.

Personally I would recommend the shrink wrap for living on an older
boat that very likely has drafty window frames and hatches.

You will probably end up spending more time and money on maintenance
than you think. Older boats can be a serious money pit, especially
the wooden ones.

Living on a boat year round
 

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 17:24:37 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:

Oh ... I also did not shrink-rap anything. I just buttoned up the full
enclosure and it survived fine, despite a couple of heavy snowfalls.

Personally I would recommend the shrink wrap for living on an older
boat that very likely has drafty window frames and hatches.



The other advantage of the shrink wrap is that if installed with a proper
frame, snow mostly slid off it.

I had quite a bit of snow on top of the flybridge canvas after one storm
which made me nervous, but it held ok and melted fast.

The Navigator has one design feature that is good in some ways, but bad in
another. All of the main cabin and pilothouse windows are fixed ... none
open. That's good for having no leaks or taking a greenie in the cabin, but
it's a disadvantage when you want lots of outside air. The only openings
are a glass sliding door on the starboard side of the pilothouse, a sliding
glass hatchway leading from the pilothouse up to the upper station and two
large sliders on the rear of the main cabin leading to the cockpit. They
used to have screen sliders as well, but too many people tried to walk
through them, so I took them off. On still, hot days you need a large fan
running to move the air through the boat or close everything up and run the
AC.

Eisboch

Living on a boat year round
 

wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm thinking about moving onto a boat. I'm a bachelor and living on
the shore in New Jersey, was looking at house but they're insane right
now. I'm thinking about buying an old Chris Craft (wood hull) and
moving on the water. Has anybody ever done this in NJ? Know about good
marinas for such a thing? I'm worried about the water in the winter,
heat and the wood hull. If anyone has any experience I would appreciate
some feedback.
Thanks!


Although you have received some excellent advice so far you may want to post
the same question at www.boated.com. There are several folks there who live
aboard their boats in northern climates and can probably offer additional
advice and information.

The trip to the marina restroom in January and February across a slippery
dock and through snow would be enough to drop the idea, as would returning
from a warm shower at the marina shower facilities.. ;-)

Living on a boat year round
 

On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 18:02:05 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:

The other advantage of the shrink wrap is that if installed with a proper
frame, snow mostly slid off it.

I had quite a bit of snow on top of the flybridge canvas after one storm
which made me nervous, but it held ok and melted fast.

We shrink wrapped the Bertram one year and it was incredibly
comfortable on board in cold windy weather.

Hopefully I'll never have to do that again... :-)

Living on a boat year round
 

When the wife(2) and I were married I had this dream of living cheap on
the CCraft 27 footer. using it like a travel trailer to snuggle year
around..

needless to say, she didn't go for the idea.

needless to say, she won't go fot it today, either.

Living on a boat year round
 

It isn't a bad as some make out. I spent two years on a fiber-glass boat on
the upper Delaware river. I certainly gets cold but I installed a couple of
the engine room heats and then used oil-filled heated for the salon and
master bed-room. Worst part was getting out of the shower into a 40-degree
room.

I also used a ice-eater to churn the bottom water up and this kept the ice
at bay. I did learn the hard way that you need to drain the water out of the
parts of the boat that much above water - the 1st year the ice broke a
faucet on the upper deck.

If nothing else you will find some interesting neighbors and new friends in
Jan / Feb!

Dave

wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm thinking about moving onto a boat. I'm a bachelor and living on
the shore in New Jersey, was looking at house but they're insane right
now. I'm thinking about buying an old Chris Craft (wood hull) and
moving on the water. Has anybody ever done this in NJ? Know about good
marinas for such a thing? I'm worried about the water in the winter,
heat and the wood hull. If anyone has any experience I would appreciate
some feedback.
Thanks!