On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 17:04:12 -0500, "JimH" wrote:


"John H" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 21:08:29 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On 14 Feb 2005 10:22:31 -0800, "Ed" wrote:

I am wondering if any one on this list lives aboard there boat? If so
how do you like it? Pro and cons ? At what size should a person keep
there boat at a marina or trailer it back and forth ?

I have talked to a lot of live aboard types and they all seem to have
one thing in common - boats over 35 feet long and it's almost never
for more than a summer's worth at best. I can't think of any that are
of my aquaintance who live on board all year 'round. I'm sure there
are some, I just don't know them. Up in NE, I wouldn't think it to be
very practical type of living.

I'm not sure there are any pro to living aboard - I can think of about
a hundred cons right off the top of my head beginning with confined
spaces and what that does to the human psyche.

As to trailering a boat - 26' is about the max length at 8.5' wide
which is the Federal width limit. You will probably need something in
the one ton truck category for that kind of towing. I had a 32'
Contender CC with a special trailer used only for storage and it was a
neat deal, but sometimes it would be unwieldy.

Other towing considerations would be how agile you are, types of
launches that will accept a boat/trailer/truck combination and the
type of trailer.

The biggest deal is the tow vehicle though - it's actually the primary
consideration.

Later,

Tom

We need Chuck to jump in here and talk about some of the 'live-aboards' in
Lake
Washington. Some of those folks have two-story, 2500 square-foot floating
castles!


John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to
resolve it."
Rene Descartes

Plenty on the San Francisco Bay in Sausalito also. Here is the webpage of
one of the builders of these floating houses.

http://www.messersmithhomes.com/index2.html


Gorgeous! $280,000 doesn't seem like a bad price for that first one. Look at all
the money you'd save by not buying a lawn mower, rakes, shovels, etc. etc.

Those are some pretty homes.


John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 22:18:34 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 17:04:12 -0500, "JimH" wrote:

~~ snippage ~~

Plenty on the San Francisco Bay in Sausalito also. Here is the webpage of
one of the builders of these floating houses.

http://www.messersmithhomes.com/index2.html

There is a difference between a boat and a floating barge.

Later,

Tom

How many Honda 225's would it take to get one of those on plane?

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 17:04:12 -0500, "JimH" wrote:

~~ snippage ~~

Plenty on the San Francisco Bay in Sausalito also. Here is the webpage of
one of the builders of these floating houses.

http://www.messersmithhomes.com/index2.html

There is a difference between a boat and a floating barge.

Later,

Tom

Yep.

I knew (through the net) a live aboard on Lake Michigan....he was building
his dream house. He lived aboard his 30 foot Wellcraft during the
project..the boat was also covered in shrink wrap with bubblers in the water
during the winter.

We got sick of living aboard our 32 footer after one or two weeks on
it....and this was while we were visiting different ports during the summer.
Now add to that ice, snow, power outages and freezing temperatures for a
good part of 6 months. Even the walk from the boat to the car had to be
treacherous every morning.

I could never do it unless I had a good sized yacht. ;-)

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 17:29:33 -0500, John H
wrote:

~~snippage~~

There is a difference between a boat and a floating barge.

How many Honda 225's would it take to get one of those on plane?

ROTFL!!!!

"Ed" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am wondering if any one on this list lives aboard there boat? If so
how do you like it? Pro and cons ? At what size should a person keep
there boat at a marina or trailer it back and forth ?

Thanks
Ed

There's a guy in Toronto who sold his 'Sandpiper 565' trailer sailor and
bought a 'Niagara 35' just for that reason. He has a spot at a waterfront
yacht club and is now into his second winter. Last year he wrote all kinds
of reports on the experience but has been fairly quiet this year. I just
posted a message to him on a newsgroup we use to see how he's doing at this
time.
The idea was to have a boat big enough to sail to the Caribbean when he
retires in a few years.

"Ed" wrote:
I am wondering if any one on this list lives aboard there boat?

Probably not. Most of the population of this newsgroup have small open
outboard-powered boats primarily equipped for near-shore fishing.

... If so
how do you like it?

I happen to know a lot of folks who live aboard, and they like it a lot.

... Pro and cons ?

It can be a lot cheaper, depending on where you moor the boat. The
scenery & the neighborhood & the social life can't be beat.

The cons are that boats are more work than houses and do not appreciate
in value, plus most boats don't have the storage space nor the creature
comforts of a house.

... At what size should a person keep
there boat at a marina or trailer it back and forth ?


Personally, I'd think a boat big enough to live aboard would be too big
to trailer.


Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
I have talked to a lot of live aboard types and they all seem to have
one thing in common - boats over 35 feet long and it's almost never
for more than a summer's worth at best.

???

Most of the people I know who live aboard have been doing it for years.
This includes a few in Alaska!

Most liveaboards don't go anywhere, but quite a few traverse north &
south each year. They tend to have chosen out their spots in advance and
go to the same places every year. OTOH we know a few couple who live
aboard full time, have done so for years, and are really cruising (going
new places) about 6 ~ 7 months out of the year.

... I can't think of any that are
of my aquaintance who live on board all year 'round. I'm sure there
are some, I just don't know them. Up in NE, I wouldn't think it to be
very practical type of living.


For cold climates, it takes a well chosen boat plus a bit of dedication
(and/or romantic foolishness)


I'm not sure there are any pro to living aboard - I can think of about
a hundred cons right off the top of my head beginning with confined
spaces and what that does to the human psyche.


The biggest up side to living aboard is that you're *boating* 24/7. You
*do* think that boating is fun, right???

DSK

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...

You have to be pretty tough or desperate to want to live aboard a
typical "pleasure boat" in a cold climate. In addition to all the
problems and challenges already mentioned, consider that these boat
hulls are pretty much uninsulated and have single-pane windows. That
means they're always going to be cold inside unless you run whatever
heating system you have full-blast 24-7. And then you have all sorts of
interesting condensation problems, frozen pipe possibilities, bathroom
challenges, et cetera and so forth.


You said it. The Virgin Islands might be one place I could tough it out
for a month or so.

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 19:30:11 -0500, DSK wrote:

~~ snippage ~~

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
I have talked to a lot of live aboard types and they all seem to have
one thing in common - boats over 35 feet long and it's almost never
for more than a summer's worth at best.

???

Most of the people I know who live aboard have been doing it for years.
This includes a few in Alaska!

Most liveaboards don't go anywhere, but quite a few traverse north &
south each year. They tend to have chosen out their spots in advance and
go to the same places every year. OTOH we know a few couple who live
aboard full time, have done so for years, and are really cruising (going
new places) about 6 ~ 7 months out of the year.

As I said I don't know any personally - it wasn't an attack on the
lifestyle. For me, it would require at least 50 feet of boat -
minimum.

... I can't think of any that are
of my aquaintance who live on board all year 'round. I'm sure there
are some, I just don't know them. Up in NE, I wouldn't think it to be
very practical type of living.

For cold climates, it takes a well chosen boat plus a bit of dedication
(and/or romantic foolishness)

There are people who like snowmobiles and ice fishing - not my thing.

I like a nice warm fire on a cold evening. :)

I'm not sure there are any pro to living aboard - I can think of about
a hundred cons right off the top of my head beginning with confined
spaces and what that does to the human psyche.

The biggest up side to living aboard is that you're *boating* 24/7. You
*do* think that boating is fun, right???

There is boating and then there is "boating".

I prefer boating rather than "boating". :)

Later,

Tom

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 10:22:31 -0800, Ed wrote:

I am wondering if any one on this list lives aboard there boat? If so
how do you like it? Pro and cons ? At what size should a person keep
there boat at a marina or trailer it back and forth ?

Thanks
Ed

As another poster said, most on this NG have little outboards to putt
around in, so have no idea about "living aboard".

I've lived aboard a 22-ft for a couple of summer months, a 25-ft for a
summer and a few months in the winter, and a 36-ft for 2 years,
year-round. This is in Vancouver, Canada ("Land of Ice and Snow").

Heat is not really a problem: I used a diesel furnace. Others use diesel
or even wood stoves, or electric heat. I "double-glazed" my windows with
plastic for the winter.

Pros and Cons? Pros are mainly less expensive, and you only have to deal
with one set of "living things" (dishes, cutlery, towels, pillows, linen,
etc.) whereas if you have a decent-sized boat AND a house, you have two.
It's easier to get those little things fixed when living aboard. If you're
on a dock with lots of liveaboards, the social life is good: I've never
felt more of a "community" than the docks!

Cons are cramped space, poor TV reception (although some docks have
cable), showers that are compared to standing in a small closet with a
large, wet dog, and as others have mentioned, it's not as much of a
"treat" go go boating if you're there all the time.

A Pro/Con is that you're on the boat already - it's easy to slip the
docklines and go sailing, but otoh you have to stow everything so it's
more of a hassle sometimes.

To be honest, the main thing that brought me back to land was that I was
living aboard "illegally" - I had to have a fake other address, sneak
around, etc. Legal liveaboards are VERY scarce, at least in Vancouver!
It's also hard to describe where you live for legal things like insurance,
etc.

Now, I have a wife. Otherwise I'd be retired and living aboard again!

If your "liveaboard" boat is trailered, you are not "living aboard",
you're living in a trailer. See rec.outdoors.rv-travel and ask about
"full=timing".

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
As I said I don't know any personally - it wasn't an attack on the
lifestyle.

Ah, OK. I apologize if my reply seemed a bit testy. BTW I thought youor
answers about trailering were great.

It may be a difference in geography... you're at the northern range that
travelling liveaboards would get to in the summer.


... For me, it would require at least 50 feet of boat -
minimum.


Read Thoreau.

Personally, I have no ambitions whatever to "live aboard" but my wife &
I want to do some long term cruising... a Great Loop is one of her
driving ambitions... so while we may spend a year or more living on the
boat, I would consider that different from what most people mean by
"living aboard."


There are people who like snowmobiles and ice fishing - not my thing.


Me neither. IMHO the place for ice is in a glass of ice tea... sweet, of
course...


I like a nice warm fire on a cold evening. :)


You can have that. Plenty of boats... not very big ones... have
fireplaces... a solid fuel heater with a pyrex door panel...

One of my favorite cruising boats of all time was an old shrimping boat
(a Harkers Islander for those who know the breed) with a car engine and
a small 2 bunk cabin outfitted with a little pot-bellied stove. Great
fun to putter around and explore, never another soul out on the water in
the winter, and the cabin always cozy & dry & warm.

Regards
Doug King