Looking for people who started living aboard/cruising and hated it.
Hank Janssen
My SO and I are seriously debating moving aboard our C&C 37 (And
eventually cutting the mooring line and taking off into the
sunset). It is something we have been talking about for a long long
time. But what she asked me to do is post something to ask the
following:
'It is easy to find accounts of people who have done this, and
people who started the cruising lifestyle. But are there people out
there that tried this and hated this. And if so, why did they hated
it. Is there anything that they might have changed before they
tried to make it easier on themselves'
So, there you go . Are there any readers in this group who tried this
and hated it? And if so are you willing to share your experiences??
Thanks!
Hank.
---------------------------- http://www.anteus.com ---------------------------
Hank Janssen. | When you get old, you to will fantasize that
Anteus Ltd. Seattle | Politicians where honest, prices were
EMAIL: hjan...@anteus.com | reasonable and children respected their elders
doug dotson
talk their SO into doing it. If you are both not 100%
really interested in living aboard and cruising then it probably
won't work out. Living in cramped quarters with limited
storage can take its toll as well.
doug
"Hank Janssen" <hjan...@checksig.com> wrote in message
news:1019747746.649812@yasure...
Larry W4CSC
<hjan...@checksig.com> wrote:
>Greetings all,
>
I started a "Liveaboard Simulator" thread a few years ago that might
be fun to start up again in answer to your question.....It was a
tongue-in-cheek that started on rec.boats, and we had great fun adding
more thoughts to it for quite a while. I'm sorry I lost the end
document but here's the beginning of it to give you the idea of what
it was......and might become again if the groups will add their
amusing thoughts to it....(c;
THE LIVEABOARD SIMULATOR -
Just for fun, park your cars in the lot of the convenience store
at least 2 blocks from your house. (Make believe the sidewalk is a
floating dock between your car and the house.
Move yourself and your family (If applicable) into 2 bedrooms and 1
bathroom. Measure the DECK space INSIDE your boat. Make sure the
occupied house has no more space, or closet space, or drawer space.
Bring a coleman stove into the bathroom and set it next to the
bathroom sink. Your boat's sink is smaller, but we'll let you use the
bathroom sink, anyways. Do all your cooking in the bathroom, WITHOUT
using the bathroom power vent. If you have a boat vent, it'll be a
useless 12v one that doesn't draw near the air your bathroom power
vent draws to take away cooking odors. Leave the hall door open to
simulate the open hatch. Take all the screens off your 2 bedroom's
windows. Leave the windows open to let in the bugs that will invade
your boat at dusk, and the flies attracted to the cooking.
Borrow a couple of 55 gallon drums mounted on a trailer. Flush your
toilets into the drums. Trailer the drums to the convenience store to
dump them when they get full. Turn off your sewer, you won't have
one.
Unless your boat is large enough to have a big "head" with full bath,
make believe your showers/bathtubs don't work. Make a deal with
someone next door to the convenience store to use THEIR bathroom for
bathing at the OTHER end of the DOCK. (Marina rest room) If you use
this rest room to potty, while you're there, make believe it has no
paper towels or toilet paper. Bring your own. Bring your own soap
and anything else you'd like to use there, too.
Run you whole house through a 20 amp breaker to simulate available
dock power at the marina. If you're thinking of anchoring out, turn
off the main breaker and "make do" with a boat battery and
flashlights. Don't forget you have to heat your house on this 20A
supply and try to keep the water from freezing.
Turn off the water main valve in front of your house. Run a hose from
your neighbor's lawn spigot over to your lawn spigot and get all your
water from there. Try to keep the hose from freezing all winter.
As your boat won't have a laundry, disconnect yours. Go to a boat
supply place, like West Marine, and buy you a dock cart. Haul ALL
your supplies, laundry, garbage, etc. between the car at the
convenience store and house in this cart. Once a week, haul your
outboard motor to the car, leave it a day then haul it back to the
house, in the cart, to simulate "boat problems" that require "boat
parts" to be removed/replaced on your "dock". If ANYTHING ever comes
out of that cart between the convenience store and the house, put it
in your garage and forget about it. (Simulates losing it over the
side of the dock, where it sank in 23' of water and was dragged off by
the current.)
Each morning, about 5AM, have someone you don't know run a weedeater
back and forth under your bedroom windows to simulate the fishermen
leaving the marina to go fishing. Have him slam trunk lids, doors,
blow car horns and bang some heavy pans together from 4AM to 5AM
before lighting off the weedeater. (Simulates loading aluminum boats
with booze and fishing gear and gas cans.) Once a week, have him bang
the running weedeater into your bedroom wall to simulate the idiot who
drove his boat into the one you're sleeping in because he was half
asleep leaving the dock. Put a rope over a big hook in the ceiling
over your bed. Hook one end of the rope to the bed siderail and the
other end out where he can pull on it. As soon as he shuts off the
weedeater, have him pull hard 9 times on the rope to tilt your bed at
least 30 degrees. (Simulates the wakes of the fishermen blasting off
trying to beat each other to the fishing.) Anytime there is a storm
in your area, have someone constantly pull on the rope. It's rough
riding storms in the marina! If your boat is a sailboat, install a
big wire from the top of the tallest tree to your electrical ground in
the house to simulate mast lightning strikes in the marina.
Anyone got any more "liveaboard simulator" ideas he can use??
Larry...Gotta go dump the holding tanks, back in a bit.
Larry
Capt Paul
My wife and I have been living aboard our Express 37 for about 4 years.
During those 4 years, we spent about 3 years cruising the Southern
California coast and this last year we've been in Hawaii. My wife is now
going to school full time, and I'm working. While we were "cruising" all
was well. But now that we have "settled down" things that were just a minor
inconvenience, have become major pains in the butt. No privacy, having to
walk across the marina for a shower, having to walk across the marina in the
rain to go to work, dealing with marina management, dealing with derelect
neighbors, etc. etc.
My opinion: living on a boat is -great- if you want the freedom to take off
at will and have a flexible schedule. But if you have a job or other
obligation, it becomes a pain fast.
Paul
"Hank Janssen" <hjan...@checksig.com> wrote in message
news:1019747746.649812@yasure...
Steve
about living aboard.
The Marina Life sucks if you or your SO are still working. It's hard to drag
your a$$ up the dock, to the shower, back to the boat, change into your work
clothes, back up the dock to your car and drive to work. If you try to
shorten this routine, you end up with half your clothes/stuff in your car,
half on the boat and the missing sock half way in between.
If you attempt to shower on the boat, you introduce goobs of moisture into
the already damp air.
I lived aboard at anchor for a couple years and the wet dingy ride at 5:30
AM was 10 times as bad as what I discribed before.
I would have to say that living aboard is great if both are retired and both
are 100% into it.
Here is another point. Where else could you have a home on the water for the
price of a simple boat and monthly slip rent.
But if your objective is to go cruising and living aboard is means to save
up the cruising kitty, I would place a time limit of about 2 years max.
since you will loose your cruising dream if you go much longer.
--
My experience and opinion, FWIW.
Steve
S/V Good Intentions
WestlakeY
been aboard for 18 months. Everything was just fine while getting ready
(living at the marina) no work schedules. Both partners fully involved and
commited. Once in the islands however, things seem to fall apart and there
wasn't enough to do to interest them. As Tristen Jones once told me, JUST DO
IT, and don't wait until you can have everything, Just Go! You certainly will
learn if it's for you. Good luck
Adam
"WestlakeY" <west...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020425153116...@mb-fa.aol.com...
Good advice, try it for 2 or 3 weeks and you will find out quickly if it is
for you or not.
Adam
Surfnturf1301851
motored off into the sunset on a 42 ft sportsfish. Cruised the ICW from
Chesapeake to Key West and spent several months a year in the Bahamas. The
boat kept getting smaller and smaller and the family ties kept getting more
strained (grandkids didn't understand why we were not there more often) and we
started looking for a bigger boat (have the grandkids come visit) but were very
disapointed in the dollars involved in both purchase and upkeep. Ended up
selling the boat and buying a ocean front condo in West Palm Beach. Wouldn't
trade the three years for anything - fantastic!!!!!! Now the neighbors are
starting to wear on us but we cann't move on to another marina - we say that
maybe we should go back to living on a boat!!!!!!!!! Seriously, go for it - I
think we may have quit too soon but our condo value has gone up over $100,000
since we boiught it two years age. Great investment but questionable
lifestyle.
Jere Lull
>Greetings all,
>
>My SO and I are seriously debating moving aboard our C&C 37 (And
>eventually cutting the mooring line and taking off into the
>sunset). It is something we have been talking about for a long long
>time. But what she asked me to do is post something to ask the
>following:
>
> 'It is easy to find accounts of people who have done this, and
> people who started the cruising lifestyle. But are there people out
> there that tried this and hated this. And if so, why did they hated
> it. Is there anything that they might have changed before they
> tried to make it easier on themselves'
>
>So, there you go . Are there any readers in this group who tried this
>and hated it? And if so are you willing to share your experiences??
>
We're plotting the same thing, so have been paying close attention to
all the stories, including the ones at http://cruisenews.net/,
http://sailnet.com/ and in Cruising World. From what I've gleaned,
breakups basically revolve around one of the partners not being
committed, feeling trapped into it and little irritations building up
into outright war.
Moving onboard for some time (often a year or two) before leaving
eliminates some people, but makes it easier for the rest to cut loose as
they don't have much to get rid of by then. In our case, it'd probably
take a year before we could get rid of all the "stuff" our families have
accumulated over the centuries that has found its way into our basement,
attic, spare rooms.....
That's time well spent in learning the boat, putting finishing touches
on, and enjoying the local area on the weekends and during vacations --
though it might be nice to charter in the islands every once in a while
to remind you of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
First time free from land, it seems good to do a trial run of perhaps
3-6 months, with an option to extend the trip if both/all are in
agreement. Knowing that the decision will be reevaluated at some
specific date largely eliminates the "trapped" feeling. I've heard a
couple of stories where at the evaluation time, the "old salt" was
disillusioned, the reluctant one a rabid convert and she (usually)
sailed off into the sunset as he went home.
The other error is rushing around too much. You've got the rest of your
lives to get there. Who cares if it's next week or next year?
I don't consider running the cruising kitty flat a failure, BTW. It's
likely just an interrupted trip.
Personally, I've had this dream for many years. When we got Xan, Pat was
willing to try maybe an occasional week, but don't even bother thinking
about longer. Over the years, as we've ranged further afield, we used
our summer vacations to step a little further south. The first major
barrier was Norfolk -- a scary place if you read the guides. Did it, was
a piece of cake and we got to the lock. Though we had the time, she
wasn't comfortable heading into NC. Next time, after lots of reading up
on the area, we streaked down to that lock in 3 days and then down to
Beaufort, NC. It was wonderful, we'd gotten through the areas that
sounded scary, and if we'd continued instead of turning back, we would
have gotten at least to Daytona. So I've been able to get her to agree
to doing the Bahamas for 3 months the next time I'm between jobs -- she
writes, so can take off at any time. We've also got about 6 months'
cruising kitty in a liquid account. All of our trips have gone so well
that I suspect we'll come up to the decision time and extend the trip
another few months, since there'll be some great places in the local
area that we wouldn't have had time to visit. And if we choose to keep
on extending the trip.....
Worst time was when I pushed on into conditions that we weren't ready
for. (We've sailed worse, but we weren't up to it that day.) Best
decision I made that trip was to turn around and lazily visit anchorages
on the way home. Other bad times when we moved when we were tired and
should have rested a day. Best times were when we hunkered down for a
few days of drizzly cold weather and when she chose the next stop,
though sometimes I had to point out that they'd be tough legs. A couple
of times, we made the stretch and had a wonderful time. Similar trips
when she not been pushing for it caused problems.
If it ain't fun, it ain't FUN!
--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 sailing from Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ annotated pics) http://members.dca.net/jerelull/BVI.html
Rosalie B.
>
>My SO and I are seriously debating moving aboard our C&C 37 (And
>eventually cutting the mooring line and taking off into the
>sunset). It is something we have been talking about for a long long
>time. But what she asked me to do is post something to ask the
>following:
>
> 'It is easy to find accounts of people who have done this, and
> people who started the cruising lifestyle. But are there people out
> there that tried this and hated this. And if so, why did they hated
> it. Is there anything that they might have changed before they
> tried to make it easier on themselves'
>
>So, there you go . Are there any readers in this group who tried this
>and hated it? And if so are you willing to share your experiences??
There probably AREN'T any in this group like that, else why would they
still be here?
Most of the time, if there is a problem it is either continual sea-sickness
(which isn't fun), or lack of interest on the part of one partner.
Sometimes it takes several changes of partner to get both with the same
commitment.
Many times the reasons for moving ashore concern health, and family if it
is not the lack of interest or active dislike of one partner. I know of
one couple where the wife has severe spinal problems and physically cannot
take the motion of the boat without a lot of pain. Another couple love the
boat, but want to be nearer to their grandkids. Sometimes a couple will
sell the boat and go to a motor home and 'cruise' on land.
In our case, I experienced extreme anxiety when I got back on the boat
after Bob's heart attack. And I'm still having some of that, even on land.
Plus my mother may need me to help out at home, and we do have
grandchildren.
One thing I have determined - I'm just not a blue water sailor. Does not
seem like fun to me. I like to stop and anchor or go into a marina at
night. I don't want to do continuous watches all day and night for several
days. I'd like to have a third person to help, and I think it will be too
hard to get someone that we can live with happily.
We did not sell our home on land, and I have said (only half joking) that
my children will have to clear the junk out of it after I'm dead. And I'm
not the only one that is a pack rat!!!
grandma Rosalie
Tony Yacht Ambrosia
early.
Our first trip was from Brisbane to the Whitsunday Islands for a 3 month
shakedown.
We both loved it .
Last year off to the Louisiades, 600nm NE of Townsville across the Coral Sea to
Papua New Guines. First offshore venture. Copped a force 8 gale for over 2
days. Not nice for our first trip but we survived. The trip was 5 days each
way. We were in the tropics for 3 months befoer returning to Australia.
At present we are in Brisbane refitting the boat for the next trip to Indonesia
and Thailand.
The boat is a 42' ketch. An Aphrodite design(Swedish). The refrigeration is
very poor (made for 21 degree summers) and the wiring was getting a little tike
a rats nest.
Wilol be heading off for Nth Queensland in July-Aug then laying over there
for the cyclone season before heading off again.
We had a number of shore anchors around our necks - houses and tennants
mailnly. Just sold the house so will be totally free.
Great lifestyle if both are committed.
Tony & Lyn
S/V Ambrosia (Aphrodite 42 Ketch)
Rick Morel
>eventually cutting the mooring line and taking off into the
>sunset). It is something we have been talking about for a long long
>time. But what she asked me to do is post something to ask the
>following:
>
> 'It is easy to find accounts of people who have done this, and
> people who started the cruising lifestyle. But are there people out
> there that tried this and hated this. And if so, why did they hated
> it. Is there anything that they might have changed before they
> tried to make it easier on themselves'
It does seem that most who do give it up, but then us humans are a
fickle lot :-)
Larry's "Liveaboard Simulator", while tongue-in-cheek, really does say
a lot.
We've lived aboard for a year and a half, cruising the first year. The
half year welded to a slip was to help out with a family member during
his bout with cancer (good news, BTW, he's now "clean"). We're heading
out for more adventures in a couple weeks.
Here's some ramblings....
Several times someone could have bought our boat for a dime! Other
cruisers say the same. We came really close to chucking it all after a
lightning strike in SW FL. Another factor is Admiral Judy gets very
seasick only in deepwater, offshore swells. She now has a bunch of
remedies to try and we do our best to stay in 30-feet of water or less
if we can.
Our biggest mistake, that almost did us in, was to have a
D*E*S*T*I*N*A*T*I*O*N in mind and "working" to get there. We finally
learned every place one stops can be a great destination. To heck with
trying hard to get to some particular far-away place. Sure, make our
way from here to there, but enjoy all the theres in between. And if we
wind up not getting to the big THERE!, so what?
One does have to give up some conveniences. For instance, we both just
absolutely love to waste water, so it's a pain to conserve. We do have
a watermaker and use it daily to replenish our wasteful 6-gallons or
so. Our mantra, developed 30 years ago on our first extended cruise,
is "We'll get used to it!".
I'm Felix and Judy is Oscar, as in the Odd Couple. She has a hard time
with the concept of take something out, use it then put it back. I get
PO'ed when stuff goes flying across the salon; she gets PO'ed when I
grab something and stow it and she's now quite finished with it. Keeps
life interesting :-)
Captain, learn to curb your male tendency to yell and order. Work out
a way to handle things like raising the anchor, docking, locks, etc.
We use hand signals and have it pretty much down pat. Make sure
there's a signal for "I can't do it!" for her and "I'm sorry!" for
him. It takes a while to get it right.
Admiral, learn to curb your female tendency to agree with anything
then a few days or weeks later tear into the Captain about how he
"made" you participate. If you don't want to dinghy ashore and explore
a mosquito infested swamp, just say so!
Somebody mentioned showering ashore because of damp. We put a cowl
vent in the head and it solved that problem. We usually shower aboard
during those rare times we're at a marina. A water/energy saving tip:
get a solar shower bag and extend the hose. We hang it on a lifeline
and run the hose down through the cowl vent when anchored within sight
of neigbors.
Try to be as self sufficient as possible, especially food. It gets
very old to spend time shopping, especially in this day when most
stores are in shopping centers miles away.
If you plan on solar panels, don't just get a couple and mount them
someplace. Add up your daily Amp Hour usage and size accordingly. We
have 400-Watts worth and a couple of wind generators. We've never had
to run the engine to recharge and we have refrigeration, watch a fair
amount of TV, do a lot of laptop computing and run the watermaker
about 4 hours a day.
Boredom. That's why the old sailors developed scrimshaw and fancy
ropework and all that stuff. I really think this is the actual root
cause for all the stated reasons for giving up. Obviously make sure
there are things aboard each enjoys. Books, music, videos, hobby
stuff, whatever. There will be times when you're "stuck on the boat"
with nothing much to see or do. This also ties in with our problem
above of trying to get THERE.
Check our our web page below and you can see the ups and downs as they
happened. We had a lot of downs because of our really bad luck with
weather, cold and windy.
We figured out it was because we PO'ed Neptune - we went though the
involved renaming ceremony, but we bought cheap champagne. :-) NEVER
buy cheap champagne for a boat!
Rick Morel
S/V Final Step
http://www.morelr.com/coronado/
Richard
to know our schedule. I go into a long winded ramble about speed, tide,
weather, alternatives, and possibilities.
Herin lies the crux of the argument. She belives all boats should have
schedules. Bkfst, departure, lunch, arrival, docking. I fugure
~maintenance~ schedules are OK, but the boat is uspposed to be fun, not
work.
We do have hard, fast times when we have to get back to our limited access
marina, based on 8' tide charts. So we leave a 0500 to get to the dock by
1630. In other words the last day revolves around the tide.
I figure any trip where you step dry shod onto the dock, is a good trip.
I don't suppose you could imagine any frictions occuring here, eh?
R
<snip>
"Rick Morel" <rmorel@m*o*r*e*l*r.com> wrote in message
news:3cc94f5b...@news.eatel.net...
Den73740
>it.
>From: Rosalie B. gmbe...@mindspring.com
>
>One thing I have determined - I'm just not a blue water sailor. Does not
>seem like fun to me. I like to stop and anchor or go into a marina at
>night. I don't want to do continuous watches all day and night for several
>days.
It took me 20 years on ships to realize, it's not the ocean I like, it's the
coast.
Dennis
Brad Cooper
kid stuff is probably useless, but the rest of it is good. It actually
served as a wake-up call for my wife who was trying to use a liveaboard as
an escape from the high prices here in DC. She's now much more content to
think about a coastal cruiser. It pays to do all the homework and "what
ifs" you can before forging ahead.
BC
BKeith8704
Go here and read. We have lived aboard and cruised for 14 yrs. and reading
this assoc. books is what persuaded us to do so. They have over 5000 boats as
members worldwide.
We started by just staying on the boat 3 or 4 nights a week and ended up not
wanting to go home so that made up our mind. Good luck.
BKeit...@aol.com (Bob Keith)