Living on a yacht?

lol... i never thought of it in these words... "living on a yacht"

if that helps, I live on a boat... a 53' Hatteras (old one.. 1970)

Cons? there are none! Pros? where do i start? being on the water, having the whole biscayne bay as my backyard and most importantly being able to drop the lines and live the dock at any time without worrying about bringing food, drinks or a change of clothes. it's all there. love it!

seriously, the down side is if you live up north and it's cold for 6 months and you have to deal with snow, iced water lines, no pump out, etc... i guess that's not fun.

heck, even hurricanes are better on a boat... I can move my boat from under the bullseye, try that with a house

General rules on size? well... some folks live aboard 27 foot sailboats and use marina bathrooms... so it all comes down to you.

I think a good liveaboard boat is one that will provide all the comforts of home (full size galley, comfortable heads, decent staterooms, washer/dryer, etc...).

having enough space and privacy is important, especially if you're married or have kids. I like the layout of the classic Hatteras because the master is all the way down the lower companionway, unlike some boats in the 40' range where the master opens up right in the saloon,just a couple of steps down.

Nowadays, you can find some nice MYs in the 50' range and as recent as the early 90s for under 300k.

One issue to consider is finding a slip, especially for larger boats... not always easy in some areas.

Growing up my dream was always to live on about a 45' yacht. Then I moved to Ft. Lauderdale and boats started to shrink. After a few years of looking at megayachts I came to the conclusion that I couldn't live on anything less than 70' and since I can't afford that I guess I'll just keep my homestead.
Upside: The romance of living on the water and if you're single the romance it attracts.
Downsides, sorry, but everything else.
Most people view you as a second class citizen, most women view you as unstable and most employers view you as gone tomorrow.
Comfort: Sleep on a bunk instead of a bed, no storage space (forget bulk shopping), Small shower, holding tanks, small TVwith poor reception, small fridge. Poor insulation (hot in the heat/ cold in the cold).
No privacy (Your neighbor is 3' away).
Financial: You're living in a depreciating asset that you buy and then still pay rent to live in, often paying a premium for electric and insurance. Earning a living from a boat is hard (see above). Then there's the family questions, and (except for the weekends) it's a fairly lonely life in most marinas.
Living on a boat is a great adventure for a short period ( maybe a year or two if you keep it moving) if you're independently wealthy otherwise why not just work a boat so you can live the life.

that's a pessimistic view! gee... My galley is as big as what you find in many city appartment... fridge? full size GE with top freezer and ice maker, 24" self cleanin oven... I got tons of storage and i sleep on a queen size bed... not a berth! yeah, so i had a 300sq ft marble bathroom before.. so what? i spend 5 minutes a day in the bathroom/head!!! do i need the 300sq ft? hell no!

hot in the hot? i had 70 degree inside this afternoon, even with the sun beating on the boat!

the neighbor issue depends on the marina... if you dont' have any LA neighbors you don't see anyone during the week... on week ends, we're usually out of the slip so i dont' care... Lonely in the marina? i used to see my next door neighbor maybe one a month in the elevator...

I moved to the boat after selling my 1800 sq ft condo... privacy? with the conciergem, valets and security staff in the lobby? what privacy...

yes, i'm paying rent for the slip but i used to pay $900 condo maintenance/assoc fees plus $700 real estate tax... so i'm saving money. and since i already had a boat (a little smaller) I was paying boat insurance, slip, etc... anyway...

one thing is sure, is that you need the right marina. you need nice docks, nice parkings, pump out at the slip, and the right neighbors...

and if people think i'm a second class citizen because i live on a boat, their problem... if they're that narrow minded, i dont' even want to know them...

Hmm... this is a toughie.

1. Will you ever move the boat?
2. Do you go for cruises and trips?
3. How much crap do you have to lugg around? (Mostly un-needed)

Living on a boat can be cheap/ uncomfortable/elegant/best move ever. It all depends on how you normally live. Pascal says do you need 300sq/ft marble showers, well do you?

I've lived on 26' wooden sailboats for 6 months at a time but I was in my 20/30's and stupid then. Now I'm older I think a 42' trawler is the minimum. Great life though, only back on land due to family commitments.

Dave

Hey Dave,
Let's put your wife, your kid and that mum-in-law on that 42 footer. Ok we'll be fair and only bring the in-laws for the holidays. How's she feeling?
My thoughts aren't pessamistic, just realistic. Dave put it right. It's a bachalor life, maybe a newlywed or recently retired (if she really loves him and is adventurous). It also takes enough money to keep the boat moving, cause if she sits in one spot I go back to How's that social life?

There is an old wooden Grand Banks for sale, just turned up outside my office. Man, I am very tempted to move back again. Bachelor life sucks in some ways and great in others (no mother-in-law). Oh well, life ebbs and flows.

Dave

"an old WOODEN Grand Banks" That'd be a move to permanent bachelorhood (not that it doesn't get considered now and again).

42 is too small for me... the 53 is probably as small as i would consider as a liveaboard. again, layout is important. Some boats have a lot of areas you can use if you dont' want to be on top of each other, esp. with kids. any Hatt, Viking, CC, etc... MY will have the saloon but also the bow, aft deck and flybridge...

i would certainly avoid wood as a liveaboard because of the extra maintenance and time on the hard, especially in warm climate.

Kids dont' mind living aboard... wife? well... need to pick that one even more carefully than a boat!

Years ago I went to look at a 70 odd footer advertised cheap saying "divorce causes sale". One look told me that the sentence should have begun "boat caused divorce..."

Both Good and Bad

We spent six months a year on our 46 foot sailboat, first winters in FL and then summers in CT.

It certainly is great to be on the water and in the community of a quality marina. it certainly is not so great to be on display when lookee loos walk down the dock at all hours of the day and night to look in the windows to see what your boat is like.

The issue of space, both for living and storage and for the ability to get away from other family members (read the spouse) is a serious one. On the other hand, our New York City apartment is smaller in every way than the boat was.

And the admiral tells me that it was all a plan so that she would think a condo in Jupiter Florida would be really really spacious.

Hi 2k9:
Looks like you've received a lot of great firsthand advice. But, it's kind of like sushi. You can ask all you want but you'll never really know until YOU try it.
Pascal has the boat that works for him and very likely would work for you: the 53 Classic Hatteras offers the space separation (salon, 'back porch', galley, master stateroom, flybridge, +) from your Significant Other when needed.
Early '80s boats in good shape sell for in the low $200s. Plenty left in the budget for a Porterhouse and a '72 Margaux for the inaugural cookout.
And, the best part? If you decide it's not your cup of tea, it is a fairly liquid commodity that you can flip.
Call your local yacht broker today!

If you are thinking of financing part of the price of the boat, you might want to check about getting pre-approved. Some banks are reluctant to have their collateral traveling to parts unknown.
The interest on this loan can be tax deductible if it is a first or second home, so there could be an advantage to financing.

On a subject like this the only wrong decision would be one made while uninformed. You're heading for an experience shared by few, a true adventure. Enjoy and have fun.

My wife and I live aboard a 1966 48 foot Chris Craft Roamer and find it very roomy. We have a full size refrigerator, apartment size washer and dryer (vented), two (2) heads, two (2) staterooms, a dining salon, and a living salon. We have heat in the winter and A/C in the summer. We have lived aboard since 2002 and won’t change a thing; I think I might move off before she would.

We thoroughly enjoy the life at the marina, during the week it is quite but usually someone stops by. Over the weekends we enjoy to fellowship or our dock neighbors and do a lot of cookouts if we aren’t out on the boat.

I have lived in developments, apartment building, and condo units where I never knew who my neighbors where. This is the fourth marina I have lived at and we always know our neighbors, we watch out for them and they watch out for us.

Like Pascal said above you want to pay particular attention to the layout of the boat, I know the 53 Hatteras and it is a great liveaboard. So are the 47 foot Chris Craft Commander, the 58 foot Hatteras and a lot of the older flush deck motor yachts. If you take your time and look around you will find plenty of boats in your price range and probably some in decent shape. Make sure you get a good survey of the boat prior to buying it.

You will need to make sure the marina you are looking at takes liveaboards, some don’t. I know what people say about some people thinking of you as a “second class citizen’ but I have generally found that those that do that I don’t want to be around anyway. Most people accept the life style and I have to admit the ones I have meet that didn’t are in the extreme minority.

We do have one rule and that is if something new comes on the boat something old has to go off the boat. I know of people that liveaboard and maintain storage units, not sure what they in there that they need on the boat. I did meet one guy that moved aboard but kept all his collectibles and had five (5) large storage units. As in any lifestyle you will meet all kinds of people but they do tend to be very interesting in the liveaboard community.

I would recommend it to anyone.

The reason most of us keep a storage unit is to have some room left on the boat for things other than the Admiral's clothes and shoes.

Have not moved to Ft. Lauderdale yet, but ditto the rest. I've made several trips down there and that kind of sums up my opinion of the whole matter.

I moved onto my Willard 40 when I left my now exwife. I lived on erh for a year as a bachelor, then met the woman I am now hapily married to. We lived on Cavu for 6-months then decided to sell her and moved off (much easier to sell a boat you dont have it packed with junk). We just clsoed on her last week and are back in the market...we KNOW we want to be full time live aboards again. Is it a compromise? We dont think so. Its like being on vacation every day of the year. And how else, unless you are VERY wealthy, can you afford a nice baoat plus live on the waterfront?

I agree with many of the others here...its hard to beat a Sundeck style trawler/yacht for living abaoard...but after having looked at many differnt boats and styles in the past few months...I'd have to agree that a Hatteras 50, 53 or 56 is jsut about the PERFECT live aboard...and you can have a darn near restored on for well under $300,000...in fact we'er looking more at the $100,000-150,000 range.