living on a boat?

Van Living Forum

Help Support Van Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
maki2 said:
I am a live-aboard in Seattle. So I know considerable about it. I live on my friends boat. He has been living on it for close to 30 years. ...

I am chiming in to also say that living aboard is not as cheap as one thinks. I started living aboard in the Puget Sound (Washington) at the end of 2018. Some months in a slip, some months out at sea and anchoring/mooring. And while, yes, anchoring is a no-cost way to make it through a few nights, it is not practical to do year round. You would not want to be on that boat when the wind kicks up. Mooring (taking a ball) costs a fair amount of money and the weather will still kick your a$$ if you are aboard. The live-aboard slips in the marinas all require yearsof sitting on waiting lists, cost hundreds per month (plus utilities) and you must have insurance to cover some liabilities (oil spills, sinking, etc) which is mighty expensive to live aboard in a slip.

When I explain the costs of boat-life compared to rv-life, I tells people to simply add a zero and you are in the ball park. What may cost $100 to do in an RV will cost $1000 (likely more) to do on a boat.

A pic of our boat (a 1978 35' Baba/Flying Dutchman) stern anchored in a tiny cove on Lummi Island 
[img=600x340]https://roadtothesea.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Photo-Jun-01-7-50-06-PM.jpg[/img]
 
Top