About to start living aboard part time...

[yachtorion]

I live in Manchester but work have me away for a few months. Rather than the hotel I'm considering just staying on board the boat a few nights a week.

It's a Horizon 26 and it's in the middle of a re-fit in which I'm adding warm air heating and engine/electrically heated water.

Does anyone have any tips for living aboard comfortably please?

 

[Kelpie]

I was a part time liveaboard for much of last year, as it saved me a long commute, usually for three or four days at a stretch, but up to a fortnight when SWMBO decided to come and see me instead of me going home during my time off work.
Is the boat on the hard? If so, you'll need to plan a bit more carefully. Can't throw your teabags over the side anymore! I found that having a halfway decent mobile signal was pretty much essential, I would go a bit stir crazy without some way of contacting the outside world. Electricity wasn't a problem, my 50w solar panel easily kept up with my lighting, recharging the iPad, etc.

I think it might be a bit brave to live aboard whilst undertaking a refit, though. You could run out of usable space very quickly.

 

[HarryG]

I stayed for the best part of a year on a Falcon 23 in Troon harbour with no proper heating etc (I flew back to my wife and kids in Orkney every second weekend). It was great! Re-discovered the radio 4 and books, was able to work my socks off at work- the pontoon ice walk to the facilities at 06.00 everyday was character building.
Some years ago my wife and I also stayed on our Princess 32 for about 8 months at the top of Neptunes staircase at Fort William. A back drop of Ben Nevis and the juxta position between working (in suits) and relaxing of an evening in shorts with G&T in hand was spectacular! Only came to an end when my wife discovered we were expecting our first child!
Go for it!

 

[V1701]

I've lived aboard through 4 uk winters, 2 of them on a wee Albin Vega, probably similar room to what you'll have. Assuming you have access to mains leccy the single most useful thing for a liveaboard I'd say an electric blanket. The modern ones use very little power. Also had an eberspacher hot air heater & used that for the first winter BUT (in my experience) they do not like being run on low heat setting for extended periods, will coke up badly & need attention, use more power than you'd think to run the fuel pump & on start-up & so I would say not very suitable for living aboard. Again if you have access to mains leccy an oil-filled rad would be my preference over a fan heater, fan heaters mean it goes cold when it cycles off, also noisy & use more leccy to power the fan. If you don't have access to mains leccy I would go for a drip-feed diesel heater or even a small wood burner. My boat in Greece has a small wood burner made out of an old scuba diving tank. Good luck with it...

 

[Tranona]

I lived on a 26' Eventide for a year in similar circumstances, working away during the week. About 2 months in the water on a river mooring in late summer/autumn then on the hard with electricity on hand. Fan heater to keep warm, cooking on a 2 burner stove and grill. Tolerable existence if you are young and flexible and don't want to spend much money. Not easy to have a social life depending on location and interests.. Long cold winter nights are the worst, particularly the getting up and going in the morning bit.