Are you a Single liveaboard or with a significant other?

[Ninpo]

Hi all,

This may seem like a bit of a personal question but I'm just wondering how the ratios go.

So do you liveaboard alone or with a partner? I imagine there's a big impact upon what size yacht you need and the space that needs to be made available if there's two of you, and that space/size on board can be dramatically reduced if it's just yourself?

Ninpo

 

[V1701]

I live happily on my own on an Albin Vega (27'), living in a marina and working at the moment. Would be happy to cruise with the Vega two-up but would consider having a bigger boat if I were shacking up with someone and carrying on living in the marina & working. That would be absolute max 12m, unless I get rich (highly unlikely)...

 

[KellysEye]

We were two up for six and a half years (three for one passage). We met/saw hundreds of long distance boats, less then one per cent were single handed. As I've mentioned before they accounted for thirty per cent of boats reported overdue in the Caribbean.

 

[TopDonkey]

I'm a single liveaboard on a python 27 twin diesel motor cruiser living in portsmouth harbour, enjoying it so far, but my eberspacher seems to be a bit unreliable at the moment, i take it apart to fix about twice a month

 

[Downsman]

Single, 33 foot sloop. 16 years cruising Med and Caribbean but only for 2 years at a time, always sailed back to Uk every couple of years for the summer, refit, see the kids and Grandaughter then away again.

 

[multihullsailor6]

Single, on a 10.2m cat cruising the sunny parts of this planet only.

 

[capnsensible]

My wife and I moved aboard our Moody 33 in 1998.

Regrets? Ive had a few, but there again, too few to mention.

 

[SailorBill]

My wife and I moved aboard our Moody 33 in 1998.

Regrets? Ive had a few, but there again, too few to mention.

Good grief, it's a small world! You almost certainly won't remember me but we met about ten/eleven years ago when I did my Dayskipper with Straits Sailing. We persuaded your crew to part with a bottle of wine in Marina Smir as our skipper had forgot Smir was dry! I think you were instructing a group of Yachtmaster prep students for another sailing school. You arranged for the crew of both boats to go for a meal together at a Moroccan restaurant somewhere up in the hills. Happy days! Glad to see you are doing well.

 

[jellyellie]

Good grief, it's a small world! You almost certainly won't remember me but we met about ten/eleven years ago when I did my Dayskipper with Straits Sailing. We persuaded your crew to part with a bottle of wine in Marina Smir as our skipper had forgot Smir was dry! I think you were instructing a group of Yachtmaster prep students for another sailing school. You arranged for the crew of both boats to go for a meal together at a Moroccan restaurant somewhere up in the hills. Happy days! Glad to see you are doing well.

This makes me smile, and is exactly what I love about sailing.

 

[capnsensible]

Good grief, it's a small world! You almost certainly won't remember me but we met about ten/eleven years ago when I did my Dayskipper with Straits Sailing. We persuaded your crew to part with a bottle of wine in Marina Smir as our skipper had forgot Smir was dry! I think you were instructing a group of Yachtmaster prep students for another sailing school. You arranged for the crew of both boats to go for a meal together at a Moroccan restaurant somewhere up in the hills. Happy days! Glad to see you are doing well.

Morning!

Very nice to hear from you, do send a pm and we can chat, we are travelling a bit at the moment so acess to internet a tad sporadic.

Happy New Year!!

 

[CaptnPugwash]

Single happy liveaboard with a 28ft Newbridge Spinner, very spacious for its size, can accomodate two with moderate comfort if both are willing to compromise on the locker and storage space.

 

[Ludd]

Single on a NAB 35. Happy but always open to offers!

 

[ukmctc]

I live happily on my own on an Albin Vega (27'), living in a marina and working at the moment. Would be happy to cruise with the Vega two-up but would consider having a bigger boat if I were shacking up with someone and carrying on living in the marina & working. That would be absolute max 12m, unless I get rich (highly unlikely)...

It dosen't make a differnce, the size of the boat my wife and I started out living aboard a 23 footer. We have been travelling for almost 17 years now and have lived in a Mini metro, two man tent, motorbikes, motorhome and boats. its not the size of your dwelling its the company you keep.
I traded up as I went along and now we live on a Moody 33, you don't have tobe rich either you can trade and swap until you get the boat you want.


"Boatingdreams" a good book

 

[tonybannister]

We have had our Achilles 9 metre for 22 years and both worked in the oil business in Aberdeen. There were periods when I had to work away from home in London. I sailed the boat (single handed) to london to live on board for these times. Stayed in St Catherines the first time, South Dock the second and Limehouse the third and found the boat comfortable to live onboard. We set out 13 years ago to sail full time and for the first few years looked for a bigger boat, we never found one that we were happy to spent the extra cash on so just upgraded ours. Now we would never think of changing. Going back 13 years we wanted 38-40 foot, if we made that decision now we would probably look for a Moody 33.
However we kept our bungalow back in the UK and have since changed it for a flat and do not rent it out. So we do not have to keep all we own on the boat - makes a big difference. Particularly when we were in the South of France and had a car as we could transport stuff back and forth Easter and Autumn.
There are many single handers out here in Turkey on 45 foot boats so I do not know what that will do to your statistics. Some of them have the larger boat for sociability reasons as they have many visitors to sail with them for the company.
Some boats are man and wife aboard during the time in marinas but singlehanders when the sailing comes in. I guess we come into that category. My wife dearly loves our boat and her time on it but recognises that she does not like the sailing as much as I do so she will do short trips but encourages me to get my fix by doing the longer passages single handed..
The 1% of singlehanders coming to grief may be true, I do not know. But many factors could influence that statistic. Like there are two on our boat in marinas but on longer passages only one. The key I guess is if sleep is needed in sea areas where a good lookout in needed having crew is pretty useful.

When I was in St Catherines and dreaming of this life either side of me were two others with the same dream. We recognised that if one made it we would be lucky. Twenty years later anchored in a bay in Levkas I awoke and found that there were three boats moored close together. It was three three of us from St Catherines - we had all made it !

 

[chinita]

I agree.

In fact, there may be an argument for testing the strength of a proposed relationship by starting out with a couple of pushbikes and a tent!