Live aboard Scruffs

Davy_S

Davy_S

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I have a simple question, an observation really, First of all, I chose to leave the UK because I had had enough of the way it has gone downhill, I did not moan I simply got out, bad letting experience cant smoke blaa blaa blaa etc. I do Not live aboard, I live on land. Ok, here goes I am sure I will be shot down in flames but< I have seen quite a few livaboards pass through, and they look like shite, boat in a sadly neglected condition, occupants the same, a look of the great unwashed, gyipos afloat, dirty knackered clothing hung out on the gardrails, boat needing a lick of paint, maybe they are happy but the impression given is one of poverty. Dont get me wrong, I dont wear designer lebels etc I shop at much cheapness .co. I dont knock anyone from having the balls to escape the UK. I just wonder are they all happy? or happy and poor? or have I seen the wrong type? Or am I just a sad picky git? Wot do you think?
 
Look, I happen to like my 15 year old T shirt /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Perhaps because most peeps are on a limited budget they have other priorities to looking smart. I think you would also need to look a bit beyond the cosmetic aspects of the boat, after all, if you look poor nobody thinks you have anything worth pinching /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
If you choose to escape from the dullness and boredom of everyday life in Britain, with it's weekend drunks making life intolerable, it is hardly surprising that your first priority is not to dress to impress other folk.

Everyone cannot afford to do that with an impressive new boat and loads of money, but that is no good reason for criticism.

I applaud the spirit of those who choose to escape the rat race and are prepared to accept life on a small income and no benefits dropping through the letterbox every week.
 
How can you judge someone else's happiness? You can't. I think you touch on a good question, BUT; don't judge a liveaboard by their appearance. I have met many billionaire sailors that look like tramps, so that is certainly not a clue. Liveaboards typically 'dress down' - very seriously.

The overwhelming majority of liveaboards you will see are very happy; they and their boat might look scruffy but they are living the life of their choice and they love it. They would not trade it for anything, it is a dream come true.

Things are of course not working out for everyone, they never do. To be honest, there is a small group of liveaboards that 'sold up and sailed away', only to find that the new life did not live up to expectations. However, now they only have an old boat that is not worth much and they lost their place on the 'property ladder' in the UK. They have lost their 'get out option' and cannot afford to get back into the UK. They probably only have a small pension which would be giving them a great life in central America, but if you can't stand it there on your small boat will leave you in misery.

Sorry to paint a bleak picture, but we must admit that some of our fellow liveaboards have become stuck in a 'poverty trap'. They can just about afford their life aboard in a cheap country, but they cannot leave. For some, that is wonderful; living a sort of 'Robinson' existence, but for others the feeling of entrapment can be very serious.

Again, don't let this gloom scare you off from liveaboard life; for most it is really a dream come true. But it is a reminder to make sure you try to understand the choices you are making, before you make it. 'Nobody's perfect' though...... Sometimes you just have to take that dive and see where you end up.
 
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Or am I just a sad picky git? Wot do you think?

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Possibly, probably, but I hope you are enjoying doing it your way too. Good LUCK.
 
A little anecdote about "judging a book by its cover".....

It was 1993 and we were wintering in Palma. As usual, we got to know our fellow liveaboards and a friendship sprang up with an old chap who lived on a tatty 28 footer with a scruffy little terrier. We were short of cash but he appeared to be a lot further down the line.

He couldn't walk too well and got about by using a knackered old bike as a kind of ride on zimmerframe. We used to invite him to eat with us because he told fantastic stories of his glory days in the Med - way back when he met Errol Flynn, David Niven, etc. It was well worth an extra serving of food for the pleasure of his company.

Eventually someone told us he was a multimillionaire and one day he recounted the story of how his family business had become a household name in the UK and he'd sold up and headed south (although he still had several bank accounts in different currencies - pre Euro).

Money just didn't seem important to him - he wasn't an old sponger making up stories as he actually took us to a restaurant a couple of times to repay our hospitality. But he certainly wouldn't make the cover of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

He told us that he was getting on a bit but still hoped to make it to Ibiza and Menorca once more before he popped off - I hope his dream came true.
 
Nice story Andy, it,s the lovely people you meet that make this life worthwhile, I,ve met a lot who,ve made me feel very humble in comparison.
 
As a liveaboard your priorities change, what you look like moves down the list, what you are doing, where you are going and who you are meeting, become more important. You are not on a holiday or a charter, where your clothes have just been taken out of a wardrobe, here your clothes are stuffed into draws all the time, which are not the best aired, they get snagged on things and get dirty from fixing the engine or the heads, and for most it is a simple equation, buying new clothes so you can look smart, or add two weeks onto your cruise. It is a simple one to solve, especially as your new clothes will get snagged or dirty from fixing the engine, not to mention fixing the heads again and again and again.
But then you have probably only noticed the scruffy liveaboards, and the smart ones, of which their are a lot, just slip past without you noticing them. However if you get the chance to be a liveaboard take it, it might help to answer your question.
 
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Or am I just a sad picky git? Wot do you think?

[/ QUOTE ]
Basically, yes you are..! I thought you left UK because of people interfering and ruling your life through forcing their judgements on you? Well I don't think you should start making such value judgements about others if you don't like it being done to yourself. It is like me saying because you are so crap at spelling (which you are) you must be thick. The replies on this site show how tolerant and relaxed liveaboards are - and in my experience 'happy'.
 
Just got back from a six hour sail on Bandaras Bay, living a millionaire lifestyle with no debts in a jet set playground. Unfortunately, my polo shirt has not been ironed since washing but my dress shirts have and are below. Some days I am scruffy, by choice, others I am not. Either way, I no longer sit bumper to bumper on the M6 on a bleak November Monday morning wishing my life away. This Monday I shall mostly be washing my boat in the sunshine.

Some say I am lucky and I suppose I am. But, the harder I worked and applied myself the luckier I seemed to get!

Paul
 
I think that in the last few years the liveaboard market in the UK has changed. There are buyers who are buying boats simply because they are a cheap place to live and have no interest in using them as boats. Some of the bodge repairs I've seen on some of these boats are hard to believe. I've seen a Thames Sailing barge where the frames were rotted out from the keel and only held together by spray foam. When the tide came in only her pumps kept her afloat.
To deny that this is bad publicity for liveaboards would be hard to do, however on the plus side I see many young people buying a live aboard and becoming as keen as the rest of us. We are a broad church.
 
I take your point, you are quite right! However my post was not meant to be taken personally, simply an observation which i shared with the forum.
Yes I am a crap speller /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif and i do enjoy the choice I made.
 
Yep, we can be a scruffy lot, but we can also be tidy. My boat looks like hell during the winter, due to tghe fact all refitting/re-varnishing etc. goes on at that time of year, looks magbnificent in the summetr though! I never look magnificent, body shape precludes that!
 
We tend to wear scruffy clothes because there is usually no need to dress up. The main exception is if we go into town or inland. It's polite (and safer) to blend in with the locals, so in Venezuela (for example) it's smart jeans and polo shirt (with no logo, writing etc).
 
Now look what you have done!!
Ill feeling , controversy, and a bit of name calling all on the Liveboard Forum -- be getting like that punchy lot on Scuttlebum soon , whatever next. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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