Living aboard

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I am 55 years old and have sailed on and off for years but only in small dinghys.
I have enroled for the Day Skipper course and may even get as far as Yachtmaster eventually.
I would like to retire early and live in the sunshine, but house prices in Spain and Greece have gone way beyond my reach. However, I could afford to buy a 30 foot boat (I will have to sail single handed), and provided I do not spend all my time in a marina I can live off of my savings. At the moment there is just me to please, since I am recently divorced. What I need to know is; Is any of this feasable or am I unhinged.
I would value your comments.

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Very feasible! A 30 foot boat for one person will be fine, I would maybe go for 33, up to max 36. For more room, when you have visitors. (and you will) Anchoring in mainland Spain and the islands is at no cost, you can hole up in a marina in winter, very cheaply in a small boat. Plenty of room for small boats aswell, all the marinas are open to boats this size. Water and power will not be a problem again, think solar for power, and water fill as m any containers as you can when you can. A good dinghy will be essential, a small rib would be ideal. A fridge is essential for the meddy, they are a bit power hungry, but with good insulation and good solar panels, will be manageable. Plan ahead, talk to lots of people, then just do it, you will never regret it, I didnt and I know lots of people who love it. Consider a small motorsailer, for the meddy.

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Good advice! Got made redundant, then divorced , lost the house, sold everything else, paid off all debts before moving into liveaboard lifestyle on a 29 footer in the Med seven years ago. This has proved to be the second best period of my life. Long may it continue ! Regarding costs, again advice right on for wintering deals in a congenial marina in Spain, France, Corsica or Italy but my feeling is smaller is much better re costs eg 28 to 30 feet is perfectly adequate for a singlehander and will cost up to half as much as a 33 footer, particularly in marina fees. When I get visitors I either get them to put up at a cheap hotel, (or pay for it if it for someone near and/or dear) and do day trips if they are not up to cruising.

An informative web sit for small boat liveaboards is the US

www.yachtatom.com

This is the address from memory. If incorrect I will repost.

Good Luck

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It's an excellent time of the year to go out and visit some livaboards and learn first hand. Although I'm not one, my boat is in Porto di Roma. There are something like a hundred livaboards spending winter there who will make you most welcome (I'm a stick pot and a part-timer and they make me welcome!) Find yourself a cheap hotel in Ostia and join in the fun, there's something organised almost every day.
best of luck

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It looks very likely l'll be in a similar position shortly into the new year, house got to be sold etc etc. My only bonus is l have a boat already, l sail it single handed, its 33ft long keel, shallow draft (4ft) I am currently refitting it at work (cheap no fee's) Ideally would like to do exactly as you intend 2005 - Need loads of info first tho - so a look fwd to all liveaboard comments on the forum.
Phil

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I live quite happily on my 30 foot boat, sometimes alone, sometimes with my girlfriend. I know couples sailing and living quite happily on 27 foot boats and even down to 23 feet (although that's a bit too small for my taste).

If you're going to live on it all year you'll need a good heater too, it can get cold.

Jacko

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It's avery feasible idea. I will be doing the same next year probably on my 32footer. I've found this size very good for single-handing. It is easy to manage and the small size keeps the bills down. Only slight drawback for me is that headroom is 1.9m and I am 1.95m - if I was to buy another boat I'd buy the smallest I could that allowed me to stand up straight.

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1.95 meters, I dont think you are going to find a boat with that much headroom, mine is 57 feet and "only" has 1.93 meters.

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we have 2 metres between the deck beams, so I can can stand up straight generally, but have to duck every so often to avoid getting cracked on the head. We are 40 foot on deck.

I did see a boat, a design by Robert Tucker called a Yara, in Milford Haven, She was a motor sailer, but had 2 metres 10 head room, and so much room.. trouble was she looked like a barge, very broad, small rig but a nice gardner 5 cyl engine. She was called Infinity of Angle and is somewhere in Spain Portugal I think.

I imagfine berthing her must be a royal pain...



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You can see englander on my posts, she does have over 2 meters in places, but not right through, actually most places in her you would have room, but she is 57 feet and BIG, but not like a barge, a little more elegant than that, havent seen the other boat around the med.

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You can certainly live on board a boat of that length. If you are tempted to go a bit larger but cash for day-to-day living is going to be tight, keep it under 10 metres. Marina charges are banded usually by whole numbers of metres. 33ft (10.06m) will cost you quite a lot more to moor than 32ft 6" (9.91m), especially over winter.

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Ah well Englander is a thing of beauty.. and most people covet her.. until the time comes for varnishing or berthing in a stiff breeze!

Anyway keem an eye out for Infinity.. very odd looker... could also pass for an icebreaker cos of the big blusff bow.. anyway you in the sun now or sweating on teh rigs?

I am sitting in the London Metal Exchange listiening to lots of bopring, semi drunk traders, but have decided to bugger off home, well back to boat to make some window frames.

Talk to you later!



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Hi all,
as far as handling is concerned read this.

A while ago a frenchmen about 50 with his 8 year old son came her and docked in the small craft harbour. The wife had left them earlier.

The 8 year old boy could not handle the ropes of the 300 ton ?? fishing boat, but he docked the boat perfectly while the skipper handled the ropes.

For minalistics read the book "shrimpy"by shane atkin. He sailed on an 18 footer eight years around the world and got married on it in south america. Admittedly, he ate mostly pancakes....

I have a LOD16m Gaff schooner with LOA just over 20m, displacement 22 tons but a narrow beam. Splitting the sails, makes them handle like a thirty footer, so imagine, basically the boat is two 30 footer. In our case, we have a lot of hobbies, workshop with lathe for instance and growing things on board. Not talking about mildew.

As far as living in the med, I dare say, you would live better and cheaper on the east coast of Africa or in the Indian Ocean. It just needs rethinking. Your money would stretch much further.

Also, on the East coast of Africa, there is only Moqambique where english is not the official language.

The only risky bit is getting through the red sea and past somalia. Then you are safe.

regards ongolo


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In regard to my previous post, simple manitenance on your boat could be much cheaper because of low-cost labour. For next to nothing, you could also hire a personal bodyguard/servant (not at all neccessary) or a maid in case you like to built a hut on a beach. Mocambique has about 1000 islands, but only three are inhabitet at last count about a year ago. Or if you can carry essential supplies for a year, try the chagos archipelo.

I post a link which is worthwhile reading if you look for places to live.

http://www.seerose.cruiser.co.za/

enjoy it

regards ongolo

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Its been modified! Daringly! h00 almost came a cropper, but he was.................shall we say a little under the weather!

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Interestingly, my "significant other" and I have the opportunity to take early retirement at the end of next year and so have been following the Livaboard thread avidly for the last month or so
Thank you to all of you for making what appeared to be a dream turn into something approaching reality....we have parted company with our beloved Sigma 38 (too wet and wild) and are in the final stages of buying something more suitable for our soon-to-be well slowed down lifestyle!!

Fascinating stuff, but a little worrying that no-one has ever posted any regrets over choosing the lifestyle.........surely there are folks out there who can paint the black picture??? lol

Maybe we will meet in the Med (or further afield) one day

Nick & Pam

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Hi Ongolo

Mocambiqui sounds like a very interesting place to visit.
Do you know what the cruising is like on the West coast of Africa? Thinking of the Gambia and that sort of region.

Regards, Steve

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Only met one couple who didn`t like it and they can`t be counted, for reasons I wqont go into.

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