Living on a boat

[Abigail]

There's a piece of string quality to the question about price. If you want to it fit to live on on day one, and fit to sail, and about 40' long in GRP then probably 80-100K. If you want steel, probably more, if ferro (and there are good ferro boats but get a very good surveyor) then less.

I would argue that that is about the price it takes to get a good blue water liveaboard boat in that size. (You can of course pay a helluva lot more!). If you pay less on the day, you will pay the difference in the work you do on her, from insulation to new anchors ... But if you have to do the work after you've bought her then (i) you spread the cost and (ii) you know how good it is and what has been done.

It's really worth looking at the back pages of the mags and wandeirng around boat yards. The mags will give you a feel for prices. You may find some unloved or 'project' boats hanging around in yards that will go a bit cheaper. All down the Medway, Crouch, Blackwater and up here on the Suffolk rivers there are boats in the yards that are maybe on a local brokers books, won't be in the mags, but may well be worth a hard look for what you want to do.

HTH

 

[wagenaar]

One of the problems people come up with, when living on board a ship is the lack of storage space. I feel that problem is overrated. People tend to gather things around them often because they feel it gives a "personal" surrounding. Being critical about what you have on board, makes that you do need much less storage space. Buy second hand books and throw them away after you read them or maybe you can even sell them where you bought them. Pilots are out of date after a couple of years and you have to buy new ones, so why keep them, when you don't need them anymore. Sell them. There are many others sailors who need them and are willing to pay for them if they are only one or two years old. A similar story goes for clothing. If you live on board, but have a job, it is not necessary to have five jaquets, two are sufficient. If you don't have a job one jaquet is sufficient. I took one suit along when I went long time sailing, to be prepaired for a solemn occasion (wedding or funeral) In short: Ask yourself for each item is it necessary, how often do I need it and is there an alternative.

 

[Cardo]

80-100k for a 40 foot boat? And here I was thinking around 30-40k for a 32-33 footer!

 

[paulrossall]

Better to buy a 32-33 footer for less than £20K and then spend some money on bringing up to the specification that you want. IMHO.

 

[Cardo]

[ QUOTE ]
Better to buy a 32-33 footer for less than £20K and then spend some money on bringing up to the specification that you want. IMHO.

[/ QUOTE ]
This is actually something I'd wondered. Thought it might be better to get something that comes with less extras, and then add the extras that would be useful to me. Also, I could then "decorate" the boat to a style that suits me.
Is this what many people do?

 

[Chantel]

Try Handi-foam sprayed insulation: www.spray-insulation.co.uk

You can buy DIY spray foam kits.

 

[Cardo]

[ QUOTE ]
Try Handi-foam sprayed insulation: www.spray-insulation.co.uk

You can buy DIY spray foam kits.

[/ QUOTE ]
Forgive my ignorance, but where would the layer of insulation go? Is there a cavity in the hull where it would go, or would it have to go directly on the cabin walls?

 

[Chantel]

Hi,

I noticed that you are building your own boat. I hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions because my husband and I are wanting to do the same thing!

We have found a design for a steel boat we want to build and we are planning to purchase the cutting plans so we can have the steel profile cut. The only problem is where do we build the boat (we were thinking of renting space from a boatyard - I don't know how feasible that is as it might be a conflict of interests) and how much would it cost us to rent space.

If you can offer any advice, I would be extremely grateful!