Student considering living on board

[KellysEye]

>I know of a couple of people that have come to an arrangement with boat owners to live on, and look after, their boats, just for the cost of paying the berthing fees.

And the chance of that happening to the OP is?

 

[laika]

>Around here it costs around £1500 - £2000 to move into rented accommodation. You can easily buy a boat for that much.

Would you honestly want to live on a boat that costs that much, I wouldn't. Or perhaps you have some examples?

I question that too, and some of the "charges" for renting mentioned.

If a letting agency makes all the charges described in ronsurf's post they are committing a criminal offence. I've read that some dodgy ones try (never personally encountered it) but a "viewing fee" would be illegal:
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting/costs_of_renting/letting_agent_fees_and_charges
A deposit should be just that and modern holding schemes have curtailed the abilities of scumbag landlords to just appropriate it without good cause. That's less than £500 for a month's deposit at feldon's rate which he should get back at the end of the tenancy.

A month's rent in advance isn't a "charge to move in", it's your first month's rent. You'd have to pay your first month's berthing fees up front too.

Feldon doesn't state whether the £100 is inclusive or not. Additional to the mooring fees you've got insurance, electricity (pricey when running a heater and dehumidifier through the winter), gas (though that seems to go a long way). If your boat has a holding tank there may be pump-out charges. All marinas will require you to have insurance. Many won't check but if you don't have it things won't be too happy if your boat catches fire or your mast drops on the boat next door. Things which are cheap and easy in a shared flat are often more expensive on the boat. No washing machine so you've got a tenner a week in the launderette. mobile broadband is more expensive than domestic (marina wifi is rarely any cop). At my marina they charge liveaboards £25 a month to receive mail (and lose half of it). There's obviously interest on your loan to buy the boat. The amount of maintenance KellysEye mentions is what a conscientious full-time cruiser would do but parked in a marina and letting things slide you could get away with a lot less but it is still down to you if the window above your bunk starts leaking. Stocking up with basic tools and consumables is not cheap though, even when bought as needed and borrowed when possible.

Biggest expense for us is storage but if you have few possessions and either parents, a guardian or friends who can store stuff for you that won't apply.

It adds up. I don't think it's justifiable on purely economic grounds. As VexedIllologist says, you have to want it for other reasons.

I'd seen the story jumbleduck links to before. The guy in the article says he was paying £30 a month to park his boat. I don't think you'd get that deal from Liverpool marina.

 

[Feldon]

Finally replying.

I just wanna say a huge thank you for all of your ideas. I've read every post very carefully and I am getting a good idea of what needs to be done.
So here's my replies and questions to individuals posters but anyone should feel free to answer any of them:

@rivona: I don't really know anyone that I would want to live with, on the same yacht, for 3 years. Although if someone that is tolerable comes along then splitting costs would help me greatly.

@purplerobbie: 350 a month is the sort of money I would expect to pay for a nice apartment. Per month. Do you reckon that the Liverpool Marina is worth it? I've looked it up and there were (as always) several people complaining about it because they thought that it charged too much given it's location. Do you get unlimited electricity? If so, this might save me a bunch of money on heating.

@Cardo: Thanks for your post mate. As you wrote, there is a huge bundle of small problems but each of them can be solved individually. Is Liverpool Marina really that cheap? I've no experience when it comes to english marina's. It feels like 350 pounds per month is a bunch of money. Do you know of any cheaper marina's around Liverpool? Something akin to what this guy found: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ard-yacht-bought-800-save-thousands-rent.html

@7htas: I am well aware of those things you've mentioned. The harsh reality is far from the romantic dreams indeed. Would you mind briefly describing what sort of funds one would need to keep his yacht in seaworthy condition? Assuming that it is in perfect running order at the start (it probably won't be)?

@laika: Would you mind talking me through what you do to combat the humidity? How bad does it actually get? I've read somewhere that oftentimes clothes go moldy. Has that happened to you?

@Vara: Yes, I've had a look at westerly centaur before and that is the sort of a boat that I am looking for. I mean... just look at it: http://www.western-horizon.co.uk/boat_images/756.jpg It's so good! Could you suggest anymore models like this one?

@Kelpie,Rivona: Do you reckon that this yacht is well worth it's price? it seems to in a good condition. http://www.apolloduck.com/advert.phtml?id=389020

@ripvan1: Macwesters? Judging from the couple of pictures I've seen, they look a bit small. Have you got plenty of experience with them? How much is adequate space?

@Hadenough: Well that was a bit mean to say the least.

@Cheers for that link ronsurf.

@KellysEye: You're dead right when you say that living in a flat would be cheaper overall. I am doing this for comfort or purely economical reasons. I enjoy all aspects of sailing and I think that I will enjoy fixing things. How much money did you spend on maintenance per year?

@ronsurf: "If I commit myself and spend the summer working" means that I will work throughout the summer and earn some money if I decide to purchase a yacht. Which is very likely right now.

@VexedIllogist: I am very much committed. Initially, I had thought that it would be significantly cheaper. However, after doing my research, I have found out that I will end up paying about the same if not more as a person living in a flat. What were the main problems you encountered when you did this a student? Wow those -12C nights sound rather extreme. So do you reckon that I will be able to solve most problems that will pop by learning as I go along with it?

Okay, thank you again! Your opinions are most helpful. Please don't hesitate to point out any questions that I've forgotten to ask!

 

[laika]

@laika: Would you mind talking me through what you do to combat the humidity? How bad does it actually get? I've read somewhere that oftentimes clothes go moldy. Has that happened to you?

dehumidifier. Essential for a uk liveaboard. Something similar to this:
http://www.meaco.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DD8LJunior


If we don't run ours on low over night I will wake up with water dripping off the window above my bunk. That's just from breathing. Boiling pasta and making a cup of tea pumps out loads of water vapour which will condense when it hits a cold surface: your windows or the sides of the boat are cold in winter.

Combatting mould involves opening up lockers regularly, taking stuff out and drying them out. Cleaning mould which has started to grown on walls or ceilings with a bleach solution and if you close off an area to minimise what you need to heat (e.g. the forepeak), don't leave it closed up too long.

yes we've had stuff go mouldy and had to clean it but I've been paranoid about my suits and good clothes and regularly aired out the big lockers where they're kept. Papers and books can suffer in this environment.

 

[bigwow]

>I know of a couple of people that have come to an arrangement with boat owners to live on, and look after, their boats, just for the cost of paying the berthing fees.

And the chance of that happening to the OP is?

If he goes to the marina, looks for boats that have a long growth of weed and look neglected then asks the office to contact the owners on his behalf who knows.

Albert dock is a lot cheaper by the way.

 

[7htas]

@7htas: I am well aware of those things you've mentioned. The harsh reality is far from the romantic dreams indeed. Would you mind briefly describing what sort of funds one would need to keep his yacht in seaworthy condition? Assuming that it is in perfect running order at the start (it probably won't be)?

I'm the wrong person to ask about smaller vessels. But I know from working on larger ones, that it's pretty much constant work- by the time one job is finished, three have piled up in the ensuing time.

What I was getting at in your situation, is the 'If' scenario- which, when I was in the very situation you were in 2 years, I asked myself.

"What if something really costly needed replacing/repairing- how would I afford it?" - and my answer was that I wouldn't be able to.





I asked about a small yacht being berthed in Liverpool Marina in August last year: This is the response I got.

"12 months serviced contract (includes access to water and electricity)
£331.70 x 6.7m = £2222.39
£185.20 – monthly

12 month un-serviced contract (includes access to water, no electricity)
£282.26 x 6.7m = £1891.14
£157.60 – monthly

We also have some berths on Mariner’s Wharf (a small back wall of the marina) that we currently have a deal on at the moment which is £1200 for the year. There is no electricity or access to water over on Mariner’s Wharf though as it is a bit away from the rest of the marina."

 

[Kelpie]

Re: the Hurley
No, not especially well priced. Old engine, old sails, osmosis, and he wants £7.5k for it. At that money you'd really be expecting everything to be in good nick.
BUT it's already in the right place and is a former liveaboard, according to the advert. I would use the defects to haggle the price down a good chunk (pay £5k?) because if you are just going to live aboard it none of these thing will really matter, until you come to sell.

No connection, by the way

 

[ripvan1]

http://yachts.apolloduck.co.uk/advert.phtml?id=365561


@ripvan1: Macwesters? Judging from the couple of pictures I've seen, they look a bit small. Have you got plenty of experience with them? How much is adequate space?


Macester are a bit tardis-like, yes I've had one for 2 years after downsizing from a 42 footer and they are surpisingly spacey with standing headroom (I'm 6ft 1"). We love to go away for week at a time or weekends and we've never had any space issues. If you're at uni most of the time your not really going to be on the boat that much probably just sleeping and weekending - come summer hopefully you'll be out sailing with mates and will get "into" sailing - another arrow to your bow in the quiver of life. Good luck whatever you choose.

 

[Tam Lin]

Don't forget that boats always look better in photos and when you get there...........
If it doesn't look good in a photo then it probably isn't worth bothering about as the reality will be awful!

 

[rivonia]

The Hurley is WELL over priced. Realistic firm price for a quick sale is around £3000-00 ish. Needs money to be spent on her lift out and in OSMOSIS could cost more than the sale price. My advice forget it.

 

[KellysEye]

>Do you get unlimited electricity? If so, this might save me a bunch of money on heating.

Marina electricity is more expensive than you would have in a flat. Sorry I can't give you a price for fixing things, maintenance and tools we didn't keep list. Hurleys are well built boats and pretty.

If you want Liverpool marina costs they are here http://www.liverpoolmarina.com/mooring-fees-charges.htm click on tariffs.

 

[sampeeter]

Use a mail service. This allows you the ease to change marinas or cruise and recive mail. It also removes you from the indicator of the liveaboard status that some marinas don't favor. We use St. Brendans Isle, but there are many others. 'take care and joy

 

[ronsurf]

>Around here it costs around £1500 - £2000 to move into rented accommodation. You can easily buy a boat for that much.

Would you honestly want to live on a boat that costs that much, I wouldn't. Or perhaps you have some examples?

What I would want to live on, and what the OP would want to live on is different to what you would want to live on. I posted this link earlier: http://onkudu.com/ .Some guy was living on his Corribee in St Catherine's Dock - he posted on here regularly. No idea what's happened to him. Some ne'er do well called Ellen MacArthur lived on her Corribee Iduna for a while, before moving into a Portacabin.

I live in a student area, and the tales are quite astonishing. I have heard of a 15 quid fee to return your keys(!). My ex gf lived in a student flat (ground floor) and was charged a fee approximate to the deposit as the cooker had to be replaced. She maintained that she had cleaned it, and it was fine. She ended up befriending one of the new tenants, and yes, the old cooker was still there. One letting agent once tried to charge me £250 'legal fee'. I said, "Surely that's a letting fee, and that's £100?'. No this was a fee that was payable when we signed the contract "to make it more legal". We walked away from that one.

I considered buying a boat to live on, but did it the wrong way round. Tried to find somewhere for a boat I didn't have. I've since found out that when you have a boat, it's easier to find somewhere to keep it! I still maintain it's worth a go. Good luck!

 

[Tryweryn]

I did physics in Liverpool. Get a nice cheap boat and do the work yourself. I wish i had thought of this instead of wasting rent.

 

[V1701]

Complete change of subject but you might want also to consider living in a campervan/van conversion. I've done it for over a year now, most of the time I have places to park that don't cost anything but in winter mostly using a caravan site at about a tenner a night that includes electricity, nice shower blocks & laundry facilities. Installed two solar panels & a battery bank to charge various devices & for TV & water pump, with this set up you just need to find somewhere where there aren't any parking charges. Have a look at the UK Hippy forum to get a flavour of van life. Personally I prefer living on a boat in a marina & will be going back to that soon, glad I've done the van living for a bit though. Good luck with everything...