Using a yacht instead of a flat - settle an argument?

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Carcassi

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I've recently got a new job in Liverpool which is about a 90 minute drive from home. I don't intend to commute every day so I need to find an overnight base in Liverpool for 3 to 4 nights a week. I'm considering buying/ renting a small house or flat but I'm also wondering whether buying the yacht I've been thinking about for the last 20 years might be a good solution. Moored in Liverpool marina I'd be a shortish walk from work, and could even do a bit of evening racing & weekend cruising. My wife is starting to wonder whether I might be right but there's a concern that going back to the yacht on a rainy, windy winter night might not be the most inspiring way to relax after a stressful day at work. Struggling to the shower block on a miserable morning might also be a bit much.
Has anyone done anything similar, or got any views/ ideas?
 
Carcassi said:
I've recently got a new job in Liverpool which is about a 90 minute drive from home. I don't intend to commute every day so I need to find an overnight base in Liverpool for 3 to 4 nights a week. I'm considering buying/ renting a small house or flat but I'm also wondering whether buying the yacht I've been thinking about for the last 20 years might be a good solution. Moored in Liverpool marina I'd be a shortish walk from work, and could even do a bit of evening racing & weekend cruising. My wife is starting to wonder whether I might be right but there's a concern that going back to the yacht on a rainy, windy winter night might not be the most inspiring way to relax after a stressful day at work. Struggling to the shower block on a miserable morning might also be a bit much.
Has anyone done anything similar, or got any views/ ideas?
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I tried something vaguely similar when a student a Bangor Uni where I already had a boat. Didn't work for for me. Liverpool Marina has fairly decent facilities but racing round the cans on a boat you live on won't bring home much silverware. The marina is also a deceptively long, and in winter a bleak, walk to the city centre, if that's where you're working. If you sacrifice sailing ambitions (very time limited access) then Albert Dock is a more realistic option for city centre living.
 
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Well if you want to liveaboard, the yacht will be full of STUFF.
If you want to race at wknds, that's not so good..

Heating and condensation will dominate your lives..

Does the marina accept liveaboards? Unlikely. They might possibly turn a blind eye if you are lucky..

Sounds like you know it can be a misery sometimes..
 
Ohlin Karcher said:
Well if you want to liveaboard, the yacht will be full of STUFF.
If you want to race at wknds, that's not so good..

Heating and condensation will dominate your lives..

Does the marina accept liveaboards? Unlikely. They might possibly turn a blind eye if you are lucky..

Sounds like you know it can be a misery sometimes..
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3 days a week = Liveaboard ??????
 
What size boat, I tried it 20 years ago after splitting from my wife. I tried it on a 26 foot sailing boat in a yacht club on a trot mooring. It was the most depressing, lonely thing I have ever done. Might be different in a marina on a large boat with lekky and water and people. If you like boats do it
 
Thanks for these replies. Yes I'm definitely not planning to liveaboard and if I get involved in racing it's more likely to be on board someone else's boat I imagine. I'll be working on the Uni of Liv Campus and should have parking so I suppose I could drive it when the weather's miserable. Never visited the marina so I'm not sure of the setup. I think Albert Dock is run by the same organisation? Location is probably more convenient, but does it have any facilities?
 
Carcassi said:
@38mess Yes, bit concerned about the loneliness possibility. I was thinking minimum 36' and with all mod cons.
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You won't be lonely for long on that :-). I did it in January-may. So the long dark nights with no money and no where to go killed it for me. I think a marina is a great social place, there are usually a few livaboards lurking around wanting to drink your beer and eat your grub.
 
I did just that as a contractor in London a few years ago.

I moved the boat to Penton Hook Marina, and as a contractor, charged out 3, sometime 4 nights a week our at hotel rates, That was accepted by Inland Revenue as I was not full time, but living 190 miles away and commuting at the beginning and end of the week.

Using the boat for sailing AND liveabord is unrealistic.

The one episode I did not like was when the pontoons were covered with frozen rain. If you do it, a pair of those spikey shoes is the answer.
 
Some marinas are not too fussy about live aboard (e.g. Brighton).
My advice is forget the marina facilities and buy a boat with decent heating, hot water and shower.
I have a friend who bought a n
boat to live aboard in London (she travels alot for work but wanted a base).
I live aboard during the summer and live overseas in winter.
I wouldn't fancy living aboard all winter but s few nights a week would be ok.
 
Great, thanks for these helpful replies. A stupid question: is pumping sewage/ shower drain out acceptable in a marina on an estuary like the Mersey? I've done most of my sailing in the med where holding tanks and being well offshore is the norm.
 
I live aboard Monday to Friday and (roughly) alternate weekends

First priority is without doubt heating

Running fan heaters ... actually one fan heater cos you won't run more than one on a marina 16A supply ... is expensive at marina leccy rates and in the depths of winter barely enough. We fitted a 4kw blown air heating system which does the job

Second issue is, as already mentioned, condensation. Cruising yachts simply don't have enough insulation as standard. Our forecabin (v-berth) is currently unusable in winter for this reason (the refit is the current project) so i live for half the year in the saloon. This does save on heating though!

Thirdly, and no getting around this, is sanitation. A holding tank is fine if there's easy access to pump out facilities. Our solution, as we don't have that facility, is a Portapotti 165 which has to be emptied every three or four days.

Fourth, refrigeration. Unless you're going to eat ashore all the time a decent fridge is essential.

As others have said, forget living aboard, even part time, combined with going sailing on a whim. I live a fairly austere life on board (cos it suits me to do so) but even so it's two or three hours of sorting out and arranging to switch from living on the berth to going sailing

Again already mentioned is the marina policy towards liveaboards. Some are very tolerant, some less so and some won't allow it at all. Official policy may differ from practice on the ground but in all cases discretion is usually the watchword. In other words, don't be obvious!

Finally, some find the life claustrophobic and / or lonely, especially in winter, some don't. You won't know without trying it!
 
I lived aboard for a while in winter.

For a start, forget going for quick casual sails - accomodation will be the priority.

You WILL need 240v mains hook up so as to use fan heaters for dry heat.

Condensation from windows, deckhead and bulkheads will be your constant No.1 enemy even on a well insulated boat.

Especially so if cooking or just boiling a kettle ( hot water bottles are not just for old people and softies ) - if you can find a good value pub for food and staying a while in warmth and company or just to read that would be a major bonus.

Beware in winter, a good marina near me had lost three liveaboards drowned at the last count, all slipped on icy pontoons at night - and that was years ago, may well be more now.

Despite all that I'd say ' do it, have a go ' - as long as your eyes are open - and they probably are as you're asking here - it's a worthwhile experience and I found better than sharing a flat with a git who didn't pay their share...
 
Depends what you're trying to do really - do you have plans for the boat when the contract finishes or are you just looking for a cheap digs? The Albert dock is much cheaper than the marina if you don't want to go sailing, but you'll pay commercial lock rates when you do want to leave.
 
I'd give it a go. I suspect I'm older than you, and I seriously considered this when I was job-hunting; I applied for several jobs where I would have lived aboard for serious amounts of time, and that on a boat where I would have had to use shore-side toilet and shower facilities. Given that I was looking at professional, office based work, that would have meant that the hardest bit might have been keeping clothes up to the standard usually required! And certainly I knew of others in the same marina who lived aboard and worked elsewhere - I remember especially a lady who had to walk along the pontoons very carefully as she was wearing office clothes - with high heels!

Combining living aboard with sailing is a matter or being organized; I tend to keep most things in a seaworthy state as a matter of convenience - a place for everything and everything in its place works well as a mantra for living in a small space.
 
I'd say it massively depends on the boat. If you are thinking of doing the sailing on someone else's boat rather than your own, I'd sacrifice the big stick pointing in the air that clanks, and the pointy ends and be looking at either a mobo or even a narrowboat. Narrowboats tend to have proper central heating with radiators, lots of insulation, much better galleys, decent showers and often a small bath, and a woodburner. The multiple cabin design is also far better at swallowing "stuff" that you don't want to be looking at every day, and they really are extremely cosy in winter.
Whilst I'm sure we all share the dream of living on board, I'd probably only do it if I was cruising at the same time.
 
Dehumidifier is a real boon - if it’s cold and wet outside and you are cooking a meal you won’t want lots of open hatches. Sheets, towels and clothes are drier and feel much warmer. And the fan heater needs a lot less use.
 
We've had a narrowboat in central London for several years while we were working there on and off during the week. At 65' long and 6'6 wide it was just OK with two. Our mooring was "non-residential" which meant no more than 3 nights in 7, but we didn't have to pay council tax. The key problem was heating in the winter. We had a 3kw electric heating system and it took up to 12 hours to reach 18 degrees on a cold day. This meant visiting the boat in the morning to plug in before going to work, so it would be livable in the evening (If you use coal or wood, you have to light the fire and stay with it while it gets going and fuel storage is a major problem). Waste disposal was another challenge - both human and domestic - as was fresh food storage in summer. We got "free" electricity, but most marinas make exorbitant charges for this. We did use the boat as a boat (we went round the UK via Leeds and Bristol and other trips) but almost never for short periods as it was too much hassle. We sold up in the end when we worked out overall it was actually cheaper to stay in a Travelodge.
On the other hand, I spent most of last summer on a 34' yacht sailing round the UK. Living aboard was great except a) when the fridge broke down and b) when it rained and I couldn't get anything dry so the whole boat became soggy c) keeping warm in March/April and October d) when there was someone else on board. The main issue in using the boat as a flat is you can't just come in and dump your stuff - there's always work to do (water in, waste out, get gas and fuel for the Eberspacher, fix the fridge, arm the place up etc etc.
So would I do it again - living in what my son called a pied-a-l'eau ? No.
 
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