What do live aboards do in winter?

[stranded]

I've been thinking about the same thing as the date for our off draws closer. We have no idea if we will like the life so will be keeping options open and have given ourselves to change our minds at any point - if we decide to turn round at Falmouth, that's fine!

But subject to that, given that living aboard will just be 'ordinary' life, we have decided that the winters will be a holiday! So assuming we get that far, the first winter in the Med we intend to take a car down and spend a few months really exploring whichever country we happen to find ourselves in - we tend not to do much sightseeing in the summer - too hot, too busy, and too little time. We'll chuck a small tent in the boot for when the weather's ok and assume we will be able to get some good deals on rooms when it isn't.

Don't know if it will work, but it's a plan!

 

[sailaboutvic]

I've been thinking about the same thing as the date for our off draws closer. We have no idea if we will like the life so will be keeping options open and have given ourselves to change our minds at any point - if we decide to turn round at Falmouth, that's fine!

But subject to that, given that living aboard will just be 'ordinary' life, we have decided that the winters will be a holiday! So assuming we get that far, the first winter in the Med we intend to take a car down and spend a few months really exploring whichever country we happen to find ourselves in - we tend not to do much sightseeing in the summer - too hot, too busy, and too little time. We'll chuck a small tent in the boot for when the weather's ok and assume we will be able to get some good deals on rooms when it isn't.

Don't know if it will work, but it's a plan!

Quite a few people go off thoughtout the winter months exploring , it just mean increasing the budget a bit more ,
not from the onces that are plainning to Liveaboard on 10k .

 

[NornaBiron]

In the Mediterranean, on sailing yachts at least, THEY SAIL!!

Not many of us out here sailing at the moment. We've seen a handful of boats out sailing since November, we've got the place ro ourselves!

 

[Trident]

We've spent two winters now in Cartagena - here's some of what we do

In town over winter there is - Jazz Festival, Carnival, Romans and Carthaginians Festival, Three Kings Parade, Samana Santa Easter Week
More restaurants and cafes than I can count - even though we only eat out once a week
Work on the boat
Travel to see places like Granada or to ski
Day sails on the good days with 23 degrees in December and seas you can still swim in
Learn Spanish - so far for my wife this has meant also helping local children read in English and then InterCambio meetings with locals - meet for an hour say and speak half in English and half in Spanish meaning you meet lots of locals and socialise making new friends and community ties
We read, watch movies, listen to music, etc
Next door in the Yacht club is a gym that some use
Every week the Liveaboards here run 1 or 2 barbecues, have a tapas night out, a happy hour night - one lady here runs 2 yoga classes a week and the marina (Yacht Port Cartagena) let us use a room for it. There have also been craft classes and women's coffee mornings
Basically the town here is great and the locals lovely and its normally easy to find company among the liveaboards if you want to

 

[Tony Cross]

Speaking only for myself of course, we do exactly what we feel like doing, and even after 12 years of doing that it's still amazingly liberating. I will pick up jobs, do a bit and perhaps put them down again if I need a part or assistance. In a marina there is always someone who know exactly how to fix what you've broken so there is a lot of shared skills going on. A couple of bottles of wine is generally all the payment required.

We do have regular "organised" events; I lead the hill weekly walking group, we have a BBQ every Sunday, and this year there is a "happy hour" get together in a bar outside the marina. We also play petanque on the beach outside the marina every week. People join in or not as the mood takes them. Nobody cares if you didn't come last week, everything is open to everyone.

Some people who like organising set up events; we had a Burn's Night supper and a pancake day supper too. Lots of people enjoy inviting new friends round for meals, there are often ad-hoc group meals out too. And of course we generally join in with the local events of which there are quite a few.

My mother told me I'd be bored, but she couldn't have been more wrong, we're never bored. The difference is that what we do is our choice and it's not driven by time pressures, we don't "have" to do anything we don't want to do yet there is plenty going on in the marina should we choose to join in.

We have a far more active and varied social life in the marina over winter than we ever did when we were working.

 

[dslittle]

'

Being content with one's own and partner's company has a lot to do with it I feel. One doesn't have to be "doing" something all the time. I found that doing chores and maintenance on boat, daily shop, trying different cafes, talking to various others met on walks etc, reading, cooking evening meal followed by evening stroll - along with occasional trip away all took time. Trying to "plan" winters as a liveaboard I found didn't work as you never knew what was going to happen from one day to next - be it helping someone else with problem with their boat or other problems. I always carried an extensive tool kit aboard for my own use and others should they need help. Oh and don't forget your siesta.

Almost exactly my experience. At first my wife was still working and she would often come back and ask what I had done all day!!!

Having a dog makes a great difference, with nice long walks through beautiful varied countryside and meeting new friends.

And talking about winter - somehow the small winter jobs still seem to be there at the beginning of the next season - how does that happen???

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Having read good reports about Catagena on here, we wandered around yesterday with the view of possibly moving our boat to the Med and enjoying some winter sun.

I don't remember you asking us on the Mobo forum for permission to think about this, ljs?

Actually its a fair question and its one that my SWMBO and I discuss when planning our eventual retirement. FWIW we concluded that we would get bored staying on the boat in one location and if we weren't going to move the boat we'd have to move ourselves and that probably means going back home at regular intervals

 

[capnsensible]

Doing the mostly indoor things for six months in winter helps to pay for six months in the summer sun Which reminds me, I have had to purchase and have made several parts to keep the boat going. It would not have been impossible to do this in Greece but considerably easier and better done in UK.

I do a lot of outdoor things like sailing in the winter so we can eat!

:encouragement:

 

[BurnitBlue]

Tourist ... "What do Swedes do for Entertainment?"

Swede ... "We sail a lot, and go for walks. Oh and we "screw" a lot."

Tourist ... "Yes yes, but what do you do for entertainment in the winter?"

Swede ... Well, we don't sail or go for walks."

 

[truscott]

We have wintered in Marmaris, Turkey this year. While we have been told numbers are way down on previous years (apparently there were as many as 300 here a few winters back), I guess there are still around 50 or so English speaking live aboard types. Some are Brits, a few Aussies, Eastern Europeans, a few regular Euro types like Danes and Swiss, some Turks and me, the only Kiwi. Some are on the hard, some in the water but we are all still managing to have a bit of fun.

Over in Netsel Gwen and her Marmaris Bay Cruisers network takes care of organized tours etc... if that's your thing. Out here at Marmaris Yacht Marina we're a little less structured but are still managing to get together for games of Mexican Trains. We threw a dock party to celebrate Waitangi day (for which the sun co-operated) and we have a non-binding Pub Night on Friday nights (I thought if I let folk know that this was the one night that I'd be likely to be at the bar, then anyone wanting to have a chinwag could be sure of at least one other soul to chat to). A few of us have started heading into town for the Scorpio Bar Quiz Night (Thursdays at 1930).

The marina threw in a free trip to the Istanbul Boat Show for us, which quite a few of us joined. Bussed us all to Istanbul (this included a few free lunches, and a Bosphorous Cruise with live music from the resident media guy from the Marina) with free entry to the show for 3 days and transfers from their Hotel to the show each day. Not to mention some very nice wines each afternoon at the show!

All in all we've had a great winter. We've brought out the Mountain Bikes now that the sun is out

We're booked in for Crete next winter, but if that falls through we'd come back (still waiting to sort out that dratted Long Stay Visa (draw backs of being Foreign I guess)).

PT

 

[clyst]

I will tell you what we do in the uk ........ We sit onboard with the rain pouring down with gales screaming in the rigging and enjoy the snatching of the mooring lines .....Iv never known such an awful winter for live aboards in the uk as his year !!!

 

[sailaboutvic]

I will tell you what we do in the uk ........ We sit onboard with the rain pouring down with gales screaming in the rigging and enjoy the snatching of the mooring lines .....Iv never known such an awful winter for live aboards in the uk as his year !!!

Wrong place and time, we had a lovely mostly warm , very litter rain ,some gales here in Sicily

 

[Garold]

Wrong place and time, we had a lovely mostly warm , very litter rain ,some gales here in Sicily

So Vic, what have you done to occupy your time in Sicily over the last couple of days in that sort of weather?

Garold

 

[sailaboutvic]

So Vic, what have you done to occupy your time in Sicily over the last couple of days in that sort of weather?

Garold

to be honsty , not much the last few days , too many socially events lately , so catching up with just enjoying the sun 17+ to day clear blue sky's but a bit of a blow .
Tomorrow another day .

 

[blampied]

In Spain, Cartagena.
eat, drink and be merry!

 

[longjohnsilver]

In Spain, Cartagena.
eat, drink and be merry!

Which is surely fine for a day, or even a week or two, and quite tempting at Spanish prices, but over the course of say 5 months can't really be a healthy way of spending a winter?

 

[sailaboutvic]

Which is surely fine for a day, or even a week or two, and quite tempting at Spanish prices, but over the course of say 5 months can't really be a healthy way of spending a winter?

For a start the winter hasn't got to be five months , we try and cut it down to three if we can , no more then four although most are happy with five or even six months .
( eat , drink and be merry ) , we all have to eat and drink winter stop over or not , I can't speak for others , but I'm merry stripping the boat down At the start or a winter and putting it back before we leave . What is there not to be merry about

 

[longjohnsilver]

For a start the winter hasn't got to be five months , we try and cut it down to three if we can , no more then four although most are happy with five or even six months .
( eat , drink and be merry ) , we all have to eat and drink winter stop over or not , I can't speak for others , but I'm merry stripping the boat down At the start or a winter and putting it back before we leave . What is there not to be merry about

Which months do you call winter? If I was living on board in, say, Spain, the temptation of drinking and eating ashore most days would be hard to resist, the food is mostly excellent as is the wine, so I would need to be strict with myself, but I'm not sure I'd want to be! The temptations might just prove to be too great, which is a concern. So I'm not criticizing anyone for living a lifestyle that I may well enjoy, it's just interesting to hear how you all spend your days. I guess having some sort of routine becomes important, but no doubt that routine evolves as you spend more time on board.

 

[NornaBiron]

Which months do you call winter? If I was living on board in, say, Spain, the temptation of drinking and eating ashore most days would be hard to resist, the food is mostly excellent as is the wine, so I would need to be strict with myself, but I'm not sure I'd want to be! The temptations might just prove to be too great, which is a concern. So I'm not criticizing anyone for living a lifestyle that I may well enjoy, it's just interesting to hear how you all spend your days. I guess having some sort of routine becomes important, but no doubt that routine evolves as you spend more time on board.

We are still sailing (slowly) through the Dodecanese islands. Since December we have visited Crete, Halki, Alimia, Symi, Nisyros, Kos, Kalymnos and now Leros. Our longest stop was six weeks on Symi over Christmas and New Year . The islands are different without tourists, still plenty of exploring to be done and the locals are happy to see us. There aren't so many tavernas open so eating out is limited and often involves sharing meals on board or ashore with friends we make along the way. Getting water has been easy so far, town quays are deserted and no-one is interested in taking any money from us. Any interest from port authorities seem to come from the novelty factor of seeing a boat still cruising.

 

[Carmel2]

How much was open in Symi Steph?