yet another 'thinking of liveaboard' thread

[Deckmonkey]

evening all,
I'm considering all options at the moment, one of which is me, as a fresh divorced bloke with probably every other weekend kids, leaving the forces and going to Uni to study as a paramedic.

Been sailing for some years now so love boats, and i love being aboard.
i could afford to spend about 30k on either the deposit on my own place, or, spend it on a boat to become my own place.. bearing in mind that no mortgage company will give me a mortgage when I'm about to go unemployed for 3 yrs at uni.
my annual income will be about 8.5k pre tax(pension) , plus whatever i can earn in a part time job, and maybe joining the TA (extra couple of grand a year)

uni's to choose from would be portsmouth, brighton, bournemouth, Teeside or Sheffield.
kids would probably be around the Hull area.
will have a car, paid for etc so travel isn't too much of a nightmare.

cost effective to live aboard? I'd probably want something around the 30-34ft mark, ideally good cabin for the kids (would be aged 10&5 at start of uni)

whats your thoughts?

 

[PlanB]

My first thought is that, given the age of your children, you'd need to be living quite near to them to get the most out of your weekends. Asking them to travel from Hull to the south coast is too much.

 

[[3889]]

If you can't get a mortgage what's the point in a deposit? With a net income of ~£12k then live aboard is certainly feasible if you control berthing costs and things like transport - biking or walking to college, assuming your course costs are part of your retirement package? You will get a decent enough boat for £30k. Of your uni options, Teeside seems the best bet with proximity to kids and berthing - Hartlepool is cheaper than most south coast marinas and should leave you with about £750 a month to cover living expenses.
The other issue to consider is whether your kids will see staying on a boat as a bit of an adventure or a cramped bedsit with limited facilities.

BTW, isn't Paramedic Science only 2 years, or are you looking at part time?

 

[Tranona]

While Bournemouth is a good place to study there are no low cost berths in Poole suitable for liveaboard. Portsmouth is a better bet as there is more choice of potential berths. Teeside probably worth investigating.

 

[Deckmonkey]

Cheers, looking at Teesside, it's about 13m to Hartlepool, easy bikeable.
My kids would probably see it as an adventure, and certainly better than any cramped beds it I'd get otherwise.
It may not go that far, just investigating options.
The Fdsc in Paramedic Sxience is 2 yrs, some uni's are running a 3 yr, making it a Bsc, and including a lot of the Emergency care practitioner stuff in the third year..

I know that I'll need insurance on a boat, do they cover liveaboards?

 

[PlanB]

Yes insurers do cover liveaboards, but check that the personal possessions section is enough. If not you can add extra. Vakuables can be a problem though.

 

[Otter]

Just a bit of encouragement on the finances, your pension will be tax free as the threshold is above it and you'll earn way more than £2k in the TA. In my final year I earned just over £6k, the annual bounty is tax free and rises quickly from the first years' payment; get into a medic unit and you'll enhance your uni training considerably. Good luck.

 

[Bertramdriver]

I believe you're on the right track
Some thoughts. Try and get the army to pay for you to to qualify as a first aid trainer at the 7 day level and if possible manual handling and Dse. You should then be able to supplement your pension with an income stream. All companies need this training and training companies need fully qualified freelance trainers. You will also find ad hoc work with private ambulance companies. As it tends to be one off days your studies won't suffer.
Sailing boats tend to be cheaper to buy and run but motor boats will give you a lot more room and comfort for the same size. Think in terms of Dutch style steel displacement boats. Raggie's won't admit it but they spend most of their time afloat on their engines anyway, and sleeping in a coffin sized space is not for those of us claustrophobics.
As for the kids, don't worry. As long as they know their dad is around for them they'll sleep anywhere. Having a dad living on a boat is cool.
Good luck and god speed.

 

[NickTrevethan]

My wife and I lived aboard a 44foot motorsailer in london between about 2002 and the end of 2006. We are back in the UK after seven years in Singapore and plan to live afloat again, probably in a motorboat given the additional space and practicality for living aboard (rather than cruising)

Some things to think about -- moorings are expensive
BWML want nearly 10k per year for a berth in London, irrespective of length - 15 feet or 50 - you pay the same.
If you are on the canal network you can get a cruising licence and basically be a canal gypsy -- moving every two weeks if you can stand it -- nice way to save money but you need the right boat and to be studying in the right place -- Sheffield yes, but none of the place down south.

If you don't like the idea of ditch crawling and want a proper boat I'd go for a centre cockpit sailboat with a nice aft cabin or a motorsailer.
The reason Catherine and I didn't kill each other was we could be in our own spaces - and while you may be single now, that may change -- you will cenrtainly (or your kids will) want some separation at times.

An older Moody 36 might be just in budget and was one we considered -- headroom was a little low for my 6ft5inch frame. But was a nice boat. The Prior Coaster looks good too at 33 feet with a little doghouse. Make sure you can stand up in the galley at least.

I like pilot houses as you can sit out, see the world, see the sky and not freeze in winter.

Other things to consider -
Water. We carried 400 litres and had to fill up once a week or so.
Heating/ Eberspachers are great, when they work. When they dont they are expensive. I fitted a Dickinson Newport diesel stove - lovely dry heat and pretty too. It didn't really heat the aft cabin -- all the warm air went into the pilot house and that was it. I fitted a second hand Webasto that was nickenamed the Wee Bast**d, due to its behaviour.
Solid fuel is good -- nice dry heat, but you need somewhere to store wood/coal.
If you run a diesel heater you need decent tankage or you are running off to top up all the time. We carried 150 gallons which saw us through the winter most of the time.
Cooking: I hate gas -- heavy containers, lots of rules if you need a Boast Safety Certificate and having been in a marina where someone died after a gas explosion, I hate the stuff. We had an old parafin cooker, bought from a forumite - worked a treat -- hot, safe - once you learned how to light it, and pretty cheap to run - less than a fiver a month cooking twice a day 6 days a week. We also had an combination microwave convection.

My top tip though is to get an electric blanket -- our world changed when I put one on. We had a pretty dry boat but she went went from a chilled clammy berth to warm dry and lovely. I changed it every year as a safety precaution.

Good luck!