The other thread about logging aboard active seagoing vessels is focused on commercial employees, not owner operators. Might as well have a thread for people who sail or motor around, since it seems significantly different from being part of a large crew with a contract.I am a poor retard with a job that could be performed remotely, but I own a set of tools and don't mind working on machines or cleaning things. Housing is expensive and I can't move quickly if section 8 baboons start acting up, but boats from the 1990s and 2000s seem like a great idea, plenty of those for less than a condo. Does or has anybody live on their own boat? Any tips for budgeting, getting started, what to look out for on an inspection? Pic unrelated but I was looking at a couple of 90s grand banks and a couple of hatterus 50 footers - idgaf about seaworthiness beyond being able to migrate over the course of the year
>>2068211You are looking at boats which average 1mpg and fuel prices at the marina are higher than at the pump, expect to pay at least a $1 per gallon more. If you want to maintain that fuel efficiency that will mean hauling out every few years for cleaning and bottom paint, which will cost a few grand if you do the work yourself. Marina fees will be $1-$5 a foot for short stays, you can probably find 6month slips for around $10-15k if you avoid the densely populated areas. If you are not going to spend all your time in the marinas and want all the convinces of modern life, you will need a generator so more fuel. If you are ok with giving up heat, hot water, refrigeration, AC, you can get by on solar. Most populated areas do not allow you to just drop anchor and live, you have to move every 24-48 hours, so more fuel. Unless you are staying at a marina, internet is iffy, often can't anchor anywhere that you can get cell reception, no idea how starlink is on a small boat. ,50 feet is a big boat, general maintenance is going to be high, if you want to live cheap I would go smaller and go with sail or motor sail and go smaller, 30-35' range.If you can work remote why not just move somewhere cheap?
>>2068217Part of the idea is to actually get out and do something special with my life, that I'd remember one way or another, so I don't especially mind some level of inconvenience50ft would be my absolute maximum, and would realistically be too much for me to confidently handle without thrusters I found waterway guide as a tool to find cheap or free anchorages, and then could pump out and refuel as necessary, maybe every 3 days or so. I'd instantly free up about a thousand a month by getting rid of my car between maintenance, insurance, gas, and the cost of the car itself. Starlink would be a hard requirement, since I would need reasonably reliable internet for work. I bullshitted 3 solar panels fitting on whatever I bought, but that will vary for sure, and I may be able to find nicer panels. Hoping that by traveling between maybe Savannah and Portland over a year I could minimize AC usage and get away with just dehumidifying most of the time. That's about what, 3000nm round trip, so under 300nm a month, about 50 engine hours a month at 8kt including miscellaneous time like letting them warm up, no wake zones, stuff like that. Most of my knowledge comes from binge watching youtubers and I realize I don't have the talent for a lot of the repairs they show on their edited channels, but I could swing fluids, filters, some easy electrical replacement but not reengineering, and similarly a little bit of plumbing like pipe replacement but not adding new stuff
>>2068236Keeping your speed bellow hull speed will help a good deal on fuel economy, but don't judge this by the optimums people achieve, those only happen in ideal condition when you don't have any currents or winds to deal with and you can't rely on ideal conditions. Half what they say and you will probably come out ahead. The free anchorages generally have time limits for how long you can stay at them unless you are away from cities, and even then, the longer you stay anchored the more the anchor digs in and the harder it will be to pull up, Expect to drop money on a night in a marina at least once a month for groceries and the like and you can do laundry and take a real shower while you are at it, which is quite nice. If you want reliable power, you will want a generator unless you give up all the modern convinces, the sun is not particularly reliable at anchor, you will often have trees, hills, mountains, and buildings blocking much of the sun. The more you give up on modern convinces, the more reliable solar will be. You can charge the batteries with your engines but a generator is far more efficient and will pay for itself, and will turn itself on when needed. I would skip heat and AC and dehumidifier, you get used to life without them pretty quickly. Refrigeration is nice but not a must, especially if you are planing on stopping at marinas every few days, ice is cheap and easy enough to liv. e with only occasional ice in the icechestWhy do you think you need at least 50`? How much stuff do you need? Big boat just means more expensive in everyway and more work.
>>2068254Didn't really explain that bit about stuck anchors, it is just another thing that eats up gas and may eat a considerable amount of time and gas those first time as you learn to unstick it.Starlink I don't know about other than it was not great on small boats in the early days. I have not heard complaints in quite some time, that either means most have given up on it or the problems were worked out. Do your homework on this one if it is a hard requirement, make sure things like swinging on your anchor and rolling in a chop does not render it too unreliable.Also, I am mostly trying to get you to be less optimistic about fuel costs and the like, if you want this to work you need to plan for the worst, not the best.
>>2068254>>2068263Yeah the plan would rely on regular to constant travel to reduce generator costs, but the migration would also be fun (hopefully) and make it feel like living in a boat instead of living in a really floppy trailer. Fuel costs would be an issue, but I'm content to cruise slowly and enjoy the scenery - I've only really been looking at trawlers and the like between 35 and 50ft. Would barely trust myself to be able to handle 50, but could probably manage something like a grand banks 46 with the bow thrusterIf I made sure to have a combo washer/dryer and more than just a small drawer fridge, I could probably get away with a twice a week marina stop for pump out. I just wish there were more boats focused on a single cabin and leaning into the floating condo idea
>>2068298You are going to be staying at marinas twice a month but still need a washer and dryer? you can't go two weeks without washing clothes? Clothes are cheap and there is not anyone you need to impress while you are alone on your boat. If you are going to travel slow a motorsailer or sailboat will give you more usable space in a much smaller package and for what you are looking at spending you will have a lot of options. The hulls of these boats are not made to go above hull speed which means they are designed to be more efficient at those speeds, the engines are picked to work best at those speeds so are more efficient.Before I decided I wanted to be able to cross oceans and was looking at doing what you want to do, the Irwin 37 was one of the boats on my list, was going to gut the aft cabin and have it turned into a office/work space, turn the aft head into a closet and storage for a bike or two. It has enough sail to often not need its engine but still has a big enough tank for having a good range under power so I did not have to rely on the sails. These can generally be found for $30-50k in good shape, add on $10-20k for any work/updates a 50 year old boat needs and still cheaper than a Hatteras 50. Need to learn to sail but you can spend the first 6 months living at a marina and taking lessons, join a sailing club so you can practice in their dinghies, and still come out cheaper than the Hatteras. If I were going to do this now, I would go smaller simply because it makes the traveling part far easier and more enjoyable. I would recommend getting a copy of Voyaging on a Small Income, they were not doing what you are doing but they do a good job of showing boat life at the opposite extreme, as cheap and as simple as possible so they can travel the world. It will help you in figuring out compromises to make and the compromises you will have to make. It also has a lot of very useful information for anyone living on a boat out of the marinas.
>>2068312Thanks for the reading suggestion, I'll find a copy and think on it some more My main reasoning for wanting on demand laundry is so I don't need to spend as much space on clothes and bedding, and ideally I'd install a combo washer dryer so I could do literally anything else besides babysit my chores. It seems as though there's always something to maintain on a boat and that I'll be kept busy as an owner operator doing what I can by myself while also working, so if I can power an appliance to reduce my workload, like with a solar pergola setup, I will strongly consider it
