I'm consdiering buying a big boat to live on. Pros and cons please?

[maveric]

Ma's house is on the market and I should walk away with about $180,000.00 from the sale. Its not enough to buy a house in San Diego, nor would I qualify for a loan for a $600,000.00 home around here.
I can buy a 60 ft, fiberglass sailboat for about $70,000.00. Anchorage in the middle of San Diego Harbor is FREE. Mooring to a pier is about $600.00 a month.
Any advice from DUers here? Its always been a dream of mine to live on a boat.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Mooring fees?!

6k a month? Are they floating boats on the blood of virgins out there?

[Trajan]

2. A dock slip is $6000.00 ? ....

No shit ....

Wow .... things have REALLY gotten out of hand ....

I think the term 'Mooring' actually refers to attaching your line to a buoy, which is anchored into the sea bed .... Moorings are usually cheaper than docks ....

[Jamastiene]

3. Pros, omg to live on a floating house.

Cons, bad weather...

Personally, I love the feeling I get when I sleep on a waterbed. I also really love it when I have been on a boat for a long time, then go to sleep. Ah, relaxing.

[maveric]

4. Typo! On edit $600.00 a month.

Six grand is a little high.

[sexybomber]

5. What's the rig?

A ketch-rig will be a lot easier to move around than a full schooner rig, but a sixty-foot schooner sure looks nice!

I say this because I don't know who else would be living with you on the vessel, and you'd need at least a couple other people to crew a schooner of that size.

[maveric]

7. I may be going in with a female friend of mine. We're not an item, YET!

But there are possibilities.

[sexybomber]

11. Aw! Wonderful!

Two people shouldn't have too bad of a time handling it. The experience would bring you a lot closer, IMHO :D

[babylonsister]

6. Wow. $6000 a month to moor?

You're doing better than us! Amazing the price of the sailboat is so low. If I could, I would live on a boat! But would miss a garden. But people moving into condos miss a garden, so...

[maveric]

See post #4

I fucked up.

[Redstone]

8. Do it, for Christ's sake. Stop thinking about it and

do it. You've wanted to for a long time; how many other chances will you get?

Get off the computer NOW and start signing the papers.

Just don't tell us about it afterward, because we'll be insanely jealous.

Go do it.

Redstone

[Lars39]

9. Waste water, bathroom...

Where/how much to dump?

[two gun sid]

10. Have you given any thought to....

upkeep of your boat? Things get pretty out of hand in the salt water and air. Constant painting and polishing and general maintenance just to stay afloat.

Cool way to live though.

[maveric]

12. Wouldnt fibergalss be easier to maintain than wood?

I know people that have wood vessels and they are always working on it.
As for waste dumping, there are many places out here that handle that. Have you ever seen how many boats are moored in San Dieo harbor and Mission Bay? Tens of thoudands!

[two gun sid]

17. Yes. But, sun gets to the gelcoat of fibreglass and dont forget....

all the brightwork i. e. cleats, chocks, any exposed metal. I'm not tryin' to turn you off of it. I've never lived on a boat unless you count a naval warship.

[nono]

13. What Make of Boat ?

How old is this boat? Remember you get what you pay for. My wife and I lived on ours for 20 years. The most we ever paid for a slip was about $500.00 per Mo.,and this was in South Fl. These were the best years of our life.

[Taxloss]

14. You're gonna need a bigger boat.

/Jaws

[nono]

16. Not True

Ours is not but 42 ft. Do not get one you can not handle alone.

[Taxloss]

21. I was only making a film reference.

I'm sorry Ihave little to contribute constuctively, apart from the fact that cats and trimarans are easier to handle for one person while offering more space below deck. They're also cheaper.

[PassingFair]

15. One word...

SPIDERS! Don't do it!

[flvegan]

18. Frikkin sharks...with laser beams

Jaws. Dum dum...dum dum...dum dum dum dum dum dum dum...

[Frances]

19. Do you know how to sail?

I wouldn't buy a sailboat until I had learned to sail because sailing isn't as easy as it looks.

My husband bought a sailboat when we lived in Maryland. We took it from Annapolis to Sarasota and back on the Intercoastal Waterway several times. We met a number of people who were living on their boat, but that was the East Coast. I don't know what life on a boat on the West Coast is like.

By the way, if the main purpose of the boat is to be a house for you, I think houseboats are more comfortable for living purposes than a sailboat.

Anyway, good luck whatever you decide.

[maveric]

20. No, so I'd have to take classes.

And there are many Schools or Sailing here in San Diego.

[Southsideirish]

22. How old are you? Do you have any savings? Or a job?

[maveric]

24. 49, yes, I will, and I'm a nurse.

When I get my RN in a year and a half I'll be making $28-34 bucks an hour. And after I get the payoff from Ma's house, after buying the boat I'll have 100,000.00 in savings.

[ChemEng]

23. Less stuff to worry about....

Go to the marina and talk to people who are living aboard. In Kemah, Texas, we have quite a few people who do this. It is not for everyone, but one nice thing is the camaraderie of all of the folks who live on boats!

[Frances]

27. Great idea to talk to people at the marina you are considering

Also my husband chartered (rented) a number of boats either for the day or the weekend before he finally bought one. That helped him know what he wanted.

My husband bought his boat from a couple who came down to Florida every winter from Canada. They would buy a used boat, fix it up, and then sell it at the end of the season, so the boat my husband bought was in good shape and it sold for a very reasonable price. He made a down payment and then we claimed the interest on the loan on Schedule A of our income taxes because the boat was a second home.

After my husband had heart surgery, he decided to sell the boat and by that time (4 years after we bought it) it was needing new lines, a new paint job on the bottom, and some mechanical work.

The upside of living on a boat part time was that it was an adventure. The downside is that a boat will not appreciate in value the way a home will.

[gardenista]

25. Showers. Bathroom. Dealing with waste water.

Unless you have a harbor with great facilities, it could be a pain.

[maveric]

26. We have a World Class harbor here. No problem there.

[Ellen Forradalom]

28. Watch out for icebergs.

They're a bitch.

[maveric]

29. Not many of those around the SoCal/Mexican coastline.

But thanks for the advice anyway. :eyes:

[davsand]

30. Never have been on a sailboat that size.

Stayed on a houseboat up outside San Francisco, however, and THAT was amazing. It was permanently moored, so it had power and sewer hookup like any other structure would. I found it to be simply amazing. I'd do it as a permanent arrangement in a heartbeat

Th only "con" I see is mooches like me wanting to come crash with you on vacations.

Laura