Living Aboard

Seriously considering buying a yacht and ling aboard in a Marina. Probably have a couple of teenagers with me

What's the pro and cons

I did it for 18 months sailing around NZ and 6 months minding mates 55ft ketch.

Loved it and I would do it again. Cost - negligible. Met many alternate thinking people doing the same instead of battery hens slaving to pay the Cylons 20 years to own a house - which you cant sail anywhere.

Negatives - hard to do laundry. Even harder to iron a shirt. A pain lugging food to boat, you get cold and wet in winter (maybe thats just NZ), Your entire electricity comes in through an extension lead that can easily disconnect and is dangerous when it rains. When people ask where you live and you tell them they think you're weird or a loser. But they are usually the battery hens. The live aboard laws are tricky as mentioned above. And if you have a gf and the going gets rough theres not much space

But I would happily live aboard anytime. Go for it.

Lived on my small cramped spartan 32 ft ketch for 2 years ,injury forced me back to a " normal" living arrangement . I don't like normal. I loved every minute including the dinghy trip every day to go to work . You just need an address to send mail to and use for official stuff or as mentioned you are a loser,weird or don't really exist if you can't fill in the box on the form. I used to sometimes give up and just put down gps readings.

Pros- awesome having coffee watching the fish jump at dawn while getting ready to go to work
- don't like the neighbours ,move.
- your boat will never be in better condition as you do maintenance every day.

cons - not many really if your a laid back type, personal space if you don't have cabins and mainly washing ,food and water. You just have to be organised . I was on a mooring so everything was by dinghy . On a marina ,all to easy and you meet some great people .

Like most things in life ,if you don't try you don't know . Just remember buying a boat is usually not going to give you any return on your investment ( read liability) and they can be very hard to sell . However if you factor in the cost of renting a waterside apartment at $600pw in Sydney and your marina fees are $300 pw , then your saving $15,000 per year to have waterfront living . On a mooring at $100 pw you do the maths on your "free" boat after a few years. For me it was great to do I got a "free" boat which I now cruise 3 months a year and live a " normal" life the other 9 months , but I am a bit weird