Have You Ever Thought About Living On A Sailboat? Cheap Living. No Rent

toomy
toomy Members Posts: 369
edited September 2011 in The Social Lounge
I'm looking at House Hunters International and this Woman/Emptynester decided to sail from the U.S. to France and all the way back to the U.S. Virgins Islands were she lived for a year before she decided to live on the mainland in a Condo. This is interesting. I never thought that living on a sailboat could be an option. And after doing a little searching I found that most people live rent free and the catamarans/sail boats are very affordable starting around 2-3 grand and up.

Anyone here knows anyone that's living in a sailboat?

http://www.sailboatlistings.com/

http://www.frugal-retirement-living.com/living-aboard-a-sailboat.html

How is living aboard a sailboat cheap living?

What did we know about sailing when we contemplated early retirement and living aboard a sailboat in the Caribbean?

Next to nothing, in fact we had never been on a sailboat 4 years before we retired, bought a boat and sailed it from Galveston, Texas to the British ? Islands. This should encourage those of you that think you have to be a boater all your life to take advantage of this method of living cheaply. Here is how I would recommend you start....consequently Here is what not to do


No Utilities

When you are living aboard a sailboat, note that there are no power lines, phone lines connected to the boat. You can see the wind generator at the stern, combined with 2 solar panels that takes care of most of our power needs.

We ran the inboard diesel 5 minutes a day to warm up water for our evening shower. The really frugal used solar water bags, or washed in the sea (you can see the bottom 10 feet clear as a bell), rinse with fresh water and you are done.Now that's cheap living.

No charge for wind, usually a pleasant 5 to 10 knots making sleeping a pleasure.

No charge for the sun which shines constantly. Is this frugal living or what?

If you want to know how we planned all this financially go to early retirement planning and get started.

Comments

  • _武赏_
    _武赏_ Members Posts: 22
    edited August 2011
    Up 4 livin off the land.

    good thread preciate the information.
  • toomy
    toomy Members Posts: 369
    edited August 2011
    http://www.sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=29855&forum_id=32



    Yeah. It's good way to save money. I found a good article about a docking community in South Africa...

    SEALINE - South African Angling and Boating Community > Freshwater Angling > Bass Fishing > Boat Docks

    Joined: Tue Oct 7th, 2008
    Location: Pretoria, South Africa
    Basics on How Too Fish Docks and Piers


    the Vaal River is probably the most prominent venue when it comes to Docks and Piers. But we are seeing more and more development around our precious dams and there are very little venues in Gauteng now where you can go and docks and piers do not play a role in your fishing trip, so I decided to do it anyway.

    Perhaps the ultimate cover, boat docks can be counted on to hold bass year round…….

    When not in hot pursuit of food, bass normally hold close to some type of structure. In many instances, they prefer to be under cover.

    here is an example that exists on virtually every dam in South Africa: Boat Docks.

    Boat docks always hold bass, It’s one of the very, very few structure types that attract fish year-round.



    OVERVIEW OF FISHING DOCKS

    There are two main types of docks, stationary docks, which are supported by poles driven into the dam or river bottom, and floating docks which are build on plastic blocks or metal drums and which ride up and down as the water level fluctuates. Both types of docks are attractive to fish for the same reasons. They provide shade, they attract bait fish, they break currents and they offer protection from predators such as fish eating birds and fish catching humans.While docks in many dams have the potential to draw and hold bass, docks in certain kind of dams are usually better than others. The less natural cover a dam has, the better the docks, because they’re the primary cover. Conversely, the more natural cover a dam has, especially aquatic vegetation, the less appealing docks are (we will get back to this statement once I have made my point)

    How does this relate to two venues most people know? Firstly the Vaal River although the river has a lot of vegetation it is not the type of aquatic vegetation that release oxygen. The dominant vegetations are reeds and lily pads. Also the amount of docks on the river makes it one of the dominant structure types on the river. You will always find fish on the docks in the Vaal River.

    Bronkies on the other hand has predominantly grass that is the aquatic vegetation that I refer to, that release oxygen. There is also some docks that are adjacent to the vegetation and these docks produce consistently and keeps on reloading.

    Water color has little effect on how bass relate to docks and piers. They utilize this special structure in clear, dingy and muddy conditions. Only the effectiveness of various techniques is affected. For instance, in clear water anglers must stay farther back to avoid being seen by the fish. This may eliminate the possibility of using such close-in techniques as flipping.

    PICKING DOCS & PIERS

    Not all docks and piers hold the same attraction to bass, and a major secret in fishing docks is being able to tell the good ones from the bad ones. A prime boat dock is one that borders a creek channel, a prominent point, and old roadbed or some other structure that might serve as a migration route. I’m a firm believer that fish relate to a specific route when they move back and forth in a dam. And if a channel or point has good cover, that’s a prime migration route, and the bass use it constantly. A boat dock sitting next to one of these migration routes is a ‘killer’ place. That’s one of those docks where you can catch a fish in the morning and then go back three times during the day and catch another bass each time. In the Vaal River you will find multiple fish on one dock. An easy way for anglers to find such spots is by studying a dam contour map. I study maps for areas where a channel swings into a bank, or for points that stick out into deep water. Then I go and look at these places to see if docks are present. A lot of you might ask what the relevance is of a contour map on a venue like the Vaal River is, please believe me if you see a contour map of the river it will be an eye opener! The old river channel becomes key and very relevant. When I find docks in such an area, I judge their fish-holding potential according to their construction.

    Older, established docks are better than new ones. Also, docks built on poles are better than floating docks, because they offer vertical cover extending down to the dam or river bottom. And docks with clusters of poles, ladders, cross braces or other additional features are better than docks with single poles and no clutter. I also feel that bottom content is another factor in a dock’s productiveness. Docks over good sand, rock or clay bottoms will be better than docks over muddy bottoms. And then there is building rubble, bonus structure, and bass love it. I have a theory that I apply when fishing new water to select these docks, I would idle my boat down a line of docks and pick docks with real fancy houses and lights on the docks. Two reasons firstly I believe rich people are more likely to dump their building rubble in the water than the average ‘Joe’. Lights attract insects at night that will feed hungry bass. Hopefully I do not get crucified for this statement!
  • Madbeats
    Madbeats Members Posts: 544
    edited September 2011
    Had a friend who's parents lived on a sail boat for years...they enjoyed it. I think I would miss the land too much.
  • BelovedAfeni
    BelovedAfeni Members Posts: 8,647 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited September 2011
    damn good thread i said something similar to this awhile back.
    I want ot own a boat b4 I go chill with Tupac
    Didnt know about this though....
  • rapbizla
    rapbizla Members Posts: 86
    edited September 2011
    A sailboat could be nice...free to roam wherever, whenever.
  • Hypernova
    Hypernova Members Posts: 1,227 ✭✭✭
    edited September 2011
    Lol Sure, I could live on a sailboat, but it'd be on land