For a fleeting moment this weekend, I decided my ideal lifestyle could only be realized by living full-time on a boat. Utilizing research skills granted to me—and me only—by a technology I have discovered known as a “search engine,” I sought to discover the easiest techniques I could use to transition to a carefree life on the open sea.
Turns out that boats are a royal pain in the ass. Even when living in a marina, they tend to break with alarming regularity. Living on a boat is half ne’er-do-well pleasure cruise, half duct tape and ritual sacrifice to voodoo gods.
But some people have managed to pull it off. I found Bill Dietrich’s account of his early retirement on the Magnolia, a sailboat in the Caribbean, to be a good overview, as his occasional updates to his “log” span the course of several years. Dietrich isn’t ashamed to write about his misconceptions and worries, as well as the unreliability of rumors, NOAA weather reports, and the boat engine repair supplies of island nations.
Magnolia and I came through the hurricane just fine. … But it was a scary experience. We had winds somewhere around 100-110 knots, I think. Howling white horizontal rain for long periods of time. The worst was when a storm surge current held the boats sideways to the wind; we rolled ferociously. One of my friends fell inside his boat and hurt himself. A couple other friends gathered their most important stuff into bags in case they had to abandon ship.
My dreams are not completely splintered, but for now I’ll sate my longing for the sea with episodes of Quincy, M.E. Mmm, Klugmany.
My Lifestyle and Experiences Living on a Boat [Geocities.com/BILL_DIETRICH]
This is not terribly different from my chosen next lifestyle — full time living in a motorhome. Last year I gave in to 13 years of wanting a motorhome and now only regret not doing it sooner. My wife currently has a job that requires she work in a downtown office but I can work anywhere as a telecommuting software developer. We have a plan that in 5 years we will sell the house, my wife will take a very long break from working and we will live as nomads while I continue to telecommute (until we realize, inevitably, that we have made a mistake).
Good luck with the dream…..
I could not live on a boat. They constantly reek of mildew, they are moist to the touch (hence the mildew), they rock ALL THE TIME (and i’m not talking the good rocking, winkwink-nudgenudge), they break, they bend, they peel, they are money pits, they take huge amounts of upkeep, we don’t know how to sail, we’d end up looking like all those ‘boat people’ up and down the eastern seaboard and any given island anywhere (DO NOT WANT!), and i have a water phobia. Oh, and we could die in a storm. But, Joel, feel free to have a boat someday for doing whatever on. I just can’t live on it fulltime.
<3’s
It works out OK if you’re a bachelor – however as Susie mentioned, most of the fairer sex are not fond of the idea. Unless you can convince someone that you’re just taking them back to your yacht, and your real home is on Monaco.
I don’t know , but I’d like to try living on a boat. It would be nice to move around & have a chg of scenery. Wouldn’t have to worry about paying taxes (real estate 0 either.
I too have found great pleasure in reading Bill Dietrich’s daily log. One of these days I hope to be able to do the same thing and retire on sailboat in PR or the USVI. In the meantime I am just marking time and accumulating funds.
Joel,
I say go for it! I too have the dream that one day I will be living on a boat somewhere in the Caribbean with my soul mate. This is one of the few times I actually envy being a man. A woman alone on a boat is not very wise. Britton, I agree that not many women are willing to live on a boat, but I think it’s more for the safety reason than the comfort reason. You’ll just need to find a very adventurous woman to chance it. For me, I know it’s not going to be the cheapest way to live, but I would consider it money well spent to be free to move about the world as I wish, meeting new people, seeing new places, eatin wonderful local dishes (I’m a foodaholic). At 36 I still have plenty of time to find a way to start on the road to that freedom. For now, I’m just going to do all the research I can and plan for my dream. You’ll have to let me know how it goes for you.
Good luck and happy boating!
i’m at the point now that, after 26years of owning a demolition company, that we are going to follow our dream. we are leaving soon to the caribbean again to look for a new home. we are going to st thomas. i just sugested living on a sailboat to my wife. she said as long as she can get to a beach sh didn’t care. i have been talking to a lot of people on line. some love it and some think they really made a mistake. i’m 45 and i want to give it a go. wish me luck. good luck to all of you.