Boat - the backstory
A couple years back my friend was dating a fellow who lived on a boat at Long Wharf. He was kind enough to let us hang out at his boat several times, and took us sailing as well. I immediately became envious of the idea. It just felt like ‘the life’ to me. Your home is on the water, you can take it for a spin around the harbor and hang out on the deck as the city lights shine on you. Your bed rolls slightly with the waves, and your neighbors are just as crazy as you.
He was quite well off, and I dismissed this envy as a pipe dream. But then came this past year, where my already expensive tiny studio apartment was going to leap forward for 3x the usual annual price increase, and I decided it was time to revisit the idea of living on a boat.
At this point my friend was no longer dating the man with the boat, so I started where I knew best: on Reddit.
I posted in the Boston sub, looking for anyone who was a liveaboard (lived on their boat) who might be willing to give me more info. And I found a few! I traded some beer for a chance to hang out for an evening with these guys and pick their brains. They gave me lots of stories plus good advice on costs and time involved in being a liveavoard. “Put 10% of the boat’s value aside each year for maintenance” they suggested as the common wisdom.
I also learned that a couple of the guys made about half my salary, so it shoved the idea that only the wealthy could afford to do it out the window.
One of the guys bought his first boat for $2000! (He later sold it for several times that after maintaining it better than the prior owner)
I was suggested some books to read (sailing a serious ocean by John Kretschmer chief among them)
And with that, I was off to the races. I started looking at boats online for real.
He was quite well off, and I dismissed this envy as a pipe dream. But then came this past year, where my already expensive tiny studio apartment was going to leap forward for 3x the usual annual price increase, and I decided it was time to revisit the idea of living on a boat.
At this point my friend was no longer dating the man with the boat, so I started where I knew best: on Reddit.
I posted in the Boston sub, looking for anyone who was a liveaboard (lived on their boat) who might be willing to give me more info. And I found a few! I traded some beer for a chance to hang out for an evening with these guys and pick their brains. They gave me lots of stories plus good advice on costs and time involved in being a liveavoard. “Put 10% of the boat’s value aside each year for maintenance” they suggested as the common wisdom.
I also learned that a couple of the guys made about half my salary, so it shoved the idea that only the wealthy could afford to do it out the window.
One of the guys bought his first boat for $2000! (He later sold it for several times that after maintaining it better than the prior owner)
I was suggested some books to read (sailing a serious ocean by John Kretschmer chief among them)
And with that, I was off to the races. I started looking at boats online for real.