Salish Sea/Puget Sound boatpunx

[MetalBryan]

As someone who knows NOTHING about boats but a lot about living rough, I found this website helpful - www.living-aboard.com - and evaluated this boat punk idea (thoughts posted below). It is a VERY simple site but contains a lot of information I found useful. The site's owner probably funds his lifestyle with all the ads on the site! They've got a facebook group which is mostly just posting of links from this site, however it seems legit to me at least.

1. For someone like me who knows nothing, I think the learning curve on boat-living is pretty steep without guidance. Beyond the technical knowledge about boat operations, most of the information is impractical to folx like us because it assumes a normalized or even lavish standard of living. The first question I posed to myself...
Will I just be living rough but in a dingy instead of on the ground? There's no reason to spend money on a floating hunk of metal just to pitch a tent.

2. I think xxCROWxx has made a good point about starting out... this lifestyle is going to cost roughly $2,000-5,000 to get into.... and at only $2k you'll be spending most of your time prepping your boat for open water. After looking around at some boats and info, yeah. It's going to take about $5k to have an adventure.

3. After that depressing thought, I made a connection to the premise that live-aboards (as the website calls them) is absolutely a community. There would be a strong bond among people who have chosen to live a particularly idiosyncratic lifestyle.... As StP demonstrates, there's lots of ways to live rough in the world, but living on a boat requires a few standard practices/regular upkeep and resources that everyone shares.

4. Finally, for an individual like me to get into this life I would need a guide/community. Arriving in the PacNW would be simple and if after meeting up and taking the tour I decided boatpunx wasn't for me... no big deal. I'd hit Portland/Seattle for its hospitality and then move on. I'd bring my pack and $2k, living rough, boat shopping and getting introduced around. I'd need to find work to generate more capital for my own pirate ship. I think the boats that xxCROWxx posted for sale locally are great starters - I could get one that's sea worthy and rig up my own living area... if only for the purposes of "passing" as a local living on a boat instead of a crust living in the woods. I could float around the islands for a few months picking up work for both savings and to purchase a nicer rig - then I'd be living the life.

I'll do some more research and see what's available in my local area (Chesapeake Bay, Potomac River). If anyone is in my region, perhaps we can discuss pooling our resources.

 

[CrowTheBard]

@MetalBryan

Man thanks for the thoughtful post! Lost of great stuff to unpack there. Awesome.


Point by point:
1. Yes there is a learning curve. Knowledge can be gleaned from books and online resources to build a solid knowledge base to build upon. This knowledge is essential but can be had for free, thousands of miles from a boat. Things like Terms, Names Of Parts, and Sailing Theory or Anchoring Techniques, can all be learned first through more academic means. Of course all skills must be polished in a hands on environment, but having a working knowledge of what all the parts of a sailboat are called and a general idea of what they do, cannot be over stated.

For example, a HALYARD. Every sailboat has these control lines. All halyards raise and lower sails. So knowing the word also tells you what it does. You never have to have seen or touched a halyard to know that a halyard is a line on a sailboat that is used to raise or lower a sail. Boom, you know some sailory shit. And from my end, I can more easily show you the ins and outs of sailing if you already took the time to at least book learn a few key points.

I’m working on collecting a list of my favorite publications right now. I’ll post it in the info thread once I have it all together. It should help cut everyone’s leg work down quite a bit.

1b. Livingaboard (yes that’s the term) is a spectrum from floating tent to lavish palace and everything in between. Even a cheap, small boat can be made to at least “glamping” standards. A soft berth (bed), a small cook stove, heat, water, and a place to shit all elevate even the most spartan boat well above a tent in the woods.

I lived as a backpack hobo for almost two years. I would say even my roughest boat was far more luxurious than most of the woods/squats/camps/etc that I experienced. It’s probably more comparable to the vanlife movement than tent camping.

2. Yeah it usually takes some cash to get started. Unless you’re a hawk on the constant prowl for those rare free boats that aren’t ready for the crusher. Don’t ready any mainstream yachting press or sites, not without a grain of salt anyways. They’d have you believe that you have to have so much crap you don’t need and that boating in general costs a fortune. Duck that. Another example of capitalism doing its gross thing...

Boats can always be sold again. I bought one in Sep 2017 sailed it around, decided it was more project than I wanted, then resold it in May 2018, got my money back, grabbed some work here on island ($20-$30 an hour for just laborers around here) and bought my current boat in Sep 2018. I have a friend that spent 5 years flipping boats. Started out with a small $5500 boat and sold it for a profit. Bought a more expensive one, on and on. Him and his family sailed to Mexico from here last year on a boat worth $100,000. None of which he wage slaved for. He just kept buying low and selling high. Took him years but he didn’t have to do anything butnsail andnwork on boats. Boats man haha.

3. Community- yeah it’s there and pretty cool. Most get along pretty great. I have had some really awesome dock families over the years, this year included. All new people around me, and we are finding ways to stave off the dark winter months together- I.e. doing projects together, there is a dock DnD game going right now, people play music together, hang out, etc. easy to find common ground.

At the end of the day I’m a misfit among misfits though. Way more retired age, rich or well off, asshole pricks around than boatbums. Much less punk boat bums. I’m like a fucking unicorn.

4. That’s exactly why I’m putting out the kinda “general call to arms” (lol) to get a group of dedicated boatpunks together with part of their mission being exactly that; providing a gateway to other people interested in the life.

Lots of ways to make it work too. Full time or seasonal. Sounds like a good plan to me. Living like this creates a life of unlimited opportunity.

There is a lot to know, but just as many ways to learn it. Maybe I’ll do a crazy, crusty, week long trip this year where I pack my boat with like 10-12 folks. People would have to camp on shore at night (my boat only sleeps 4. 6 if we pile on top of each other, but whatever, island camping in the summer kicks ass. We can just island hop, learn sailing for a week, and have some parties on the beach or whatever.

Now is the time to start looking. Spring is boat buying season and it affords you time to do a little money earning and boat work before the summer months come.

Here is the link to the boat for $1k. I talked to her on Monday. Solid boat. Could be made offshore ready with some upgrades too.
https://bellingham.craigslist.org/boa/d/bellingham-26-haida-sailboat/6781249654.html

I’m here to help anyone who wants it. Keep the discussion going and let me know what I can do!

Hope that all helped in some way!

Oh and just Crow is fine. I pulled a ‘90s internet move when I made my account. Name taken? Just put “xx” in front and back. Being stoned while foruming makes for lazy name generating lol.

It’s sunny today. Think I’ll take my rowboat out, pack up my guitar and some lunch, and row across the bay to a little cove with a fire pit.

Cheers,
Crow

 

[CrowTheBard]

Sorry I’m advance for any spelling and grammar errors. Tapping this all out on my phone.

Also there should be a lot of great stuff around the Chesapeake. I know a gal from there (she lived out here a while) whom bought her current boat there, sailed it down to Florida then the Bahamas then back to Florida. She’s on the hard right now doing some work to the boat. So totally do able!

Cheers,
Crow

 

[Matt Derrick]

Made a quick and dirty little video on my phone this morning.



Cheers
Crow

nice video, we the heathens is a great band.

 

[CrowTheBard]

nice video, we the heathens is a great band.

Thanks. Just a quickie made on my phone. I’m so terribly horrible at talking to my own camera, but I’m working on that so I can actually make some helpful videos. I like being behind the camera more than in front of it. :/

Anyways, yeah I love that band. I wish there was folks around here interested in starting a folk punk band lol.

That’s kinda how I’ll be putting together a lot of my videos I think. Just kinda cool shots set to some kind of punk.

Thanks for the feedback. I’m a social media idiot and need all the feedback I can get haha.

Cheers,
Crow

 

[Dameon]

I lived on my boat in the SF bay for a few years, planning on hopefully grabbing one up that way in 6 months or so.

 

[Drstinker]

You been to Port Townsend?

 

[Durp]

Best of luck! I love and miss sailing the salish sea. Im on the east coast now rebuilding an authentic junk rig schooner from Hong Kong atm tho fair wind and following seas!

 

[Durp]

@MetalBryan if you want to learn about boats Im just outside of norfolk if you want to come and kick it/ help out for a bit. There is a huge boat scene in Virginia.

 

[CrowTheBard]

You been to Port Townsend?

A couple times, ya!

Cheers,
Crow

P.s. and bee tee dubs I ditched the lame “xx’s” don’t let it confuse you ;P

 

[CrowTheBard]

Best of luck! I love and miss sailing the salish sea. Im on the east coast now rebuilding an authentic junk rig schooner from Hong Kong atm tho fair wind and following seas!

That is tooooo rad. Pics or it didn’t happen ;P

Cheers,
Crow

 

[Drstinker]

A couple times, ya!

Cheers,
Crow

P.s. and bee tee dubs I ditched the lame “xx’s” don’t let it confuse you ;P

Nice. There's some liveaboards and boat venturers over there. If you need a point in the right direction let me know.

 

[CrowTheBard]

Nice. There's some liveaboards and boat venturers over there. If you need a point in the right direction let me know.

Man that would be awesome!

Sorry about my lapse is posting. Been an eventful couple weeks!

I wanna keep this thread alive, so I’ll post something here at least once a week when possible!

I have a buddy I’m helping sail his boat from the islands to the mainland this weekend. After that I’ll hit up some WiFi and finally edit the resources page with as much info as I can!

In the meantime, here’s a couple more videos I made just kinda following along the boat punk lifestyle. At least it keeps the thread bumped!

There’s also a San Juan 24 for sale in the bay here as of today. Good shape, $3k. Right person could get it for $2500. It’s in the bay right now, anchored out, ready for the next Sea Tramp to get aboard and start living the life!

Cheers
Crow

 

[RoadFlower33]

I'm in! Haven't read everything here yet, tho about to. But I'm in. I'm going to take 2019 to get my shit together ie bus, tools, car sell what we can't use and I'm getting a boat. I'm all in!

 

[RoadFlower33]

Heyo,
Long time lurker, first time poster.
Been living a traveling punk life by land and sea in and off for the last decade. Currently full time liveaboard in the San Juan Islands.

Looking for other local boat punks. Maybe plan some meet ups, get ourselves organized a little, help each other out, help others get into the lifestyle here in the PNW, etc.

Beach parties, hikes, music, and tons of water to explore. I’m tired of the yachty crowds and want to get the crusty boat punks hiding out there in the PNW waters meeting each other and building a community. It’s a hidden paradise up here. The perfect place for a bunch ‘o boat punks to build up a sweet community.

Not to mention what we have to offer other traveling kids as both a means of travel and a destination! Impromptu folk punk fest everywhere we drop anchor...

Anyways, general shout out, looking for other hiding out there, riding out these gales!

Fair Winds
S/V CROW

I’m super down! I love teaching sailing to anyone that wants to learn. I hope ya come up.

Anyone? I'm dying to sail. It's the last frontier as far as im concirned. wide open freedome. open! No mpg no fule much bigger road. I have had 3 buses one still around... im over the bus scein. long story short I have a bunch of resorces just sitting around I'm no longer wanting to use for construction their intended use. Nor do I want to wast time on another bus. But boats... if the right community came afloat and was going to have a shop or someplace whare we could referbish or just fix a boat I would be down to donate alot of my tools just to lighten my load and start off the community right.

 

[CrowTheBard]

I'm in! Haven't read everything here yet, tho about to. But I'm in. I'm going to take 2019 to get my shit together ie bus, tools, car sell what we can't use and I'm getting a boat. I'm all in!

I fully endorse this plan!
Let me know when (not “if” with boats ya!) you help/advise/whatever. PM me and we’ll set up a line of communication.

Cheers,
Crow

 

[CrowTheBard]

Anyone? I'm dying to sail. It's the last frontier as far as im concirned. wide open freedome. open! No mpg no fule much bigger road. I have had 3 buses one still around... im over the bus scein. long story short I have a bunch of resorces just sitting around I'm no longer wanting to use for construction their intended use. Nor do I want to wast time on another bus. But boats... if the right community came afloat and was going to have a shop or someplace whare we could referbish or just fix a boat I would be down to donate alot of my tools just to lighten my load and start off the community right.

That’s a huge part of what keeps me living on the water. True liberty and the distant horizon. They say the wind is still free...

I can’t say this community exists out there...yet. We have to build it.

Well maybe it does, but right now it’s just a lone Crow...(see what I did there? *wink* *wink*). But all things begin somewhere. Already a few local friends are really warming up into putting some energy into getting a community off the ground.

I have a friend here on island that would probably offer reasonable storage space, for word trade/interesting barters/etc.

Fisherman’s Bay, Lopez Island, WA. This is the rally point for now (until we get kicked or find a better place, the later being the more likely!) so far 2019, any drifter out there working their way towards the sea, search out this bay, on this island, and let’s figure out how to get this pirate community operational, and most importantly autonomous and sustainable, meaning it’ll survive and out live any one person.

Cheers,
Crow

 

[CrowTheBard]

Oh and another week, another video to get your imagination hungry for this lifestyle. To keep ya’ll motivated when shit gets hard. Boatlife is worth it. Fuck yeah boatpunx.

Cheers,
Crow

 

[Deleted member 24029]

Oh and another week, another video to get your imagination hungry for this lifestyle. To keep ya’ll motivated when shit gets hard. Boatlife is worth it. Fuck yeah boatpunx.

Cheers,
Crow

May we all be fortunate enough to be grabbed, one day, by a press gang and find ourselves aboard the vessel of Cpt Crow! You make a good case, skipper, for going to Lopez Island! I've only ever sailed the Atlantic; so it's very tempting...

 

[CrowTheBard]

May we all be fortunate enough to be grabbed, one day, by a press gang and find ourselves aboard the vessel of Cpt Crow! You make a good case, skipper, for going to Lopez Island! I've only ever sailed the Atlantic; so it's very tempting...

We’re all Captains here
The Atlantic offers a wider option of sailing to foreign, tropical ports though, if thats your thing, the east coast is definitely the better coast for hopping off from.

From here you have to get all the down the kind of foreboding northern coast of America, and don’t hit truely tropical climate until Mexico. At which point it’s hard to just “come home.” You have to either motor dead up current, up swell, and up wind (fucking awful) or sail out to Hawaii and then back (serious trip), or hit the Panama Canal or jump out to the South Pacific.

That’s all the options there are really for a sailor with foreign destination and far off world cruising on their minds.

The east coast allows access to not only the ICW, the eastern seaboard, Europe, the Med, the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, and all of the east side of central and southern America, plus the Gulf of Mexico. Granted some of those require off shore passages as well, but nothing quite like the north west coast of America or the jump from the America’s to the South Pacific Islands.

BUT!!!!

Up here there IS a 4 season climate. We experience the full rythem of the earths seasons.

Thousands and thousands of protected and semi-protected waters with thousands of Anchorage’s snd marinas.

Rugged charm- soaring mountains, towering for and pine, glaciers, fjords and rivers. The landscape of the North!

Canada is like, just right there.

Lots of boats, boating resources, sources of income, opportunity, and plenty of room to spend s lifetime roaming on s tiny budget or income.

Those are the reasons that keep me here for now. Maybe down the road I see myself shooting for a round the world trip, taking maybe 5 years to slowly circle the globe. But for now, everything I need, this place offers.

There are over a dozen anchorages within as many miles of me. I can spend the night in a different place every night for months and never have to travel more than 20 miles in a day, most days I could travel less than 5 and be somewhere that seems like a totally new world than the one I can almost see in my wake!

This place isn’t for everyone. It does get wet and cold. The days are short in the winter and the night is long. But if you appreciate the savage beauty of bears and orca and eagles and fanged mountains, and you’re the hearty sort, with thick blood and a heart of fire, then you’ll probably never want to leave this place again...

Cheers,
Crow