Anyone know about living on boats?

[cranberrydavid]

Double post

 

[cranberrydavid]

My 20' boat is almost always the smallest liveaboard wherever I go but it is set up sweet-woodstove,12v and kerosene lights,portapotty(no thru hull for pumpout toilet). Nice and simple and legal too.

Wecome, hamikman! That does sound sweet. What kind of woodstove are you using?

For people who are learning, wood is the driest heat source you can have on a boat. This is important because living aboard=wet and moldy unless you fight it. Nothing ever dries on its own on a boat and the humidity on the water is usually 100% so even if your bilges are bone dry, all the moisture from your cooking, breathing and sweating will soon soak everything in the cabin. Mold and rot follows.

Heat sources in order from driest to wettest:

Woodstove--it's amazing how much moisture it can suck out of the air. You ought to learn something about basic firefighting and CO2 poisoning, but you should do that anyway. If you can avoid driftwood, it's better. The salt will corrode your stove and pipe over time.

Diesel stove--pretty good, but they're expensive and take a lot of tinkering.

Electric--neutral as far as drying. Only works at a marina with good shorepower, which usually means it's hot for electolysis (eating your zincs and thruhull fittings).

Propane--Bad. Makes water vapor when it burns, so it will actually rain inside a small cabin. Also, propane is heavier than air, so it sinks and collects in the bilges, where it can go BOOM at inconvenient times. Compressed natural gas (CNG) is just as wet, but at least it won't blow you up. It's hard to find though.

Added: Always have a fire extinguiser in a handy place near the exit. [Also note: NOTHING pisses off a marina against liveaboards like having safety equipment disappear!]

 

[Earth]

One of my friends has been living on a non-powered (her term) motor boat for quite some time. Might be an ex-fishing boat. Think it's something like 34 feet long. Keeps it at a small marina, where she gets all her power etc.. from (which means she has bills no different than the rest of us). While it sounds very appealing, it also is not a free ride as she is always working on the thing, and when the storms roll in, they really roll in. She got snowed in big time this past winter. But it sounds like she still prefers to live on the water, and it's something I'm considering doing myself within the next ten years or so - as my inspiration comes from an old man who lives on an older tri-hull sail boat where I launch out of (when doing my off-shore kayaking trips).

 

[hamikman]

It's homemade (not by me tho). It's 8" square pipe/12" long capped at each end, simple mitred door, chimney is that ss flexible 3" pipe used for exhaust for heavy equp. Had a guy make it for me. Removed bulkhead diesel heater (which I loved) and installed wood heater to test it. Worked awesome. Dog loved it. Originally got it because fuel prices going up and wanted a backup but after I tested it liked it so much it took 3 years to put diesel back in(just recently). I know guys that have made them out of olive oil cans, propane tanks(work very well) and whatever. If you know someone with gear and arrange atrade or whatever you can get the materials at a scrap yard for almost nothing and make it to your own specs. Square pipe works very well. Mine is 1/4" Wall but would do 1/8" next time to save weight. Put diesel back in so boat would be warm when I got back after being away all day. I've figured a way of having both just have to do it.
Hey- I can't log on with my laptop to stp so using another computer. Wonder what's up. Me paranoids wondering if there's a bug associated with the site the admins don't know about or something. Anyone else have this trouble?

 

[hamikman]

Heres a quote from Sterling Hayden. I think it sums up elegantly a philosophy we here can appreciate.

- "To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... "cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.
"I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.
What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.

The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life? "

 

[hamikman]

Heres a quote from Sterling Hayden. I think it sums up elegantly a philosophy we here can appreciate.

- "To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... "cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.
"I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.
What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.

The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life? "

 

[Linda/Ziggy]

I lived on a canal boat in England, was part of a low impact/low tech permaculture community.
It was great.
Unfortunately over there as with over here,
you need to stay on the move if you are not insured, registered etc,
I don;t know what salvage rights are in the USA concerning abandoned boats.
In the UK the boat has to be abandoned for a set number of years and the hull line
has to be under a specific level in the water (sinking) to be able to claim the boat.

The was an article in the San Francisco Times yesterday about abandoned boats
on the Petaluma River.

 

[hamikman]

Re abandoned boats- Ya I've heard of that going on in the US. Supposed to be quite common in Florida. Its a good opportunity to score a free boat. If true find out what the salvage laws are and go get em you guys.

 

[godsahn]

As someone who is considering life on a boat, this thread is filled with awesome material. Thanks!

 

[godsahn]

I'm on a mutha-fucking boat!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU

 

[40 Hands]

Had a friend that squatted a boat before he moved into a punk house i lived at. Him an some idiot slept on this beat up little boat for a few weeks with no problems. But they werent making a scene, and only used it to sleep. Always left in the morning and showed up after sun set.

 

[Dmac]

i just watched an old documentery from the late 70's or 80's. these guys got an old barge (they were in louisiana) and built a cabin on it. they would tow it to an area in the swamp and set up gardens and hunt/fish, till they got tired and then would move to a diferent area. it was very cool. i watch a show on discovery called "swamp people" and there are still people who live on home made house boats and more or less live off the land. they make money by selling crayfish and the like.

 

[dharma bum]

i'm building one of these... for sure...

 

[flashinglights]

I just found out by reading a newspaper article about derelict barges, that a vessel with no cargo or means of propulsion does not have to be registered, according to maritime law. I bet those guys in the swamp were taking full advantage of that.

 

[Dmac]

did not know that about barges, but you sure could put a lot on one. you know, house, raised bed gardens and the like.

 

[Cardboard]

http://www.blueanarchy.org/ -- has a lot of info about anchoring places on the west coast, probably a good group to be in touch with.
http://www.sailinganarchy.com/index_page1.php -- a bit more serious of a sailors page, but still lots of good info. I found it building when building a giant catamaran, they have plans for building the trimaran from waterworld!

 

[JannethintheWind]

COME TO MARYLAND! the chesapeake bay watershed is the most extensive in the world...a true beauty and a great place to live...and droppin out in the river can be done

 

[soapybum]

Cant paste the link cuz i'm on my shitty phone but isnt there a thread on here talking about a few different places to get vacant/abandonded boats and wanting to make an anarchist flotilla? The thread is only a month or so old at tops.

 

[Vonuist]

I don't know how I missed this one.
I'm currently living in the Scottish Highlands, counting trees for the Forestry Commision and saving the money to buy a narrowboat.
The recession has knocked the arse out of the narrowboat market, prices are very, very low right now as lots of hobby owners are getting sick of the mooring fees and selling up, this is especially true of "project boats" that need work done.
I'm hoping to pick up something in the 40 foot range for under £10, 000 and then refit it as a liveaboard with solar, a collapsable turbine and a completely new interior.
I've been getting a lot of inspiration from videos of the Tiny House movement on youtube and elsewhere and I've come up with some great ideas for maximising the space inside, although, of course, until I get the boat and start work I can never be sure if it work.
My plan is to get a Cruising license and just stay in temporary moorings, moving on every couple of weeks.
I know that my plans involve a very specific kind of boat but I'm sure that the mechanics of outfitting a liveaboard are much the same whether you are on the canal or the high seas and I'd welcome the chance to discuss some new ideas.