Living Inexpensively
On The Sea
By Captain Keith
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Like many of you I lived a typical middle class life in a nice house and lots of
toys. The problem was that I only had one or two weeks free to use them. I
was living in a big house, filled with important “stuff” with my wife and two
were successful.
On a fateful day in 2006 I was struck by an idea so powerful that I stood
up from my desk, walked to the personnel department and resigned. I
would sell my house, the extra cars, all that important “stuff” and live on a
boat with my family, and travel the seas as a free man. Needless to say
this “shift” was not initially accepted by my family. The major problem we
faced was letting go of things that had “positive emotions” attached. You
know the trinket you got in third grade from your best friend that is kept in
a box in the attic that you never look at. Then freeing ourselves of the
belief that “space = success”. We took out a piece of paper and wrote
down the “benefits” in one column and “cost” in another, and looked at our
life in detail This was a great exercise. It quickly showed that the love of
material possessions and space had turned us into wage slaves, and to get
free only things we actually used needed to stay and everything else was to
go. Your house, job title, or car does not define you. You are a perfect
child of God. Everything else is fluff. Craigslist and garage sales had all
our stuff gone in a month. Once the house sold we moved aboard. Expect no
support from your family, friends or old coworkers – they will call you
names and pronounce you crazy. Be strong and chart your own course. Make
sure you are ready to fight for your freedom.
After the feathers stopped flying, we found ourselves living on an old 40 ft
racing sailboat. Everything seemed small when we moved aboard with all
our remaining possessions. We downsized one more time when we realized
we still had plenty of stuff we no longer used. Living on a boat was not new
to us, we did this every chance we got for vacation. (If you choose to live on
a boat, it is important you focus on having fun. Remember you are choosing
to live this way. The old wage slave life will haunt you for a while. Soon
however the new found freedom will win out). We cruised the entire
summer in Washington State. I felt as if I had gone to heaven. No alarm
clocks, rocking to sleep each night. No lawn to mow, no property taxes, no
gutters to clean. My old corporate life looked insane. My family has come
to love this simple and rewarding lifestyle.
Choosing a boat
We choose our boat because it was the biggest sailboat we could get for
the money we had, and it had three separate sleeping quarters. It is an old
1966 Cal 40 made of fiberglass. These early fiberglass boats from the 60’
s and 70’s are extremely well built, inexpensive, and easy to repair and
modify. My wife and I have some basic repair skills and made repairs with
sealant, fiberglass, plywood and upholstery. Most of these early boats
have lost their “shine”; if you can live without shine you will do just fine.
When choosing a boat it is important to consider the following attributes:
Living on a boat has two distinct life styles.
The first is living in a marina slip. Most people have a 30 amp power cord
which plugs into your boat and turns it into a mini house. Life is simple and
easy. Most marinas have water at the dock, toilet, showers and laundry
facilities. We use the marina toilets and shower whenever possible. This is a
fun lifestyle since all your friends, stores, and favorite restaurants are
right where you left them. And after the initial shock, people will want to
visit you on your boat. We spend half our year dockside and really enjoy it.
The second lifestyle is cruising, a much more difficult, inexpensive and
rewarding way to live. This is where you unplug from 110V and live on 12V
batteries. We have a five day set up – we carry five days water, ice (for
the ice box), and fuel for the motor. We also have a little gas generator to
get us out of trouble in case we let the batteries go dead. Seems our
laptop computer uses a lot of juice. Usually the motor charges up our
batteries. We have one toilet that fills into a holding tank – that’s the law.
The intention is to offload your waste to a shore side facility. The truth is
very few shore side facilities exist. The truth is people pump overboard
while motoring in open water. We “go” in the sea just like all the seals,
dolphins, whales, fish, shrimp and crabs. This is a legal issue however you
need to be aware of. Every five days we find a port city and fill up with
water, ice, fuel and food. I often anchor out and row in with plastic jerry
cans for water and fuel.
If you like boats and want to live on the
water – you can truly live inexpensively.
Let me offer you these Tips.
So you’re liking this "Life Aquatic" lifestyle
– what does it really cost?
Upfront costs:
30 – 40 ft fiberglass boat $10K to 30K, initial upgrades $1000 to $3000
Monthly costs:
slip rental $200-$300, electricity $25 to $100/month, laundry, food
Annual costs:
boat liability insurance $1000-1800 (only need if in a slip), bottom paint &
zincs ($500-$1000)
Bottom line:
30 ft boat, two people, $30,000/yr, in a marina. $15,000 per year cruising
and anchoring.
40 ft boat, family of four, $40,000/yr, in a marina. $25,000 per year
cruising and anchoring.
Extra’s:
Solar panels $1500, wind generator $800 each. Small gas generator $600,
5 gallons of gas for the generator is $10 week. We use the generator one
hour a day on anchor because it is the cheapest and easiest and doesn’t
depend on the wind or a sunny day. We also use it for movie night.
Living in a boat is a real opportunity to live a great life inexpensively. Plus
many 30 ft boats can easily be prepared for ocean cruising. Have you
considered circumnavigation - you can if you want to. “The view of paradise
is the same from the deck of any boat”. The world of water is yours for
peanuts. Now that is Freedom.
See you on the water living cheap!
Captain Keith and the crew of Kismet
toys. The problem was that I only had one or two weeks free to use them. I
was living in a big house, filled with important “stuff” with my wife and two
were successful.
On a fateful day in 2006 I was struck by an idea so powerful that I stood
up from my desk, walked to the personnel department and resigned. I
would sell my house, the extra cars, all that important “stuff” and live on a
boat with my family, and travel the seas as a free man. Needless to say
this “shift” was not initially accepted by my family. The major problem we
faced was letting go of things that had “positive emotions” attached. You
know the trinket you got in third grade from your best friend that is kept in
a box in the attic that you never look at. Then freeing ourselves of the
belief that “space = success”. We took out a piece of paper and wrote
down the “benefits” in one column and “cost” in another, and looked at our
life in detail This was a great exercise. It quickly showed that the love of
material possessions and space had turned us into wage slaves, and to get
free only things we actually used needed to stay and everything else was to
go. Your house, job title, or car does not define you. You are a perfect
child of God. Everything else is fluff. Craigslist and garage sales had all
our stuff gone in a month. Once the house sold we moved aboard. Expect no
support from your family, friends or old coworkers – they will call you
names and pronounce you crazy. Be strong and chart your own course. Make
sure you are ready to fight for your freedom.
After the feathers stopped flying, we found ourselves living on an old 40 ft
racing sailboat. Everything seemed small when we moved aboard with all
our remaining possessions. We downsized one more time when we realized
we still had plenty of stuff we no longer used. Living on a boat was not new
to us, we did this every chance we got for vacation. (If you choose to live on
a boat, it is important you focus on having fun. Remember you are choosing
to live this way. The old wage slave life will haunt you for a while. Soon
however the new found freedom will win out). We cruised the entire
summer in Washington State. I felt as if I had gone to heaven. No alarm
clocks, rocking to sleep each night. No lawn to mow, no property taxes, no
gutters to clean. My old corporate life looked insane. My family has come
to love this simple and rewarding lifestyle.
Choosing a boat
We choose our boat because it was the biggest sailboat we could get for
the money we had, and it had three separate sleeping quarters. It is an old
1966 Cal 40 made of fiberglass. These early fiberglass boats from the 60’
s and 70’s are extremely well built, inexpensive, and easy to repair and
modify. My wife and I have some basic repair skills and made repairs with
sealant, fiberglass, plywood and upholstery. Most of these early boats
have lost their “shine”; if you can live without shine you will do just fine.
When choosing a boat it is important to consider the following attributes:
- Only spend 75% of the money you have on your boat, the other 25% will
get used in “surprise” maintenance. - Deal with leaks ASAP, all through-hull valves should easily close (check
before you buy). All deck leaks need to be corrected ASAP. It is no
fun living in a wet boat. Mold quickly becomes an issue. - Live in a marina for 6 months to get your sea legs, get the boat
problems corrected and meet your neighbors. This is a mental
adjustment period that must be respected. Ask marina neighbors for
cruising advise. - You need a maintenance fund to paint the bottom of the boat every two
years with antifouling paint to keep barnacle bill and his friends off the
boat bottom. Also you need to keep zinc anodes fresh to protect the
propeller and shaft. Find a yard where you can do your own work and
save a bundle. It is easy to paint on bottom paint with a paint roller.
Living on a boat has two distinct life styles.
The first is living in a marina slip. Most people have a 30 amp power cord
which plugs into your boat and turns it into a mini house. Life is simple and
easy. Most marinas have water at the dock, toilet, showers and laundry
facilities. We use the marina toilets and shower whenever possible. This is a
fun lifestyle since all your friends, stores, and favorite restaurants are
right where you left them. And after the initial shock, people will want to
visit you on your boat. We spend half our year dockside and really enjoy it.
The second lifestyle is cruising, a much more difficult, inexpensive and
rewarding way to live. This is where you unplug from 110V and live on 12V
batteries. We have a five day set up – we carry five days water, ice (for
the ice box), and fuel for the motor. We also have a little gas generator to
get us out of trouble in case we let the batteries go dead. Seems our
laptop computer uses a lot of juice. Usually the motor charges up our
batteries. We have one toilet that fills into a holding tank – that’s the law.
The intention is to offload your waste to a shore side facility. The truth is
very few shore side facilities exist. The truth is people pump overboard
while motoring in open water. We “go” in the sea just like all the seals,
dolphins, whales, fish, shrimp and crabs. This is a legal issue however you
need to be aware of. Every five days we find a port city and fill up with
water, ice, fuel and food. I often anchor out and row in with plastic jerry
cans for water and fuel.
If you like boats and want to live on the
water – you can truly live inexpensively.
Let me offer you these Tips.
- The best and most affordable live aboard slips are on Clearlake, south
of Houston. Moorage is about $300 per month and you will need a
liability insurance policy. - Live aboard boats must be 30 ft or longer – this is a strict rule. You
can easily find a 30 ft boat for under $10,000 on craigslist from an
owner. - Power boats have more room inside and offer a better view, however
are more expensive to operate. Sailboats are cheaper to operate
because the wind is free and they have small efficient motors. - You will need air conditioning in the summer – a simple window model
can be adapted to your hatch. Allow $100 extra per month for your
electricity bills in the summer. - There are lots of temporary employment opportunities in the Houston
area – even in the current economy. - Once in a while a hurricane whips through and kicks butt. This year we
really got it. My boat stayed safe because I was in a marina with
floating docks and tall pilings, which held together during the 12 ft
storm surge and hundred mile winds. My boat survived fine.
Hundreds of boats at fixed slip were drug under water by their
mooring lines. This is important. Floating slips, tall pilings, wind
protection.
So you’re liking this "Life Aquatic" lifestyle
– what does it really cost?
Upfront costs:
30 – 40 ft fiberglass boat $10K to 30K, initial upgrades $1000 to $3000
Monthly costs:
slip rental $200-$300, electricity $25 to $100/month, laundry, food
Annual costs:
boat liability insurance $1000-1800 (only need if in a slip), bottom paint &
zincs ($500-$1000)
Bottom line:
30 ft boat, two people, $30,000/yr, in a marina. $15,000 per year cruising
and anchoring.
40 ft boat, family of four, $40,000/yr, in a marina. $25,000 per year
cruising and anchoring.
Extra’s:
Solar panels $1500, wind generator $800 each. Small gas generator $600,
5 gallons of gas for the generator is $10 week. We use the generator one
hour a day on anchor because it is the cheapest and easiest and doesn’t
depend on the wind or a sunny day. We also use it for movie night.
Living in a boat is a real opportunity to live a great life inexpensively. Plus
many 30 ft boats can easily be prepared for ocean cruising. Have you
considered circumnavigation - you can if you want to. “The view of paradise
is the same from the deck of any boat”. The world of water is yours for
peanuts. Now that is Freedom.
See you on the water living cheap!
Captain Keith and the crew of Kismet
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