What kind of boat do I want?
Experience has taught me that, in almost every case, a liveaboarder will, at some point in time, want a bigger, smaller, or "different" boat. So get it out of your mind that your first boat will be your last. There is no way that you can possibly foresee your requirements or desires down the road. Experience and wisdom that you will accumulate will dictate your next or ultimate (are you sure?) liveaboard vessel. There are several things for the future maritime homemaker to keep in mind when shopping for a boat.
- Staying within the budget
- Purchase price of the vessel (monthly payment)
- Slip or dock rent (monthly payment)
- Insurance (annual or semiannual rate)
- Fuel (depending on usage)
- Upkeep (constant)-"a hole in the water you throw money into"
- Mini-storage (monthly payment)-for stuff that doesn't fit on the vessel
- Sail or Power
- Sail is very fuel efficient but manually intensive
- Power is fuel dependent and can be very expensive to operate depending on usage
- Stowage or Payload
- Where will I put all my stuff? Boats don't have land based living quarters furnishing requirements
- Most liveaboarders also maintain land based mini-storage facilities-"its inevitable"
- The more stuff onboard, the higher the hull water line as the vessel rides lower in the water
- Rule of thumb-"most items onboard should perform at least two functions"
- Docking
- The bigger the vessel the more expensive the docking
- Covered dock vs. open dock
- Facilities availability (water, electricity, phone, cable, restroom, showers, pool, laundry, etc...
- Parking, lighting and security
- Floating or fixed
- Mean Low Tide water depth (sailboats generally require deeper water)
 If you like what you see, or if you don't... Write me at Capn' Jackster capnjackster@yahoo.com |
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