r/liveaboard

Well today was a sad day.

My wife and I saw a 2001 Sabre 47 that we loved. We called the broker and literally were told that they had not received any offers yet and that she was traveling so we should arrange some time when she was back, and that we should go about getting our insurance other details ready.

We literally emailed the very next day to connect them with our broker to get things moving. Got insurance quotes, financial options ready etc. our broker called / messaged literally every day.

Today we found out they are under agreement, no notice and we didn't even get a chance to get an offer in. We literally would have done it the day after I spoke with the listing agent.

Needless to say pretty sad about that one, It had everything we were looking for.

I’m looking at a house boat. It’s quite literally a floating house. No engine, no inboard/outboard. There is a bracket I could use on the back for an outboard. I also would need to install railing I believe. Some have told me I won’t be able to get the liability insurance I need because of this. Does anyone have any experience trying to get insurance on a vessel that’s not really a boat? I plan to tow it by highway to a nearby marina that can handle a 40’ houseboat then moving it to my side-by-side slip

So just to give a brief explanation as to how I ended up here.

I am in my 40's and have never had enough money to put a deposit down on a mortgage. Therefore I've been renting since I moved out of my parents house over 20.years ago.

However, in the not too distant future, I will be coming into an inheritance. At the moment I don't know how much this will be, but it might be enough to put down a deposit on a flat or a small house.

As I was just casually browsing Rightmove one day a thought came to me. Maybe it will be enough to buy a boat. Then I'll have no mortgage or rent to pay(I'm aware that living on a boat presents other problems).

I don't really know much about boats, but I live in Norfolk, which I would have thought would be a perfect place to liveaboatd, as I'm surrounded by water with the Broads and the coast.

It seems however that j was wrong as doing a bit of research, the Broads Authority(who seem to control all the waterways round here) strongly discourage liveaboatds.

I have a friend who told me he used to live on a boat on the Broads, so I asked him how he done it. He said he had an agreement with an elderly lady who lived in a house with a garden that backed on to the river. In exchange for doing some gardening and odd jobs around the house, she let him moor his boat at the bottom of the garden.

Assuming I won't get lucky enough to find this sort of deal, should I just forget this idea entirely, or is it possible to live on the Broads?

When I say Norfolk, I really mean as close to Norwich as possible because I need to go to Norwich for work. I did see that there are some liveaboatds in the Downham Market area but that's a bit too far out really.

I’ve been thinking about getting into liveaboard life, but instead of jumping straight into a bigger cruiser, I’m considering starting small with a J/24.

On paper, it seems like a cheap and simple entry point: solid boat, widely available, and relatively easy to maintain. But I’m aware it’s primarily a racing sailboat, not designed for comfort or long-term living.

From what I understand, the main challenges would be:

Very limited interior space (no standing headroom)

Minimal cooking setup

Basic sleeping arrangements

Little storage and autonomy (water, power, etc.)

At the same time, I wonder if that’s actually a good thing for a “trial phase”—kind of forcing a minimalist lifestyle and helping me understand what I really need before upgrading to a larger boat.

So my question is:

Has anyone here actually tried living aboard (even short-term) on a J/24 or something similar? Was it manageable, or did it become frustrating very quickly?

Would love to hear real experiences, pros/cons, and whether you think it’s a smart stepping stone or just a bad idea.

Not on a boat yet, but fulltime RV and find I run into an issue of remembering and finding where I put that spare part or bulk storage for dry goods or cans.

Now I have a question related to this for the community. I've been working on a personal app to organize, track and monitor all the various storage locations in the RV. I've found tiny living is a lot about optimizing space as well as remembering where you stash all the stuff.

I'm a developer in my spare time and made myself an app to create zones and add items to a zone and then can search for an item to see if I have it and where I put it. Along with provisioning shopping list this has been great for me. I have been considering polishing my personal app up and releasing it. Is there any demand for this or do most people just use an Excel sheet?

I'm moving onto a 30ft yacht soon. Yes, it's going to be expensive. Yes I'm going to suffer. Yes there will be a learning curve. I've sailed and lived in extremely unconventional places for most of my life, so I have a leg up in that manner. I choose this because I know I'll be sweet.

I have about 1 double bedroom worth of stuff. Books, clothes, some sentimental ornaments etc. mostly. I'm throwing out/giving away most of it, but for the stuff I want to keep, what's some clever ways to store things in a secure manner? I don't mind bunging things together.

I'm wanting to sleep in a single berth under the cockpit, so V berth storage options would be great.

I wish to keep books as I want a non-electronic means of entertainment when I'm anchored in the middle of nowhere. Many are going in the bin though.

After cruising the Caribbean for 3+ years and anchoring for many hundreds of nights - I have tried many of the available anchor alarms. They are all missing something, and I've decided to start building my own.

I want an anchor alarm that runs on a small GPS tracker on the boat, not your phone. So you can dinghy to shore and still get drag alerts by app/email/whatsapp. Web dashboard + iOS/Android app. My big assumptions are you must have wifi on the boat and you must have some USB type power source available.

What's in so far:

• One-tap "Set Anchor Here" (or tap/drag the pin on the map)
• Chain out = your alarm radius
• Live swing track, visible from anywhere
• AI-suggested drop point from your GPS track
• whatsapp/email to any contacts you list if it triggers
• Anchor watch + dock watch modes

What do you actually rely on in your current anchor alarm? What's missing from Anchor Pro / Aqua Map / Ankeralarm / etc. that would make you switch? What annoys you?

Appreciate any feedback.

My partner and I are getting ready to buy a 36' boat and move out of our apartment in a few months and I want to reality-check myself on if it's really all that bad. I don't actually see the issues with most of the "cons" people list in blogs and threads, but maybe I'm underestimating how hard it really is.

No laundry, iffy hot water supply, difficult to get groceries, tight spaces with limited storage, tiny kitchen/bathroom, etc., are all things that I've dealt with just by living in low income housing in an expensive city. The only thing that I don't have experience with is maintenance, but fortunately for me my partner works on old boats for a living and even though her job is with much larger vessels, she's the best darn manual-memorizer this side of the Mississippi lol. We also aren't planning on sailing around all the time, we both work in physical locations and would only take trips when we can afford the fuel, and we know that it's not going to be some miraculously cheaper lifestyle - it's gonna save us a few hundred a month but we're still living in an expensive city at the end of the day.

Being poor sucks, and I'm very grateful to be like "lower middle class" now, but the part I hated the most was the fact that I had no other choice. I was paying some shitty faceless company $985 a month to live in a 250sqft concrete box with a fly-infested kitchen, a shower that never worked, and an elevator that broke down for weeks at a time. I didn't mind the weird storage solutions or having to go to the corner store for overpriced toilet paper or lugging my slightly damp laundry up 12 flights of stairs because I came out of that with killer calves, yknow? Edit: this is a former living situation from when I was younger, poorer, and completely on my own financially, not my current situation.

I definitely understand that not everyone is going to be into the liveaboard lifestyle, and there's a non-zero chance that I get onto the boat and go "fuck this", but when I read about all of the issues people have I can't help but think that I've been through all of it before to some degree. The thing that stresses me out is that I never see anyone say they love the lifestyle that isn't full-time sailing and unemployed or that didn't have tons of money to drop on a big boat with all the amenities. Am I completely off-base in how I'm looking at this? Is it really that bad or is it pretty comparable to the discomforts of just being generally poor?

Choosing between a new and a used sailboat involves several factors that go far beyond the initial price.

A new sailboat offers the advantage of the latest technology, modern materials, and no prior wear and tear. It typically comes with a warranty and can be customized to suit personal needs. This often means fewer maintenance issues in the early years and greater peace of mind while sailing. However, the upfront cost is significantly higher, and depreciation is steep in the first years, similar to buying a new car.

On the other hand, a used sailboat is usually much more affordable. With the same budget, you may be able to purchase a larger or better-equipped boat. Additionally, most of the depreciation has already occurred. The downside is the potential risk related to its condition: poor maintenance, outdated systems, or hidden structural problems. Buying used often requires careful inspection and possibly additional investment in repairs or upgrades.

In conclusion, a new sailboat is ideal for those seeking reliability, comfort, and customization without immediate financial constraints. A used sailboat is better suited for buyers with a limited budget who are willing to handle maintenance and want to maximize value for money.

Ultimately, the best choice depends on the buyer’s experience, budget, and intended use of the boat.

Catalina 42 1989

I made it through another Pacific NW winter. Super mild and not that wet this year which was great for me personally as my furnace died in December (Wallas Sparten, 17k but forced air) - a cracked heat exchanger. Time for an upgrade anyway, most professionals recommend about 40k btu heat for an uninsulated boat the size of mine. My heat source for most of the winter was a 1500 watt oil heater. I run a household dehumidifier most of the time. Do not skip the electric blankets.

I talked to my insurance company and made the mistake of asking them about heat sources. I have a great insurance company when it comes to where and when I can operate the boat and the range of operation. However they have a flat ban portable heaters and solid fuel heaters. The only acceptable heat systems are the old school Dickinson drip pot diesel heaters or something like a wabasto or Wallace or similar and they have to be professionally installed (That's s*** is not in the budget). I'm not the biggest fan of the Dickinson drip pot style diesel heaters a previous partner of mine was nearly killed by carbon monoxide poisoning when a heater down drafted while she was sleeping. After shopping around I've opted for a hurricane SCH 33 which I got used. It's been a very slow process to get the install done.

Small projects that have made life better a full down countertop to extend some galley working surface. A roll-down curtain on the inside of the main companionway hatch doors to help with the draft. Some weatherstripping around the outside of the hatch slide.

Otherwise business is usual. Liveboard in the winter is a little rough but basically fine. I am very very glad to see spring. Hoping to do my annual rig inspection in the next week, get the main bent on from a little TLC I was giving it and get the oil changed to the engine and get out to the islands.

What to do? Husband and I live aboard a 1997, 47' (bow sprit to swim platform) Aft Cabin Carver Motor Yacht. To call her a Yacht is hilarious, but, whatever, that's what our title says. We're currently moored behind a casino on the Gulf Coast, but we do have storage access in a fixed sea can. I'm looking for ways to store seasonal clothing. It's hot here, and humid. Has anyone sorted bug-free, mildew, mold-free storage sources that out-of-season clothes can live in for a few months??

We have a ‘77 Harbormaster houseboat that we would like to live aboard in a marina somewhere in maybe Kentucky or Tennessee, maybe Alabama. We are not set yet on a destination. Right now we plan a trial run at it in Southern Missouri.

Most of the marinas here shut the water off on November 1. I believe I have the water problem figured out but as a side note if you have a unique way of storing water then I’d be happy to hear it.

Our problem is HEAT. I’m not convinced that oil filled heaters are going to cut it on most of those days in January when it can get really cold. I’ve looked into heat pumps that would provide AC and heat BUT the manufacturer indicates if the water temperature drops below 40 degrees F then you should use it. Unfortunately that when we really need it. If I winterize it then I would have to dewinterize it later. I could really use some good advice. I’m sure there are people who have run into this before.

Hi everyone! I’m 21 and I'm planning a spontaneous diving trip. I'm looking for inspiration, hidden gems and last-minute offers.

About me:

• Certification: AOWD, Deep Diver, Nitrox.
• Experience: 50+ logged dives (Egypt BDE, Thailand, Malta, Croatia).
• Focus: I am obsessed with big fish and pelagic action. My dream is to have Galapagos-level interactions, but I am looking for something more affordable.
• Timeline: I am 100% flexible from June until mid-September.
• Preferences: I am a solo traveller. I’m happy with simple homestays or basic liveaboards.

I’m looking for:

1. Destination recommendations: Where is the absolute best pelagic action during the European summer? I’m open to anywhere in the world!
2. Science/ fieldwork: I’d love to join a project or volunteer programme focused on research (shark/manta ID, reef monitoring, etc.) where I can contribute to conservation while diving.
3. Last-Minute Deals: If any liveaboards have a 'stray' cabin to fill during this period, please get in touch!

I look forward to receiving your suggestions, including some 'off-the-beaten-path' ideas! Thanks a lot!

“**Tanka boat people**” usually refers to the **Tanka (or Dan) people**, a traditional ethnic group from southern China who historically lived on boats.

They are not the same as the Vietnamese “boat people” refugees, although the terms can sound similar.

### Who are the Tanka?

The **Tanka** are a coastal community found mainly in:

* Guangdong (southern China)

* Hong Kong

* parts of Fujian

For centuries, many Tanka families lived **entirely on boats**, rather than on land. Because of this, they were often called “boat people.”

### Way of life

* They built and lived on wooden boats called *sampan*-like vessels

* Fishing and coastal trade were their main livelihoods

* Entire families, including children, were born, lived, and died on boats

* They developed a distinct maritime culture and dialect

### Social history

Historically, the Tanka were considered socially separate from land-dwelling Chinese populations. In some periods:

* They were restricted from owning land

* They faced social discrimination

* Intermarriage with land residents was discouraged

Over time, especially in the 20th century, many Tanka gradually moved onto land and integrated more into mainstream society, particularly in places like Hong Kong.

### Important distinction

* **Tanka people**: long-established maritime ethnic group in southern China

* **Vietnamese “boat people”**: refugees who fled Vietnam by sea mainly after 1975

If you want, I can also explain how the Tanka culture influenced Hong Kong’s coastal history or how their boat communities actually worked day-to-day.

Fair warning: this came out of procrastination more than methodology.

Spent an unhealthy amount of time reading threads here and in a few other sailing forums where people describe their crewmate (or themselves), and a handful of character types kept showing up. The one who wakes at every creak. The one who sleeps through gybes. The one who "just felt something off." The one who's *sure* they're fine at hour 32.

We pulled together 8 of the ones we kept noticing and turned it into a personality survey. 43 questions, 8 archetypes. Not a definitive taxonomy — just 8 we recognised, plus ourselves, plus half our friends.

galvanicworks.com/research/crew-personality-survey.html

If you spot a question we should have asked, or a character type we missed, tell us — we know we haven't caught them all and we're still tuning it.

(No email needed to see your result. There's a subscribe box on the page — only tick it if you actually want updates on what we're building for sailors. Otherwise we'll leave you alone — the survey is anonymous.)