Living Onboard Part2

Possibly the hardest part of living aboard is finding the right boat. I know this sounds like a big statement, but the search for a boat that suits your taste and budget can be a time consuming and frustrating project.

Helen and Stephen Smith are people who spent two years just looking before ending up with their present boat, a 33ft powercruiser. They have been living aboard for well over a year now and the frustrations of the search are just a memory, but they are willing to share their experience as they believe it may make it easier for other couples who are thinking of the same thing.

Both of the Smiths were in their 40s, kids gone, and the common itch of a lifestyle change became more intense every day. Neither had much boating background but the magazines in the newsagency promote a style of living that drips with sun, blue sky and calm seas. Just look at the ads in this magazine!

They had a sort of a list of what they were looking for. Definitely fibreglass, with as little exterior maintenance as possible. Speed was not an issue and both felt they would be comfortable with a single engine boat. Steel and timber construction were out, as Stephen felt that he did not have the necessary skills to maintain these materials. So the search began.

SAILBOATS CROSSED OFF
The yachts they saw in the budget range all looked too small to live on and it wasn't long before they ceased to respond to advertisements for sailing craft.

They much admired the Blue Seas 36, a displacement cruiser made in Taiwan, but most of those the Smiths looked at had some pretty serious faults, mainly caused by water leaks around windows. Unfortunately for this brand of boat, as well as many others of its vintage manufactured in Asia, they are fitted out with veneer plywood which is easily affected by water staining and this often causes the top veneer to lift. The end result is as you can imagine - the whole interior of the boat looks like it is rotting to bits and makes an otherwise sound craft difficult to sell.

As time passed, Stephen and Helen became more sure of what they wanted in a boat, and less intimidated by some of the brokers they encountered.

Both felt a lot more effort could have been expended by brokers to ascertain just what they were after, but they believe the boating industry is no different from the housing or the automotive industry, in that there are good and bad salespeople everywhere.

Finally they spotted the boat they wanted and decided to make an offer. The finance had been approved for some time, although Stephen says that this was one of the biggest hassles of the whole project. Most banks shy away from lending against an asset that can be moved and in the end, it was only because a relative of Stephen's went guarantor that the money was finally made available. The offer was accepted and the boat passed survey successfully. Two brand-new boat owners moved aboard.

KNOWING WHAT TO LOOK FOR
It was at this stage that they realised that no amount of looking will help if you don't know what you are looking for. If that sounds a bit silly, let me explain.

One of the things that Helen thought would be important for living aboard was a hot-water system, and she made sure their intended purchase had one. It was only after buying the boat that she and Stephen realised that it only operated off the engine cooling system and took nearly two hours to come up to temperature. This meant that if they were in a marina then the engine would have to run for that length of time twice per day. Expensive? Certainly. Add a lot of hours of wear on the engine? You bet! A year of boat ownership and cold showers would pass before a new 240V hot water system was fitted.

Another example was the canvas work. Although it appeared to be in good condition, and in fact is still in use, its waterproof effectiveness in heavy rain has diminished to a point where the cockpit cover leaks like the proverbial sieve. Possibly they wouldn't have noticed this if they didn't live aboard, but as they do, they sure did. Replacing awnings is an expensive exercise and for Stephen and Helen, it's still on their list.

The shower worked, but the plumbing seemed to have been executed by a madman with a passion for 12V Water Puppy pumps. Now, these devices are a fine piece of engineering, although noisy, and when used as the manufacturer intended will perform flawlessly.

Unfortunately, they are not really suitable for pumping water mixed with soap and human hair - no pump with rotating parts is - and the constant blocking of the pump coupled with the jet engine-like whine and the lack of hot water made the Smiths very familiar with the amenities at the marina.

The engine was discovered to be 24V, whilst the rest of the system was 12V. I had exactly the same experience with a cruiser many years ago and my background is electrical, so Stephen shouldn't feel too bad.

Actually, it's more of a nuisance than anything else, but it would have been nice if it had been listed on the specification sheet, or perhaps the surveyor might have picked it up.

The boat only had household refrigeration, but that hasn't been too big a burden as the Smiths live on the marina with shorepower connected. Overnight stays away are achieved by filling the fridge with ice and making do. One day they may fit a small generator to solve this problem.

EMBRACING THE LIFESTYLE
After 18 months of living aboard, Helen and Stephen both confess to being happy with their purchase, although they wish they knew then what they know now.

The boat has been improved out of sight, all the changes having been made to make the boat more comfortable, with other things like electronics and bowthrusters currently still on the wish list. Stephen is good with his hands and what he didn't know he has soon learned.

An air-conditioner has been fitted and saloon seating upgraded. Small things have brought big gains, like the sink drain pipe being changed from half-inch to inch-and-a-half - no more blocked sinks!

Larger tasks, such as fitting the hot water system and bringing sanity to the shower plumbing, have taken time and money and as a consequence, the budget is still tight.

Helen and Stephen use the boat quite a bit and often spend the weekends anchored out in the Broadwater. More adventurous cruising will come later. I personally think they've done very well and I admire their courage in selling up everything to embrace a lifestyle both knew little about.

A DIFFERENT STORY
Two other friends of mine are also looking for a boat to live on, but their circumstances are vastly different to the Smiths.

Freddie and Rose Parker are both in their 60s and have lived aboard their 34ft yacht for nearly 10 years. Freddie brought the hull and deck in New Zealand and spent four years completing the boat. Early retirement saw the Parkers head out into the Pacific and they have spent enjoyable years cruising the islands and the east coast of Australia.

Now, they have decided that their offshore cruising days are over and would like to own a powercruiser. Here is where the big difference lies between them and the Smiths. Freddie and Rose know exactly what they want, but realise that compromise will probably play a big part in the final decision.

Rose would just kill for a walkaround bed! Ten years of battling with the V-berth up forward has left its toll and I think she would vote for a water tank with a pair of oars as long as it had a bed that was easily made up!

Freddie wants a sedan style with a big rear cockpit, single screw is fine with him, and a flying bridge would be nice. Plenty of votes for a shower with hot water, both have done without on the yacht; an oven would be nice but Rose has managed for so long that it isn't all that important to her any more.

COMFORT AND ROOM
Talking to them about their dream boat makes it easy to see where their focus is - definitely comfort and room. Rose's idea of room is heaps of stowage and importantly it must be accessible. I agree wholeheartedly. There's not much use in having a large stowage area if the bed mattress has to be removed every time you need to get at it.

Freddie's idea of room is space to actually at least crawl around the engine, good access to things like batteries and pumps, and room for a generator (even better if the boat is already equipped with one). Neither he nor Rose are all that fussed about air-conditioning, but the refrigeration has to be first class and have freezing capabilities.

Finally, the boat shouldn't be too big - under 40ft - as the maintenance fees, insurance, marina fees, etc, are all directly related to the size of the vessel.

The Parkers differ from the Smiths in that they no longer work. This means they do not have to stay full-time in marinas, but generally spend a month alongside and a month at anchor with a bit of coastal cruising thrown in. Last year it was the Whitsundays for the winter; next year it may be Sydney for the summer.

The type of boat they find won't affect their plans all that much. The kind of construction does not concern Freddie as he has an engineering background and after having virtually built his current boat, would not feel intimidated by steel, timber or fibreglass, although he does draw the line at concrete.

So far the search has been an exercise in frustration. One inspection after another has failed to reach their expectations, mainly because it has proved difficult to find boats that have been thoughtfully set up for living aboard and yet are still good sea boats for coastal cruising.

It goes without saying that "money will generally solve most problems", but budgetary concerns have not been much of a barrier yet. The closest a boat has come was a converted timber trawler, built in northern NSW. Although the workmanship was exceptional, the conversion was unfortunately a bit of an oddity. It could have been changed to suit Freddie and Rose, but in the end they decided not to put in an offer.

LIVING ABOARD VERSUS WEEKENDING
The tale of these two couples is fairly representative of people today who are looking for a boat to live on, and I can only offer a few comments to end this article.

As stated up front, buying a boat with the intention to live aboard is a lot harder proposition than it first appears, because it is less easy to compromise in certain areas if the systems are going to be in constant use compared to weekend boating.

As an illustration, take the boat I mentioned earlier with the 24V engine. For some unfathomable reason, the hot water was pumped with a 24V pump and the cold with a 12V one. The galley sink had a hot tap and a cold tap, so here the system worked just fine. In the shower, however, chaos reigned as the hot water pump and the cold water pump fought with each other to force the water through the mixer head of the shower. Each would cycle their pressure switches on and off, resulting in intervals of scalding hot water followed by freezing cold.

The sound of the inevitable oohing and ahhing of the person in the shower desperately trying to adjust the taps was hilarious to outside listeners. I don't think anyone ever managed to soap up, it was just too painful.

Impossible to believe that this 'system', and I use that word loosely, could have been installed by a professional boatbuilder, but it was! Impossible to believe that I left it like that for 10 years, but I did!

Not living onboard meant that the shower did not get a lot of use and there were more pressing things on the boat that needed attending to, so I just put up with it. If this shower had been used on a daily basis it would have been changed within a week!

So if it's necessary to compromise, and it almost always is, it might be better to compromise in the direction of practicability rather than the level of equipment. Twelve mile radar and interfaced autopilot and plotter are toys to die for, but in the business of living, a hot shower and a four-burner stove take a bit of beating.

Look at as many boats as possible and admit to the broker that the sole purpose of the exercise is to find a vessel to dwell on. If he or she then takes you aboard that big gamefisher with 1200hp a side, fitted with enough electronics for a moon shot and 50 different styles of fishing rods, point out the gas system with only bottle, the one drawer in the galley and the sink that half a litre of water would fill to overflowing.

Ask the broker "are you serious?", and if the answer is yes, get another broker. At least you'll be content in the knowledge that one of you knows what you're doing!