SeaVenture
regular
Reged: 04/01/2007
Posts: 83
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We have a Newport diesel heater taking the damp and cold out of a 50' boat. Works wonderfully. Granted, the winter here hasn't been horrible this year, but we had to wear mufflers, sweats, a jacket, hat, and gloves on July 3. A few warm days in fall and spring, mostly blowy and cold. I also recommend oil lamps for added heat, though they don't help the damp at all--in fact, they add to it. Next week we head south toward Mexico. Yea!
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Squeaky
regular
Reged: 25/03/2008
Posts: 20
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I wish forums had been around when I started in 1977 but they weren't so I had to learn as I went along. For a start I was in a Halcyon 27 with a partner (for a few years) which is almost a dinghy compared to the usual size of yacht now-a-days. The partner was replaced numerous times over the years but that's another story.
One thing we didn't have was electrcity so I used a 2 kg propane bottle with a mantle lamp which provided more then enough heat and lots of good light for reading. Had to leave the central hatch open for ventilation and keep the heat down. This caused condensation but a few hours with the companionway open every day or so solved that.
For showering we used a l0 ltr "Sunshower" bag half filled with water from the tap and a kettle fulll of boiling water suspended from a cleat on the mast outside with the shower head led down through a dorade vent.
We/I lived for 17 years in the eastern Med with about £300 a month working when ever work was on offer which wasn't all that often but if so any funds was used for "extras" or banked. I divided by monthly income by 5 and drew 20% every Monday - half went for house keeping and the rest for the boat and extras. If there was only four Mondays in the month, the 20% remaining in the bank built up an "emergency" fund for slipping, major repairs etc. If there was any cash left on Sunday we spent it foolishly by eating out or having a few drinks as a refill was waiting on Monday morning.
Laundry was done in a bucket in the cockpit. Fill it with cold water with lots of soap powder and leave it sit over night so you will just have to rinse it the next day - once you have the soap rinsed out the dirt will be gone also. My T shirts were whiter then white and not to be ashamed off. Modern thought seems to be convinced that hot water on tap is a necessity of life - it isn't.
I was introduced to the "French" system of washing dishes - lots of liquid soap and a sponge left to air dry. Spoke to someone the other day who couldn't go sailing as their water heater was broken - thought he couldn't live without hot water.
I never used marinas because it was just beyond the budget although I had to pay for use of the town quay from time to time but one soon learned which harbours charged and which didn't. Of course, now everyone is on the band wagon and a marina berth is almost a necessity for winters but certainly not during the summer months.
You will find that life has greatly changed since the days of Pardeys with yachties especially the ladies expecting all "mod cons" while cruising. It is still possible to cruise on a small budget but you won't be able to follow the herd from marina to marina and will have to make your own amusement but you will also learn a lot about how to maintain your own yacht and equipment out of necessity. I am glad I didn't have the cash to pay others as I had to learn how to do things myself - didn't enjoy being faced with seemingly insurmountable problems but solved them eventually and look back on all the happy memories.
An article by Frankie Dixon about the cost of living/sailing in a 24 foot Eventide in YW in Dec 76 convinced me that it was possible.
Cheers
Jac
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baggypipes
regular
Reged: 05/10/2006
Posts: 129
Loc: anywhere the wind takes us
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PM sent
ps our 9mtr catamaran is for sale fully equiped for living aboard pm for details.
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Troutbridge
regular
Reged: 19/03/2007
Posts: 333
Loc: Cruising, mon, cruising
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£1000 per month (I assume net) should cover it. Despite books by Annie Hill et al don't kid yourself that living on a boat is a really cheap option. Heating will, pro-rata, work out more expensive than heating a house. I enjoyed Squeaky's post, but have to say that was then and this is now. If you're prepared to live by boiling kettles to get hot water for a shower, traipse off in the driving rain to [probably] slightly dubious toilets and showers, do your laundry in a bucket [fine in a warm climate, but the UK in January?] then go for it, personally I have a great heads/shower set-up on my boat and use them most of the time.
Incidentally, somebody mentioned the £200 millionaire. Good book BUT that was £200 in the early 1930's, the equivalent today would probably be about £12-£15K today, maybe a bit more.
Your project is do-able. I'm told that solid fuel heating produces a 'dry' heat which helps with condensation and drying things out. ventilation would then be a problem of course. If you plan on living 'on the hook' you'll need a good dingy...not always possible to come alongside to go shopping, top up with fuel and water not to mention gas refills.
It all depends on how you want to live, i.e. what your expectations wrt levels of comfort are.
--------------------
Some see the glass as half full, some see it as half empty. I see it as too damn small.
http:/blog.mailasail.com/troutbridge
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AndrewB
regular
Reged: 07/06/2001
Posts: 3455
Loc: California dreamin'
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Quote:
Realisticly I would need to be able to survive on £800 a month, allowing for times with empty rooms etc. I would see income from work as a bonus. How does this sound as a budget?
Possible, but seriously spartan. If you can live on land for this amount, then you can live on water. You'll find many people, me included, who have retreated to a boat when times have got hard, so actually its cheaper.
What is more difficult is to keep the boat in good cruising order and face the expenses associated with regular cruising away from base. It means keeping entirely away from marinas during summer and holing up in a cheap mudberth during winter - you really do have to be somewhere that electricity is available. You'll become something of a water-gypsy, would you enjoy this lifestyle? Incidentally a yacht that can take the ground easily is an asset here.
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JamesFrance
regular
Reged: 24/10/2006
Posts: 220
Loc: Carcassonne & Sant Carles
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We spent the winter of 69/70 in Malta with no electricity. I would not like to do that in the UK though, as you would probably ruin your motor from running it off load a lot.
For heat and light we used a tilley lamp, I fitted whale footpumps for water and bought a secondhand kerosene fridge for £5 which made wonderful ice in summer too.
We too used a solar shower and filled our calor cylinders from local ones using a piece of plastic tube. The soak bucket worked well for us also, a family with 2 small children.
The next spring we set off on a leisurely cruise ending in Falmouth. We visited 75 harbours on the way and didn't have to pay in any of them. In those days even in marinas you normally had a free night. I wish it were the same now.
I would happily do the same again, the whole point was to go for a simple life. Money does not buy happiness.
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James
Dolphin of Menai
Beneteau Oceanis 311.
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pW2
regular
Reged: 19/09/2005
Posts: 21
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I´ve wintered from northern Norway and on south, including England, Ireland and Galicia in my 40ft cat on and off since the 70´s and I´ve never had more than a 100 quid a week for everything but I´ve always been warm and well fed, and, mostly, the old dear gets painted and new gear when necessary. It´s all in the mind. Fortune favours the bold, even sailors, but she castigates the foolhardy.
We´ve never spent a night in a marina except once or twice in northern Finland, Estonia and Latvia because they were cheap and everything was included.
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