Living Aboard in General – Page 4 – The Essentials of Living Aboard a Boat

Life Aboard is Romantic but takes adjustments

A very nice article. Check it out!

HeraldNet: At home afloat: Life aboard a boat is romantic, but takes adjustments

Remodeling! A Great Job!

Check out:

The Excellent Adventure » Remodelling the Boys’ Berth

This really shows what is aesthetically possible on the interior of a boat.

Welcome back: To another dreamer…

Here is a blog by a dreamer! It is a cloudy Monday here in Los Angeles and I was thrilled to see something aspirational on this otherwise melancholy morning. Enjoy!

It’s been quite a while since I posted on this blog about my live
aboard dreams. In that time I tried to join the US Coast Guard but was
shot down at the last minute due to past problems of delinquent debt.
Fair enough, it happens I guess. Unfortunately I also lost my place of
residence in the process. I was told I was on my way, so my room mates
had gone ahead and replaced me, which was going to effectively leave me
homeless. Luckily for me fate had other plans. …

Living Aboard Advice/Stories – Richard and Mary Ann Switlik

Here is another nicely written article. Be sure to check it out!!!

Richard Switlik has had a floating address for 16 years. His
first residence was a 38-foot Atkins Ingrid double-ender but, when he
met his wife, Mary Ann, in Bermuda, the classic wooden yacht was doomed
in favor of a larger yacht. Before that happened, though, the Switliks
spent 13 months cruising 13,000 miles through the Med and Caribbean on
an extended honeymoon. “One thing I’ve learned over the years,” says
Switlik, “is that as long as you’re traveling on a boat, you can get by
on the next size down. But as soon as you spend dock time on a boat, it
begins to shrink in size”.

The couple now own a 1979 Gulfstar 47 ketch, which Richard calls “the ideal liveaboard boat…

http://www.boats.com/news-reviews/articledetail.html?lid=1185

Life as Adventure

i enjoyed reading this article. be sure to check it out!

i’ve been thinking about this “living the adventure” thing, and one must remember that by definition the word means challenge. living aboard is a challenge with facets that i didn’t anticipate. like so many others i wasenthralled by the romance of it all and i couldn’t imagine that there would be hardships.

for anyone who is contemplating living aboard you should know this before you begin, especially if you are older. we take so many things for granted living in our traditional homes; even if they are just smallapartments you will have much more comfort and ease than you will living aboard. one’s ability to adapt to these hardships (if you can even call it that), will be dependent on a number of factors, but don’t take them lightly.

http://loosemoorings.org/2008/01/22/life-as-adventure.aspx

A First Person Account… by Chris Caswell

Here is some more great advice! Nice article.

Living Aboard

A first-person account of the live-aboard experience

by Chris Caswell

I live aboard a 44-foot Gulfstar trawler, which is certainly not a
large boat by any means, but it literally has all the comforts of home.
I have a fireplace in the main salon for cozy winters, air-conditioning
throughout to ease heat waves, a washer and dryer (small, but
sufficient) and an all-electric galley with microwave,
refrigerator/freezer and trash compactor. The master stateroom has a
queen-size bed, plenty of closets and drawers, and even a bathtub in
the head. There’s a guest stateroom forward for weekend guests or
visiting relatives and a nice aft deck that becomes my patio.

http://www.boats.com/news-reviews/article/living-aboard

Happy New Year Liveaboards

Wishing you a very happy new year – I wanted to share an article that I found enjoyable. – click HERE

New Orleans Liveaboards

Published: March/April 2005
Living Aboard magazine

Yeah sure, everyone’s heard of Bourbon St., but for me, a life-long resident of New Orleans, the epicenter of the city is in West End on the other side of the floodwall running along Lake Marina Ave. In a city surrounded by water and resting nearly eight feet below sea-level, that’s home to three yacht clubs including the second oldest club in the country, has three major marinas with plans for another 700+ slips and has one of the most laissez-faire attitudes in the world, it should surprise no one that New Orleans is one of the few remaining liveaboard friendly cities in the country. And consequently, it has a very active liveaboard population that can rival the French Quarter for its characters.

The Boater Hypocrisy

Today, lacking anything of uplifting importance to add to today’s global dialog I wanted to re-offer the world one of my favorite quotes:

“It is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea—whether it is to sail or to watch it—we are going back from whence we came.”

Quote attributed to John F. Kennedy; Speech, Newport, Rhode Island, 14 September 1962 Public Papers of the Presidents (1962) p. 669

On a somewhat different note, today, while leaving the local marina, I watched someone from my local community do exactly the same type of thing that causes local governments to despise the recreational boater. Pumping sewage into water that our kids swim in. Perhaps I am feeling discouraged today.

The boaters’ moral authority is found in two things: as a community we do work hard to lead by example, and second, the any environmental or other problems that recreational and liveaboard boaters cause in the aggregate is a tiny fraction of the damage caused by acts on land. That, however, does not excuse a single bad act – like a boater that pumps directly into the marina, or someone who allowing chemicals to fall overboard. On our best days we represent a point of view that can help save our planet. On our worst, we are merely the lesser of two evils. To me, today we were the latter.

I’ve Been Busy!!!

I must apologize for my absence. I hope that all is going well for you in your liveaboard dreams. My disappearance, however, was due to a number of life changes going on in my world. I got married and, after months of just way too much going on, then decided to take some time off.

This is a post not about living aboard but about living your dream. To that end, I would like to share a little photo montage with you. If you’re not doing anything, consider sharing in the event with us. Here is the link: PHOTO MONTAGE

Also, if you are interested in checking out the still photos, here is a link to a few of our favorites: PHOTOS

We’ll get back to living aboard in a little bit. But for now, perhaps a bit more champagne and Jimmy Buffett!

Southern Boating Highlights Liveaboards

Be sure to check out the upcoming issue of Southern Boating for a great article on the liveaboard lifestyle. In case this is not yet on the stands, here is a link to a pdf of the article. And be sure to enjoy the photo of my goofy mug.

Here’s the article:

Southern Boating Magazine Article

It’s a 16mb file, but it sure looks good

mark

Appearance on the Jerry Doyle Radio Show!!!

As a bit of a surprise, I ended up finding myself on the Jerry Doyle radio show as one of the nice benefits of the LA Times article. Jerry is fantastic and, to me, a household name, and this was a very special experience for me. My little six minutes of fame. I just received the sound file of my appearance and thought I’d post this for your listening pleasure.

While there are always things I would do differently (like us the word “um” less), my overall impression of this experience is that this was an awful lot of fun. As this was only the second time to ever do this, I’m pretty ecstatic. And when it comes to helping promote the liveaboard lifestyle, I believe that it is things like this that help us to be perceived not as aberrant (and dare I say insane), but really quite normal if just a touch alternative.

So without further adieu, Jerry Doyle Show segment on Living Aboard Boats

The LA Times Article! : Drop Anchor, You’re Home

How cool is this! The article has come out, and aside from a handful of factual errors that relate to me (I’m happy about them actually because I don’t want everyone to know exactly where I am), I couldn’t possibly be happier with the article. Huge thanks to Ann Brenoff who approached this subject out of the blue. So nice!

Drop anchor, you’re home – Los Angeles Times

Drop anchor, you’re home
With housing prices high, living on a boat is gaining popularity among ocean lovers.
Ann Brenoff, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 22, 2007Living aboard
There are few issues in a marina more likely to rock the boats than the topic of live-aboards — people or families who live full time on board.

For some, it’s the fulfillment of a fantasy lifestyle — the freedom to pick up anchor on a whim, living unburdened by possessions beyond one’s true needs. But the reality is that people choose to live on the water for a number of practical reasons as well.

Ok – it’s time for a bit of comedy. Here are two of the photos from the LA Times. There is nothing like having my funny mug taking up so much space in the news 🙂

That’s enough for today. Enjoy!

Cruising World Article – Taking a Leap of Faith

Cruising World – Taking a Leap of Faith – Excerpt from another terrific article.
July 18, 2007

By Lynne Walsh

We instantly fell in love with the romantic idea of living aboard a
boat and sailing off into the sunset. No beachfront purchase would be
necessary; we’d live where we wanted aboard a sailboat. The only glitch
in our plan was that we didn’t know how to sail. After the initial
excitement wore off, I began to wonder if our plan was too far-fetched.
How could we possibly learn all we needed to know to live safely on the
sea? [click above for the article]

The LA Times Article

We made the Los Angeles Times Real Estate section. I don’t know what to expect, but I do know that there will be an article on living aboard boats in the upcoming Sunday edition of the times. There may even be a photo of my ugly mug as well! As soon as the article is available, I’ll place a link.

Canada East Online on Modern Day Liveaboards

Check out this great article from Canada East Online!

Modern day sailors relish adventure of everyday life aboard their boats

TOBI COHEN

Published Saturday July 14th, 2007

TORONTO (CP) –

Although they pay $800 each month to live at the water’s edge, their home costs are a fraction of those of their condo-dwelling neighbours, with twice the tranquility: melodic birdsong in the morning and a cool Lake Ontario breeze at night.

For the full article, click here: http://www.canadaeast.com/search/article/29747

Category: Living Aboard in General