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 far too long.

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. …

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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

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 🙂

LA Times Real Estate Section July 22, 2007 Lounging in the Salon

That’s enough for today. Enjoy!

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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]

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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

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

Tom’s Tips for Living Aboard

Tom’s top tips for living aboard Boat/US Magazine – Find Articles

Tom’s top tips for living aboard
Boat/US Magazine, July, 2004 by Tom Neale

I used to read all about “cruising” in the magazines. The people doing it took pride in things like bathing in a quart of water a week. Although they never used ice, their food either never rotted or they never noticed. They’d troll laundry and dishes over the stern to wash them, and troll everything else over the stern during hurricanes, for sea anchors.

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Home is Where the Wind Goes

Here is another terrific article on living aboard, from a couple who lives aboard year round.

Home is where the Wind Goes

“Who needs terra firma? Couple loves life aboard 34-foot sailboat, even
in shrink-wrapped winter” –

For Canada Day, Norman Finlay and his wife, Cheryl Hughes, plan to sail to Hamilton Harbour from Port Credit in their year-round floating home, an Aloha 34 sailboat.

Living Aboard article by The Macnaughton Group

Here is a great article on living aboard by The MacNaughton Group. Click on the link for the full article.

Click: Living Aboard for the article.  Here is an excerpt:

Our feeling is that an appreciation of Nature and one’s place in it should be the primary reason to adopt the live aboard lifestyle. Closely allied to this is the live aboard’s primary learned wisdom.