living on a boat

To move from bricks and mortar to a boat means that you are going to have to be pretty ruthless. The size of boat you either have or intend to buy, will determine what you can have aboard. In saying that, the boat in the picture above is only 30 feet long but has everything from an auto washer / dryer to a Cobb Cooker in the galley. It's compact and serves its purpose. In other words it is not necessarily the case that a day boat or a holiday boat is going to be ideally suited, it may need re-modelling.
You could go out and buy a full blown houseboat, but for me that is a total no-no. A houseboat is not designed to be actually sailed! It's in the water, but it's not really a boat at all. In saying that many houseboats are in very beautiful places, they're just not for me.

If you've made the decision to live on a boat you'll need to decide whether your existing boat is suitable. If it is not, then you'll need to look at another. If you are an existing boater you'll be well aware of the difficulties that can arise when you're looking for a mooring, so forgive me for generalising. Many marinas will allow a new boat owner to 'inherit' the existing mooring, many will not. It is not unusual for moorings to have waiting lists years long. This is why, before agreeing to your new purchase, you must speak with the mooring or marina owners and be satisfied that they will allow you to stay. If there is a bar or resteraunt on the site, use it. Make yourself known and spend a bit of money. In this way the local management can see that you're okay. This in itself can make the difference between a 'yes' or 'no'.

As I said earlier. You need to prepare. Do you need all the berths on the boat you've bought? If you've bought an ex holiday boat it's going to have been designed to sleep as many people as possible. Lose as many un-needed berths as possible. This way you can make space for the home comforts, the washer etc. If you're going to be marina based you probably have access to shore power, but even so you should install an inverter and leisure batteries so that you're covered in a power cut. This, by the way, is essential if you intend to cruise a lot, because you may well not be able to hook up to the mains whilst you're away and you'll be relying on either your engines alternator or a generator.

Most steel and glass fibre boats are spray foam insulated. If the boat you're considering buying isn't insulated you're in for a very hard time unless you get it done.Unless you can get yourself a major discount on an un-insulated steel or glass fibre boat, I wouldn't buy it. Wood is a different story because it does not conduct cold as efficiently as steel or glass fibre. Let's have a look at heating your new home because if we're living on a boat we need to be comfortable.
Open Gas Fire Absolutely the pits. I'm not certain how much condensation is produced by a litre of gas being burned but I can tell you for a fact that if your only source of heat is a gas fire, your boat, and everything in it, will be wet through.
Hot Air Heating is very popular. Normally this type of heating will be either diesel or gas. Both types operate through a heat exchanger, so the combustion gases are exhausted outside taking the condensation away too. The only problem I have with these is the cost of the fuel. In cold weather it's not hard to burn 3-4 kgs of gas a day and that adds up very quickly. (based on a 30 foot boat). Diesel prices are horrendous now, so again, it soon adds up. I suppose the choice here is down to what you consider expensive.
Solid Fuel Stove I can only give an opinion. The boat shown at the top of this lens has a small multifuel stove that burns coal wood or coke, and the boat has no insulation. It's generally as warm as toast. The stove is also used to heat water. In a bigger boat, with a larger fire, the stove (and the engines) can be connected to central heating and a calorifier. This would produce gallons of hot water for the shower. In my opinion, if you want to live on a boat, I would seriously consider this. If you're cruising or moored on a marina, wood is available for nothing in many places.

The above is an extract from one of my published articles. Full article here .

Living on a boat doesn't have to be a pipe dream. Many people spend a large part of the year living aboard, even though they may have a house as well. Lots of other people live aboard full time and the lucky ones are 'continuous cruisers'. This means that they have no fixed base and are either financially independant or running a business of some description from their boat.

A last lttle tip. Wherever you are, if you add the word 'marine', to any product, the price goes up! I mentioned the Cobb cooker earlier, it's a perfect example. Not designed as a marine product but works perfectly. It gives you a full multipurpose oven grill and BBQ etc without the 'marine' penalty. Just because you're living on a boat doesn't mean that you can't have a bit of luxury. Check it out here.

The Cobb grill, recipes and videos of the Cobb in Action.