How do you feel about the idea of living on a sailboat? We plan on moving back to sunny Southern California this fall and have been looking for a new home. Southern California real estate is EXPENSIVE! We have been toying with the idea of buying a sailboat! The slip fees can be around $700 a month which include membership to the area’s gyms, locker rooms, facilities etc. Quite affordable living if you buy a boat around 200k.
Chris has a fascination with sailboats. Before I knew him, he owned one named the Elizabeth J. (coincidentally my grandmother’s name). He has dreams of sailing around the world one day (a dream of my father’s that I heard about throughout my childhood). I lived on a boat…a Navy warship on and off for about a year for work (while maintaining an apartment at the same time) so I know a little about sea-life but a sailboat is much different.
I think it may be more likened to living in a New York or San Francisco apartment as far as worldly goods go. It could be like cabin camping as far as creature comforts go. No Pottery Barn page 32 living rooms here. A little RV-like in that you can pick up and take your home with you. We were joking about having people over for dinner and freaking out if someone decided to bring an unnanounced guest who we had no room for!
Could you pare down your possesions to live on a little sailboat? What would you HAVE to keep? What do you think about raising a family on a sailboat? What concerns and or excitements would you have?
(top photo by Kuster & Wildhaber Photograph, via Flickr)
Nomad says
I felt the same way and now have a blog to explore all of these questions related to what I call alternative living situations such as RV’s, boats, tiny houses etc. With the way housing prices are we have to start to think out of the box. Love that pic of the sail boat by the way. My Blog is Urban-Nomad.net if you are interested. It turns out, to answer your question, that of all the alternative solutions, boats are by far the best. Especially catamarans, if you can afford one.