Have any of you gents ever lived on a boat?

The wife and I are on the move in the next year or so. The plan is to build a house on the family farm. Figuring the build will take a year or so, we are going to sell our house and move into some temporary accomidations. We've looked at tiny houses and a bigger RVs. But then I came across this...

This is a Hatteras 58' Wide-body. 4 staterooms, 3.5 baths. It's in the price range we have been shopping.

In the negative column: Yes, I know the maintenance will be significantly higher than an RV or a tiny house. Yes, hurricanes are a consideration. That is what insurance is for.

In the plus column: I love being on the water. You can't get much closer than this. We have dock space to tie it up for zero dollars, so slip fees are a moot point. It's a mobile house so we could take a weekend and get completely away from the idiots of the world. I'm 90% certain at the price point we would be able to get our money back out of it in 3-5 years. 

What am I not thinking about? 

I haven't, but I want to. You should do it.

Just do it. 

If it was one of my friends, I would try to talk them out of it, but you have the know-how and the tools to handle any issues that might come up, so do it if you think it's in good enough shape. 

I see nothing wrong with this plan.

shore power available at the tie-up?

That's an awesome idea. Where is the free dock space - the family property?

I hope neither of you get sea sick.

I have not lived on a boat but I have been near people who do.  

The first thing that comes to mind is most people who live on a boat, never take that boat out.  Sure, there is the cruiser lifestyle where daily, weekly, monthly, or seasonally they move the boat to a new location.  Sure, those people use their boats.  The more common is people who live on a boat at a dock.  This is living (shelter) first and boating second.  As such, for the "living" you will have things like lamps and kitchen items set up for living.  Taking the boat out then means a days worth of pre-work taking down, storing all those "living" items.  

But, for you, this could be living on the yacht and then keeping your Shamrock close buy for actual "boating."  This is also why boats this size have dingy davits.  "Boating" is then sunset harbor tours on the dingy but moving a beast like this can be a major undertaking.  

Do it. I see no reason not to.  Just accept that you wont take the yacht out much.  

Lots of videos out there on this world:

Living on a boat cheaply in LA (Marina de Rey)  The interior here is a good example of TVs and desk setups that likely keeps them from moving the boat.  They do however have a small RIB.  These guys talk about $900 month dockage rental.  But they gloss over the $45k boat purchase.  On a long loan that's probably $400 more per month.  $1300-ish per month.  

Another video and see what this guy has for "stuff" down below.  That boat's not going out anytime soon.  

Also accept that you will be living "nearly outside" in a poorly insulated and poorly ventilated dwelling.  Sure a Hatteras will have a certain level of comfort but just know and inspect if the HVAC can keep the whole area comfortable and not just the main salon.   Understand the limitations of the head-bathroom-shower accommodations too.  

There is a 50 amp service at the dock and yes the dock is at the family farm where we will be building the house. 

Fresh water hookup?

In reply to John Welsh :

Good thoughts.

My parents lived on this 4-5 months of the year for almost 10 years. They put about 30k miles on it in that time, twice around the Great Loop and cruising the Great Lakes and canals up north. They sold it when it got to be too much for them to manage. Keeping them mobile isn't too difficult with some planning and mobility will be crucial to resale value. I'll be picking my dad's brain this weekend for sure. 

As to comfort, this particular boat should have 4 marine heat pumps. 3 for the staterooms and one for the salon. The power bill might be a little high but it should stay comfortable. 

In reply to mtn :

Yes to water.

What will you do with grey and black water?  

In reply to spitfirebill :

This is why I talk to you guys. This is one of the things I hadn't considered. 

The boat should have holding tanks. They would have to be pumped. I have a 30-gallon honey wagon I use for my RV so I would probably have to pump to that and then dump it in the dump station we have near one of the septic tanks on the farm. 

That would be a less than fun task every week or so. 

 I haven't but my cousin did and I house/boat sat for him a few times. For a single young guy it was a great lifestyle. He was docked at a marina that had washroom, shower and laundry facilities included in his monthly fee. He lived a pretty minimalist life and that worked well for him. It was really nice in the summer but our Canadian winters were tough. He had a decent electric furnace and the marina provided a bubbler to keep the ice away from the hull but it was a cold walk to go have a shower.

 Many of these issues won't apply to your situation. All in all it sounds like it's doable for you.

In reply to Toyman! :

Beautiful boat for The Great Loop.  What a cool trip.  But, I think you agree, for those 5 months of near constant movement it was a boat first and living secondly.  What will yours be?  

Know and understand the limitations of groceries.  Are you the type of person who grocery shops once a month?  Not a lot of Costco sized purchases are conducive to boat living even at 58ft, unless, maybe one state room is going to be a pantry.  

In reply to Toyman! :

Composting toilet on the deck. Sit there reading the morning newspaper waving as the neighbors go by.

I did not for an extended period of time, but for about 2 months over a summer I lived on my dad's 40' catamaran which I helped him ferry up from the USVI to Florida to be able to sail.

For a temporary thing, I'd say do it. You will have a fun experience without it taking enough time to really get annoying.

Power - water - waste - food - storage. Those are your big considerations.

You're going to have less space than you're used to. You're going to have to get used to marine heads and taking marine showers. The mattress isn't going to be great, but being rocked by the water is nice.

You're going to have to take all your laundry out to laundromats. You're going to have much smaller cold storage for perishable foods and a tiny kitchen. We bought quart boxes of UHT pasteurized milk which was shelf stable until opened. You're washing all your dishes by hand in a tiny sink, and want to use minimal water to rinse. You have very limited storage for clothes and other personal belongings.

Be sure the dock doesn't reek of poop (human or animal - sea lion poop is rank).

In reply to Toyman! :

Yes, a 840 ft long Essex class aircraft  carrier.   I only lived on it for a little over 9 months at a time.  Both ( Bennington, Ticonderoga) were the later long deck type 

 do they count?  

In reply to Toyman! :

Noise. Water carries noise unbelievably well and a frog farting a mile away will sound like it's in your stateroom.  
 Plus people tend to party on the water.  
      Adult activities between consenting adults  will typically be heard through the boat. Much more so than  in a house.  Are your children prepared to deal with that?  
    Next. Motion sickness,  it's really hard to deal with tied up to a dock.  
     Especially if it's in a resort/vacations area where inebriated boaters come in too fast kicking up giant wakes when everything is calm.  
   Dealing with human waste.  Your holding tank will need to be pumped out.  Often  if you fill up they will do it for free or reduced cost.  Otherwise we'll if you own a Yacht you're supposed to be rich, right?    
   My qualifications  are  In addition  to 9 years in the Navy, I have spent the last 43 years owning a cruiser on Lake Minnetonka. 
      Big Lakes can get sharp steep waves that are actually tougher than most Ocean  conditions. 

In reply to Beer Baron :

So, in order of importance, there is no poop at the dock. Human or otherwise. We swim there regularly. The next closest dock is almost a mile away. 

The 58 Hatteras has a washer/dryer and a residential sized refrigerator. Alas, no dishwasher but for the two of us, it's not that big of a deal.

Marine heads aren't much worse than RV heads. We are used to those as well as dealing with limited tankage. 

However, navy showers do get old. I'm going to have to read up on the laws about gray water discharge. Black water can't be discharged without treatment and would have to be pumped out and properly disposed of, but shower water may be able to be discharged. 

In reply to frenchyd :

Good thoughts. Some have been covered above.

My youngest is 18 so kids aren't really an issue. 

The dock in question is about halfway up a dead-end creek and it becomes very shallow past our dock. While there is traffic, it's not much of an issue. There will be exactly one boat tied to the dock and neighbors are a long way away. 

Seasickness is also a non-issue. 

In reply to Toyman! :

You are absolutely right under those conditions. Go for it.   I really like that you've selected a Hatteras. Everyone I've been on impressed me.  

I think you should do it be be deliberate about evaluating how it's working on a regular basis so can implement plan B under controlled conditions.

In reply to Toyman! :

Is your dockage area a popular area?  In popular areas there are honey dippers where the suck truck or in this case suck boat comes up aside yours on a regular schedule and clears out your black tank?  

How about diver's/bottom cleaners who regularly, on schedule stop by and clean the bottom?  

Toyman! said:

In reply to spitfirebill :

This is why I talk to you guys. This is one of the things I hadn't considered. 

The boat should have holding tanks. They would have to be pumped. I have a 30-gallon honey wagon I use for my RV so I would probably have to pump to that and then dump it in the dump station we have near one of the septic tanks on the farm. 

That would be a less than fun task every week or so. 

 

Depending on the holding tank sizes and if the dock is somewhat accessible to vehicles, it might be better for everyone to just have a septic co pump it out.  The one person I knew that lived on his boat used to do this.  He could go monthly with, um, number 2's and female #1's only on the boat, and his boat was a good bit smaller than the one you're linking.  And he would discharge grey water to a dry well on his property and near to the dock... It's grey-area legal though, so please do your own research on that...