First 30 Days of Living On a Boat — The Hull Truth
It’s been exactly a month since we’ve moved onto our boat.
Prior to the move, we’ve used to imagine romantic walks along the water; drinking coffee on the deck late into the evenings while pondering about the meaning of life, universe and everything; and becoming friends with people who’ve had a weathered look and whose first name inevitably started with Cap’n.
It hasn’t quite panned out like that.
What Living on a Boat is Actually Like
Well, the reality is that it’s not that drastically different than living in a regular house or apartment with a few minor exceptions.
- It moves ALL the time.
This may not come as a surprise, but I think that this still took us a while to get used to. Sometimes it’s more noticeable, sometimes it’s less — but the whole thing is generally always in some sort of motion.
The first two days were a bit tough to get used to — given that you typically don’t expect to get seasick at your own home. Fortunately, that went away after a while, but was replaced by a weird sensation of rocking side to side while standing on solid ground or sitting at the desk at the office.
Fortunately, that passed too and about a week into it, we started to really enjoy it — as being able to hang out on the deck, reading a book or just relaxing, while the boat sways in the waves is actually one of the nicest things now.
2. Where’s That Water Leak Coming From?
I feel like half of our free pastime in the first month has been replaced with playing a never-ending game of “hey, where did that leak is coming from”.
Our first night there was accompanied by a heavy rain, during which we discovered that the small window in the bedroom leaks right into our bed. So the first evening was spent trying to contain the leak and blowdrying the mattress dry.
Apparently, there’s a whole lot of places that the boat can be leaking from and I think we got to experience most of them! Fortunately, just like a roll of duct tape helped send astronauts to the moon, it also helped is contain most of the leaks we’ve discovered as well — at least until we were able to find a more permanent solution.
3. BOAT = Break Out Another Thousand
Prior to the move, we were incredibly proud (read: full) of ourselves for finding a cheap way to live in a prime waterfront neighborhood in Boston. And it’s partially true — our fixed “rent” payment hovers at just around $1,000 for the marina fees — which is about half of the cost of an apartment in the ‘burbs.
While the fixed costs are indeed low, we quickly discovered why BOAT is actually an acronym for Break Out Another Thousand.
From the moment that we took possession of the boat on May 3rd to about 2.5 weeks that followed, we discovered that keeping to our original budget was going to be tough.
One of our neighbors pointed out last week that it usually takes about a year from the point that you buy a boat to get it to the condition all of the major stuff are fixed. I think we somehow missed that memo!
But all of these are small and manageable things!
The truth it, even with the challenges that occured during the first few weeks, we really are loving the experience so far:
4. Our Neighbors
In all of the places where we lived in the past, we’d have virtually no interaction with our neighbors — aside from an occasional awkward hello/good bye in the elevator.
At the marina where we live, there are about 100+ boats that have liveaboards — people and families who live there full time. And we’ve just been blown away by the overall culture that exists there.
People aren’t just friendly, but they offer to help out with the boat, give lessons, fishing advice. Everyone tends to be really relaxed and generally always up for a chat or conversation.
The most interesting part for us has been the demographics of the residents here. There are rocket scientists, doctors, PhDs and professors, and all sorts of professionals living here; people from all age groups and even a whole bunch of families with kids.
5. We Get to Learn. A Lot!
Our past boating experience has been limited to an occasional kayak or a ferry. Boating just hasn’t been something that we’ve been exposed to at all in the past, so it’s been almost as if we’ve been able to discover a whole different world out there.
There is the technical learning — of figuring out what everything on the boat actually is and how to use it.
There is the exploration aspect — of actually starting to take the boat out and exploring the environment around Boston and beyond. More on that later!
As a whole, it’s great to have an opportunity to learn new skills aside from just work related things — and there’s no shortage of opportunities now.
6. Living in a Small Space
The one thing that were a bit unsure about was the transition from a 1,500 sq. foot apartment into a space that has somewhere around 250 square feet of living space.
The interesting thing was that this ended up being a complete non-issue. After the first week, once we figured out where everything should go and be stored and got settled in, the 250 square feet of living space ends up being surprisingly roomy.
In fact, we’ve already hosted overnight guests for several nights, had get togethers for 8+ people, and generally spend a decent amount of time hanging out at home/boat ourselves — and it never really felt cramped.
A lot of it has to do with the really smart design of the boat. The way that the living room space is positioned is that it’s higher than the 2 small bedrooms on each side of it, so it actually feels really well separated.
The side benefit is that with the small space, we end up spending a whole lot more time outside.
With everything considered, this has been a phenomenal experience already and we’re excited to see how things continue to develop.
Other publications by Boris:
Into The Water — Living on a Boat in Downtown Boston
Find out what happened when a couple decided to downsize from 2 apartments and moved into a 200-ft, 30-year old boat on the Boston harbor. Follow along the mis-adventures, learnings, and takeaways.
27,000KM Across Africa in a 30-Year Land Rover
In April 2011, a group of Russian-Americans set out on a 22,000km trans-continental expedition to cross from Cape Town to London in a 1980 Land Rover. Follow their adventure here.
Trans-American Electric Bike Tour
A 4,000 mile journey from New York to San Francisco on electric bicycles.
Adventures in the World
Understanding the World Through Adventures and Travel
Quarter Life Musings
Strategies on making an impact in the world, finding work that fulfills you, and appreciating life through travel.
