Hi, my partner and I are looking into buying a live aboard cruiser - to actually live on full time. We're on the Sunshine Coast, QLD and have ample access to calm water and were looking at around the 10m/30ft mark. How possible is this as people who have only ever had your average 4/5m tinnie? I should mention our budget isn't great, under 100K that will be pinched from our mortgage (haha) but it's something we've always really wanted to do.

any help would be greatly appreciated and if you've come here to tell us we're insane...it's fine, we know

A&A

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AABmarcoola said..
Hi, my partner and I are looking into buying a live aboard cruiser - to actually live on full time. We're on the Sunshine Coast, QLD and have ample access to calm water and were looking at around the 10m/30ft mark. How possible is this as people who have only ever had your average 4/5m tinnie? I should mention our budget isn't great, under 100K that will be pinched from our mortgage (haha) but it's something we've always really wanted to do.

any help would be greatly appreciated and if you've come here to tell us we're insane...it's fine, we know

A&A

Hey, adding around 100K to your mortgage to buy a boat is absolutely insane, given the time and money to repay over the long term it will turn out to be an extremely expensive boat. Far better value to rent what you want when you want it.

Hi A&A
Yes very do"able"
You may be a little insane but let people that arnt insane throw the rocks from their cosy little homes on land that dream about doing what you will do, (not directed at you uncleBob )

Im assuming you going to put tenants into your house so that will be repaying the mortgage on top of the payment you will make as you will still be working.

So it makes seems to me to live a life you want, money/wealth is measured by happiness not bank balance.

( I have plans in place to do similar in a few months, even have my redraw from bank approved)

If that's what you want and can do , do it .
" For we are only dancing on this earth for a short while" , said Moses or Ghandi .
Cat Stevens

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AABmarcoola said..
Hi, my partner and I are looking into buying a live aboard cruiser - to actually live on full time. We're on the Sunshine Coast, QLD and have ample access to calm water and were looking at around the 10m/30ft mark. How possible is this as people who have only ever had your average 4/5m tinnie? I should mention our budget isn't great, under 100K that will be pinched from our mortgage (haha) but it's something we've always really wanted to do.

any help would be greatly appreciated and if you've come here to tell us we're insane...it's fine, we know

A&A

Nip over to the sailing forum. Heaps of helpful and very knowledgeable folk there.

Infinitely doable and a lot of fun is my experience but my cabin mate was my dog and he was very easy to get on with!

Valueable piece of advice that I will pass on that I got from somebody else.

"Never let your boat represent more than 10% of your NETT worth."

e.g. If your equity in your home is say $200,000 and you have $50,000 in the bank, you can afford to buy a boat for $25,000.

Multimillionaires follow that rule but it is your life and your decision. You only live once.

If you live your life on money you'll never get to do the great things in life while you're young. So many older gents I know and knew lived with regrets and waited until retirement but then realised it was too late to fully enjoy the opportunities afforded to them. You're doing exactly what I did on my first boat but at 30ft you'll be living on top of each other. For 70k you'll pick up a decent 36 to 39ft fibreglass floaty thing and still have cash to trick her out nicely too. That 10% nett worth thing?? If I lived my life along those lines I'd be bored shi tless but rich. You're dead a long time and it depends on how your wealth is measured.

My sister lived on a 26-foot yacht with her husband and teenage son for several years. Her son was studying at uni at the time, so they had a bunch of computers on board as well. They were moored on a river for some of that time and had to row the tender to shore to go to work. Personally, I don't know how they managed it, but they enjoyed themselves. I think they did a lot of reading.

I agree that if this is what you want to do, you should do it. But if you are using a mortgage to buy the boat, I'd be aiming for something that has already depreciated a lot, as you don't want a large loan on something that will be declining in value.

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saltiest1 said..
If you live your life on money you'll never get to do the great things in life while you're young. So many older gents I know and knew lived with regrets and waited until retirement but then realised it was too late to fully enjoy the opportunities afforded to them. You're doing exactly what I did on my first boat but at 30ft you'll be living on top of each other. For 70k you'll pick up a decent 36 to 39ft fibreglass floaty thing and still have cash to trick her out nicely too. That 10% nett worth thing?? If I lived my life along those lines I'd be bored shi tless but rich. You're dead a long time and it depends on how your wealth is measured.

10% nett worth for your boat equals 90% nett worth left to your kids.

My 2 kids (adults) are smart enough to earn their own wealth.

If it is just you and your partner 30ft will be enough. For motorboats a Mariner 31 or Island Gypsy 32/34 would make good, cheap liveaboards IMO.

If neither of you has lived on a boat before, a good test would be to spend three months living in a 28-foot caravan, with the choice of a walk to the toilet block or a porta-potti beside the bed.
If that doesn't put her off, proceed.

For full-time live-aboard and an occasional day out in calm water, look for an older Mariner or similar powerboat. Below $100K, buy a clean one and keep it in good nick and it won't depreciate much.

I've heard during covid that a few thousand thought it was shidt living on a boat