We want to live aboard a.s.a.p

[Miemie]

Why?

If it doesn't fit on the boat and you don't have a house why keep it?

No I don't want most of the things I want get rid but I have my baby book from when I was little and all my fotos from years ago and some camping gear we want to keep because we do go camping with friends quite a lot things like that

[JDR]

Look on it as an oppotunity to get rid of stuff you don't need.I wouldn't waste money on storage, flog it, bin it or give it away.It can be difficult at first but is a very liberating process, once you start you may find a momentum builds and you start enjoying it.

[John V]

or put it in a friend/relatives garage for a few years until they lose patience with you, have a row/ultimatum, and then throw it out !

[Ray T]

So do you have to buy a tv with a lower wattage or can u take you TV from home would it then be best to buy things new with the lower wattage is there anything you can take from home

 

Not cheap but 12v tv's are available: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=12v+tv%2Fdvd&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=24547048134&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3089511494699856003&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_4rxdli64ps_b

 

We have one and are satisfied with it, not that we watch much TV on the boat. We usually hook it up to the laptop.

[Naughty Cal]

No I don't want most of the things I want get rid but I have my baby book from when I was little and all my fotos from years ago and some camping gear we want to keep because we do go camping with friends quite a lot things like that

I'm sure you will find space for a photo album and some camping gear. We have room for that on our 25fter!

[Alan de Enfield]

You can scan your photo's and save them on a memory stick - its a lot easier (so they will probably get looked at more often) to set up a slideshow and you can watch them on your TV

[Mac of Cygnet]

It seems to me that what Miemie really needs, rather than piecemeal advice about tellies and stuff, is a recommendation of a good, comprehensive book about living aboard. I'm not a liveaboard, so can't help. Is there one?

[smileypete]

As you can see I'm a total novice...lol.....what is the best inverter? (what's it for) how many batteries preferably? Is it best to have ac and dc? (Ac runs what and dc runs what) if we see a boat we want what's the next best step

 

A lot may depend on whether you plan to be marina based with shower and laundrette facilities, or 'off-grid' on a mooring with minimal facilities.

 

Most of the electrical stuff can be added as time and budget allows, but if away from facilities one of those little twin tub washers and a small inverter may be pretty handy to start with. And as others say another priority would be an extra means of water heating like a Morco gas heater.

 

Boat layout looks OK though an extra door between bed and bog might not go amiss, and the cross bed might be a bit of a hassle if you can't easily get in and out of the front of the boat.

 

As to the price how about ringing around a few similar boats to find if they have sold and what they're are actually selling for. Would give an idea of a reasonable upper limit for offers, subject to full survey of course.

 

 

It seems to me that what Miemie really needs, rather than piecemeal advice about tellies and stuff, is a recommendation of a good, comprehensive book about living aboard. I'm not a liveaboard, so can't help. Is there one?

 

Probably a few liveaboard blogs out there to get some idea from.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited April 6, 2014 by smileypete

[Miemie]

Of course, another option is to watch everything on catchup without live TV and thus negating the need for a TV licence. You say you want to live in a marina? Do consider their attitude to dogs (we moved off a marina due to that) also, do they allow liveaboards - you either pay council tax on band a directly to the council or within your mooring fees.

We have a cruiser stern and had a tonneau and dodger fitted (you need to take a pramhood down for cruising especially in northern canals).

We bought an inverter, I also bought a camping twin-tub and a small vacuum cleaner which I use when the engine is running.

We moved Onboard last August and love every aspect of it. I would be concerned about only having the engine heating water - we have a gas water heater, with regards to.the kitchen, tupperware is great for stacking, but only two cupboards would be a concern, although you have the dinette to store things in.

If you are moving out of a house, you need enough for two weeks and everything else goes. Also. Can you cook on the coal stove? We saved loads on gas this winter, disconnecting the fridge and cooking on our stove.

Good luck with the boat search and moving onboard

No don't want to live in a marina but don't know where else to look for permanent mooring

[StarUKKiwi]

No don't want to live in a marina but don't know where else to look for permanent mooring

Depends on where in.the country.you are - register on the CRT website for details of online mooring coming up.

link explains different mooring - scroll to bottom.of page to look at options

[Miemie]

Depends on where in.the country.you are - register on the CRT website for details of online mooring coming up. link explains different mooring - scroll to bottom.of page to look at options

We are in stoke-on-Trent

[sueb]

It seems to me that what Miemie really needs, rather than piecemeal advice about tellies and stuff, is a recommendation of a good, comprehensive book about living aboard. I'm not a liveaboard, so can't help. Is there one?

 

rboa.org.uk produce a book and its members have all the advice you need

 

[Ange]

Why?

 

If it doesn't fit on the boat and you don't have a house why keep it?

We've got a lot of stuff in storage. The kitchen table that Dave's mum & dad had made for us as a wedding present. Six very nice oak chairs that we bought to go with the table one per month because we couldn't afford them all at once. A memory box with 30 years worth of wedding/christening invitations - plus shedloads of photos, some framed and some not.

 

Plus we've got two big wardrobes, a fridge/freezer, a washing machine, some lovely dressers and corner units that we bought from auctions and antique shops during our 25 year marriage. When we move back on land I don't want to start from scratch sitting on packing cases when we have perfectly decent furniture now that wouldn't fetch a fraction of it's purchase price if we were to just offload it.

 

Is that unreasonable?

[DeanS]

Miemie.

 

I feel sorry when people like yourself ask a question,and then get a flood of hugely technical answers, that can seem frightening.

 

You mentioned you want to live in a marina.

That means your boat will be connected to a mains elec source.

You can then pretty much use all the same appliances that you would in a house.

 

It's a different story when you go cruising, but you can ease into it.

You can buy a 2500Watt invertor on Ebay for £250.

You can buy solar panels. (We bought 920watts of panels and 2 controllers for about £800)

You can buy batteries...the more the merrier..about £70 each.

The engine will recharge the batteries, and give power to the invertor which gives power to all your household elec items. Some use more power than others, so some you wouldnt use much while cruising.

 

Some people have very expensive invertors.

Some people have very expensive battery charges.

Some people dont have the cash (like me) and make do.

We also bought a 3000W Clarke generator for £250 which we used to run the washing machine while away from the marina.

 

Living in a marina on shorepower, is easier. (dont need batteries. dont need invertor. dont need generator.) .you might want to do that for a while until you get all your bits n bobs in place. Living on a boat is a process of reducing the amount of stuff you own, over a period of years, until you have nothing left .

 

[John V]

DeanS is giving good advice, doesn't matter how carefully you plan there is always something you have to change.....'aint no substitute for personal experience

[kevinl]

Some of the advice on here is massively premature for someone who doesn't even own a boat yet. Sorting out the TV and storage versus friends garage, which invertor they need is all a little premature.

Seems to me that a lot of people spend months or years to get a half decent boat for the money. The topic is "We want to live aboard a.s.a.p." which to me sounds like a recipe for disaster but to be fair they've found a half decent boat (subject to about £1k for a survey and some bits) it you what to jump in head first then deal with the issues later (called doing a Star) then for the cash (subject to survey) I think it's quite a liveable boat, but I own a Springer so what do I know.

K

[StarUKKiwi]

Some of the advice on here is massively premature for someone who doesn't even own a boat yet. Sorting out the TV and storage versus friends garage, which invertor they need is all a little premature.

Seems to me that a lot of people spend months or years to get a half decent boat for the money. The topic is "We want to live aboard a.s.a.p." which to me sounds like a recipe for disaster but to be fair they've found a half decent boat (subject to about £1k for a survey and some bits) it you what to jump in head first then deal with the issues later (called doing a Star) then for the cash (subject to survey) I think it's quite a liveable boat, but I own a Springer so what do I know.

K

Horses for courses I guess - we researched on here prior to buying ours and then moved Onboard, still learning after eight months; however, one thing we did learn was get rid and don't have storage 'cos you won't need it. Edited April 8, 2014 by StarUKKiwi

[Terryb]

Some of the advice on here is massively premature for someone who doesn't even own a boat yet. Sorting out the TV and storage versus friends garage, which invertor they need is all a little premature.

Seems to me that a lot of people spend months or years to get a half decent boat for the money. The topic is "We want to live aboard a.s.a.p." which to me sounds like a recipe for disaster but to be fair they've found a half decent boat (subject to about £1k for a survey and some bits) it you what to jump in head first then deal with the issues later (called doing a Star) then for the cash (subject to survey) I think it's quite a liveable boat, but I own a Springer so what do I know.

K

I haven't got a boat yet Kevin, but find all these little bits of advice invaluable. It'sa very scary prospect for some people (me included) and while they seem random and/or trivial are just our way of making that final plunge.

So please ( and I am not trying to sound facetious ) try to understand that we are asking these questions whether silly or not, to calm our concerns. Otherwise, some great ideas and responses. Sirs, I salute you.