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Making the decision to live on a boat, buying a boat and moving aboard are subjects that we have covered before and will cover again but what about the practicalities of living aboard on a day to day basis.
One of the first things you will learn is how to use space effectively and the importance of keeping your boat tidy. Keeping your belongings stowed away and tidy is something that most of us have to work at and if you don't a small cluttered space soon becomes difficult to live with.
The services we have aboard our boats need much more input from you. This includes filling up the water tank with fresh water, changing gas bottles and empting or pumping out the toilet. Put this way I guess it doesn't sound too bad but let's see what this means to you.
Filling the water tank will mean untangling the water hose and running it from your boat to the nearest stand pipe. Turn on the water and wait for your water tanks to fill. This may take between 5 - 15 minutes depending on the size of your water tanks. Now walk back to the stand pipe, turn off the water and roll up the hose pipe and stow away on your boat.
That’s a bit different to just turning on the tap in a house, and remember that if you use a lot of water you will have to do this more often. In the winter months ensuring your water tank is always topped up is important as many water stand pipes can freeze up making it impossible to fill your water tank until it gets above freezing point.
Changing a gas bottle may also seem simple but its not just changing it you have to do, you will also need to carry the empty bottle to your car if you do not have gas at your marina, boatyard or moorings, take a drive to the nearest supplier, load the full (heavy) bottle into the car, drive back and carry it down to your boat and store it in its safe location.
Remember that you should always have two gas bottles so you are never without gas, if you only have one, sods law dictates it will run out just when you need it and the supplier will be closed.
If you have a portable chemical toilet remember that you will have to empty this frequently, carrying it to the nearest WC or disposal point and then carrying it back again.
If you have a toilet that pumps into a holding tank you may have to move your boat to the nearest disposal point and pay to have the holding tank pumped out then move your boat back to your mooring.
As you can see the practicalities of dealing with services on a liveaboard boat is very different and requires more hard work by you. It also requires more planning to ensure your services continue to function for you.
If you moor your boat on a coastal or tidal river mooring you need to be prepared for the fact your boat will move! Sometimes a gentle swaying can turn into violent movement if the weather gets bad so you need to make sure your belongings are secured so they do not get damaged. Also, you do not want items flying around the cabin causing damage or even injury so you need to ensure items are well stowed and secured.
Another point on tidal waters is that you need to take into account and be aware of the tides and adjust your mooring ropes correctly. Again, this is a planning thing and the last thing you want is to wake up in the morning to find you and your boat hanging from the harbour wall by your mooring ropes because you forgot to adjust the ropes.
Receiving mail is important and how easy this is may depend on your mooring. If you are moored at a marina or boatyard it is common for your mail to go to the main office and you then collect it from the office.
Some established residential mooring may have a post box outside with the postman delivering directly to you, others that move around frequently may use a post office box or an accommodation address service where they have to collect mail or have it forwarded on to them to a local post office.
Most electric hook ups at marinas and boatyards are only allowed to run power over water at 5 amps. Be practical when buying electrical goods and check they do not require a heavy load. There is no point buying a large paint stripper that needs 6+ kW and then you can not run it as it trips out the electrical circuits.
These are just a few of the practicalities of living on a boat and I know there are many more.
If you can add to this with your practicalities of living on a boat we welcome you to add a comment.
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