He wanted $35 000, and I knew that was way out of my price range but I went to the harbor in which it was docked to meet and talk. I loved the boat and could definitely see myself living aboard. After talking to him for awhile I learned they had lived aboard for 15 years and decided to give the lifestyle up and move into a home on land. I told him the best I could do is go to my bank and see what type of loan I could get, then I could make an offer. He agreed to this and I was off to the bank.
My bank approved me for $15 000, I reluctantly offered him this amount knowing it is way under what he was looking for. He agreed to sell due to the fact he wanted to be off the water by the end of the summer and it was already mid August. I was super happy and a bit nervous of what I was getting myself into.
I quickly signed the papers and moved aboard. This was my new home and I loved everyday of it. The sunrises and sunsets, the gently rock of the boat when going to sleep, and the connected feeling with nature I was surrounded with.
I spent my first winter on board with nothing but electric space heaters, in -20C Canadian weather. It was cold at times but so worth it. As the spring came around and the weather got warmer, I decided to pull the boat out of the water to give it a personalized paint job. This is where I started to realize the true on going cost of a wooden boat.
This is how the boat looked before I changed the curtains and painted the door black.
I continued to live aboard and decided to go back to college for photography and video production. I figured it was a good time due to the somewhat cheap way of living. I had 4 great years aboard the boat and created some lifetime memories.
So now that I am done school, I have to decide what to do with the boat...This is why.
Every year the cost of living goes up at the harbor I am at. What started with an average of $500 a month including insurance, is now $700 a month. Plus the cost of paint and maintenance in which the boat is in need of again. Also the harbor is undergoing upgrades and selling slips to private owners, which in turn has squeezed the existing boats closer together, which in turn takes away from the privacy I was used to. Due to this and a few other reasons I decided to dry dock (put the boat on land) till I decide what I want to do with it. The dry dock fee is still $350 a month plus $1000 a year for a 2 million dollar liability insurance.
So here is a run down of my choices.
First of all sell it. This may be tough due to the boat market being at a low plus people don't want a wooden boat due to the amount of time and money they require. Plus I still love this vessel and really don't want to sell it..
Secondly. Leave it on land at $350 a month, or pay to ship it to a cheaper area to store it. Sit on it till something comes up...
Thirdly. Find a piece of land to turn the boat into a cabin, or even a homestead. It would be very easy to install solar panels, and can run off of just 30 amps of power.
Fourthly. Note the 2 V8 Chrysler engines that are inboard motors on the boat have been winterized for almost 20 years. The boat was only used as a live aboard and not a traveling vessel. I would have to get the engines looked at and pay to get them fired up. If I get the engines running I would have the choice of any harbor (one that is much cheaper). As much as this option I like the most, I can't afford to quite my day job at this time to live and travel on my boat all summer..
So that is the short of my last 5 years with the boat...I could tell many stories of the boat but don't want to run this blog post to long....Thx for reading and if anybody has any questions don't hesitate to comment or msg me...peace
Wayne Rankine
Two4Adventure
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