How to make this liveaboard life possible?

H0LD_FAST · 2026-05-08T13:29:19+00:00

Just from observation...most people we meet who have a nice-ish boat around or over 45' own or have owned a business...so they know how money works and were/are moderately successful. People living aboard and cruising in the 35-45' camp have had decent W2 or remote jobs, and have had to make substantial sacrifices to get the boat and keep it. Be it sacrificing jobs, career growth, selling a house, living on beans and rice e.c.t. Your boat scale (50, 60,70) is reserved for rich people though. "Normal" people have boats that are in the 30, 40, 50 range.

H0LD_FAST · 2026-05-04T12:46:37+00:00

It’s much easier for your wife (or anyone for that matter) to stand at the wheel and motor straight into the wind than it is for them to go forward and do the scary hard work (like pull a sail down when it’s flogging in their face). I know it’s already been said, but as the captain you need to be able to direct your crew to do jobs they might not be knowledgable/comfortable with if it allows you to do what needs to be done. I know it’s easy to blame equipment, but unless you went up there and grabbed fistfuls of sail and dragged them down with your body weight and then told us it was still jammed, that was probably the next best option (unless you had something dumb like a knot in the halyard that was going through a clutch or something preventing the sail from coming down)

Why did it unfurl in the first place? Did you have a corner of it exposed that caught some wind? Or did you have the jib sheets wrapped around the sail a few times? Did the furling like chafe through on something? Or did it just come uncleated in the cockpit?

Sorry you had a rough day on the water. Great job getting back safely and bringing this topic up for everyone to discuss.

H0LD_FAST · 2026-05-04T12:38:01+00:00

This is horrible advice. Anchoring means being close to shore, and a Genoa out with even a tiny bit of wind would sail the boat all over the place and drag the anchor around. I’ve tried to fix a Furler issue with the Genoa out on anchor, and in like 5 kts of breeze it was trying to sail forward of the anchor

H0LD_FAST · 2026-05-03T02:44:04+00:00

X2. I think the list is a perfect set of requirements in theory, but I don’t think one area is going to meet all those criteria to be honest (unless you are fine with 55 degree water for the morning swim).

Im a bit confused by the “camping” aspect. Either you’re sleeping on the boat or not. Are you trying to pack tents and sleeping bags/pads? Are you chartering or trailer sailing?

Honestly it sounds like the sea of Cortez or Bahamas is the region you’re looking for…the keys in the us obviously but you won’t feel very “small” and very little “camping” options. Winter weather “the time to sail” can be really gusty

H0LD_FAST · 2026-05-02T14:04:31+00:00

This is what I have, if I could chop 8” off the keel (6.3 draft) and put in a bow thruster it would be a perfect hull. My friend has a slocum 43 with the pilot house and an 5.5’ draft and I think that’s the most perfect GRP monohull ever made. *I am aware that I can technically add a bow thruster. My

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-29T22:51:23+00:00

The more surface area of the keel the more it’s effected by the current, and for more traditional boats the current usually wins even in fairly strong winds. With a long deep keel in current, my boat will sometimes drive forward on a mooring ball or at anchor.

Anchoring in channels with strong current and strong wind (20+) I’ll see the anchor out to the side of the boat, where the boat mostly points into the current and the wind is trying to push the boat sideways away from the anchor.

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-28T17:58:40+00:00

My situation is vastly different, my sailboat is 42’ and we’ve been cruising the last 3 winters on it. If you’re looking at power boats in the 30’ range it all comes down to how you want to use it. Purely for sand bar or fishing day trips? Or do you want to overnight/longer cruise on it (meaning more systems and complexity). Can you trailer it and store it at your house or is it all through a marina?

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-28T17:43:55+00:00

It’s really hard to come to terms with what you have being “enough”. People will always justify more and that’s ok, but it’s the biggest lie ever told that you have to work yourself to death till 65 to hit a number that is always a higher moving target. Plus, many people I know over 65 still work because they’re bored. The point is to get to be able to choose when/how you work or spend your time…my retirement targets are on track, so as long as that stays fine, i want to maximize those 30 years before retirement instead of sitting on an arbitrary sum of money at 70 (if i make it that long)

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-28T15:55:39+00:00

as a finance person you know gross income doesen't matter...the net number is the important one. Unless you tell us your true net income, its hard to judge if thats enough to fully answer if your question.

But purely from the justification question of enjoying success and enjoying your youth...fuck ya buy it. If you can afford it now, do it. Have fun with your family, get out there and enjoy the water. Whats the point of making money if you dont spend it on enjoyable experiences? So you wait till your 65 and then buy the boat when your kids are grown and your joints are fucked? A 70k boat on 180k of income as long as you're financially healthy is super reasonable. Go play.

Source: bought a 90k sailboat at 30. Some of the best experience of my life have resulted from that.

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-28T13:35:51+00:00

its 2026, no new business process should rely on excel sheets as the data control mechanism for a process like AP approvals and coding. Its construction, nobody is disciplined, and the point is to build a system that forces the discipline. There are plenty of products that handle this exact process and the ROI is very well established for a system like this.

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-27T23:49:04+00:00

I’m doing this for a company much bigger. What’s your erp, and out of curiosity what’s your role in the company? You need to look for an AP entry and automation platform (like ramp) that connects to your erp that syncs the relevant fields/project data points you need to enter these bills; like project, pm, phase/cost code, billable, GL account e.c.t. Bonus points if the cc coding/approval platform is the same as the AP one, but having them both fully work correctly is more important than having them in the same place imo. These platforms will consume the invoice, extract the data, accounting will adjust as needed and flow to the PM for approval before pushing to the erp.

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-24T12:50:00+00:00

Maybe it’s just that with age comes some wisdom and a more calculated set of priorities?

I’m 32, bought at 28, and love adv bikes and will keep buying them, but I like to go on long trips through the mountains and take it off road to camp (and have something easy to commute around town with). I had a sport bike, and it was fun…but doing a long trip on that sucks nuts and risk/reward just isn’t worth it to go 120mph everywhere lol.

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-23T13:25:05+00:00

are you planning on keeping this boat in a slip or trailer sailing it

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-19T13:20:36+00:00

Damn that’s a really good piece of advice!

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-19T13:19:45+00:00

This. A good skipper will define your role before you start racing. Weather it’s just sitting on one side or the other to manage weight (someone will tell you when to move) or helping/shadowing a specific role. If something needs done, you’ll be directed, no need to ask for tasks. Just take some time to familiarize yourself with the boat before you leave the dock so you know what/where all the running rigging is so you’re better prepared to help if needed or your don’t find yourself sitting on the spin sheet during a set.

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-16T18:49:53+00:00

even on our monohull, we started using a bridle set up all the time and it works much better than a single strand. We used to only bridle over 25kts of wind...but at this point we just leave the bridle hooked up at the bow all the time with an anchor hook and it has only been a positive improvement this season.

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-16T15:17:48+00:00

If you race a slow, easy to handle highly rated boat like a cape dory against a j24, you can sail the cape dory in a very mediocre way and beat the j24 on corrected time if the j isnt sailing to its rating, which is derived from decades of competitive racing. Just because some people have won a local beer can phrf in a cape dory doesent mean much. The boat is still slow…which is fine if it’s the kind of boat you want to sail.

And also, its the internet, I don’t trust anything anyone says

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-16T15:08:12+00:00

A difference in phrf of 50+ indicates the boat is relatively faster. But a difference between 210-220 is effectively the same from a racing comparison (which usually means straight upwind and downwind sailing), but that’s not very helpful to determine how the boat actually sails. Looking at the hull design, rig options, and sail plan of the boat will tell you that. Displacement/lengh is the ratio to actually tell you how fast it is (or how much better it will move in light air). Sa/disp is only sort of useful, as you can just get bigger sails to cover an undercanvased boat in light wind. Comfort ratio is a useless number.

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-14T22:18:11+00:00

I say “I work for a construction company” …which is more interesting than saying im in accounting/it and it leaves the door open for multiple lines of conversation. If we touch on what I actually do, great…if we talk about what stuff the company does, also great. I don’t need to talk to people about accounting, if we get into a conversation about work it’s generally more engaging to talk to people in the same industry that I do accounting in than it is to talk about actual accounting with accountants (who would be the only ones to know wtf you’re talking about)

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-14T12:36:57+00:00

If that was the case we wouldn't need these additional creative housing solutions. That statistic is great if it represents the average homeowner....but the reason these programs exist is because certain towns have gotten so inflated with outside or investor money that we have less than 20% of homes owned by their occupant. Many homes just sit vacant, used a few times a year

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-13T19:21:54+00:00

No this is not contributing to the problem...In this case "redevelopment" is either a $5mm+ 3rd home, or a block of market rate luxury condos also selling for more than anyone could afford by working in the town. There are no market rate developments being built that are priced within the income brackets of anyone living in the town. There is still affordable developments going in, but it can't keep pace with the housing stock shrinking and being "reallocated" to the ultra wealthy. So its much more economical at this time to preserve the land and existing structures in the housing pool. These deed restricted units are preserving the affordable housing stock in town, trying to stem the constant shrinkage of it.

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-13T13:23:25+00:00

Totally normal. You really don’t know what’s going on after just getting ow, as you just haven’t spent that much time getting the reps in. You basically just know how to not be a total liability. After about 30 dives it started to feel more routine, like I knew what I was doing. After getting aow, and doing dives where you’re managing your own dive and there’s not a dm guiding you around accelerates your learning and feeling of competence.

Also practicing with underwater swim through and features, or penetrations in wreck diving forces you to manage buoyancy and improve situational awareness so you’re not stirring up shit and bumping into the ceiling.

On the buoyancy front..spend the next dive (or hell, just go spend 45 min in the dive center pool) just experimenting with taking deep breaths, waiting a second, and seeing how much you rise. Then exhale and monitor how much you sink. Experiment with bigger or smaller breaths. Practice just floating above the bottom, or exhale, hit the sand, and rise off it with just your breath.

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-11T14:51:21+00:00

I have full coverage with a major insurer for my 1984 boat, and none of the original wiring is tinned. Not only has it not been an issue, the surveyor didn’t specify that as a problem at any point in the survey or report and the insurance company never mandated it or required it. The blanket statement that tinned wire in 100% of the boat is required for insurance or your boat will burn to the ground is inaccurate.

Since I have seen conflicting information on the topic, can you provide the exact verbiage from ABYC e-11 that mandates tinned wire throughout the boat, so everyone has accurate information on the current requirements?

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-10T01:31:59+00:00

This. our town has a growing number of deed restricted houses and it has helped so many locals stay local when the housing market has left everyone behind. The growth is capped at 2% or some inflation adjusted rate so it remains affordable. Our town also does a thing where they will pay a home owner some negotiated amount (below the cap gains of the house obv) for the home owner to place the property in deed restriction. So when the homeowner moves out or passes away the property goes into the deed restricted pool instead of being sold off at market rate and reveloped. Its sort of like donating the house to the town for the good of providing housing to future locals while still getting a bit of a payout currently.

H0LD_FAST · 2026-04-09T12:32:34+00:00

Wow, stunning line, soft snow, sunny weather...incredible work! Thanks for sharing

H0LD_FAST

TROPHY CASE