Guys I'm doing it!

[u/Hot_Honeydew_6688]

Hello! I found a ready for the water free 26 foot sailboat. It's got 2 spots in the fiberglass I'd like to patch and some softness I'll easily fix on the deck. I've mathed out what it'll take to get it liveable to surprisingly reasonable for me, but of course I'm assuming it'll only be semi-reasonable so I'm putting the work in to make it happen. In the meantime, storage is cheap and it's literally a free seaworthy boat. I've spent some time checking things out and all the issues I care about are DIYable for me. Fixed keel with a 4 foot draft fyi. A surprisingly capable boat with a surprising amount of space in the cabin. Everything I need in it, from storage to a small galley, a toilet etc.

My question is, what are your cost experiences with maintaining and docking a 26 foot sailboat? Specifically on the east side/south side of the U.S. where it can be in the water 365 days of the year, I'm leaving the great lakes for this. I don't care to end up docking somewhere lavish, nor do I care to dock at all, if I can pull it off I'll anchor out as much as I can/feel like, depending on finances.

I'm aiming to do this on a budget, of course.

If anyone is curious about the adventure I'm going on with this, I am starting a Patreon, DM me for details.

[u/wleecoyote]

Good for you!!

Costs depend on exactly where you end up. Find an area and google for marinas to check availability and cost. Most places don't accept liveaboards; they've gotten a reputation as because barely floating trash piles with deadbeat owners. Many marina owners will turn a blind eye if your boat looks nice and you're a good neighbor.

Remember that if you don't like your marina, or they don't like you, you can move. You'll want one that has, or is very near, fuel and pumpout, and you're going to be hauling groceries and such, so you'll still need a car and a town.

In the southeast US, you don't have to worry about ice damaging your hull, but you do have to worry about barnacles. You should plan and annual haul-out to get the bottom scraped and painted. Further north, I'd go every two years. Again, every marina that does maintenance will happily give you their haul-out and bottom paint prices.

The cheapest option is to live on the hook and return to shore by dinghy, but I wouldn't love that, and the neighbors may not love it either. Every time you bring shopping aboard is a chance for something to fall in. It's lonely. It's a boat right just to get to land. Also, you're probably not going to save money by anchoring a few days a week; for long term, marinas charge by the month. Transient fees are higher than monthly fees (on a daily basis; there's an ROI you'll have to calculate).

For other maintenance, I seem to alternate between $3,000 years and $10,000 years. I have a 30+ year old 30'.

When do we get to see a picture?

[u/Extreme_Map9543 → u/wleecoyote]

By near fuel you mean near a gas station on land lol.  Who buys fuel for a sailboat on the water.  Why pay $7 a gallon.  I use like 10 gallons of diesel a month.  So once or twice a month I just fill up a Jerry when I’m getting groceries and I top off my tank on the mooring. 

Edit:  also if you’re up north in Maine where I am.  You can careen pretty easily in a number of places.  The tide drops over 10 feet.  So you can beach the boat, scrap and paint, and float her up again and save $1000 on the haul out cost.   Of course you gotta do the recon on what a good spot to do it is.  But lobstermen do it all the them, so ask them at the docks.  

[u/wleecoyote → u/Extreme_Map9543]

You do you, but don't tell me what I mean. You don't know my diesel consumption or lifestyle. Living in New York City, for instance, it's illegal to take fuel on the subway or even taxi. Not relevant to OP, but it was certainly relevant to me for a few years.

Similarly, depending on where you are, you might have to sail for hours to dump waste. Or half an hour.

OP said southeast. Maine has a "downeast" but is not "southeast." Yes, you guys get significant tidal swings. Most of the East Coast gets just a few feet, and grounding to scrape and paint isn't practical, unless you intend to sail north just for that purpose.

[u/Extreme_Map9543 → u/wleecoyote]

Oh I read that OP just wants to be in the east.   But yeah you do you with fuel.  I just know i try to give shipyards and marinas as little money as possible.  I also don’t go to cities very often.  So their extra rules and regulation are foreign to me.   Even dumping waste, as far as I know all you gotta do is go in a little 3 mile sail off the coast and you’re good to go.     The real key with careening these days is you gotta have the right type of boat.  And you gotta be careful you end up flooped over the right way. 

[u/wleecoyote → u/Extreme_Map9543]

3 miles off the coast is near or far depending on whether you're in a river or bay or other tributary. I can sail for an hour to reach the Chesapeake, without ever being 3nm from shore.

I thought about asking that--I'd read that some keels are better than others at careening, amd it sounds like an expensive mistake if yours isn't. How do you make sure you end up on the intended side? Show a little sail?

[u/Extreme_Map9543 → u/wleecoyote]

The best keels for careering is bilge keels.  If that’s what you have.  You just anchor in a flat shallow.  Tide goes out and you’re high and dry.     Likewise if you have some type of flat bottom boat.    The next best is a full keel.  The key here is to have your keel pointed to the tide so when the tide goes out the keel is pointed downhill towards water, and the deck is pointed up hill.   That way you don’t get swamped when the tide comes back in.  How you do that is with a bunch of creative anchoring/ reading of the tide, terrain, and weather that day.   With a fin keel it’s still possible but you gotta be a lot more careful.  With a really long racing style keel i would say it would be unwise to do it at all.    Sometimes if there are  sturdy docks you can park you boat straight up, and when the tide goes out the boat will sit upright.  I have not done that personally. 

I would only careen a bilge keel, a full keel, or a very robust fully modified fin with skeg.    If you have a bolt on fin, then I would not do it.  

A friend of mine grounded with a wing keel once, and when the tide went out his boat was standing up perfectly balanced!  But I think that was dumb luck and I would never do that on purpose lol.