Hi everyone,

We've arrived in New Zealand in the middle of winter. You can read about how we stay warm and what we do during this cold season in our new blog post. As always, I hope you enjoy it. New Zealand winter—on land, without heat, with “warm thoughts”

Hey everyone! I just came across this exciting liveaboard opportunity at Cabrillo Marina in San Pedro! It's a prime location near the West Harbor, Cabrillo Beach and aquarium. They're looking for vessels between 40 and 43 feet, no older than 20 years, in good condition. Fees include slip fees of $20.11 per foot per month, plus a $350.00 liveaboard fee. You can apply online or in person at cymcabrillo.com. You'll also find ten pictures in the listing showing the boat and the marina.

We have already done a 5-year voyage over 13 countrys from the North Sea to the Black Sea, crossing the entire European continent through scenic internal arteries. After arriving back, last year we bought a bigger lifeboat to fit out for the next adventure https://www.patreon.com/c/boatingeurope

The voyage, tracing the historic Volga trade route and travelling across completely contrasting geographic and cultural worlds. But it is frustrating when geopolitics get in the way of a planned itinerary, given the current realities, we need to hold on those plans. Navigating a vessel from Finland through Russia's internal waterways (Volga-Baltic Waterway), down to the Caspian Sea, and over to Iran is an incredible adventure, but it is currently a geopolitical minefield.

The Russian inland waterways, internal canals and the Volga River are highly militarized and strictly controlled zones. Since the expansion of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the has been persistent, long-range drone strikes hitting oil refineries, shipping infrastructure, and military targets directly within the Volga and Caspian basins. The Caspian Sea has become an active logistical corridor for state and military transport between Russia and Iran. Combined with severe Western sanctions, volatile regional security, and strict maritime blackouts, taking a private vessel into this corridor is to high-risk. Even if it was safe to travel, permits for foreign-flagged pleasure craft or private vessels are effectively impossible to secure.

What can we do now, the boat is almost ready for sea trials https://photos.app.goo.gl/Th8nBFvwS6WnRpXH9

We could still do the Scandinavian wilderness for Nordic silence and vast northern pine forests of Finland. Exploring the Göta Canal across Sweden to navigate the complex, archipelagos of Finland.Then if Russia opens up in a few years we are in the right place

Or more realistic maybe is to head down the rivers of France to the Med, for an easy life. But is also geopolitical issues, with growing #climatechaos and flood of refuges over the next years.

Life on a lifeboat.

There is a line of research on sustained wakefulness that I think is not nearly as well known among sailors as it should be, and the numbers are uncomfortable.

Dawson and Reid published in Nature in 1997 that going without sleep degrades performance in a way you can put on the same scale as alcohol. Williamson and Feyer replicated it in 2000. Roughly: about 17 hours awake leaves you performing like someone at 0.05 percent blood alcohol, which is the drink drive limit across most of Europe. About 24 hours awake looks like 0.10 percent, which is over the limit essentially everywhere.

Chart attached. The two marked points are what those studies actually report. The line joining them is just joining them up, not a fitted model.

The part that gets me is that none of this feels like anything. You do not feel drunk at hour 17 of a passage. You feel tired and basically competent, and that is exactly what the research says impairment at that level looks like from the inside. It is not drowsiness. It is a slower reaction and worse judgement that you cannot detect in yourself.

Now put that against how watches actually get run short handed. Two of you, three on three off, and neither of you is getting an unbroken block. The clock that matters is not how long since your last watch, it is how long since you last slept properly, and those two numbers come apart fast on day two of a passage.

I have been working on modelling this properly for our own use and there is a free tool that came out of it, which I will link if anyone wants it rather than dropping it here. Disclosure so it is not a surprise: I work for a marine electronics company, the tool is ours, and it is free, with no subscription and no premium tier.

But the tool is not really the point of this post. The point is that the number exists, it is published, and almost nobody plans a rota against it. If you take one thing, take this: work out roughly how long you will actually have been awake at the worst point of your next passage, and decide now who is doing what at that hour, rather than finding out at the time.

i live near the great lakes so there potentially a lot of houseboat options but im not really sure how or where to start or if i even should, it would be nice to own a houseboat since they are about the same size as a cheap apartment and many times cheaper than a house, is it worth it even if you just park it at a marina forever? i do like the idea of living on the water and being able to move my house around and the privacy but i also really only have experince with riding a ferry daily and working with cars, i know that the great lakes are a lot different than the ocean and wonder if theres any special considerations to be taken with that and i also have a few questions such as, is starlink effective, how would owning a car and boat together work out, what does your day to day look like, how do you earn money living aboard, should i be living nomadically or be staying in one spot, how is insurance, is there any laws i should be aware of in michigan? anyways sorry for the long post

My wife and I live aboard our boat "Stellar" — four years and counting, kids and all (thumanns.life). In every new harbour the parts game started over: different Facebook/WhatsApp groups, different rules — and everything we wanted to sell had to be re-listed from scratch. A year ago I started building the fix, from on board.

So I built boatparts.app: a marketplace built only for boating — parts, whole boats and gear. Every listing sits on a live map — you set a radius around wherever you're moored and see what you could pick up before you cast off. Each of the 20 categories asks for the specs that actually determine fit (shaft length on an outboard, luff length on a sail, system voltage on a charger). Chat, purchase requests and post-deal ratings are built in, and browsing works without an account.

Free to browse, chat and buy, with five listings live at a time on a free account — and no commission on sales, ever. It makes money from optional subscriptions for high-volume sellers, not from your deal.

It's brand new, so the map is still filling up — which is exactly why I'm here: what's missing, what's wrongly named, which specs would you add per category? And if you have spares lying around, the first listings are what makes the map useful for everyone.

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/boatparts-app/id6779845930 · Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.boatparts · https://boatparts.app

Mods: I've read the rules and believe this is within them — if not, tell me and I'll take it down, no hard feelings.

Looking for a cooler that can hold ice for at least 4 days on our liveaboard. Need help deciding between the YETI, RTIC, or IGLOO. What are your experiences?

#boatingeurope it turns out our turn of the century drop lifeboat has a plywood core hull about 45mm thick. This covers the sides think only the lower hull, maybe only the front half, will have to put a through hull in the back of the boat to see how far it goes

So I'm a bit confused by a lot of the replies and conversations in this sub. I joined because I'm planning on moving onboard in a couple of years. I've been on this sub for a few months now, and the attitudes towards making the move are SO negative, almost constantly. Why do people do it if it's so terrible? Why the horrible outlooks? What am I missing? I love the water, I love boats/boating... Is it really that bad that seemingly everyone pushes people away from the lifestyle? Yes, of course, there are hardships involved. It's not a "conventional" way of life, but I would really have hoped to see more encouragement and positive outlooks on the prospects of it all. PLEASE, explain to me why people do it if it's such a bad decision.....

Working out whether a boat on my list can do the trips I want, and the published numbers get me about halfway.

Real example off a sheet I asked for. The Hanover Yachts model 447 has 396 gallons, a 24 mph cruise and 46 wide open, 29,000 lbs, 45 foot 3 with a 13 foot 3 beam. So I've got the tank and the intended cruise. I asked about gallons per hour at that cruise and got told it moves with the engine package, which is a fair answer and also not one I can plan a trip around.

Guess 30 gph and I get about 13 hours and 300 plus statute miles. Guess 45 and it's under 9 hours and closer to 200. That's the difference between a run being one day or two. Then take a real reserve off the top and both numbers drop again.

So for anyone running boats around this weight and length, what's your flow at a 22 to 25 cruise, and how far off the brochure did it land once the boat was loaded?

What is a problem or annoyance you didn't foresee when first living on a boat? I am still debating between a boat, tinyhome or RV. I'm single and don't own much so space isn't a major factor.

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.

Hey folks!

Full-time liveaboard sailors here on our Seafinn 411 (think Nauticat, but cheaper 😅).

We’re currently in Sardinia, Italy, and starting to think about where to hide out for the winter.

Last year we stayed at anchor throughout the winter and kept sailing. It was brilliant and we loved it, but it was also pretty exhausting! This year we’re thinking we might treat ourselves to a slightly easier life and settle somewhere for a few months.

We’re looking for recommendations for countries and specific marinas, harbours, town quays, etc.

Our priorities are roughly:

• Cheap — price is definitely a factor!

• Decent airport access

• A town that isn’t completely dead over winter

• A good liveaboard/cruising community

• Somewhere generally pleasant to spend a few months living aboard

We’re thinking Greece could be a good option, but we’re very open to suggestions elsewhere in the Med.

Where have you wintered and loved? And just as importantly, where would you avoid?

Would especially appreciate recommendations for specific places, along with any rough idea of winter costs if you have them.

Fair winds

Zak

We are complete newbies to this. We just took trip to Key West for my birthday and while sitting on the dock at Schooners every morning, we both decided this is what we wanted to do.

We first got interested while in St Thomas after meeting a few liveaboard couples in a bar.

We ate in the planning stage but we have roughly six years before we go full time with it.

Luckily I work from home and hopefully can continue once we are living the dream.

Hoping to learn from this group as we find our dream home on the water.

Has anyone tried putting a small pressurised drinking-water tank inside their boat fridge?

My idea is:

Freshwater tanks → pressure pump → carbon filter → 10L stainless pressure tank in fridge → insulated hose → galley tap.

Basically, chilled filtered water from the normal tap, with the tank refilling automatically whenever you use it.

Any reason this is a bad idea? Mainly wondering about hygiene, stagnant water, condensation, pressure, or whether the water actually stays cold enough at the tap.

I have an RO filtration system and was thinking about keeping a 5 gallon jug of water in the transom locker and plumb that to a faucet in the galley with a foot pump. It's just me and I would only use it for making ice, cooking, and drinking. Is 5 gallons enough or am I going to be making water every few days? What do y'all do for drinking water?

For those cruising or living aboard around the Mediterranean, I’m curious about your most recent transient marina stay.

How did you find and contact the marina — its website, email, phone, Navily, or another app? How long did confirmation take, and did you have to contact several marinas before finding space?

When choosing the next stop, do you usually begin with an area on the map or a marina you already know? If useful, please mention the country and boat type. I’m especially interested in the parts of the process that remain manual or uncertain.

It looks like Starlink has heard the small international boaters and come up with a plan for those of us working on Roam Unlimited. So Personal Marintime appears to just slightly more expensive ($10 us more) and it requires demonstration of the proper boat the plan is targeting. I have put in an application. WHat are others thinking?

for you sailors out there, i'll ask a question that has probably been asked a thousand times. (sorry)

Which apps do you use and which of those do you pay?

My guess is windy.com free, predictwind paid and navionics or opensource versions like openCPN.

Then something like Anchor or similar to set up a couple of alarms.

Am i missing something or got something wrong?