April 15, 2019
Did you ever wonder how much boat is needed to live on the water? Prior to purchasing Home Free, I gave it a lot of thought. We had a beautiful Beneteau 40 which was nice for vacations, but not really set up for living aboard. The boat itself was big enough, but the space didn’t really work for the way we lived and the things we wanted to do.
For almost five years I set about looking at hundreds of boats, sail and power, on YachtWorld. It became a bit of an obsession during cold winter nights, looking at layouts, seeing the way other people setup their boats and contemplating how I would spend my time on a boat. We ended up trading a sailboat and a house for a 47′ yacht with all of the amenities you might expect.
Not everyone is as needy as me. Here is someone’s home. I ran across this boat while in Cagliari and thought it was kind of cute, but then I realized that the guy fishing on the pier every night was staying on the boat. Then I realized that he was on the boat all the time. Then I realized that he and his wife/girlfriend were on the boat all the time. Then I realized they lived there.
It became really, really clear this was their home when they added a puppy to the whole deal. The puppy and I became friends over the last couple of weeks I spent at the Marina.
So if you think your condo is small, or perhaps you need a bit more room in the kitchen, consider this youngish couple (sorry I didn’t take their picture, they didn’t speak a word of English and the most Italian I worked out was ‘sera (short for Buona sera or good evening). In any case, probably in their 30’s living on a 15’ boat where the bedroom, kitchen and living room are the same space. Perhaps they were saving for some other, more important goal.
P.S. It is worth noting that the lady of the yacht was always very well dressed, not in a business sense, but she wasn’t walking around in flip-flops and sweats, she wore nice clothes and really nice (and completely inappropriate) shoes.
Take a look at the Tiny Houses web site and you will see some amazingly small “homes” here is one example https://www.countryliving.com/home-design/g1887/tiny-house/
Yeah. I am a fan of small houses. Jinhee says to give it up and stop looking at them. The boat and the condo are the two smallest spaces she can remain sane in.
Wow – this is very interesting and helps to put perspective between what we need and what we want in life. Thank you for sharing this lesson.
🙂 thanks Thomas. Not really meant as a lesson (unless my kids are reading, then it is totally a lesson), more as a funny tidbit from the world of cruising. It is worth noting that that boat has a 9.9Hp motor to power it and isn’t exactly CE Category A (ocean going) so their need for shelter seems to be the overriding demand, not necessarily cruising. Also keep in mind they are in Sardinia, so not a lot of options to get to mainland Europe on that boat!