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Out of the blue, I lost my well-paying job as a radio news reporter in San Francisco. The entire newsroom decimated in one day of layoffs. I was renting a room in a gorgeous apartment on the water in Sausalito, which cost me about $1,500 per month, rent I could no longer afford. There was no way I'd go into debt or burn through my savings paying for a room, so I did what any prudent debt-avoider would do: I gave my 30-days notice.
I made plans to move onto my boyfriend's sailboat, a 46-year old ketch in the middle of a massive restoration. He'd already been working day after day on the boat for months by then, with no end in sight. I told myself it would be like camping in an old wooden cabin with zero amenities. I'd always loved adventure, the outdoors, and living outside the norm.
So, I did a massive purge, donated stuff to Goodwill, trucked bins up to my mom's garage in Oregon and kept only what I needed.
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Just one month after my layoff, I was living on a boat for the first time in my life. And it wasn't the glamorous vision you might have in mind with sunset-tinged happy hours and dolphins playing in the surf. It was a struggle, especially at first.
But living on a boat has also come with incredible realizations and an amazing closeness to nature, and it's now a lifestyle I won't give up.
If you're also considering living on a boat, here are the things I wish I'd known beforehand.
Before I started my new life on a sailboat, I had no idea how much work boats actually require.
It seems like something is always broken or needing to be fixed. For the past two years, we hoped to sail down to Mexico for winter, but the boat wasn't ready. This year, we'll give it another shot (fingers crossed). My boyfriend Tom has worked countless hours, days and weeks getting the sailboat ready for ocean cruising for the past three and a half years. Still, more work needs to be done.
Now I understand these two boater adages: "The two best days of a boaters life is the day he buys a boat and the day he sells it," and "sailboat cruising is fixing things in exotic places."
Before you buy a boat, make sure you have the mechanical know-how to fix things, or else you'll be spending tons of money paying someone when things go wrong.
Living on a boat is like living in a tent, but with walls
When I first moved onto the sailboat, it had almost no amenities. No running water. No heater. No stove. No toilet. No internet. No fridge. No shower. The list goes on and on and on.
I cooked dinners using a Jetboil backpacking stove balancing a skillet. We used the marina bathroom, our gym, and an emergency bucket to go potty. We bundled up under blankets and sleeping bags during the cold winter months.
But over time, project after project, the boat has slowly acquired the amenities that make it home. Never before had I felt thankful for a toilet, or a stove, or an oven. Never before had I given any thoughts to a heater. Living on an unfinished boat might come with hardships, but it also comes with a deep sense of gratitude for things most people take for granted.
Marinas aren't always nice places to hang out
Through living on a boat, I've learned some marinas are nicer than others. Some resemble a poverty-stricken trailer park, others a high-end RV park. I've seen non-working boats covered with tarps, bikes, work-out equipment and trash.
I think it's common for people to associate sailboats with high-end marinas and yacht clubs, but this isn't always the case. Pick your marina with care, and be sure to walk the docks and meet the neighbors before signing up.
It's difficult to find a place to live on a boat legally
Living on a sailboat legally is really rough, especially in a place like San Francisco where everyone is trying to escape super-high rent.
Many marinas have yearslong waitlists for a liveaboard slip, and these slips cost double than a regular slip. Our marina only allows us to sleep aboard two nights per week, and we try hard to adhere to that rule. We often take our boat out to anchor in various beautiful places around the Bay, and we spend the other nights living in my van or house sitting.
Sailing is really challenging
When I first started life on the boat, I'd never stepped foot on a sailboat before, let alone sailed one!
Those first couple years learning how to sail were really hard. I just couldn't get it, and made so many mistakes.
Finally, in my third year, I'm catching on. It helped that I took a Hobie Cat out a few times and took windsurfing lessons in Hood River. Sailing might not come easy to everyone. If you're considering living on a sailboat, I'd recommend taking sailing lessons before you move aboard to make sure you like it!
Using a boat toilet sure is awkward
Living on a boat means you'll have to learn a new way of using the loo.
Our toilet, for example, has a manual flush. You basically fill up a large cup, add water to the bowl, and vigorously pump a handle up and down to flush. It makes a sound kind of like a dying goose, and is really easy to clog. We use a portable bidet as a way to keep toilet paper from clogging our pipes.
Explaining this type of toilet to visitors isn't always easy. Neither is sailing the boat to the pump-out station, where we use a vacuum-sealed hose to suck everything out of our holding tank. This is my least favorite part about living on a boat. Gross!
You can run out of essentials at any moment
Living on a boat isn't like living in a house, where you flip a switch and have an endless supply of electricity, running water and gas for your stove.
All the resources on a boat are finite, which means you have to keep close track of your supply. I remember one night when were anchored out cooking an amazing dinner, and the propane to our stove ran out. We had to finish cooking our dinner with a construction blowtorch we had on board.
Another time, our water tanks went dry when we woke up to brew our morning coffee. Luckily, it was only an hour's sail back to the slip.
We've learned the importance of checking our supply before we head out sailing for a few days, and to keep extra water on hand.
Things get smelly really fast
A boat has a very different environment than a house. Moisture from cooking or washing dishes is trapped in the cabin, creating the perfect environment for mold. We've learned to wash and dry all of our cupboards every few months to keep mold from growing onboard.
Other things that can stink on a boat are diesel and the holding tank. Many boats have that gross "boat smell," which usually occurs when the toilet's piping system starts to wear down. Our boat had a strong scent of diesel from a series of leaks and spills when we first moved on, and Tom had to tear out all the stained wood.
Living on a boat is addicting
Despite its challenges, I never knew living on a sailboat could be so addicting.
I love the fresh sea air rushing through the companionway, and the tap-tap of rain on the cabin house. I love how the boat leans in a big gust of wind, and rocks me gently to sleep when we anchor out.
The sailboat brings so much freedom and adventure to our lives. We can sail to remote corners of the world and bring our home along with us. We can enjoy dolphins leaping from our bow as we carve a path in the sea.
When living on a sailboat, the world really is our oyster, and I can't imagine any other way of life.