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'Some people go all in and sell everything': People who've lived and sailed full-time on a boat shared how they did it

Dec 24, 2023, 19:19 IST
Business Insider
Justin Lewis/Getty Images
  • Business Insider spoke with people who've lived on a boat full-time.
  • The individuals lived and worked on sailboats from between one to eight years.
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Boats and yachts are often linked to the ultra wealthy, but regular everyday people with average incomes have access to these enticing water vessels. Whether someone wants to rent a boat for a day or live on a yacht for a year, there are accessible ways to achieve this goal.

Business Insider spoke with people, who lived aboard four different boats, ranging for as long as one to eight years, about how they began their boat-life journey.

A married couple sold everything they owned to live full-time on a boat

Iain and Brioni Cameron say they'll continue living on their boat until a more exciting adventure comes along.Courtesy of Iain Cameron

When BI spoke with Iain Camron in October, he and his wife Brioni had been living full-time on a boat since 2020.

The couple sold everything they had and left their home in Glasglow, Scotland to buy a boat in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. "The United Kingdom shut down for the pandemic, but when the lockdown lifted for a few weeks, we put our apartment on the market, bought one-way tickets to the islands, and left with only our backpacks," Camron told BI.

During the process, they experienced many challenges, which included feeling scammed by the original man who agreed to sell them a boat. Once they finally purchased their new boat home, the couple sustained themselves by working remotely from the water vessel.

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In almost three years, Camron said he and his wife had spent a total of only three nights on land.

Read more: I sold everything I own to live on a boat with my wife. It's harder than we imagined — but we love it because it made us stronger.

A college graduate moved onto a boat full-time to help pay off his $80,000 student loan

Cody Plante is living on his boat to help pay off his student loan debt.Courtesy of Cody Plante

Cody Plante shared his story with BI in January. After accumulating $80,000 in student loan debt for a bachelor's and master's degree, Plante gave up his Vermont apartment and moved onto a boat full-time. He planned to save more money and pay more towards his student loan debt

"I wanted to significantly reduce my cost of living, so I purchased a 1989 Passport 41 sailboat from my family for $50,000, and I live full-time on the boat," Plante said.

Although living on a boat has expenses, Plante looked at the financial upside on a 5-year time horizon. He shared that docking his boat ranged from $328 to $656 a month, among other expenses. When he didn't feel like paying the docking fee, Plante said he'd anchor his boat off the coast for free.

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Read more: I live on a boat to help me pay off my $80,000 student-loan debt. Living this way has expenses, but I think there's a financial upside.

A family of four lived full-time in a four-bedroom boat while cruising the Eastern Seaboard

The Boomershines lived on their 56-foot boat for a year traveling from stop to stop.Cinda Boomershine

Mark and Cinda Boomershine told BI they spent 15 years planning and saving for a one-year trip along the Great American Loop — a 6,000-mile journey along the eastern seaboard of the US and Canada. In May 2022, the husband and wife moved onto a 56-foot boat and started that journey with their 9 and 11-year-old kids.

"Some people go all in and sell everything and buy the boat, and the boat is their home residence," Mark told BI in April. "Because of our life right now with kids and everything, that wasn't us." Instead, the Atlanta couple kept their home and rented it out while they sailed around the Loop.

Cinda shared that she and her family spent 99% of their time on the boat. They sailed almost every day during the trip but would pause and spend a few days in the marina.

Read more: Our family is living on a four-bedroom boat while cruising the Eastern seaboard for a year. It's not like the 'fabulous lifestyles of the rich and famous' that might come to mind.

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A couple lived and worked on a sailboat while holding high-powered jobs

Sophie Darsy and Ryan Ellison left the corporate world behind to live on a sailboat.Courtesy of Sophie Darsy and Ryan Ellison

Ryan Ellison and his girlfriend Sophie Darsy only planned to live on a boat for one year. However, the pair told BI they ultimately racked up eight years of boat life while taking short breaks as needed.

" Sometimes, we need to take a vacation from it all, so we leave the boat for a couple of months out of the year and go to land," Ellison said. "This lets us spend more quality time with our families in France and Iowa."

Whether the couple is on land or sea, they said they still work full-time jobs — Ellison with his company Dakota Lithium, and Darsy as a YouTuber and e-learning consultant.

Read more: We live and work on a sailboat full-time while traveling around the world — even with high-powered jobs

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