Tom's top tips for living aboard

Boat/US Magazine, July, 2004 by Tom Neale

I used to read all about "cruising" in the magazines. The people doing it took pride in things like bathing in a quart of water a week. Although they never used ice, their food either never rotted or they never noticed. They'd troll laundry and dishes over the stern to wash them, and troll everything else over the stern during hurricanes, for sea anchors. They'd "lie ahull" so that they wouldn't have to go topsides in hundred knot winds while going around all the horns they seemed to be constantly going around to get to whatever side of the world they weren't on at the time. To go cruising, you had to be a brave, tough, and true hero. Despite all this, I went cruising anyway.

Cruising can be a weekend experience, a summer vacation, or a retirement fling. You can do it on almost any boat you can eat and sleep on, as long as you use it in the waters and conditions it's designed for Cruising is probably within your reach, if you know the real story. Here are ten important lessons that we've learned in almost 25 years of cruising. On BoatUS.com, I'll be discussing many other things, in detail, that we've picked up from "doing it" all these years. We moved aboard in 1979 and we're still here.

If You Want To Live Aboard, Do It for the Right Reasons

Some think that living aboard and traveling to a "paradise" over the horizon is the ultimate escape. Actually, there are usually more problems than you've bargained for. You may have as much fun cruising close to home on weekends and vacations. Consider carefully your motivations if you're thinking about taking off for the long haul. If you make as many mistakes as I do on the boat, less people find out about them when you're living out on the hook.

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Be Realistic

Do what works best for you. Before leaping, look. If you don't have your boat yet, spend time chartering (or mooching trips from friends) to get an idea of the types of places you want to go and the types of boats that you like best. Sure, we all want to go to some tropical island, but if you wait to go cruising 'til you've got the time and money to do that, you might never go. Besides, all the tropical islands I've ever been to had lots of really big cockroaches.

Be Comfortable

When I started, cruisers always bragged about being tough and Spartan. For example, they'd go to extremes to avoid refrigeration. A trick for eggs was to take them fresh and unwashed from under the hen, smear them with Vaseline, and store them in the bilge. You don't have to do that now, and it's a good thing. I was raised in the country, and I know what's on an unwashed egg just removed from under the chicken. The last thing you want in your bilge is a bunch of eggs covered with Vaseline and chicken manure. The good news is that refrigeration on a boat is no longer a big deal and neither are most other creature comforts. You don't have to live like a caveman unless, of course, you have a spouse and/or kids who aren't sure about cruising and you want to make sure that you cruise all by yourself.

Deal with the Differences

There are important differences between a weekend cruise and an extended cruise. These include the size and type of boat that'll work, the amount of storage needed, tolerance for each other in close quarters, daily routines, and equipment. Also, it's much easier to do without some of the creature comforts for a weekend than it is for months. And unfortunately, some carry over the party atmosphere often associated with a weekend cruise. You can't party every night for several months without getting into serious trouble. Ask yourself what you're going to be doing for long periods of time on the boat. Bring along hobbies, books, and other things to do.

Dump Your Dippy Dinghy

While a little rubber ducky may suit well for short hops between boats in a snug cove, you may need a tougher, larger, and more seaworthy tender if you cruise to far away places. It'll be your car, your pickup truck, and your four-wheeler for exploring far away and for traveling long distances in open waters.

Hardened Steel is Better than Gold

Good tools and spare parts are better than money in the bank, if you know how to use them. If something breaks when you're out for the weekend, you can usually rely on the yard to fix it during the week. When you're out for much longer, your ability to fix things will make you safer, save money, and give you more freedom. (You won't have to wait a week for a mechanic to show up to do a 30-minute job while he's sitting on something else and breaking it in the process.) Take courses on maintenance of your systems and engines. You don't want to be like the guy I once met on the beach who thought that pulling the exhaust manifold from the head had something to do with the bathroom.

Weather Rules the Day (and Night)

Ashore, understanding weather means knowing how to set your air conditioning. When you go away in a boat, even for a weekend, you're out in the real world and at the mercy of the weather. We like this. It puts us in tune with a life rhythm more meaningful than the hum of climate control. But you need more than the "partly cloudy" veneer of TV forecasts. You should have access to and understand the underlying data, and be able to do some forecasting on your own, relevant to your location and plans. You also need to be able to look out the hatch and understand what's happening. Sometimes even the weather on VHF radio (assuming you're within range) doesn't give you all the information you need. Read books or take courses. Subscribe to one of the weather services available. Look for tips on the BoatU.S. web site.