Ask HN: Should I buy a boat and live off the grid?

You should just do it - if it's a mistake, it will be really easy to fix.

Can't speak for Sweden, but in London I'm not aware of any stigma around living on boats. A friend of mine at McKinsey, a big management consultancy firm that's as corporate as they come, lived on one and regularly invited colleagues over.

Maybe you need to do some soul-searching and ask yourself why do you care what everyone else thinks? Do you want to live life your way and for yourself or do you want to live it their way and for them? It's all in what you want and how you set your priorities.

If you determine the slip fees get too high, make sure you have invested in a really good anchor and chain, according to one person who recently talked about living on a boat for over 5 years in Hawai'i. He stated that those typically included with a vessel are not necessarily adequate.

A subreddit on the subject - https://www.reddit.com/r/liveaboard/

I feel like the twin goals of living off the grid and having a social life, though not perfectly orthogonal, might be hard to achieve. In other words, one will probably suffer from the other. That said, if you do decide to buy a boat - get a cool one - then everyone will want to be your friend.

My association with "living off the grid" has always been finding some house in the woods at the end of a very long dirt road. If you're docking a boat in a big city, theres probably tons of people around you - that doesnt really feel like "living off the grid" IMHO

In the UK there's not particularly stigma attached to it, but I would be careful to research the economics of it -- how much a month will you be paying to rent whatever mooring you have, how much (time and money) will upkeep and maintenance of the boat cost you, what's the initial expense of the boat and how much are you losing on a probably-depreciating asset, do you need to pay to dispose of sewerage, and so on... Do the cool things in life, but look carefully before you leap so you know what you're getting into and don't hit a brick wall of disillusionment.

I wasn't aware there was a stigma. It's not like living in a car, since many boats are designed to be long-term habitable. I know someone who does this in San Francisco and he pays $280/month in slip fees, a bit cheaper than rents in the area.

As long as you don't overpay for it you can always sell it. My questions:

Are you allowed? How do you shower? What about a kitchen? I assume it has a bathroom? In the winter would it get too cold?

> On the con side I'm worried my social life will suffer, I might lose friends. Can't invite people home. People don't want to date a hobo living on a boat?

Non sense. You are going to meet people outside of your usual social circles. Maybe you'll date someone who likes people who lives on boat and that would be cool because you are someone who wants to live on a boat.

I'm doing this in Washington DC right now, it's not always easy but worth it! willing to field any questions

> On the con side I'm worried my social life will suffer

Who doesn't want to hang out on a boat? That seems like a weird concern to me. I can only speak for London but I don't think there's a stigma attached. People are curious and in some ways even a bit envious. Also the boating community (here anyway) is very social (somewhat by necessity).

You should maybe look into some the practicalities before doing anything rash though (hygiene, maintenance, connectivity etc). I found it a little stressful at times but definitely don't regret it.

What kind of boat is it? My family rented a long one once, the kind that you see cruising along (British) canals and honestly, as cute as it is, I felt super claustrophobic.

It can also be very cold.

Boats aren't cheap. To buy/refurbish, repair, docking fees, fuel, etc.

I would say living in a vehicle has much more stigma, since that's something typically done out of desperation. And so people doing it voluntary(Van Dwelling, etc) typically attract that stigma(parking, dirty, etc).

Versus living on a boat which is more 'romantic' since it's not really an option or even considered.

Are you really sure you want to live on a boat?

First of all it might be more expensive than an apartment, mooring(slip?) fees are quite expensive.

Second, boat maintanance can be expensive too.

I recently spent a week on a reasonable 50 foot sailboat in a nice Mediterranean location and despite amenities (3 bathrooms for 10 people, nice kitchen etc etc) I was quite happy to get back to sleeping on the ground.

This was with good sailing weather and walking on ground every day.

The pluses for sailing are the community, every port you feel at home. I suppose it is somewhat similar to RV community.

So if sailing is in your blood then go for it

If you are a casual sailor I'd say this is idea will show its negatives soon enough.

Yes. Next question.

I've been living aboard a sailboat just outside NYC for about two years now, happy to answer questions.

Addressing a few things:

* buying a boat that is reasonable to live on with less than a month to do so will be difficult. You need to figure out your basic criteria and find a vessel that matches, then get it surveyed by a professional. My boat is 30 years old and was relatively cheap, but it's still a large purchase that you don't want to get screwed on. You may need to sleep on someone's couch for a bit while sorting all this out.

* Boats are depreciating assets, unlike most real estate. Something to consider about buying something that won't impact your quality of life too much.

* Off the grid entirely is difficult, especially from the get go. If you are retired or otherwise able to not worry about being somewhere at a specific time, you may be able to find somewhere to anchor out and take a dinghy in to shore, but I still commute to the office and that sounds like an enormous pain in the ass. I live in a marina, and still connect to shore power to charge my laptop and have WiFi.

* My social life hasn't suffered for the boat, people generally find it an interesting curiosity, even though I gave up a lot of comforts. I don't have a refrigerator, I have an ice box. I don't have air conditioning, I open windows. I can use the head (restroom) aboard the boat, but I usually go to the marina restrooms to avoid having to get the holding tank pumped out. In the middle of winter, having to walk 100ft outside to take a shower before going to work isn't fun.

All that said, it's the cheapest waterfront property I could possibly find in my area, and I wake up every day to a gently rocking bed and usually a nice breeze. It's worth it to me for now.

The sea is pretty harsh to equipment. I hope you're handy. :)

> Does anyone have experience of living in a way that's looked down upon by the rest of society?

I was homeless once for a time. I used to play in bands. I met some punks I housed up with for a while. It was cramped but it was good times. You'll meet people if you make the effort to.

update: I'd also recommend looking into "off the grid" protocols like scuttlebut ;)

Duncan Mcleod of the clan Mcleod lived on a boat in Paris and he pulled lots of chicks. I say go for it!

Richard Branson famously lived on a houseboat in the early days of Virgin > https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/5-places-i-have-worke...

I lived in a van for a year in the bay area. My social life changed for the better. Being more mobile made it easier to visit friends and family in the area.

Dating was fine, it was polarizing in a way. Some girls were immediately turned off - and that was good to know. They are less tolerant of alternative lifestyles and ideas, and so not someone I would want to be friends with anyway. Some girls were totally into it.

There was a lot of mental overhead with living in a van. Where to park, how to work in a shower each day, making sure it's safe and the neighborhood won't be bothered with me staying in the area, etc. It will be different for a boat, since it's legal and you have more facilities available.

My productivity and focus went up at work after I moved back into an apartment. Having a shower and unlimited water & electricity felt incredible. It certainly gave me a new appreciation for modern conveniences.

One side effect of van life that may apply to boat living - you become more in tune with the weather, but less bothered by changes. I'd wake up with the temperature in the mid 40s, and it would be fine. Yes I'd put on a jacket, but I'd go about my morning routine without turning on the heater and be ok with it. I would compare it with being on a ketogenic diet - you still experience hunger, but your response to it is manageable / in your control.

I think experimenting with living off the grid will give you a new appreciation of life and a healthy perspective of what's important to you. For me, once I got the bug to try it, it didn't go away until I made it happen. So if you have a good opportunity to try it out, I'd suggest going for it.

I actually had a coworker in the US that bought a boat and lives on it. I get the feeling that his social life is mostly unchanged. Most of us thought it was foolhardy and a little weird, but that was fine. We saw him go through quite a learning curve, one being that he can't live in it during the winter so he has to stay in a hotel. It's also quite expensive to buy and maintain and unlike houses I don't think that the value of boats increase. He's lost some luxuries like TV and wifi. My general feeling is that he probably wouldn't do it again if he could do it over, but he's made it work.

There are a bunch of sailing clubs in Stockholm. Before you purchase a boat yourself I'd advise you to join one for a summer. Go sailing, talk to people whos lives revolve around boats. You will get loads of useful advice.

I don't live on a boat myself, but I sail a lot and I know people who do or did live on a boat. In my experience, it's awesome for a few weeks at most (longest period I did was 3 weeks).

First off, it's going to cost a whole lot more than you imagine. I'd say triple your initial cost estimates. Everything on boats break all the time and cost a tonne to repair.

> I'm worried my social life will suffer, I might lose friends. Can't invite people home. People don't want to date a hobo living on a boat?

Your social life will change a lot. Having a friend who lives on a boat is great when it's still new and novel, but soon they become the guy that who's always on a slightly different schedule than everyone else.

The vast majority of women will not be interested in going home with someone who lives on a small sailboat. Some absolutely will, but most really are not interested. You're seen more as that quirky guy who lives on a boat who they can tell their friends about, rather than a potential romantic partner.

So socially, it really depends on you and what you make of it. Some people will think it's really neat that you live on a boat and others will look down on you for it.

There are many people here in Florida that live on boats, some of them go to school or work on temporary contracts then sell the boat when they leave. Some anchor out in the river and so are truly off-grid and pay no rent.

Your entertaining style will have to change, true, especially on a small sailboat. Instead of inviting people over to watch Netflix or whatever, why not invite them out for a sail? (Oh yeah, and keep your living space tidy, no one wants to hang out in someone's moldy cluttered bedroom :) )

This is something I definitely have experience of, albeit perhaps in a different way. Through my own conscious effort, my life is significantly different to that of most others in many ways. Professionally I'm freelance and work comparatively little. I live in a warehouse with 6 others, I built my own bedroom. Both my sexuality and relationship style are outside the norm.

At several junctures I've asked myself the same questions you are asking now.

All of the above changes have caused me to become more distant from many of my older friends. There have been very few (if any) upsets, but certainly paths have diverged. I think this is perfectly ok and I do not see it as a negative.

The flip side of this, is that I have made multiple times more friends as a result of doing something different. It has made my life richer and better in ways I could never have imagined previously.

Also, a friend of mine has a theory wrt dating. It's something like "A lot of people are not into beards, but people who are into beards and REALLY into beards". In your case you can substitute 'beards' for 'people who live on boats'.

Plus, it is perfectly ok to change your mind after trying something for a while. Obvs.