Money was tight, I was doing OK but I was very unsettled. I had always dreamed of living on a boat and I loved being on the water. When I was told my rent was going to go up about 20% I said OK, Fine, I will move out at the end of the Month. I did not have anything lined up and I figured I would just live on my boat. When I was in the Army I lived out of a foot locker, so I knew I really did not need that much. I checked with the Marina where my boat was at, I knew they had live-abounds there, to see if there would be a problem. The manager said there would be no problem, but he thought a 21' sailboat was a little small to live on. I said that my dog did not mind and I needed very little space. He offered me a spot in the marina that was near the restrooms that had just opened up. He said it was a little more expensive because it was larger and he could put a bigger boat there than mine. I told him that would be great. Being near the bath rooms would be worth it.
I put most of my stuff in storage and the dog and I moved on board. I guess that space wise it was about what a slide in pick up camper is like. I first put everything in storage and then I limited what I was going to take to the boat to what I could put in a army sized footlocker. Only the essentials. After that I was going to see how much room I had on the boat and go from there. I also bought a Dock Box to put on the dock next to the boat to put boat junk in.
The dog and I moved on board. The boat has a small bow bunk and access to it is a bit of a pain. You have to crawl in to it and it is a real bitch to make the bed up. The main cabin has a bunk on each side with storage underneath and small shelf's along side the bunks. A table can be pulled out that goes between the two cabin bunks to eat on or do work on. On one side there is a small nav desk and a small sink and a storage spot for a little propane stove. I decided to use the bow bunk for storage and the dog also claimed it as his. I would sleep on the bunk on the side with out the nav desk and use the storage area under the bunk and the little shelf for my personal stuff and use the other side storage for food and things I would need to use every day. It was a little tight but very workable. The bow bunk was the catch all for most thinks I needed but did not use all the time. I had to get creative on where I stored stuff to make sure the boat did not tilt to one side or the other and stored so that the stuff would not shift when out sailing.
I cooked for the most part out in the cockpit, both to keep the heat and smell out of the inside of the boat. I had one fry pan, one large plate that just fit or nested inside the pan, one smaller plate that nested in the big plate, one large bowl, one smaller bowl and one measuring cup, and one coffee cup and one large glass. These all nested together and took up very little room. One knife, fork and spoon and one sharp knife was all I needed to finish my kitchen stuff. I had 3 dishpans that nested and the other stuff nested in them. I washed dishes in one pan, rinsed them off in the 2nd and the 3rd held them till they dried.
I used a large mouth jug for gray water and when it was full I dumped it in the dock side toilet. I did not want to dump it over the side of the boat. There was fresh water dock side along with electricity so those were no problem. I put a silver tarp over the boom and made a tent over the cockpit. It cut the heat build up in the boat and made it very comfortable. I made a wind scoop that went over the front hatch above the bow cabin and that moved air through the boat nicely. A small fan would move air when there was no breeze. I made a fish net door over the end of the plank that the dog respected. he could easily go over or through it. With it up he stayed on the boat even when I was not there. He also would not let anyone on the boat when I was gone. No locks needed.
When I wanted to go sailing it took about 20 min. to take down the tarps and be under way. 8-)
It really is surprising how much stuff you really do not need. I found I read more and got books on disk. No TV...did not miss it! Internet on my lap top got me my news and weather. I could watch TV at the marina bar if I wanted.
What was really great, was that I went sailing almost every day and I think I used it more than I used my truck.
The one thing I did miss was a refrigerator. I had a cooler that had a small cooling unit in it... it kept things cool not cold. I needed to put Ice in it once a week to help it along.
I put a small sign up that said BYO. You had to byo glass and plate and silverware when you visited. All in all though really did not ruff it very much. And the dog loved it!!!
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