Just livin’ on a boat

I’m often asked by our landlubbing family and friends “What’s it really like to live on a boat?” So, I thought I’d attempt to answer this question. Keep in mind, though, I can only answer this as it specifically relates to Sabática – a 40-foot catamaran that is a Bali 4.1. There are plenty of boats smaller and larger and different.

Sabática is quite comfortable – that’s why we chose her. She does feel quite differently, though, in summer vs. winter. In our current lifestyle, you can break up the year into two distinct phases. First is the “sailing season,” which in the Med is roughly from May – October. This is when you’re on the move, cruising around, visiting new places, and we have friends and family join us along the way. It can be stressful due to weather and such, but this is where the adventure is.  

The other phase is the “off season,” which is basically whenever you end your sailing season – in our case it was mid-October – and you “winter” somewhere until the next sailing season starts up again. Many cruisers will leave their boats and go home for the winter, but given we don’t have a home to go back to right now, Sabática is our home. Thankfully, we found a port where many other sociable cruisers live on their boats during the winter months as well. In the off season, the boat is stationary and it feels more like you’re living back on land but happen to be in a floating apartment. We won’t have any more visitors aboard until May, so now is the time we are really “just livin’ on the boat.” This means we’re just going about our normal life.

The best way to think about living on our boat is kind of like camping. Well, “glamping,” really. It feels like you’re living in the outdoors, but you have comfortable spaces with electricity and running water. Keep the glamping idea in mind, though, and I’ll try to hit on life’s basics…

At this point, though, you deserve some photos. The biggest thing about living on a boat, is living in nature. Thus, we are privy to wonderful views all the time.

The boat itself

First, just a few general comments about Sabática… The inside is maybe like a 700-square foot apartment, so we have plenty of space. During the summer, we obviously use all space inside and out. During the winter when it’s cold and/or wet, we tend to stick to the inside. We are thrilled to have a large indoor salon area (think dining / living area) for the winter. 

I mentioned the glamping facilities, and we can connect to the electrical source on the dock as well as get water from shore into our water tank. We pay for these resources and top up the meter at our dock on a regular basis to keep these resources available. We are, though, constantly monitoring how much electricity we use, how much load the batteries can handle (when we are not connected to the shore power), and how much water we use as well. So, we definitely live in conservation mode.

One fun feature about Sabática, is that she is not really well insulated. That makes her hot in the summer and cold in the winter. (Kind of like a tent.) We just make adjustments to deal. In the summer, we have lots of fans going and we had some window shades made that really keep the sun’s heat out. In the winter, we remove said window shades so any sun rays will help heat her up inside, we make use of a duvet on the bed, and we purchased a space heater and some awesome slipper booties. We do have a built-in diesel-powered Webasto heating system, but Conor didn’t like to use it at first. It just doesn’t feel very environmentally friendly. However, this week it got cold enough to justify using it! In just 20 minutes the boat is quite toasty. It’s also great for drying things out. The heat just doesn’t last too long due to said lack of insulation.

Another question I get asked a lot about the boat is “Does it move around a lot?” She’s a catamaran, so generally she’s more stable and less tippy than a monohull. (Two hulls vs. one, so she stays flat.) Fortunately, in our current winter marina, it’s been very calm and it’s well protected. So I’d say that 90-95% of the time she doesn’t move at all. She’s held down tight, and you forget you’re on a boat. If the occasional boat moves in or out of the marina it might send a little wave, then we rock around for about a minute. Mainly if there is a storm or high winds, we will sway a little from side to side (still flat, though) and you notice that mostly if you’re actually looking outside for a point of reference. So, no chances of motion sickness while docked! 

Sleeping

This is actually quite comfortable. We essentially have a queen-sized bed, but she is surrounded on three sides by walls. So, you hop on and off where your feet lie. We made her comfortable on Day 1 by finding a mattress topper. (This would have actually been a deal-breaker if not found.) In the summertime we just need a sheet and keep the fan blowing, and in the winter we now have a cozy duvet and keep the door shut to keep the heat in. You know how when you go camping you can hear everything outside? Same here. That could be rain, people passing by, plumbing activity, etc. But overall, sleep is good.

Using the bathroom

We have two bathrooms onboard, complete with toilets and great showers. We use them extensively during the sailing season. However, now that we are docked for the winter, the situation changes a bit. Let’s take the showers first… It’s obviously convenient and private to use them onboard. However, we take “boat showers” which means you are turning the water on only when you really need it. (So, on-off-on-off.) Not a problem when it’s hot outside, but not as much fun in the wintertime. The other option is to use the facilities on shore. Fortunately, this marina has quite decent facilities. I have affectionately dubbed the marina bathroom “the outhouse,” though it’s much nicer than a real outhouse. It’s a two-minute walk from the boat, which is not fun if it’s pouring rain but can be a welcome stretch break after sitting and working too long. The advantages to using those showers is that you have more space and can run hot water for as long as you like. There is also a hair dryer in the outhouse, so that’s a great place to use it. On to the toilets… This marina does not have a pump out station for the boat toilets, and we’re not heading out to sea where you are allowed to empty them (once far out enough). So, to put it bluntly, if you need to use toilet paper, it’s off to the outhouse with you. There, I said it. Those two minutes can feel like a long time first thing in the morning! Oh, and speaking of timing… Our outhouse is closed from 7-8am each day for cleaning. Great to have clean bathrooms, but that means I find no point getting out of bed before 8am! Unless it’s Wednesday. Then the outhouse is closed from 8-10am for deep cleaning, in which case I have to remember the day and make sure to get up earlier.

Eating

We are lucky to have a real refrigerator and freezer on board, plenty of “pantry” space, and a good supermarket a five-minute walk away. I’m probably at the market every 2-3 days as the fridge can only hold so much and you want to get the fresh food when it’s fresh. We have a baby gas oven (which I wouldn’t dare turn on until wintertime) and a gas stovetop where you can use two burners at a time. We also purchased a portable electric cooktop, so that’s also an option when we are plugged in to shore power. We pretty much eat all meals on the boat, bar about one dinner out a week. So, that’s plenty of cooking and hand washing dishes. I’ll never forget when our young nephew first came aboard last summer – we were cleaning up after lunch and he asked where the dishwasher was. I answered “You’re looking at her!” While I do all the cooking, Conor kindly does all the washing up after dinner. We eat a lot of dishes with pasta or rice. I’m still on the hunt for more one pot dishes to make…

Clothing

This is limited as there is only so much space to stash clothes. I can think of some people that would have a tough time with this one. 😉 Thinking of my winter wardrobe I have – 2 pair of jeans, 1 pair of sweatpants, several leggings of varying warmth, 3 sweaters, 2 warm sweatshirts, 3 long sleeve shirts, 2 fleeces, and 3 pairs of shoes. I also have a rain jacket and a large warm winter coat (a necessity realized!) that I purchased while in Dublin over Christmas. For the summer I have – a handful of bathing suits, 3 pair of running shorts, 5 t-shirts, my 2 favorite it’s-hotter-than-hell dresses, and 3 dresses to go out to dinner in. Also 3 pair of summer / boat shoes. Conor’s number of clothing items would be similar, though slightly even less since he’s a guy. 😉 You get used to wearing things multiple times until laundry is a reality. Again, think of camping.

Camaraderie

Another question I get is “Are you two getting along ok in such a small space?” The short of it is “yes.” Previously, we spent at least fifteen years both working from home, so we were used to having the other one around. We’re also both pretty independent people. We can happily go about our days doing our own things – walks, kayaking, chores, errands, work, etc. and enjoy each other’s company for meals, movies, social events, brainstorming and planning, etc. We’re working pretty independently right now as I’m overloaded with coursework for my aspiring move into college admissions consulting, and Conor is researching boat upgrades like crazy to make them a reality before the new season arrives. During the sailing season we’re obviously more focused on sailing around, exploring, having guests, etc., and we’re a pretty good team, thankfully. 🙂

Any other burning questions? Please ask in the Comments section below, and I’ll do my best to answer!

Until next time, here are various photos from our current life in Licata…