Practicality of living on a yacht

heretoinform

Well, my dream for the last year or two has been to move to New Zealand and live on a yacht. I would love the freedom, and though I don't have much experience with boats (i've only been on two cruises; one huge, on small), I love them. How practical is this dream, though? Are there many people who do it? What things should I take into consideration (cost-wise and maintenance) when buying a yacht? Can you recommend any good yachts (under a million dollars and in the mid-size range is good)?

Thanks.

Tube

One thing to bear in mind is that New Zealand is gay. I mean, Australia is right next to it, why not go there? It's like going to Euro Disney when Disneyland is right next door.

heretoinform

I like the variety that New Zealand offers. I also think its an extremely beautiful country.

Plus, Weta Digital is located in Wellington, and I hope to one day work there.

Kazhiim

heretoinform wrote: »

I don't have much experience with boats (i've only been on two cruises; one huge, on small)

This is a very big problem. Living on the sea takes a lot of knowledge on how to captain a boat, assuming you're not going to just tie yourself down at a port somewhere.

There are costs other than the boat to take into account, as well. Here's an informative list of some costs you'd encounter. Most important are the cost of fuel and the mooring fees for whatever port you park your yacht at.

How physically fit are you? Boats are extremely high-maintenence, what with salt water constantly eating away at everything.

Improvolone

"A boat is a hole in the water that you throw money into"

That being said, it's doable to do what you want to do, but you really really really need to either know about boats, or be able to afford someone who can.

mooshoepork

+ 1 for Australia. New Zealand is totally gay.

Seriously though. If you want to live on a yacht, you are going to need to have a LOT of boating experience. People don't just go and buy a yacht and live on it off the bat. It's dangerous unless you know a lot about boats and the sea.

Limp moose

Yacht gas is more expensive then car gas. In New Zealand it is far more expensive than the US.

A cruise In a vessel capable of safely navigating the pacific from the US to New Zealand would cost you around $50,000+ in gas alone if you left from the united states. More if you left from Europe.

Boats use significantly more gas than cars. Mooring fees, Sewage hook ups, Taxes, ect. I don't know how wealthy you are but traveling by large boat is one of the most expensive ways to travel in the world. Living on an Airplane would be cheaper.

I played golf with a yacht salesman last month. He said he sold a boat in houston and sailed it to tampa along the gulf coast. It took 3 days and cost about $10,000. The boat itself cost a few hundred thousand. Also most large yachts with more than one big engine require trained engineers to maintain. Its not something you could just pick up on your own without serious training.

Good luck but unless you are shitting money it is a slightly impractical dream. But if you do it and need a navigator give me a buzz! I am US navy trained and I can do a mo board!

Limp moose

I forgot to add that if you have zero experience navigating on the seas you are going to need to spend a serious amount of cash on navigation equipment and training on how to use it. Nothing is more dangerous then navigating out of sight of land without being trained how to do so.

At a minimum you would need a serious weather radar. Not just a furuno but something capable of seeing Well over the horizon especially if you are planning on crossing anything bigger than the MED.

A GPS based Moving chart system.

Tide/season/local charting software.

The more I think about this the more it seems like a horrible idea. If you want to live on a yacht find a yacht company and get a job working for them for a year.

Thomamelas

Kazhiim wrote: »

heretoinform wrote: »

I don't have much experience with boats (i've only been on two cruises; one huge, on small)

This is a very big problem. Living on the sea takes a lot of knowledge on how to captain a boat, assuming you're not going to just tie yourself down at a port somewhere.

There are costs other than the boat to take into account, as well. Here's an informative list of some costs you'd encounter. Most important are the cost of fuel and the mooring fees for whatever port you park your yacht at.

How physically fit are you? Boats are extremely high-maintenence, what with salt water constantly eating away at everything.

Especially if you're going to do a trans-pacific voyage. I would suggest learning a lot of the basics first. If you live by a good sized body of water you'll be able to find a sail school or two to start with.

TokyoRaver

Yacht maintenance tends to cost anywhere from a tenth to a quarter of the yacht's price annually. You've got dock rent and insurance to consider, which will be roughly what it costs to insure a home of similar value and pay taxes on it (more or less, depends on the marina...that said, so do the amenities, like electricity, hot water, etc...)

Boats also depreciate, unlike homes (typically speaking, current economic conditions notwithstanding)

I have no idea if there's a support network for what you're looking to do in NZ, but I do know that it exists elsewhere (my dad did it for a while in Florida, but ultimately he couldn't afford it and after three years had to give it up)

There are other livable boats out there besides yachts (houseboats, barges...again I don't know if NZ supports that culture) that I might consider because of all livable boats, yachts are far and away the most expensive...you could end up spending a million easy with 150K in annual upkeep.

I had a fascination with it myself but I don't keep up with it and I haven't really been looking at boats since my dad gave up the lifestyle (which was over five years ago now)

So...it's feasible, but you need to have the money to support it (the way you contextualized it however makes me think that's not a real problem)

One other thing: NZ is in an area that is known for piracy, so I'm not sure of the logistics of getting down there. I'd be absolutely terrified of traveling there on a relatively small boat.

TokyoRaver

Oh, you don't have any experience boating?

Forget it. Unless you've got the money to have a full-time crew (you're looking at a boat price, incidentally, of about 1.75 mil for one that will support it) and not do any of the work yourself, consider a houseboat. Domestically.

That's it.

RUNN1NGMAN

Dude, I'm in the US Coast Guard, the file on people who decided to sail the world with little to no experience and then disappeared never to be seen again probably takes up an entire cabinet.

Improvolone

He didn't say he would be buying a yacht and THEN moving to New Zealand. But even if you (op) mnoved to NW, bought a boat, and never undocked it, it would still be a pain in the ass without the cash and experience.

heretoinform

Yeah, I would be buying the boat in New Zealand, not sailing across the pacific.

But I don't understand why I would need a crew. I don't want a megayacht...more like anything from 5 meters to 10 meters.

And how would barges and houseboats be, expense wise? Would a houseboat be feasible for exploring the country, or is it more like a home that is just on the water (but mostly stationary)? Anyway, it looks like living on a yacht won't really be practical. But I am really keen on living on water.

Lastly, TokyoRaver, can you tell me your source or give me a link about the piracy in New Zealand? Its not because I don't believe you...I just want to read up on it.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Keep it coming!

P.S. Whats with the general hate for New Zealand?

Pheezer

Not only is it expensive, difficult, potentially dangerous, and physically demanding but you're going to likely find that you need more than 300 square feet of living space to remain sane.

Start small. Get a small boat and learn what you're doing. It's a fine long term goal but a ridiculous short term one.

chromdom

Another thing people haven't mentioned is the lack of space. It's like living in a not-very-big apartment. My father-in-law (to be) and his wife are full-time RVers, and they have this rule: for everything that comes on board, two things go off. Makes sense to me. All the clutter and junk that you have now gets magnified in such a small space.

Thomamelas

heretoinform wrote: »

Yeah, I would be buying the boat in New Zealand, not sailing across the pacific.

But I don't understand why I would need a crew. I don't want a megayacht...more like anything from 5 meters to 10 meters.

And how would barges and houseboats be, expense wise? Would a houseboat be feasible for exploring the country, or is it more like a home that is just on the water (but mostly stationary)? Anyway, it looks like living on a yacht won't really be practical. But I am really keen on living on water.

Lastly, TokyoRaver, can you tell me your source or give me a link about the piracy in New Zealand? Its not because I don't believe you...I just want to read up on it.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Keep it coming!

P.S. Whats with the general hate for New Zealand?

The reason a crew is suggested is that you need to know what you're doing on the water, it's amazingly easy to get yourself killed on the water if you have no idea what you're doing. A moored boat that never moves or lacks the ability to move, like a barge, will have all of the maintance issues of a house plus the maintenance issue of a ship.

You can find houseboats in the 5 to 10 meter range but they are extremely barebones. A bed, a shower and that's about it.

You really, really need to start with some basic classes in sailing. It sounds like you don't have a lot of experience on the water and you really need to learn and then find out if it's right for you.

And there is Piracy in the South Pacific, I wasn't aware it extended as far down as NZ but the waters around Indonesia are full of them.

Kazhiim

Pheezer wrote: »

Get a small boat and learn what you're doing.

Limed to prevent scurvy. If all you want to do is live on the water in New Zealand, get a houseboat.