Comments on: Is it possible to live on a boat sailing the seas?

By: Marc L

Marc L — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:14:30 +0000

A recent article from the NY Times about living aboard a sailboat:

By: thor

thor — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:24:41 +0000

Steve Callahan spent 76 days on a life raft not much bigger than a bathtub, so its possible. His boat ran into a floating log, not a whale so there are other dangers besides sea creatures and pirates on the water. If you want to live like they did in “Waterworld” I wouldn’t suggest even trying without much more experience and forethought. Buy an 18 foot boat or so and try spending weekends/vacations on it. You’d probably want a much larger one to live on, but most of the extra space would be taken up with gear. With enough water storage tanks and tarp you could probably catch enough water from rain. Fish every day would get kinda old after the first week. Maybe see about eating seaweed?
I work on ships and the boredom sets in after a month or so even with other people around, a large deck to walk around and port stops every week or two.

By: tunznath

tunznath — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:15:35 +0000

for all sorts of info check out and select new discoveries you will find lots of info there,

There are pirates off the west african coast, brazil and south america, and in asia
we lived on a 28ft yacht from 2000 to 2005
it is a different lifestyle, think about how you shower,how you get your power, how do you pay for stuff ,where you work, how do you do your banking, all the things you take for granted on land are way harder - it is something you must choose and no one can advise you.

By: Selena

Selena — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:13:18 +0000

Everything is possible! Out of experience I am telling you that most of the time I only caught mackerel and I really got tired of that fish! Water is a real problem and I wouldn’t really toy with that idea. Do you know how it feels not having a shower for 10 days, the salt is becoming itchy all over your body and your head is the worst! Pirates usually attack cargo boats in the Malacca Strait but there are a lot of attacks recently in the Red Sea on sailing yachts. You should always be well informed about weather and before you do this, you must study navigation and always respect the sea!

By: merlin64389

merlin64389 — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:49:48 +0000

The last few answers are good, i live on mine & do vessel delieveries, sail customers boats to Hawaii & down to mexico mostly. It would be best to join a sailing group,learn & sail out in serious seas to see if you will like it. There is a lot to learn,but it is an experience next to non.As for pirates, mostly seems like they go after the larger vessels,but the drug runner”pirates” are known for taking boats in any size to run they’re drugs in a “normal” boat so as to not arouse the local police or coast gaurd patrols.I think that the only way is foryou to “get your feet wet” 1st see if the boating thing is for you. Here is a web site that is a live updte on piracy problem/incidants-Good luck !

By: Dennis

Dennis — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 07:31:02 +0000

Yes it is possible to a degree. You can find plenty of food in the ocean waters, but unless it rains you will find yourself short of fresh drinking water. Most people who live on the seas travel between ports for supplies. In the 1960’s and 70’s it was popular to sail between the south pacific islands with trade goods and make a modest living.

The chances of dying due to a whirlpool (not in the open seas), hurricane (yes, but if you can avoid them without to much trouble), a whale ramming the boat (I have had whales rub against the hull to scratch themselves, but in my 35 years of sailing one have never even attempted to ram the boat).

Pirates: in some of the third-world countries there are some pirates that will take your ship and hold the crew for ransom. They are most often very poorly outfitted with small boats and can be easily fended off with a couple of good fire hoses.

By: science teacher

science teacher — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:27:40 +0000

Most cruisers do fish and load p on local fruits and vegetables at their ports of call. They do some work at these ports. Large cruising boats have a desalinator for water. You have to buy water in many places if you do not have one. You need to study which fish are edible. They have studied weather and try to avoid storms. I suggest volunteering to crew on a boat to get the hang of it and see if you like it. There are magazines that list available spots , such as Spin sheets, we receive in the Chesapeake. There do seem to be pirates. They are off the coast of Africa and some in the Caribbean. Another reason to crew first and find out the ropes so to speak.

By: Leprechaun

Leprechaun — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 03:59:04 +0000

It is a very nice idea,which i also dream about.You can catch fish and live on your supplies for a time.Even you can make your own water with evaporator. But,you will need to berth some places anyway.Your supplies won’t be enough all the time.Moreover it is a nice thing that you’ll see different countries,different people.

But you should be trained enough to do that kind of thing. To know what you may encounter and what will you do for them.

And about the pirates,don’t worry about them.They mostly go after the big fish. Wouldn’t find much in a small sailing boat. But to be cautious,just avoid the dangerous areas,like Somali coasts,Madagascar coasts, Philippines area etc.

Fair winds at all.

By: Sophiesmom

Sophiesmom — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:50:09 +0000

I have a friend who is doing that now…But he goes on land to get food and drink, then out to sea he goes again….