Vagabond, rogue, gypsy, No fixed abode and so on. We are livaboards, another label! We are simply people who choose to live on our boat and travel by our own means. We are not idlers, we are not lazy, we are certainly not work shy. Our destination depends on the weather.
In a world of consumables, political control, frontiers, debt, entrapment, we are expected , throughout our lives, to knuckle down and conform to what is expected of us. But expected by whom and why?
Our parents? Our colleagues ? Our friends? Family? Society? Governments? Countries?
Some of us have children, grand children and responsibilities. Some of us have no family, no emotional ties, no money. Some sail with a partner, some sail alone.
What we all have is one life, and that life is short. We don't have another chance at it if we get it wrong. We own our mistakes and take responsibility for the choices we make.
Whatever our backgrounds, the paths of life have bought us together in a common desire to live a life afloat. A bohemian lifestyle, free from clutter, focusing on what we need rather than want. Living simply. We are not a race, we are an eclectic mix of like minded people.
Our home, for us, is our boat, we are livaboards. We look after it, maintain it and ensure it floats. We repair and patch before replacing gear. We focus on essentials for survival rather than surplus, indulgent extravagance, but we all have our weaknesses!
Is this an easy life? No.
Is this stress free ? No.
Do we sit around all day drinking gin and tonics? Definitely, No, No, No.
Do we take more than we give? Some do, some don't.
Do we live small? Most try to, some try to replicate the life they had ashore with endless stuff.
Do we respect the environment in which we live? We'd be fools not to.
Are we free? No, but freer than many.
So what is life aboard like?
We live on our boats moving from place to place, not always without risk. We have what we need on board....water, food, clothes, the ability to communicate and most importantly the ability to propel ourselves from one place to another. Some with sails, some with motors, some with oars, most with a combination.
We find ourselves in isolated places surrounded by nothing but sea and sky. We learn to live with another person, 24 hours of the day or we live alone. We learn patience, tolerance, understanding, care and compassion. We take responsibility for our safe arrival navigating the oceans, seas and rivers without injury to ourselves or damage to the boat, or the surrounding environment. Accidents do happen but that's normal whatever lifestyle you choose to live. Sometimes they are caused by idiots.
We have to carry enough water to survive. Sometimes we get it for free, but mostly we pay for it. We carry it to the boat in containers, then lug it on board . Most of this is done by rowing boat and having a wet bottom is normal. We need to make sure our water is safe to drink, sweet water, but mostly we need to filter it. One trip we could only get water from a laundrette as there was a water shortage, but it was green with algae from the bottom of the tank. We filtered it and it was safe to drink, but the filter needed replacing after two weeks. We have a brilliant filtration system on board. Two pre filters which remove larger particles and are standard in the Caribbean homes, then a finer filter which removes microscopic particles, bacteria and some viruses.
When you are at anchor or at sea, you wash with minimal water. There is no excuse for being smelly. A salt water wash and fresh water rinse is always an option. We found carex hand wash works well in salt water and the most useful item on board is a packet of baby wipes. We often wash our pots in sea water and rinse in fresh but it depends on where you anchor!
Food is easy to provision provided you eat what is locally available and that's good for the local economy. You have variety but not what you may be used to. However, it makes you appreciate produce in season or when you find a big supermarket. The later is not always an option and walking miles to a supermarket and back, dingying it back to the boat, makes you question your needs. The local produce market meets the needs of most things.
Fresh produce we buy every couple of days, but we keep stores of the basic food items such as rice, pasta, flour, spices, long life or powdered milk and tins. I don't think we've ever been on board when we haven't had a meal of rice and sardines available, although we have got to the stage where we can't face rice and sardines unless we're desperate.
We have the luxury of a fridge so we not need to shop everyday and when it's hot outside we appreciate being able to keep water, butter, cheese and milk cool. We have managed without the fridge but you just eat differently, and at sea on long passages it gets switched off after two weeks when the fresh produce runs out. This is when a variety of tinned food is important.
We found on a long passage you crave food which you don't have. On one trip we raided the grab bag of chocolate so now we only carry mars bars which we both hate.
Disposal of waste is the challenge. No plastics in the ocean. Plastic water bottles make good storage containers for plastic waste so you can seal it and dispose of it later. Its better to get rid of surplus packaging before you load stuff onto the boat. We always remove labels , cardboard etc to try to discourage cockroaches. However it is important to clearly label tins with permanent markers, otherwise it's 'potluck'.
Organic material and punctured tins go back into the sea, depending how far you are offshore.
Pristine environments require tighter measures for disposal of waste. We snorkelled reefs in the Caribbean where the most common sighting was empty beer bottles, drinks cans and panty liners. Long gone were the fishes. Fortunately that was uncommon. There is nothing worse then swimming around a boat which discharges its heads into the sea. This is an increasing problem in crowded anchorages. Although most boats now have holding tanks which are emptied offshore. Many marines still do not have pump out facilities for boats to empty their holding tanks.
Many livaboards help the local communities donating surplus goods, teaching English, sailing, boat building and involving themselves in community projects. This is especially so in the Caribbean from Grenada to the BVI's.
Volunteering to help local groups increases the experiential knowledge and gives something back to the islands but it requires people spending time in one place.
Here lies a major issue. We are controlled by borders and frontiers. If you are British you are only allowed to stay 6 months any 18 months in Spain otherwise the Spanish Goverment will tax you 20% the value of your boat, a matriculation tax. In Portugal you can stay 183 days, then you have to leave the country. If you are out of the UK for a period of time in any tax year, you have to ' prove ' you are a UK resident and not an expat.
Every place you go to you need to present your passport, ships papers and insurance to the authorities. Often you pay a ' tax' which varies from country to country.
It feels the world is out to tax you and it's becoming restrictive. The benefits of what livaboards bring to a country outweigh what they take. They pay entry fees, mooring fees, Marina fees, buy local food, pay for private medical care and dentistry, hire cars, visit tourist areas, buy bits to repair their boats. The contributions to the local economy should not be underestimated. If you were sat in the UK many purchases are made online or from eBay. Other purchases do not go into local pockets but large multinational companies who somehow manage to avoid paying UK tax exploiting loopholes and putting huge profits into the back pockets of the rich.
We all depend on mobile phones, the Internet and communication by electronic media. Everyone knows where everyone is either by tracking, spying or censorship. Data is stored and accumulated about us, but we still have to prove our identity, where we've been and for how long.
So how free are we? We cannot disappear, you will be found. You have to earn money but if you save it you get taxed on it ( but only if you have a small amount, the wealthy can afford to dodge it).
Surely a more sustainable lifestyle should be encouraged, reducing global footprints and supporting local communities. We hear about global warming, the hole in the ozone layer and pollution as if it had just been discovered. For years we have voiced our opinions, proved beyond all reasonable doubt that we are damaging our environment but nothing really changes. Greenwash abounds.
The Hawaiians have the right attitude. " Live life like you are on a canoe".
Where do we go from here ? I'm an ecologist who has struggled to live to my principles ashore, but will try to live small on our boat. So if you see me. I'm the sea vagabond with sun bleached greying hair, wrinkled skin, mossie bites, patched trousers and our wooden boat is dressed in any covers I can get my hands on to keep the sun off. I'm always varnishing, have no fingerprints from sanding but I'm happy. Most of the time!
