I’ve never lived aboard. I’ve stayed aboard, but it was always temporary and not my boat. I had just opened my Shilshole Bay office, I didn’t have much money and didn’t have a place to live, so I took a boat cushion, threw it on the floor of my office, and slept there. I used the Shilshole Marina showers in the morning, and in the evenings I went to the Tides Tavern a block away, where they had good live music. Having been in a band, I knew most of the musicians playing, and it was comfortable to hang out there.
But my friends Stan and Sylvia, two of the very first Valiant crew, realized I was sleeping in the office, took pity on me, and offered to let me stay onboard their Islander 36. I jumped at the offer and stayed on their Islander for two months. But it really wasn’t like living aboard.
Today, living aboard is quite common. Despite the fact that a lot of marinas don’t allow liveaboards anymore. There is something about living on a boat. There is a feeling of comfortable confinement, cozy self-sufficiency, and the feeling that you’re removed from the realities of the real world. You may never go anywhere on your boat, but you know you could if you wanted to.
In this issue, we’re going to look at two 41-foot boats, each of which would make a good liveaboard boat: The Islander Freeport-41 and the Morgan Out Island 41 Classic. Two very different boats, but well-suited to purpose.
Interested to learn more?
