Boat part time RV part time

[chrokeva]

Greetings,
My husband and I have been living aboard our sailboat since 2005 and have recently been talking about purchasing a travel trailer and splitting our time up between living on the boat and a rv. We are thinking this will give us more flexibility to travel away from the coast in the winter months and also explore some of the US that is not reachable by boat. I am wondering if anyone else has done this and if so how it has worked out? We would like to possibly spend a few months at a time in the rv and then return to the boat to take care of maintenance etc. If we did this the RV would become our land based home although I have to say that sounds odd I am hoping this would work as a alternative to buying a house or renting. Any thoughts?

[kazmir]

We have a Motorhome and are currently on the list to get a slip in the harbor by our home. We hope to get a 36 ft sailboat when it comes up in a couple years and then once the kids are out of the house, rent out the house and set up on the boat full time for a couple years. We will see how it goes, but for now its fun to hear and read of others doing it!

[valhalla360]

chrokeva wrote:
It is very nice that the RV option is much cheaper than the boat! We already have a F250 and it looks like we can get into a pretty nice trailer for well under 10K. If we can keep our boat slip fees down this likely can work. We have a big boat (65 loa) so even without liveaboard fees we are paying close to $700 a month. If we add liveaboard fees that brings it up it up another $200-$350 a month more. Wish boat storage was a reasonable as rv storage 😞

Obviously with a 65' boat, your slip fees will be much different from what we see with a 34' boat.

If you are just a couple, I would look at 5th wheels but with the F250, you need to watch the pin weight. Pin weight is usually the limiting factor towing a 5th wheel. Assume around 25% of the GVWR as a good starting point. Do not use the manufacturers unloaded weights as they aren't realistic.

If that results in too small of a trailer, you can upgrade the truck or consider a travel trailer, which for the same length trailer doesn't need as big of a truck as the ball usually only supports about 10% of the trailer weight. But the 5th wheel tows so much nicer and more of them are better set up for long term use.

[JAXFL]

Here is the video to go with the other picture...

Youtube

[JAXFL]

Here you go it meets all your needs

[chrokeva]

It is very nice that the RV option is much cheaper than the boat! We already have a F250 and it looks like we can get into a pretty nice trailer for well under 10K. If we can keep our boat slip fees down this likely can work. We have a big boat (65 loa) so even without liveaboard fees we are paying close to $700 a month. If we add liveaboard fees that brings it up it up another $200-$350 a month more. Wish boat storage was a reasonable as rv storage 😞

[phillyg]

That was a dream of mine for a long time but it never happened. I think it's a great idea.

[valhalla360]

We had a chihauhau who hated the water but that was great for the boat as we've seen water loving dogs get in trouble jumping in where they shouldn't (ie: they got out of the cabin while owners are away and the marina doesn't have a place for the dog to climb out on thier own). Otherwise, he was very happy on the boat or in the RV.

Living aboard: Of course our whole point is to travel but we've been stationary at times for 3-6 months. Never been an issue. We haven't been on the west coast but outside of Florida & Georgia, no one seems to care. Even in those two states, as long as the boat is well kept and you aren't living there for years, they never made an issue of it. We do usually stay in a slip but it's somewhat price dependent. In really expensive areas, we tend to anchor out more but if you ask about monthly rates, it's usually not too bad ($250-700/month).

Long term: We've been at it since 2007 and have no plans to stop.

The nice thing is RV's are a lot cheaper than boats. Our current setup which we bought in 2009 has a total of $10k ($6k for the truck and $4k for the 5th wheel). For $20-60/month, you can store the RV in a lot in most areas.

Another alternative we've played with recently is destination apartment rentals. We spent a month in Mexico and 3 in Italy last winter.

Blog: I haven't been good about keeping it up lately but the link is below.

valhalla433.wordpress.com

[chrokeva]

Thank you for your replies!
Valhalla....lots of questions :). Love the idea of having a boat in Europe and rv in the states! We spent 2 years in Mexico on our boat and if we had a rv set up in the states we probably would have kept going but since the boat was our only home the decision was made to bring it back to the states. I am hoping that having a RV would allow us to do more extended traveling on the boat :). Right now we have a liveaboard slip in the California delta and I am very curious how you handled the liveaboard situation on the boat in the US. It seems that is not a issue with RVs but as I am sure you know being able to legally live on your boat in the states is no easy task unless you are constantly moving. Did you have a liveaboard slip and if so did you give it up when on the RV or did you maintain it? Do you see this situation working long term for you?
This whole idea came up because we were considering selling the boat to purchase a land home but now I am wondering if a RV would work in lieu of buying a home and if so if it would be a good long term solution. It seems we must be part gypsy because I keep trying to find ways to keep us from settling down.

[GENECOP]

valhalla360 wrote:
Exactly what we do and it's a great option.

We are transitioning now. We are selling our US based boat and just bought a boat in Europe but are keeping the US based RV.

See the maps below for the areas we've covered.

If you have specific questions ask away.

Do you have pets? Do you have a Blog?

[gbopp]

Splitting your time between a RV and a boat?

I don't think it can it get any better than that!

Enjoy your travels.

[valhalla360]

Exactly what we do and it's a great option.

We are transitioning now. We are selling our US based boat and just bought a boat in Europe but are keeping the US based RV.

See the maps below for the areas we've covered.

If you have specific questions ask away.

[BTPO1]

There are several on this site that do what you are wanting to do. Hopefully they will respond to your request.

I know that for myself I would love to live on a boat part time and travel on land other times. I guess that I never lost the love for the sea. Some have told me that I have salt water in my veins instead of blood. JMO

[Second_Chance]

There's someone on the forums (I believe on this forum) who does just that - splits between an RV and and Albin trawler. I have sailed since the mid-70s and my late wife and I dreamed of living on a boat full-time. We didn't have a chance to realize that dream before she died, but I would still love to be able to do it (and my wife and I are now living full-time in our RV).

Rob

[GENECOP]

Funny how timing is, we have been Rving for many years, and just recently began doing our homework on boating...We now have the Great Loop in our sights...Looking for a nice 40' trawler to divide our time between...