6 ms·

Uggg. This gives everyone that is trying to live on a boat a bad name. The boat's a mess both inside and outside. As someone that cruises around for fun, boa

Uggg. This gives everyone that is trying to live on a boat a bad name. The boat's a mess both inside and outside. As someone that cruises around for fun, boats like his create problems. Florida, Georgia and South Carolina are all working / have passed restrictions on people anchoring out. It's nice that he's trying to use tech and a cheap boat to stay debt free. But his boat looks like a floating safety hazard. There is an article about him from NZ where they cited him in 2013 for having an unsafe boat. How hard is it to jump over the side and scrub stains off? How hard is it to package up electronics so they don't look like something off of https://www.reddit.com/r/cablefail/ https://www.reddit.com/r/cablefail/ ? Come on Sean, a little help here buddy, the cruising world is seen through the lens of boaters like you.

phasetransition 7y ago
Agree with this. Part of boating is upkeep, which is never ending. If you like working with your hands, that upkeep can be therapeutic. But otherwise it can be drudgery. The ongoing cost, and effort, of upkeep has taken many enthusiastic boaters as eventual casualties of the pursuit.
- WalterBright 7y ago
  I had a ski boat for a while. Half the upkeep problem is due to poor design of the boat.
  - phasetransition 7y ago
    Classic inboard ski boat with a fiberglass cover over the motor?
    - WalterBright 7y ago
      Sea Ray outboard, a little ski boat.
floren 7y ago
Yeah, that was my thought too: it looks like a floating shanty. It's a mess, and the article linked at the end of the story shows someone else who's doing a much better job of living at sea on the cheap without turning it into a hobo squat: https://towndock.net/shippingnews/prinses-mia?pg=1 https://towndock.net/shippingnews/prinses-mia?pg=1
- AstroJetson 7y ago
  Thanks for that link. Very pretty boat, well maintained, looks just wonderful. Love all the interior woodwork that's got a nice coat of varnish on it to keep it shiny and new. That's the kind of boat that helps the cruising community.
  - ricardobeat 7y ago
    To be fair the “shack” guy is younger, no previous career / savings, and lives off small donations for his open-source work, while the other presumably is living off savings or family money (no offense meant, it’s a damn good use of it, but feel free to correct me here). What we see might be just a reflection of their priorities.
    - detaro 7y ago
      That was your takeway from an article mostly about how someone fixes up and runs a boat on a small budget?
      - ricardobeat 7y ago
        This is my reply to the parent comments on how his boat looks bad and this other guy’s is better. The article on the Dutch sailor mentions a 12-year career, family history of sailing, flights, etc; plus even with the savings his boat costs a good decade or two of the other guy’s income. As I said, feel free to correct me and I’ll be happy to retract my comments.
        7y ago
solotronics 7y ago
Ok I think his entire lifestyle is about freedom (FOSS, boat life, supra-national living) and you are kinda reiterating the point. Everyone shouldn't have to conform to a specific standard and he has the freedom to leave places where people such as you want to tell him how to live. Yes there are probably safety concerns, yes you might find his boat unsightly but really this is closer to how people lived for most of history, totally free in the world unconstrained by government limited only by the relationships they choose to make. When people leave this planet to live elsewhere they will be more like this guy and less like NASA, just like the Europeans were that left for the new world.
- AstroJetson 7y ago
  Hi, so I'm good with people "lived for most of history, totally free in the world unconstrained by government limited only by the relationships they choose to make." However, the Inland Coastal Waterway (where the interview was made) is a very precious resource. Thousands of boaters cruise up and down the waterway from the Chesapeake to Florida. We would all love to live the nomadic lifestyle. Most of us take care of our boats, and try to be a positive reflection to the community. Issue is that when cruisers anchor out along the ICW, in front of someone's property, they look at us and go "Ok, boat in good condition". When they see a boat like Sean, they go "OMG, derelict boat, we need to have a LAW TO KEEP PEOPLE FROM ANCHORING IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. Because there is a history of boats like that that are not able to propel themselves becoming derelict and then become abandoned. And that creates a problem, because Sean and cruisers don't pay taxes, so the local government listens to the property owner. And pretty soon, nobody, Sean or other cruiser can anchor. And with boats like his, the local marine police are out looking for safety issues. So they stop Sean, and they stop cruisers and want to do safety inspections. All of this is preventable by Sean. I don't want him to be a gleaming mega-yacht. But he can spend an hour and his hull won't be a mess. He can spend another hour picking up wires and cables and stuff and when he gets boarded it won't be a mess. And while I appear to be stepping on his rights, the real statement I'm trying to make is "This is why we can't have nice things." 1000's of boaters go up and down the ICW, and this guy, gets news attention, make's hacker news and he becomes the face and boat of cruisers. Closing anchorages where Sean and cruisers hang out are endangered because of this.
walrus01 7y ago
> Uggg. This gives everyone that is trying to live on a boat a bad name. The boat's a mess both inside and outside. As someone that cruises around for fun, boats like his create problems. Florida, Georgia and South Carolina are all working / have passed restrictions on people anchoring out. uhghhhhh, yes. This is basically the floating equivalent of the trashy RVs that are collecting in Seattle's south of downtown industrial area.

phasetransition 7y ago

Agree with this. Part of boating is upkeep, which is never ending. If you like working with your hands, that upkeep can be therapeutic. But otherwise it can be drudgery. The ongoing cost, and effort, of upkeep has taken many enthusiastic boaters as eventual casualties of the pursuit.

WalterBright 7y ago
I had a ski boat for a while. Half the upkeep problem is due to poor design of the boat.
- phasetransition 7y ago
  Classic inboard ski boat with a fiberglass cover over the motor?
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    Sea Ray outboard, a little ski boat.

floren 7y ago

Yeah, that was my thought too: it looks like a floating shanty. It's a mess, and the article linked at the end of the story shows someone else who's doing a much better job of living at sea on the cheap without turning it into a hobo squat: https://towndock.net/shippingnews/prinses-mia?pg=1 https://towndock.net/shippingnews/prinses-mia?pg=1

AstroJetson 7y ago
Thanks for that link. Very pretty boat, well maintained, looks just wonderful. Love all the interior woodwork that's got a nice coat of varnish on it to keep it shiny and new. That's the kind of boat that helps the cruising community.
- ricardobeat 7y ago
  To be fair the “shack” guy is younger, no previous career / savings, and lives off small donations for his open-source work, while the other presumably is living off savings or family money (no offense meant, it’s a damn good use of it, but feel free to correct me here). What we see might be just a reflection of their priorities.
  - detaro 7y ago
    That was your takeway from an article mostly about how someone fixes up and runs a boat on a small budget?
    - ricardobeat 7y ago
      This is my reply to the parent comments on how his boat looks bad and this other guy’s is better. The article on the Dutch sailor mentions a 12-year career, family history of sailing, flights, etc; plus even with the savings his boat costs a good decade or two of the other guy’s income. As I said, feel free to correct me and I’ll be happy to retract my comments.
      - 7y ago

solotronics 7y ago

Ok I think his entire lifestyle is about freedom (FOSS, boat life, supra-national living) and you are kinda reiterating the point. Everyone shouldn't have to conform to a specific standard and he has the freedom to leave places where people such as you want to tell him how to live. Yes there are probably safety concerns, yes you might find his boat unsightly but really this is closer to how people lived for most of history, totally free in the world unconstrained by government limited only by the relationships they choose to make. When people leave this planet to live elsewhere they will be more like this guy and less like NASA, just like the Europeans were that left for the new world.

AstroJetson 7y ago
Hi, so I'm good with people "lived for most of history, totally free in the world unconstrained by government limited only by the relationships they choose to make." However, the Inland Coastal Waterway (where the interview was made) is a very precious resource. Thousands of boaters cruise up and down the waterway from the Chesapeake to Florida. We would all love to live the nomadic lifestyle. Most of us take care of our boats, and try to be a positive reflection to the community. Issue is that when cruisers anchor out along the ICW, in front of someone's property, they look at us and go "Ok, boat in good condition". When they see a boat like Sean, they go "OMG, derelict boat, we need to have a LAW TO KEEP PEOPLE FROM ANCHORING IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. Because there is a history of boats like that that are not able to propel themselves becoming derelict and then become abandoned. And that creates a problem, because Sean and cruisers don't pay taxes, so the local government listens to the property owner. And pretty soon, nobody, Sean or other cruiser can anchor. And with boats like his, the local marine police are out looking for safety issues. So they stop Sean, and they stop cruisers and want to do safety inspections. All of this is preventable by Sean. I don't want him to be a gleaming mega-yacht. But he can spend an hour and his hull won't be a mess. He can spend another hour picking up wires and cables and stuff and when he gets boarded it won't be a mess. And while I appear to be stepping on his rights, the real statement I'm trying to make is "This is why we can't have nice things." 1000's of boaters go up and down the ICW, and this guy, gets news attention, make's hacker news and he becomes the face and boat of cruisers. Closing anchorages where Sean and cruisers hang out are endangered because of this.

walrus01 7y ago

> Uggg. This gives everyone that is trying to live on a boat a bad name. The boat's a mess both inside and outside. As someone that cruises around for fun, boats like his create problems. Florida, Georgia and South Carolina are all working / have passed restrictions on people anchoring out. uhghhhhh, yes. This is basically the floating equivalent of the trashy RVs that are collecting in Seattle's south of downtown industrial area.