7 ms·

A man bought a cruise ship on Craigslist

86 points by prostoalex 5y ago

nathanvanfleet 5y ago
There was an interesting old ferry that had been repurposed for sale on Facebook market place I saw for a million or so. It was parked in Alameda. Seemed kind of interesting but I did worry about the logistics, especially seeing its engines that was the size of my current apartment.
helsinkiandrew 5y ago
Stumbled across his YouTube videos about the restoration a few weeks ago: https://youtube.com/c/AuroraRestorationProject https://youtube.com/c/AuroraRestorationProject
jacquesm 5y ago
That's a beautiful boat but even for free I could not afford it. And if he ever does get it finished - which I really doubt, this is a 10's of millions level project to properly undertake - the fuel bill is going to be astronomical so you can really only run it commercially.
jimnotgym 5y ago
For another Youtube boat rebuild that has actually made progress see 'Tally Ho', an historic wooden yacht. It has had to have so much work there is an episode discussing the 'ship of Theseus'! An aside for UK readers, I prefer to think of 'Trigger's Broom'. They have changed everything from the keel up in the end. They are currently laying decks and installing the engine, so maybe this one will actually get done! They are doing everything to the highest standard, which is novel for these kind of shows. It has been community funded for some time, Leo having spent all of his money early on. To continue the cautionary tail of this thread, he bought it for $1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
- spicyusername 5y ago
  Glad to see this show getting praise. It is some of the most authentic media you can watch, which feels so rare these days. No make up, no product placement, no pretense, no frills. Just a bunch of regular people fixing a boat. If more media like this was produced, the world would be a better place. If you like Leo's channel, another two that are kind of like it are The Essential Craftsman and Stuff Made Here.
Yuioup 5y ago
Is that really surprising?
silisili 5y ago
Man blows money on junk ship, begs community to restore it. Sorry if that's a negative take, but it feels pretty gutsy to buy something extravagant, move into it, then ask for volunteers to make it nice...
- jrowley 5y ago
  Man buys boat and then can’t afford is a tale as old as time. But he took it to the next level. Very impressive work and vision though!
- devmor 5y ago
  He wants to make it a museum, at least. That's a boon to the local culture and economy if well executed.
  - AdrianB1 5y ago
    My logical read of this is "man spends time and money to build a museum that the local economy will benefit from". Not sure it is worth for the man.
  - OJFord 5y ago
    I don't understand that though, a museum of what? The ship herself? Is that interesting enough? I just can't imagine that being much of an income, I thought the wedding venue (also mentioned, but dismissed) idea - or just events in general - was much better.
    - diggernet 5y ago
      Yeah, museums are always struggling. Event venue + vacation rentals sounds much more likely to succeed. Especially if you can arrange to moor it near a popular destination.
- vba616 5y ago
  What stood out to me about this article, which I saw several days ago, is how it names but then basically says nothing about his partner, nor a single quote. They live on board with him and "played a key role", that seems to be it. If you read it quickly, you might not even notice that it wasn't a single guy + some volunteers. The one instance of the word "couple" is referring to different people restoring another ship.
blenderdt 5y ago
There are two happy days for a boat owner: the day he buys it and the day he sells it.
- Waterluvian 5y ago
  I feel like I must be the only one who has found a small pleasurecraft to be less work than a car. The fibreglass ones basically last forever. And if you get one with a popular car engine as the onboard motor, they’re very accessible and easy to maintain. Just don’t sink it.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    As long as you don't go into salt water it's doable, but once you do continuous maintenance is your lot. I've worked a stint for a sailmaker, the annual repair bill on a mid sized sea going sailboat was about half of what I earned in a year back then. A few thousand here, a few thousand there, it really adds up quickly and that's before you get into things like storm damage. A small car engine powered fibreglass cabin cruiser (remember to ventilate before starting the engine!!) can be affordable, the costs would mostly be fuel (still quite a bit of money), periodical re-painting of the underwatership and small maintenance of the upper structure as well as regular engine maintenance. That probably works out to a few hundred per month if you do a lot of the work yourself.
    - Waterluvian 5y ago
      Ahh!! Perhaps people are referring to a different scale than what I’m perceiving. I’m thinking 18 foot cabinless boat for Muskoka Lakes sized boating. Some water skiing. Etc. I can imagine that when you get to Great Lakes sized boating or salt water, things get expensive.
      - jacquesm 5y ago
        Yes, that's exactly it: there's boats and boats... an 18' is very much doable, it's essentially a nice hobby and will soak up some of your surplus income but that's about it. But a slightly more serious boat, say an older Jeannau or something else that isn't immediately going to sink if you take it out on blue water is going to cost you a fair amount of money and will be - unless you are already a multi-millionaire - a way of life rather than something you only use on the weekends because of the money you'll end up pumping into it. If you go on youtube and find the various channels where people talk about their life on their boats and what it's like you'll see that they hardly ever really talk about where they are going or what they are doing, the main subjects are always money, repairs and weather. A boat, unlike a house, is very strongly influenced by its environment and anything that you can no longer easily put on a trailer behind a car to get it out of the water when you're not using it will require near continuous work. You won't ever be able to 'and now it is done' and then to use it for the next five years without major work on it.
Stratoscope 5y ago
A friend who owns a boat described it as "a hole in the water that you pour money into."
blenderdt 5y ago
I earlier made a funny comment about this, but it can also turn into a beautiful project. For example the SS Rotterdam was turned into a beautiful hotel. But this project was also a money drain and millions were lost. I think the owner is right, it is not one ship, it should be compared to restoring 15 houses at the same time.
londons_explore 5y ago
For those of you less familliar with boat ownership... This story, and ones like it, are very common. Nearly every river worldwide has a few boats or ships in very poor condition, with a few people living onboard trying to 'renovate' the ship. It typically takes so many years to renovate, that the bits you did first need doing again before the end. It turns into a full time renovation project with no end in sight. Many people spend 20+ years of their spare time to never actually get the boat into working condition. It's really a sad story of wasted human labour. The fact so many have big dreams for the shiny boat they'll have after a bit of work, and instead put in massive amounts of work to see no reward.
- wikidani 5y ago
  But what if Sisyphus is happy though?
- caymanjim 5y ago
  I don't think it's sad, or a waste, or unrewarding. You've got to live somewhere, and everyone needs a hobby. I'd much rather live on a derelict ship like this for the rest of my life than in some soulless subdivision surrounded by cookie cutter houses, or in a big city. Even if the thing sinks in the end, it's a life lived well.
  - sokoloff 5y ago
    Across my house, cars, and personal tech, I don’t have to squint too hard to see a never-ending stream of repairs, renovation, and replacement.
    - lostmsu 5y ago
      You still need cars and personal tech on a boat.
  - londons_explore 5y ago
    It's more that most of these people tricked themselves into that path... If you asked them 30 years ago "do you want to spend the next 30 years of weekends sanding and painting a rotting wooden boat", I think most would say no. They only keep doing it because they've already invested so much effort they don't want to give up.
rwmj 5y ago
Similar, but larger and with added crypto-libertarian stupidity: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/sep/07/disastrous-voyage-satoshi-cryptocurrency-cruise-ship-seassteading https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/sep/07/disastrous-voya... The disastrous voyage of Satoshi, the world’s first cryptocurrency cruise ship
- teh_klev 5y ago
  That's a fun read. I always wonder if these seasteader types take into account really bad storms. Those pod things look like they'd be washed away in an instant once the weather really got going. I especially liked the buying a pint of milk bit.
sonicggg 5y ago
Even a simple sailboat will cost you around USD$3000 of upkeeping costs per year. I can't even begin to imagine what are the costs associated with this monstrosity.
- AdrianB1 5y ago
  True, but a house costs even more. If you can live in that sailboat (and I know people that do), then it may be a lot cheaper than a house and it has advantages in property taxes and mobility. My house cannot move to the Caribbean ever.

86 points by prostoalex 5y ago

There was an interesting old ferry that had been repurposed for sale on Facebook market place I saw for a million or so. It was parked in Alameda. Seemed kind of interesting but I did worry about the logistics, especially seeing its engines that was the size of my current apartment.

helsinkiandrew 5y ago

Stumbled across his YouTube videos about the restoration a few weeks ago: https://youtube.com/c/AuroraRestorationProject https://youtube.com/c/AuroraRestorationProject

jacquesm 5y ago

That's a beautiful boat but even for free I could not afford it. And if he ever does get it finished - which I really doubt, this is a 10's of millions level project to properly undertake - the fuel bill is going to be astronomical so you can really only run it commercially.

jimnotgym 5y ago

For another Youtube boat rebuild that has actually made progress see 'Tally Ho', an historic wooden yacht. It has had to have so much work there is an episode discussing the 'ship of Theseus'! An aside for UK readers, I prefer to think of 'Trigger's Broom'. They have changed everything from the keel up in the end. They are currently laying decks and installing the engine, so maybe this one will actually get done! They are doing everything to the highest standard, which is novel for these kind of shows. It has been community funded for some time, Leo having spent all of his money early on. To continue the cautionary tail of this thread, he bought it for $1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus

spicyusername 5y ago
Glad to see this show getting praise. It is some of the most authentic media you can watch, which feels so rare these days. No make up, no product placement, no pretense, no frills. Just a bunch of regular people fixing a boat. If more media like this was produced, the world would be a better place. If you like Leo's channel, another two that are kind of like it are The Essential Craftsman and Stuff Made Here.

Yuioup 5y ago

Is that really surprising?

silisili 5y ago

Man blows money on junk ship, begs community to restore it. Sorry if that's a negative take, but it feels pretty gutsy to buy something extravagant, move into it, then ask for volunteers to make it nice...

jrowley 5y ago
Man buys boat and then can’t afford is a tale as old as time. But he took it to the next level. Very impressive work and vision though!
devmor 5y ago
He wants to make it a museum, at least. That's a boon to the local culture and economy if well executed.
- AdrianB1 5y ago
  My logical read of this is "man spends time and money to build a museum that the local economy will benefit from". Not sure it is worth for the man.
- OJFord 5y ago
  I don't understand that though, a museum of what? The ship herself? Is that interesting enough? I just can't imagine that being much of an income, I thought the wedding venue (also mentioned, but dismissed) idea - or just events in general - was much better.
  - diggernet 5y ago
    Yeah, museums are always struggling. Event venue + vacation rentals sounds much more likely to succeed. Especially if you can arrange to moor it near a popular destination.
vba616 5y ago
What stood out to me about this article, which I saw several days ago, is how it names but then basically says nothing about his partner, nor a single quote. They live on board with him and "played a key role", that seems to be it. If you read it quickly, you might not even notice that it wasn't a single guy + some volunteers. The one instance of the word "couple" is referring to different people restoring another ship.

blenderdt 5y ago

There are two happy days for a boat owner: the day he buys it and the day he sells it.

Waterluvian 5y ago
I feel like I must be the only one who has found a small pleasurecraft to be less work than a car. The fibreglass ones basically last forever. And if you get one with a popular car engine as the onboard motor, they’re very accessible and easy to maintain. Just don’t sink it.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  As long as you don't go into salt water it's doable, but once you do continuous maintenance is your lot. I've worked a stint for a sailmaker, the annual repair bill on a mid sized sea going sailboat was about half of what I earned in a year back then. A few thousand here, a few thousand there, it really adds up quickly and that's before you get into things like storm damage. A small car engine powered fibreglass cabin cruiser (remember to ventilate before starting the engine!!) can be affordable, the costs would mostly be fuel (still quite a bit of money), periodical re-painting of the underwatership and small maintenance of the upper structure as well as regular engine maintenance. That probably works out to a few hundred per month if you do a lot of the work yourself.
  - Waterluvian 5y ago
    Ahh!! Perhaps people are referring to a different scale than what I’m perceiving. I’m thinking 18 foot cabinless boat for Muskoka Lakes sized boating. Some water skiing. Etc. I can imagine that when you get to Great Lakes sized boating or salt water, things get expensive.
    - jacquesm 5y ago
      Yes, that's exactly it: there's boats and boats... an 18' is very much doable, it's essentially a nice hobby and will soak up some of your surplus income but that's about it. But a slightly more serious boat, say an older Jeannau or something else that isn't immediately going to sink if you take it out on blue water is going to cost you a fair amount of money and will be - unless you are already a multi-millionaire - a way of life rather than something you only use on the weekends because of the money you'll end up pumping into it. If you go on youtube and find the various channels where people talk about their life on their boats and what it's like you'll see that they hardly ever really talk about where they are going or what they are doing, the main subjects are always money, repairs and weather. A boat, unlike a house, is very strongly influenced by its environment and anything that you can no longer easily put on a trailer behind a car to get it out of the water when you're not using it will require near continuous work. You won't ever be able to 'and now it is done' and then to use it for the next five years without major work on it.

Stratoscope 5y ago

A friend who owns a boat described it as "a hole in the water that you pour money into."

blenderdt 5y ago

I earlier made a funny comment about this, but it can also turn into a beautiful project. For example the SS Rotterdam was turned into a beautiful hotel. But this project was also a money drain and millions were lost. I think the owner is right, it is not one ship, it should be compared to restoring 15 houses at the same time.

londons_explore 5y ago

For those of you less familliar with boat ownership... This story, and ones like it, are very common. Nearly every river worldwide has a few boats or ships in very poor condition, with a few people living onboard trying to 'renovate' the ship. It typically takes so many years to renovate, that the bits you did first need doing again before the end. It turns into a full time renovation project with no end in sight. Many people spend 20+ years of their spare time to never actually get the boat into working condition. It's really a sad story of wasted human labour. The fact so many have big dreams for the shiny boat they'll have after a bit of work, and instead put in massive amounts of work to see no reward.

wikidani 5y ago
But what if Sisyphus is happy though?
caymanjim 5y ago
I don't think it's sad, or a waste, or unrewarding. You've got to live somewhere, and everyone needs a hobby. I'd much rather live on a derelict ship like this for the rest of my life than in some soulless subdivision surrounded by cookie cutter houses, or in a big city. Even if the thing sinks in the end, it's a life lived well.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  Across my house, cars, and personal tech, I don’t have to squint too hard to see a never-ending stream of repairs, renovation, and replacement.
  - lostmsu 5y ago
    You still need cars and personal tech on a boat.
- londons_explore 5y ago
  It's more that most of these people tricked themselves into that path... If you asked them 30 years ago "do you want to spend the next 30 years of weekends sanding and painting a rotting wooden boat", I think most would say no. They only keep doing it because they've already invested so much effort they don't want to give up.

rwmj 5y ago

Similar, but larger and with added crypto-libertarian stupidity: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/sep/07/disastrous-voyage-satoshi-cryptocurrency-cruise-ship-seassteading https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/sep/07/disastrous-voya... The disastrous voyage of Satoshi, the world’s first cryptocurrency cruise ship

teh_klev 5y ago
That's a fun read. I always wonder if these seasteader types take into account really bad storms. Those pod things look like they'd be washed away in an instant once the weather really got going. I especially liked the buying a pint of milk bit.

sonicggg 5y ago

Even a simple sailboat will cost you around USD$3000 of upkeeping costs per year. I can't even begin to imagine what are the costs associated with this monstrosity.

AdrianB1 5y ago
True, but a house costs even more. If you can live in that sailboat (and I know people that do), then it may be a lot cheaper than a house and it has advantages in property taxes and mobility. My house cannot move to the Caribbean ever.