I know, it feels so good when you wake up in the morning and having the water right outside your window is something special. The gentle rocking of the boat is like a natural lullaby. There's a certain calmness that comes with living on the water. And the views! You get to see the sunrise and sunset over the water, and it's beautiful every single time.
Living on a houseboat, or a liveaboard, is quite an adventure. It's got its ups and downs, just like any other way of life.
I know, it feels so good when you wake up in the morning and having the water right outside your window is something special. The gentle rocking of the boat is like a natural lullaby. There's a certain calmness that comes with living on the water. And the views! You get to see the sunrise and sunset over the water, and it's beautiful every single time.
Plus, there's a strong sense of community among the fellow liveaboards. You're all in the same place, quite literally, and you look out for each other. It's a unique lifestyle that brings people together.
But, let's be real, it's not all smooth sailing.
Maintenance is a constant chore. Space is another thing. Living on a boat, you quickly learn to appreciate minimalism.
And then there's the unpredictable weather – storms can turn your peaceful water world upside down in a hurry.
Living on a houseboat or liveaboard is a unique and rewarding experience, but it's not for everyone.
You have to be ready for a different way of life, one that's equal parts peaceful and challenging. It's a constant balance.
Now, let's dive into the experiences of two remarkable individuals who have embraced this unconventional lifestyle.
Meet Lindsay:
Lindsay and her family made the leap into houseboat living in 1995, right when they moved to Hong Kong. Fed up with the constraints of city living, they decided to make a change. They purchased a classic teak junk and sailed into the world of houseboats. Over the years, they adapted their boat to match their evolving lifestyle.
Meet Kia:
Kia's boat life story is one for the books. She didn't just dip her toes into boat living; she dove right in. Kia learned to sail during her participation in the Clipper Round the World Race in 2005/06. Kia went on to compete in numerous yacht races throughout Asia, undertook long-distance deliveries of up to two weeks, But that's not all – Kia took her maritime passion to a professional level. She managed a fleet of 120 leisure and work boats, some as large as 85 feet, in the Indian Ocean as part of resort operations.
Now, isn't that something? So, if you're eager to learn more about the extraordinary world of living on a boat and the pros and cons of houseboats and liveaboards, keep reading.
These two incredible boaters are about to take us on a journey through the unique and captivating lifestyle of boat living:
Dione: There’s a quote that’s often said that the two happiest days of a boat owner's life are the day he buys the boat and the day he sells the boat. What about liveaboards? Do you think liveaboard people are happier than normal boat owners?
Lindsay: You know, the day we bought the boat, we were very excited but slightly apprehensive, and the day we sold the liveaboard was very sad.
In between, it was just such a wonderful experience, being on the boat, with lots and lots of happy days spent with people and friends, just living every day. I can't really remember any unhappy days on the boat.
Kia: Like Lindsay said, it's very exciting to live on a boat, and when we stopped living on a boat, we missed it very much. It's a lifestyle to dream for. As they say, boats are like mistresses.
They need a lot of attention and tender loving care, and I always encourage people to use their boats as much as possible, whether you live on the boat or just take her out for cruising.
Dione: How long have you guys lived aboard and the type of boat that you've lived on and whether you’re living on a boat now or what you’re doing at the moment?
Lindsay: We first moved to Hong Kong about 25 years ago, and we were attracted to living on a boat because the flats are quite small in Hong Kong, and we were used to having lots of outdoor space.
We bought a 55-foot wooden junk-style boat, which had one main bedroom and a smaller bedroom, but then there were just the two of us. We moved into a marina in Hong Kong and stayed on that boat for 20 years.
During that time, my daughter was born and she stayed and grew up on the boat, and we had a couple of dogs and a cat. It was just such an amazingly wonderful lifestyle for those 20 years.
Dione: Lindsay, the Chinese junk boat that you had, was it an ocean-going, seaworthy boat, or was that more of a shore-bound boat?
Lindsay: It was definitely shore-bound. It was really the same style as a pleasure junk. You can definitely take it out. When we first moved in, we used to take it out. But then, there were more and more boats and more high-end, expensive boats in the marina, and we got a bit scared because it's 40 tons of teak that you have to navigate out of the marina. Where we're living now, we've got a steel boat in a typhoon shelter. That's actually a lot easier to take out because there are not many boats around.
Kia: We moved back from China in 2010, and we weren't eligible to buy government flats here, and in Singapore, the apartments are extremely expensive. I found myself in a position where I'm a Singaporean but not eligible to buy a government flat because my husband is not a permanent resident, and we couldn't afford to pay for an apartment at that time.
We thought, "What do we do?" We both love sailing, so we said, "Okay, how about we buy a boat and we live on a boat?"
We did find our dream boat a year after we started looking, and we finally got a berth in a marina in Sentosa. It's really cool. You're really close to the city, and it's a really nice surrounding and a beautiful lifestyle. Our boat is a 55-foot sailing yacht. When we bought her, she was 10 years old, and now she's nearly 20.
Dione: Just to make some clarifications here, people use the words liveaboard and houseboats interchangeably, so what would your definition be like? Would your boat be a houseboat or a liveaboard, and what's the difference?
Kia: I would call it a liveaboard. Usually, a houseboat refers to a boat-looking vessel that is not seaworthy. They either don't have an engine or have a very small engine just to be able to maneuver themselves in and out of a berth within the marina. My definition of a liveaboard is a boat you can take out to the sea, to the ocean, any day you want to.
Dione:It's quite a different conversation buying a boat to routinely take out and buying a boat as a home, wouldn't you think? What would be some of the limitations there?
Lindsay: Absolutely! When we were looking for a boat, we checked out various options. The sailing boats and smaller motor boats were easy to take out on the water, but they didn't offer much space.
We received some advice from an experienced sailor. They suggested, "Well, what you need to do is you need to buy a boat that you live on and then just get a little sailing boat to sail around", So, that's what we did. We ended up with a smaller sailing boat that wasn't suitable for living but was great for day trips. This made sense because, as they pointed out, living on a sailing boat could be tricky when you have all your stuff with you.
Where we were docked, we had the best of both worlds. We could easily step off our comfortable living boat and onto the sailing boat for a quick adventure. Then, we'd return to our cozy home on the water. It was a wonderful setup, and we felt lucky to have it.
Dione: How do you cook on a boat? Do you drag something out of the cupboard and pop it out the back and light the fire? How do you cook on a boat?
Lindsay: We just have a kitchen on the boat. Initially, our kitchen was quite small, more like a galley, a tiny space really. After we'd been living on the boat for a couple of years, my husband went on a skiing holiday without me. During his absence, I decided to surprise him by giving our kitchen a major upgrade. When he returned, he was greeted with a brand-new kitchen.
Dione: And Kia, what about on your sailboat? There's a little less room for a kitchen and cooking than in a cruiser houseboat.
Kia: I think it's actually a fairly good-sized galley, and I think that's one of the things that really attracted us to the boat as well. We also have a 4-burner stove, oven and grill combi, a microwave which I don't use very much unless we are sailing long distance, and a coffee machine. It's pretty cool because I can cook almost anything I want.
Dione: Let's talk a little bit about things like power and water and storage. How do all of those things work on a boat, and how do they work on a houseboat?
Lindsay: Well, it all depends on where your boat is moored. For the 20 years we spent on La Bamba, it was in a marina. This meant we had easy access to electricity and power supplied through the dock. You could simply step on and off the boat onto the dock and walk ashore. It was incredibly convenient, almost like living in an apartment in that regard. Besides the surroundings, there wasn't much difference.
Now, where we're currently located, it's a different story. We're in a typhoon shelter, floating offshore. To get to the shore and back to the pontoon, we use a dinghy. On our boat, we have a set of solar panels and a backup generator to provide electricity. Most of the time, the solar panels can generate sufficient power, but you need to be mindful of your electricity usage.
For instance, you can run an efficient air-conditioning system in a small room overnight on eco-mode, but it all relies on having daily sunshine. If you don't get that sun, you'll have to rely on the backup generator to charge the battery bank.
As for water, we've got a thousand-liter water tank, and there's a substantial sewage holding tank. It can be a bit challenging not being in a marina, but there are many advantages in terms of the living environment and the space you have around you.
Dione: When you need to get additional diesel for your generator, how do you do that?
Lindsay: There's a boat that comes along and supplies you with the diesel. We've got big diesel tanks as well. The boat now is really set up very well for just living offshore.
Dione: Kia, for the time when you were in the marina, how do you get the shore power onto your boat?
Kia: The power and the water actually run along the dockside, so we have a long cable connected to the boat on one end and the other end connected to the shore power on the dock, and that runs the electricity. There's really good technology now in terms of solar power and wind power and wave-powered generation. In the meantime, while we are docked alongside a marina, we just plug into the shore power available.
Dione: Is it cheaper to live on a boat than to live in a house? That's a question we get asked quite a lot. What insight can you share on that?
Kia: I would say it really depends on your location. Like in Singapore, where housing is really expensive, it is probably cheaper to live on a boat than in a house because for what we pay for the boat as well as berthing at Sentosa, we won't be able to afford an apartment in Sentosa for sure, but we get to enjoy that environment and that space.
If you are in London and you live in one of those houseboats on the River Thames, it's pretty much like what you're paying living on a houseboat on Thames you're not going to be able to pay for an apartment around that area. It's probably less expensive to live on a boat in that same environment.
You would probably be more mindful about the use of water, power, and grocery shopping when you live on a boat.
Obviously, you save a lot of money on shopping for random things because you're very much worried about the storage. About three or four years before we bought the boat, we had a policy that if it doesn't ever fit in a boat, then we're not buying it. We saved a lot of money on shopping for random things.
Lindsay: When we bought the boat 2 decades ago, over the 20 years, it's been a huge saving in terms of house prices in Hong Kong are very, very high. I think it probably depends on how much you paid for the boat in the first place.
Over the years, we tended to look at these big boats that were coming into the marina, and we were thinking, "We should be living on something like that." And when we looked at how much it was and how much it needed to upgrade the boat that we were on, we always ended up just upgrading the boat, mending it, and doing some maintenance because it was the cost of the boat in the first place that made the difference as to whether it was cost-effective or not.
Now, in Hong Kong, there's a rule that says you can't use your boat as your permanent address. You need a land-based address to register your boat. But this arrangement still allows you to have a small apartment, which serves as a convenient base. You can stay on your boat as much as you want, but it can't be your official permanent address.
Comparing the cost of living on a boat and having a big apartment anywhere in Hong Kong that you'd actually want to live in, living on a boat turns out to be a more economical choice, especially if you were considering spending a hefty sum on an apartment. It's simply a no-brainer.
Dione: So, it's like having a permanent holiday home, isn't it? Another question that people ask us quite a lot, and I know it's very different in different countries, but can you get a mortgage on a boat like you can on a house?
Kia: I think in some countries you can. I'm not sure if we're able to get this in Singapore. You can't walk into the bank and get a mortgage unless the boat is used for commercial purposes like a charter boat, but there could be some avenues which we haven't explored.
Lindsay: Lots and lots of boats were bought on loans and mortgages, and the boat was the collateral for the mortgage. Yes, you can get a loan to buy a boat, and there are certain companies that specialize in that. Otherwise, it's the bank.
Dione: It's interesting because it's certainly not the case in quite a number of countries in Asia, but it's obviously very widely available in Hong Kong. I think with the newer boats you can. There are a couple of finance companies that do it for newer boats. Unless you're spending a couple of million dollars on a boat, then I know that there is some finance available for that top end.
But for just regular people buying their first boat, a second-hand boat, it's a little bit difficult. I knew that in Hong Kong, there were some good financing options too.
These marinas, do they let you live aboard? Is it easy to find somewhere to live aboard? Is it hard? Is it changing? Is it different in different parts of the world? Do you know that?
Lindsay: I think it's changing. It's definitely changing. Again, because you're not allowed to have your boat as your permanent address, then they say you can't actually live on your boat, but it doesn't seem to be that you cannot stay on it. It's a very uncertain area in Hong Kong at the moment in a marina, and it really depends on how the marina views it.
In some of these boats, you expect to have a crew staying on the boat the whole time, so I'm not sure where the boundary is between "Am I a crew or am I the owner?, Am I the skipper and the master of the boat?"
And I guess we just sort of avoided that because we're not in a marina. We are in a typhoon shelter now. But I do know that even in all the typhoon shelters in Hong Kong, there are people who stay long-term on the boats. There seem to be ways around how you work it as well.
Kia: I think the same as Hong Kong. I would say there are very limited "official" liveaboard spaces in marinas in Singapore. There are, but just very small numbers. So like Lindsay, how most people get around it in Singapore is you just register your official address with mum and dad or whoever as your legal address, and then you just live on the boat. Nothing stops you from living on the boat. Yeah, I don't think that's an issue.
Dione: What are the three best things about living aboard? If you're going to pick three things, what would they be?
Kia: 1. It’s the sense of freedom. Even though we are in the marina, you just feel like there is so much space which in Singapore is a luxury. You hop up on the boat, sit on deck and then there’s that breeze and you can watch the sunset or the sunrise. That’s the sense of freedom that you can’t get in any apartment or house in Singapore.
2. The fantastic boating community is like having great neighbors. That's truly the highlight of this lifestyle. We love spending time with the boating community.
3. Living on a boat makes it so much easier for friends and family to drop by. When you're in an apartment, people might hesitate to invite themselves over. But when you're on a boat, folks will often say, "Hey, I'm at Sentosa. Can I come for a coffee?" And you can easily say, "Yes!" We absolutely love that spontaneity."
Lindsay: I think she's actually said it all, I mean, the sense of openness and waking up in the morning and stepping out on deck. It's just so lovely. And again, you just feel you're a special person. You're unique. Your boat is unique and you're unique, and you stand out from everyone else, and yes, people do come and visit.
It's just lovely, and 99.9% of the time, even when it's raining, it's beautiful. You can step outside and watch the rain go down. There's always a bit of a breeze as well.
Dione: What are the three worst things about living on a boat?
Lindsay: Well, I'd say first off, it's the typhoons. While we've been fortunate and always managed through the storms just fine, my advice now, after all these years, would be to simply get off the boat if a big storm is approaching.
Kia: Absolutely, the weather can be quite a challenge, just like Lindsay mentioned. Another thing that's been a bit of a hassle for us is doing the laundry. We don't have a washing machine on board, so we have to make a weekly trip to the local laundromat, which can be a bit inconvenient.
And lastly, our boat isn't exactly equipped to handle power-hungry appliances. So if you attempt to use things like an iron or a hair dryer, it can sometimes overload the system and cause a blackout. In the end, I've started buying clothes that don't need ironing to avoid the hassle."
Dione: When someone is going to say to you, "We're thinking about living aboard a boat. Do you think we should do it?" What would you be saying to them?
Lindsay: Well, if you're thinking about it, then you're halfway there. Go for it.
Kia: I would say just do it. Just go for it.
Note: This interview is being run for the Boat Buyer Expo (www.boatbuyerexpo.com). You can also watch the interview on YouTube HERE.
About Lindsay: Lindsay first moved onto a houseboat in 1995, when her family came to live in Hong Kong. They found living in a flat rather claustrophobic and buying classic teak junk opened up new experiences, with lots of outdoor space and fresh air. Over the years, they adapted the boat to accommodate their changing lifestyle. Her daughter grew up on the boat and a couple of years ago they included solar panels and a battery pack for life off-grid.
About Kia: Kia learned to sail when she was sponsored to sail on one leg of the Clipper Round the World Race 2005/06. A 3-week sailing programme equipped her with the basic skills to sail across the North Pacific Ocean onboard “Uniquely Singapore '', a 68ft cutter, from Qingdao, China, to Victoria, Canada over 31 days in freezing temperatures. She has since been a regular in many yacht races all over Asia; sailed several long-distance deliveries of up to 2 weeks; met her husband while sailing; cruised annually in the Mediterranean; and lived aboard her boat for 4 years. Kia was managing a fleet of 120 leisure and work boats (up to 85ft) in the Indian Ocean, for a hospitality company, as part of resort operations. In this role, she managed maintenance & operations challenges; insurance matters; incidents investigations; building new boats and refitting older boats. During this time, she attained her Diploma in Small Boats Surveying from Lloyds Maritime Academy (UK) to qualify as a boat surveyor.
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