Voyaging the House: Cost of Cruising Parts 3 and 4

A recent book by sailor Jackie Parry got me thinking about this parallel between house and boat, maintaining the people and the home.  Her book, Cruisers AA, really brings it all into focus.  She writes about all the little parts that go into a successful voyage.  Curiously, no one writes the same book about living in a house.

Jackie Parry has a couple of web sites relevant to voyaging sailors.

http://jackieparry.com/

http://www.noelandjackiesjourneys.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Cruisers-AA-Jackie-Sarah-Parry/dp/0987551507/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450457510&sr=1-1&keywords=cruisers+aa

The old house West Medford (Boston area) in winter.  We could get guys to come over and install a fence, paint the house, mow the lawn, mulch the vegetable beds and trim the trees.  When it snowed, we were on our own with shovels.  Now, in Harwich, we have a snow blower and we now have to do everything else, too.

Part 3:  Maintain the Boat or House:  What a home costs is not just the outright price paid for the dwelling be it a house or a boat.  It includes the cost of keeping said dwelling in shape.  Many of the newer yachts designed or adapted for the voyaging circuit seem better set up for ease of maintenance.
Watching the newer homes being built on Cape Cod and other places to which we travel one can only wonder what the cost of ownership for the manse must be.  Homeowners are able to choose from a wide and competitive range of contractors.  Trade money for self sufficiency by hiring contractors?

Yacht owners have to do it themselves.  The impact of self sufficiency on voyagers makes the choice of yacht prove, "less is more."

Part 4:  Maintain the People:  Basically, entertainment is the big difference for voyagers versus house dwellers.  Voyaging is rich in experiences which have long entertainment value.  There is no room for "things" on board so the trip quickly becomes one of collecting "experiences."  Food, clothing, health care, and travel  pretty much vary within a narrow range wherever one is living or cruising.

Long on experiences and short on things keeps the voyaging life inexpensive.

Cross reference the Nov 10 2014 Wall Street Journal article cited earlier in this blog.