>>2862408(sorry, dick fingers)
The boat was old, so new boats might be better like that.
This was way up in the Arctic, and since ventilation was mostly manual, I didn't do a lot of that in the winter. It was hard to keep the boat warm then. I used one 2kW radiator and one 1.5 kW heat fan (to help circulate the air around), and the sitting space, behind the cabin, would eventually heat up. All the glass surfaces would bleed heat. I know now that some people winterize their boats for living on board during winter, with extra insulation and whatnot. That wasn't an option for me, so I was cold in the winter.
Since I was young at the time, I didn't have many things. That's a big plus, because there's not room for many things. You will need to move all your stuff out of the way, open hatches in the deck, cover up the carpet, and contort yourself into a pretzel to get at the septic pump, take it out, put it in a bag, carry it up on the dock, clean it in cold water (because that's what you've got), and diagnose the problem while the inside of your boat smells like shit for the maybe a week or two until you get the parts you need.
Also had exhaust leaks twice, that meant a complete wash of the whole thing. That's not too bad, and I probably needed it since I wasn't a very fastidious kid. Biggest problem was that the sitting furniture is screwed to the hull, so once again you need to contort yourself into a pretzel to get at the screws to unfasten it so you can clean it. And there was synthetic leather everywhere too, that was a bitch and a half to clean. Condensation would get trapped under it, moisture would pearl up on it (I remember one part dripping water on me while I boiled water for cup noodles). And then there's the wood, which needs treating.
My takeaways from living on a boat are to just rent one if I need one, and that I don't want a boat where I have to deal with any plumbing more complicated than a bilge pump.
But I'm grateful for the opportunity.
