BajaNomad

Cost of living, repeated

Kgryfon - 4-2-2012 at 01:27 AM

I'm sure this question has been asked and answered numerous times, but I can't find it in the archives. Can I actually live decently in La Paz on $1700/mo retirement? Decently means I need internet, AC, and one-two bedrooms reasonably close to the Malecon. Dive or fishing trip once in a while. Dish Washer would be cool. So would a clothes washer/dryer or someone who would do that for me. Rent a place, I guess, since all my equity of 40+ years was lost in the housing bubble in CA. What say ye?

Kgryfon - 4-2-2012 at 01:30 AM

Sorry, forgot to add that I'd like a house, not a condo. I like to do home improvement stuff and need my garage workspace.

Kgryfon - 4-2-2012 at 01:59 AM

Plus, I drink and smoke cigarettes, too. Whenever I feel like it. What are the cigarette costs? Just being real here. Can $1700/ mo keep me in a reasonable life style? I don't trust the real esate ads. Don't need to live in a mansion, BTDT. Just want to fish and scuba once in a while and hang the rest of the time.

rhintransit - 4-2-2012 at 02:51 AM

yes

woody with a view - 4-2-2012 at 03:44 AM

i'd think you were doing something wrong if you can't swing that.

rhintransit - 4-2-2012 at 06:20 AM

to expand on my previous yes...
rental definitely. mortgages require high downs and have high interests. can't tell if you've actually been to La Paz which is the only way to evaluate the market. MLS's and want ads are rare. you've got to cover the ground and do your own search.
rental of 500-800 gives you a wide range of possibilities. long term gives lower rates. except in gringo or more modern condos/apts you won't get dishwashers, nor dryers. usually an ac unit of some kind. garages also scarce, but covered parking and patio type areas are available.
I've no idea of the cost of cigarettes. assume cost is relative to amount of smoking and drinking you plan to do. cost of fishing/diving depends on how you do it...hire panga/captain/dive boat groups or find friends with boats, etc etc etc. all variable.
but 1700 is a good retirement income here and many many do it on less.

Hook - 4-2-2012 at 07:19 AM

I think it would be tough, trying to afford going fishing or diving once a week. That alone could eat up about 1/4 of your income, assuming about 100.00 per trip for all costs (rentals, bait, tips).

BTW, is that 1700.00 AFTER TAXES??

Good Advice

bajaguy - 4-2-2012 at 07:46 AM

From the Gnukid........

I would suggest before you cut your ties with the mother country, if at all possible you should try and live in LaPaz for 6 months and see if the budget works out.

If it doesn't, you have had a great vacation, if it does, then go for it.

Remember, some things are cheaper here, some are not. You will have to modify your NOB lifestyle and attitudes to make it work.

One question..........have you been to LaPaz before in the summer, and how much time have you spent in Mexico/Baja???

wessongroup - 4-2-2012 at 08:22 AM

Ditto's ... would suggest that anyone spend an entire year in a location to get a real "feel" ... before cutting the string... enjoy while your down ... :):)

Kgryfon - 4-2-2012 at 01:53 PM

Wow! Such a great bunch of information! Thanks, folks. Someone asked if I've been to LaPaz/Baja. Heres my SA experience: Once took a road trip with a boyfriend that started in SF went through Ensenada, across to San Felipe, and back. Later flew into La Paz with said BF once. Went back to La Paz by myself once (no longer with said BF). Took my kids (twenty-somethings) to Rosarita once. Took my kids to Belize once. So, I'm not totally new to the area and am fairly comfortable moving around by myself.

Moving

bajaguy - 4-2-2012 at 01:56 PM

I can't stress enough.......before you make the jump, live or spend a lot of time in the area that you are interested for as long as you can. There is a world of difference between visiting/vacation and living here.

I have seen many who do not do enough research, including living here, that end up going back NOB or are miserable because they don't do their homework.





[Edited on 4-2-2012 by bajaguy]

Kgryfon - 4-2-2012 at 01:57 PM

Hook, that was fishing/diving once in a while, not once a week. And excellent point, my $1700 will be before taxes. That's for pointing that out!

Lobsterman - 4-2-2012 at 02:06 PM

Will Kgryfon have to pay taxes on her NOB income to either the USA or Mexico?

rent, rent, rent

Mulegena - 4-2-2012 at 02:32 PM

don't buy, rent - give it a year or two minimum to explore, orient and settle in... or not

keep your options open and the freedom to move around

La Paz is different outside the malecon tourist area/experience; no community parks, no trees to speak of, inadequate street signage.

Go visit Todo Santos, San Jose del Cabo and the East Cape region's smaller towns and villages that are an easy commute in.

Southern Baja summers are a different animal from the warm, balmy winters and springtime. "Hellahothumidhurricaneweather" is your new word.

Your cultural experience varies seasonally. Many of your ex-pat friends will leave for their northern homes when the weather turns hot so your opportunities for shared social activities will change, too.

Reality and variety-- on a Baja budget!

Hook - 4-2-2012 at 03:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kgryfon
Hook, that was fishing/diving once in a while, not once a week. And excellent point, my $1700 will be before taxes. That's for pointing that out!


Yes, my misread.

So, figure you will fall in the 15% bracket. That's a reduction of another 255/month, just to the Feds, assuming no deductions. Then, there's the State. Hope you arent from California......but it looks like you might be.

[Edited on 4-2-2012 by Hook]

Kgryfon - 4-2-2012 at 03:29 PM

" Go visit Todo Santos, San Jose del Cabo " Did that on one of my trips. Rented a car and drove the loop from Cabo up to La Paz, back down through Todos Santos and back to Cabo to fly out.

Yep, I'm from California.

Move from California

bajaguy - 4-2-2012 at 04:31 PM

If you have a relative or friend living in Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington or Wyoming you might want to consider moving your home of record to one of the above states to avoid California personal income tax........that will save you some money.

Mula - 4-2-2012 at 05:09 PM

and plan for air conditioner costs in the summer months.

durrelllrobert - 4-2-2012 at 05:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Lobsterman
Will Kgryfon have to pay taxes on her NOB income to either the USA or Mexico?

If the income is strictly from SS she should not have them withold anything for taxes. She still should file annual tax return but should not owe anything to IRS or CA.

durrelllrobert - 4-2-2012 at 05:24 PM

If you're not 100% locked into La Paz you should consider something in the Punta Banda area, just south of Ensenada. AC is not needed in summer and there are rentals available within a block of the water for $300-$400. Plus you are within 2 hours of the border for shopping NOB including Duty Free stores where you can by ciggarettes 3 cartons for $25 and booze is also cheaper.

Hook - 4-2-2012 at 05:28 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by durrelllrobert
If you're not 100% locked into La Paz you should consider something in the Punta Banda area, just south of Ensenada. AC is not needed in summer and there are rentals available within a block of the water for $300-$400. Plus you are within 2 hours of the border for shopping NOB including Duty Free stores where you can by ciggarettes 3 cartons for $25 and booze is also cheaper.


Yeah, you'll also save a boatload on sunscreen in that area. :smug:

To me, living in Mexico means enjoying warm days. They just dont happen much out at Punta Banda.

bajadock - 4-2-2012 at 05:58 PM

"Yeah, you'll also save a boatload on sunscreen in that area. :smug:

To me, living in Mexico means enjoying warm days. They just dont happen much out at Punta Banda."

CORRECT, HOOK! It is frickn freezn here in Punta Banda. And durrell's rent price estimates have gotta be 50% too low. And beer here is double the price of downtown 'Nada as a gringo tax. And the roads will ruin your vehicle. And a few Nomad curmudgeons, like me, make life miserable for everyone else.

La Paz is a much better choice.

DavidE - 4-2-2012 at 07:58 PM

I'm a bit more severe...

Before you even think of moving to La Paz, or Mulege, or the cape take a vacation there in late August or September. You'll see the "Mr Hyde" aspect of the climate in this area. Day, after week after month you're going to arise and shine to an outside temperature already in the eighties. I can't tell you how many times I was in La Paz when summertime temperatures climbed to 110 or higher. I spent March through October (FM3) last year in this region. One of about nine summers.

I rate "heat: by the number of seconds it takes my hair to soak with sweat when I step outdoors. Summer in La Paz means ten seconds until I start dripping.

Some folks can take the heat. Others endure it. I spent July - October in supposedly "cool" El Pescadero, with daytime temps reaching into the low nineties with night time lows in the high seventies. Humidity was sixty percent and higher.

There is no place no run to, no place to escape the heat unless you flee five hundred miles north to Guerrero Negro. At my home in Michoacan I can flee 220 miles to Patzcuaro at 7,000 ft elevation and actually shiver. However Guerrero Negro is not Patzcuaro, that would be like comparing Pomona to Sebastopol.

Unless you are Bill Gates forget about whole house A/C. One high EEF 5,000 BTU window unit will set you back about a hundred dollars a month and Mexican houses have an insulation factor of 0. Take a look at your PG&E bill for last August. See the kWh total of perhaps 1,100? Well, twenty two hundred kWh in Mexico will put you in the DAC category. A two month bill will set you back a cool eight hundred plus dollars. Once CFE puts you in DAC it ain't easy to get out of. BTW it isn't the heat --- it's the humidity. Fans blow steam bath air around. You have got to conserve "La Luz" or pay a steep penalty.

The vaunted Corumuel afternoon breeze was no relief to me. It cooled the air down from 105 to 97 with nearly the same humidity. Of course for folks that are stuck in La Paz, paltry as the breeze may be it is a godsend.

Looketh Before Thoust Leapeth

Most expats myself included hole-up in a small office like space with the computer for entertainment and an A/C blasting close by.

BajaBlanca - 4-2-2012 at 08:32 PM

everyone is giving great advice - visiting is NOT even close to what it feels like after you live somewhere. The customs are radically different and some people simply never adjust. I think 1700 would not cover A/C during the summer months. It is unbearably hot - electirc bills are astronomical !! after one year, there is a price readjustment which either continues or cancels the previous years gvt subsidy and ouch, it hurts bigtime .... other than that, rent is more reasonable, food is reasonable, gasoline is more reasonable than in the states.

live in different areas and get a feel for them ..todos santos is wonderful, la paz is wonderful.

Alm - 4-2-2012 at 09:04 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DavidE
Before you even think of moving to La Paz, or Mulege, or the cape take a vacation there in late August or September.

Yep. This is when most "permanent residents" are fleeing to their homes NOB. Hot, humid and hurricane time. It's a little better in BCN in that period, but like others noted it can be much colder in winter there, and besides, San Felipe corridor (and probably Ensenada area) are becoming increasingly expensive due to high gringo concentration. Also, don't forget health insurance especially if you live in BCS and can't always drive/fly NOB. Can be a local Mx hospital plan, cheaper than international plan, but still cost something.

CFE and DAC

Mulegena - 4-2-2012 at 10:04 PM

a minor, but pertinent, hijack for educational purposes
Quote:
Originally posted by DavidE...One high EEF 5,000 BTU window unit will set you back about a hundred dollars a month and Mexican houses have an insulation factor of 0. Take a look at your PG&E bill for last August. See the kWh total of perhaps 1,100? Well, twenty two hundred kWh in Mexico will put you in the DAC category. A two month bill will set you back a cool eight hundred plus dollars. Once CFE puts you in DAC it ain't easy to get out of. BTW it isn't the heat --- it's the humidity. Fans blow steam bath air around. You have got to conserve "La Luz" or pay a steep penalty...
CFE is Commission Federal Electrico (or some such name) and is the Mexican equivalent of PG&E. What is a DAC category?
We're building a house and wired it for 220 to support mini-split air-conditioning. CFE said we'd have to pay a higher commercial business rate for home usage simply because its not 110.

MitchMan - 4-3-2012 at 10:27 AM

Kgryfon, you have gotten some absolutely great posts and info here.

The answer to the question of whether or not living in La Paz for you is doable on $1,700 USD depends entirely on your spending patterns. Entirely. Is $1,700 doable.... absolutely positively, unequivocally. But, are your spending patterns compatible to that accomplishment....well, that is the question, actually.

I am a financial analyst kind of guy, and I have calculated the answer to that question a thousand different ways. For me, the golden amount per month is $674 USD/mo for one person, $977 USD/mo which includes owning your own casita and that budget is for everything I can think of including allowances for fishing, haircuts, clothes, auto repair, health ins, air conditioning as needed, security lights, et al. With that budget I eat really well, have all the a/c I want, TV, entertainment and more.

The key money saver is whether or not you can afford to buy your own house. If you rent first for 6 mos to a year, that would give you ample time to find a really low cost house in a safe Mexican neighborhood that is from 2 to 6 miles away from the Malecon. How long does it take to drive 6 miles? About 15 minutes, door to door.

The trick is knowing food prices, and optimizing your purchase choices. For example, I recommend eventually getting and owning your own dwelling of reasonable size (700 to 1,000 sq ft) in a safe, local Mexican neighborhood. Getting a vehicle that is reliable, cheap on maintenance, and very good on gas...Toyota compacts come to mind. If you like to fish, get your own used boat and trailer and a reliable, low maintenance used older small 4x4 truck/SUV to pull it. If you don't want your own boat, then you have a choice of spending $270 USD+ going out of Tailhunter or some other shop on the malecon or you can hire $120 a day panguero out of Agua Amarga and split the cost with friends.

See how spending patterns is the controllng variable to your costs?

If you are the "do it yourself/self sufficient" type, you can live extremely well on limited funds, but if you have to go 1st class on everything, insist on living on/near the malecon, want the big condo or house in a gated community with housing environment similar to American standards, insist on big new luxury SUV, don't like to cook and therefore eat out often, including cantinas for drinks frequently, refuse to clutter the mind by knowing food prices and scheduling your personal menu around health and economic considerations, refuse to track your electricity usage or phone usage, then $1,700 won't cut it.

It is all about your personal spending patterns. People are vastly different, but, in the final analysis, it is a "choice", not an involuntary necessity.

[Edited on 4-3-2012 by MitchMan]

sancho - 4-3-2012 at 11:41 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajadock
Nomad curmudgeons, like me, make life miserable for everyone else.

La Paz is a much better choice.



I can't determine if that is SARCASIM or not? Isn't
a perk on living in the PBanda Peninsula, and reason
enough for living there, is you have
Dennis for a neighbor? MItch Man , enjoy your
costs of Mex living, I think I have seen you on
Mexconnect

DavidE - 4-3-2012 at 01:05 PM

Mulegena, you don't want to use more than 600 kWh a month because CFE adds your totals up and after a specified total kWh you'll go to 1st stage DAC. About forty cents per hour for every last kWh on your CFE bill. Higher means more cost and I have paid as much as seventy cents a kWh. A CFE bill for 400 kWh cost me two hundred eighty dollars in pesos! This is when i chopped off AC and every other luxury load!

On your new house, if you have a separate building, get a separate CFE service drop under your spouse's name. Tell la comision it is for a different family. I run a ten gauge wire from one breaker panel, a 30 amp breaker to a sister breaker in the other panel. Make damned sure on a 254 volt service that this wire connects the same phase coming from the transformer. Make the 4 wires match in pairs by using a voltmeter. Since there are few reasons to have 254 volt service in Mexico, I recommend getting 30 amp rated 127 volt service. A pair of 30 amp services will run a large house quite well with minimum voltage drop. Service drops are 8AWG.

Use 12/3 wiring in the kitchen for receptacles. Get receptacles in the USA. Use NYLON 15-amp specification rated receptacles, and UNBREAKABLE nylon receptacle face plates available ay Home Depot or Lowe's. Receptacles cost more than -el cheapos- but last ten times longer. Use them all over in the kitchen, living room for TV and electronics. Bathroom, and bedside. Make SURE the receptacles have holes on the rear face that allow wire to be shoved in a tightened/clamped with the side screw. Side screw only receptacles are horrible to work with if using wire with lots of little stands of copper wires.

For protecting expensive flat panel TV's ans stereos, there is NOTHING as good as an adequately sized computer UPS meaning uninterpretable power supply. Nothing even close. Nothing even in the same solar system. Certainly not one of those "power correctors" that offer .01% as much protection or a "surge strip" that has .000000001% as much protection. You're not buying a UPS for the battery supply but because ir absolutely and totally isolates your electronics from the power grid glitches and flashes. I would choose a 1,500 watt model for larger TV's, and stick to using a laptop which as it's own built in UPS.

Termination Of Rant

USE A GROUND ROD grounding system and make sure the electracistas wire it to every damned last receptacle.

Kgryfon - 4-3-2012 at 11:37 PM

Good idea, but I have no one in any of those states, although I've lived in a couple of them but not in a long time. My home has been in CA for many years.

I've made an appointment with a financial planner so he should be able to answer the question of taxes.

Thank you all so much for the helpful info and advice.

With all the hot weather, why don't more people swim right by the malecon? I only saw a few people swimming every time I've been there. Maybe it was too early in the year (May-June).

temporarilyoutofservice - 4-4-2012 at 08:42 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kgryfon
I'm sure this question has been asked and answered numerous times, but I can't find it in the archives. Can I actually live decently in La Paz on $1700/mo retirement? Decently means I need internet, AC, and one-two bedrooms reasonably close to the Malecon. Dive or fishing trip once in a while. Dish Washer would be cool. So would a clothes washer/dryer or someone who would do that for me. Rent a place, I guess, since all my equity of 40+ years was lost in the housing bubble in CA. What say ye?


Yes. You will need to look for good rentals, and their availability varies seasonally. You can look online or wait until you arrive. Depending upon your date of arrival, I recommend waiting. There are some good steals simply by walking around.

You can find a decent furnished one bedroom apt. for less than 4,000 pesos. But you won't get the dishwasher. Go for laundry service, its easier.

A dishwasher and washer/dryer unit will more likely be provided in more expensive units but expensive the rent price to be nearly doubled.

Depending upon how long you live here, expect an increase on cigarette tax and alcohol. Taxes on cigarettes have increased significantly the past years. Currently in La Paz, they're $34 to $38 pesos for a pack of Delicados (my preference). Marlboros are more.

Take your returnables and 1,2 liter of cerveza (Pacifico) averages about $25 pesos.

I don't know how much you drink and smoke, so you do the math.

Also, you're going to end up paying more if you don't know Spanish.

temporarilyoutofservice - 4-4-2012 at 08:49 AM

If you're renting a 1 - 2br. apartment, and it's in good condition, then air conditioning IS NOT expensive.

Run it all the time and expect to pay $80 a month.

If you're going for a small apt. complex, then choose a lower level unit... cooler in the summer.

Plus, if you're retired, you're going to be at the beach anyways.

temporarilyoutofservice - 4-4-2012 at 08:58 AM

Quote:
Rentals near the malecon will tend to be "vacation rentals", so you need to make it clear that you're not in that category, and you may have to settle for a few blocks away. Some older residential neighborhoods do have trees (palms and fruit mostly) and are pleasant for walking around. But anyone looking for lush greenery with deciduous trees, grass, and the like, had better try a different climate.


Not true. There are five units by me and they're one block to three away from the Malecon, all currently available. There's a unit right on the malecon available now, too, and possibly within your budget. I would take it, but I'm too busy or lazy to do it.

Do you speak Spanish?

[Edited on 4-4-2012 by temporarilyoutofservice]

Mulegena - 4-4-2012 at 09:28 AM

Most ground-floor rentals in La Paz have a postage-stamp enclosed patio with a lavadora built-in. Its a concrete washboard with small tub, has plumbing and does an excellent job on hand-laundry, even jeans and bedding. String a clothesline and you're good to go and will save money.

temporarilyoutofservice - 4-4-2012 at 09:56 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by morgaine7
Quote:
Originally posted by temporarilyoutofservice
Not true. There are five units by me and they're one block to three away from the Malecon, all currently available.

Note (2nd message) that Kgryfon is looking for a house rather than an apartment or condo.


Lo siento!

Yeah, there's one house I know of and it's occupied. I want it when it becomes available... so I ain't saying nothin.

I would suggest he finds an apartment first and do the house search once he's adjusted.

[Edited on 4-4-2012 by temporarilyoutofservice]

durrelllrobert - 4-4-2012 at 07:20 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hook
[

Yeah, you'll also save a boatload on sunscreen in that area. :smug:

To me, living in Mexico means enjoying warm days. They just dont happen much out at Punta Banda.

But she's from the bay area and it's much warmer here:spingrin:

durrelllrobert - 4-4-2012 at 07:23 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajadock
And durrell's rent price estimates have gotta be 50% too low.

maybe up on your hill but not down here or at campo La Jolla.

durrelllrobert - 4-4-2012 at 07:33 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by morgaine7






DAC = Domesticas de Alto Consumo, a higher unsubsidized rate that kicks in if you exceed the quota for your region. In La Paz (and I think all of BCS), on Tarifa 1D, in order to get into the DAC we have to average over 1000 kWh /mo over an entire year.


[Edited on 4-3-2012 by morgaine7]

Up here where I live the cutoff is 500k but I believe for the people over in Mexicali where they need AC it is 1000

MitchMan - 4-5-2012 at 09:55 AM

When I am in La Paz at my 860 sq ft casita in the hottest months of the summer, the most electricity I use is 24 KWH per day. That turns out to be about 730 KWH per month. That's with leaving the 1 ton minisplit in the bedroom on all night and using A/C while at home during the day when I am actually at the house. Also, I play the TV and VCR on for 5 hours a night, 3 lights outside security lights automatically on all night (light sensors), and use inside lights at night. Refer runs, obviously, all the time.

During the coolest months of the year, I use only 4 to 6 KWH per day which is only around 150 KWH per month.

I use only light saver bulbs everywhere and make religiously sure that everything except the refrigerator is off when I am not at the house.

[Edited on 4-5-2012 by MitchMan]

Kgryfon - 4-5-2012 at 09:47 PM

Everytime I come back to this post there is a wealth of new information. Thanks for your help, folks!

To answer some questions: I've been to Punta Banda and Ensenada during a road trip; both nice areas and worth considering. I speak only a bit of Spanish but just got the Rosetta Stone for Latin American Spanish so maybe that will help. Anyone have experience with that?

I don't need to live high off the hog, but I do love me some AC when it gets into the triple digits around here. Which it does often during the summer (I'm across the bay from SF).

I own a boat now and would love to bring it down, but the slip fees seem to cost as much as an apartment (~$450/mo)! I was considering bring it down and living on board, but I think I'd probably go nuts in a short time - it's 28ft which is not a huge space to live in - ok for weekends and stuff, but not as a permanent living situation. I was thinking I might buy a panga or something when I get there.

Keep it coming! :D

Alm - 4-6-2012 at 12:01 AM

Quote:

I own a boat now and would love to bring it down, but the slip fees seem to cost as much as an apartment (~$450/mo)! I was considering bring it down and living on board, but I think I'd probably go nuts in a short time - it's 28ft which is not a huge space to live in - ok for weekends and stuff, but not as a permanent living situation. I was thinking I might buy a panga or something when I get there.

Aha... so not everything has been lost in the crisis. I wouldn't do this anyway. Been to some permanent boat people in marina Sta Rosalia, no offense but this is not for everybody. Not only there isn't much space on the boat, but there isn't much privacy around the boat either. You have more private space on a public beach on an average week day, than on live-aboard boat.

Fernweh - 4-6-2012 at 06:42 AM

Not sure how much the "slip fees" are here......lot's of privacy for sure

Quite a bit away from the SF Bay, but it could be another great adventure.....

MitchMan - 4-6-2012 at 09:38 AM

Soulpatch,
730KWH per month would translate to about $700 pesos per month which at todays exchange rate of about 12.7 is about $55 USD per month.

willardguy - 4-6-2012 at 09:53 AM

slip fees at puerto salina are $8.50 ft. with a $75 live aboard fee including water and electric. Its a really nice facility, I was a liveaboard in channel islands marina for 10 years and loved it.

Alm - 4-6-2012 at 11:09 AM

Fernweh, I'm perhaps biased towards shore living, even though spend a bit of time on water. This is a nice cove, but you are tied to this anchorage in all ways. You take a daily trip ashore in a dinghy to stretch your legs and you can't walk away. Limited electricity supply from generator and/or small solar panels, small fridge - heck, everything is so small on a boat... Life in marina gives more comfort but less privacy, with fellow boaters few feet away, and all kinds of noise day and night - docks creaking, sail hardware clinking, motors running. This isn't for everybody.

Cypress - 4-6-2012 at 11:19 AM

Housing/rent? Depends upon where you want to be located. Food? Depends upon what you eat. Drink? Depends upon what you drink. Smoke? Depends upon what you smoke. In other words, it all depends upon you.:biggrin:

Fernweh - 4-6-2012 at 11:34 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Alm
Fernweh, I'm perhaps biased towards shore living, even though spend a bit of time on water. This is a nice cove, but you are tied to this anchorage in all ways. You take a daily trip ashore in a dinghy to stretch your legs and you can't walk away. Limited electricity supply from generator and/or small solar panels, small fridge - heck, everything is so small on a boat... Life in marina gives more comfort but less privacy, with fellow boaters few feet away, and all kinds of noise day and night - docks creaking, sail hardware clinking, motors running. This isn't for everybody.


This is so true......and I'm so very much appreciative that this cove with its tiny boats and only a few fellow boaters even exists.

Marina Del Rey is just minutes away from me, with its crowded everything "big", from the egos to the french door fridges. I'm glad so many other boaters like all kinds of noise day and night - docks creaking, sail hardware clinking, motors running. This isn't for everybody

rhintransit - 4-6-2012 at 12:01 PM

IF you want to live on your boat...you can probably get a slip at Marina de La Paz for 450/month. write them and see. there are a number of live aboards living in 28' boats there, I can't imagine doing so, but it is a great location and the cruising community is great.