r/liveaboard

Upfront: I built this, so this is a developer post, not a "look what I found." But it came directly out of living aboard, so I'm hoping it's relevant here rather than just spam.

The thing that finally pushed me to build it: I wanted music or a podcast in the evening without a screen full of white-blue light blasting the cabin every time I picked up my phone. At anchor with someone else already turned in, even reaching for the phone to skip a track lights the whole place up. Every "dark mode" I tried is still grey with bright text — better than nothing, but it still kills your night adaptation and it's still glaringly obvious in a dark cabin.

So I built an Android music player (Aether Hi-Res Music Player) with a real red night mode — the whole interface goes red-on-black, not a dark-grey theme with a red tint. The idea is you can change tracks or find a podcast at night without lighting up the cabin or wrecking the dark adaptation you want for a night watch or an anchor check.

It does the normal stuff well too — hi-res audio, equaliser, works offline (no signal at anchor anyway) — but the red mode is the part I think this crowd will actually get.

I'd really value feedback from people currently living aboard, since you'll be testing it in exactly the conditions it's meant for. Is it red enough in a genuinely dark cabin, dim enough, anything you'd change? Not dropping a link unless people want it — happy to point you to it if you're interested, and happy to answer anything about how it works.

Cruisers and liveaboards out here - how do you actually find reliable people for boat work in the Med?
Engine service, antifoul, rigging, electrics, cleaning, deliveries.
Word of mouth is great until you're in a new marina and know no one.

I kept hitting this, so I've started building a small tool to make it easier: connecting owners with verified local marine pros, with reviews and payment held securely until the job's confirmed done. EU/Med only, euro, not launched yet.

Genuinely curious about two things: how do you sort this now, and would something like that be useful (or not)?
Happy to share the link if anyone wants it.

A lot of the older established channels are very polished these days and have moved on to new boats or building customs boats.

What are your favorite channels these days?

What makes you want to follow a specific channel?

Hey guys! Future world sailor here. Leaving the home port of florida to travel to colombia this year and from colombia to thailand the next. my dog goes where i go. we are inseparable. just trying to get some advice one where we can’t go together, what will be required of me, and if i can get away with just not declaring him as long as i don’t bring him ashore. he’s extremely well trained. could pass as a service dog. i can get water paper work needed, would rather just not have him quarantined. can anyone share their experiences with me? and please don’t give me the chat gpt answer of “i wouldn’t do that because that’s against the law 🤓☝️” answer. i wanna hear people REAL life experiences traveling with their furry best friend! Thank you all!

Been thinking about how my boat's audio is wired and realised it's basically three islands: the stereo runs the cockpit speakers for music, the MFD just beeps to itself at the nav station, and the VHF is its own thing. None of them talk to each other.

Curious how everyone else has it set up:

- How are your speakers and stereo actually arranged — cockpit, below, zones? And how do you have the MFD volume set: do you leave it up, down, muted?

- Does that setup genuinely work for you day to day — can you hear what you need to, where you need to?

- And the bit I keep going back and forth on: do your speakers ever do anything other than music — anchor alarm, depth, AIS — or are alerts kept completely separate on purpose?

I know some of the Fusion/Garmin setups can pipe alarms through the stereo and duck the music, but I've never met anyone who actually runs it that way, so I'd love to hear from people who do (or who tried it and turned it off).

Natalie

Im sure this subject has been beaten to death. Yet here we go again.

I have my RYC. I have friends with charter companies and moved 33 to 42 about 1000 miles now. I have been to 90 countries ( we will get back to that)

Im looking for something for a family of 3-4. I need to be able to damn near single handle it as everyone else is useless per se. Let's put it this way I won't trust them in foul weather.

I can care less in the world where the boat is. I will likely spend the first year in that sailing region before attempting a ocean passage to hone the skills.

I'll have £90-100k but momma didn't raise no fool. Should aim for 50-60k boat the remaining will go to B.O.A.T. cruise comfortable with minimal healing. A catamaran would be ideal but you will never find anything worth that in my range. And eventually resale after 3-4-5- years needs to be considered. Sloop rigging not ketch.

Yes i know the big 4 brands but damn there is so many out there. Its not like it's an easy start.

So my question to the house is.. what would buy

Hello everyone,

As the title says, I am a grad student at a small university in a beachtown. Rent is getting incredibly expensive as the area is growing so so rapidly and grad student stipends are not keeping up even with roommates. Honestly, I would be fine being "homeless" and crashing in the couch my advisor has in their office if I did not have a cat. SO I am considering living on a sailboat and parking in a marina somewhere close enough to the school that ubers or asking friends are not out of the question.

Can you all please give me sources or links to learn how to look into if this is the right option as well as how to begin or things to look out for? I am struggling the find info relevant and don't have the first clue. I am also open to being talked out of it, I just will not give up my cat under any circumstance and I will not allow him to live an uncomfortable life either. So I need to figure something out

Hey, what do you think of Birkenstock on a sailboat while living on a boat full time? I heard that they shouldn't get wet.

If I need to urgently get a divers medical clearance for a liveaboard in the Maldives am I able to do it on arrival in Male?

Looking for opinions on a power station that can power a Sea Ray 330 Sundancer, while on the hook. I’m looking at these ones that power RVs in the Anker Solix line because I’m familiar with Anker products. Any opinions or any options.