Foreign Property News | Posted by Hnin Ei Khin
A young couple have slashed their monthly spending after transforming a boat into their forever home. Lucy Gesierich, 22, met her boyfriend Tim, 25, in 2021, and they immediately bonded over their passion for travel.
Very soon into their relationship, the pair decided to indulge in that love by renovating a boat to live on full-time and sail the seas.They invested in a 42-foot vessel for £35,000 and learned how to sail before taking to the water.
Having previously spent nearly £4,400 a month on rent and bills in Berlin, the couple say their currently monthly outgoings are £970. And the best part is they can travel the world with their home.
(The couple on their revamped boat (Picture: Jam Press/@setsailwithus))
The travel-hungry couple are currently sailing the Meditterranean and have visited Split, Zadar, and Pula, in Croatia.
‘When we met, we started spending so much time together since it was nice to have someone that understands you and has the same desire to travel,’ said Lucy, who’s originally from Germany.
‘We quickly booked a holiday together and spent a week in Spain, then travelled to Thailand for a month.’
(The boat cost £35,000 to buy (Picture: Jam Press/@setsailwithus)
The pair were inspired to take the plunge by others on social media who were living a nomad-style life.
‘We realised that living on a boat would be a great alternative to the popular van life,’ Lucy said.‘We both wanted to travel around the world but we also wanted a base. A van however is tiny and quite expensive.
‘Buying a sailing boat was an idea for travelling flexibly, cheaply and sustainably, while having a place that feels like home.’
(They’ve visited countries like Montenegro and Croatia so far (Picture: Jam Press/@setsailwithus)
Although they had no experience in sailing, the couple set out to find a boat and challenged themselves to learn.
The 42-foot vessel was made by Bavaria and can sleep up to 10 people. With a 75-horsepower engine, the floating property comes with two bathrooms and two bedrooms.
(The bedroom before and after renovations (Picture: Jam Press/@setsailwithus)
Now the duo are busy turning it into a proper home. ‘From painting to cutting out walls to make the boat feel bigger, re-building and decorating, we made the boat cosy and finally felt like home,’ Lucy explained.
‘We sometimes bought boat stuff second-hand from other sailors, like solar and an anchor in our case.’
While renovating the boat, the couple also learned how to sail and gained a full boating licence.
‘We started first in Germany on small boats on a lake, doing several theory courses and then practising for two weeks with a skipper on our own boat,’ added Lucy.
‘We ended this with our licence, which you don’t need for sailing, but you do need for driving a boat with an engine.’
(Lucy and Tim love the lifestyle (Picture: Jam Press/@setsailwithus)
Lucy and Tim moved into the boat full-time in August last year after its transformation was complete, and have been living in it ever since.
‘It’s been incredible, we always feel at home while being in completely different places,’ Lucy said. They admit that boating life isn’t always easy, from cold and rainy days to having to religiously calculate water and electricity usage.
(The dining room has had a welcoming update (Picture: Jam Press/@setsailwithus)
(What it looked like before (Picture: Jam Press/@setsailwithus)
‘But there is not a single day or moment we have actually regretted moving on a boat,’ Lucy added.‘We always remind ourselves of the many beautiful and nice moments we have every single day.
‘Drinking a coffee on the ocean while being surrounded by dolphins, a morning dip in crystal clear waters after waking up, coming to non-touristic places, islands people would probably describe as hidden gems – the list goes on and on.’
(Saving money is an added bonus of their new lifestyle (Picture: Jam Press/@setsailwithus)
Lucy also noted how much they have saved with ocean living.‘When we go into a marina with our boat it costs us much less, currently it is around £379,’ she said.
‘We only spend half a year in a marina and the rest of the time only on anchor, which is free.’
In an entire year they spend under £140 on a tank of diesel, while insurance for the boat is £75 annually. Plus, their lifestyle allows them to spend less on activities like exploring and swimming, as it’s all free and on their doorstep.
The couple are using their savings to live while Lucy works part-time doing social media management. ‘Long-term, our goal is to find a way to finance ourselves fully through remote jobs or projects that we can do while travelling around the world,’ she said.
We have a lot of places we would like the boat to take us to, so I think we will definitely sail for a few more years. ‘Maybe then, instead of upgrading to an apartment, we could also upgrade to a bigger and more comfortable boat or catamaran instead!’
Both bathrooms (paint, new sink, lights, mirror) — £441 (€500)
LED lights for the entire boat — £176 (€200)
Their bedroom (mattress, paint, decorations) — £1,059 (€1,200)
Kitchen (new sink, paint) — £176 (€200)
Boat decorations — £264 (€300)
Boat-related upgrades — £9,708 (€11,000).
Total in renovations – £11,827 (€13,400)
Ref: Couple save over £3,000 a month after transforming boat into dream home (metro)
