Entrepreneur's location floats his boat | Hacker News Reader

Entrepreneur's location floats his boat

sfgate.com

21 pointsgibsonf19 comments

I love the guy from the Small Business Administration's comments being so stern. Typical. Although there's no indication in what he says that he's talking about the subject of this article at all.

He does have a point though. If your business model relies on getting new clients to visit you in your "office" I would not work on a boat at all. First, some people will not get on a boat no matter what. Second, you may have to cancel a lot of meetings due to weather even if the weather on land is perfectly fine or only slightly windy. And third some clients will think that you are not trustworthy and that you are on a boat simply so that you can get away at a moment's notice.

I'm pretty sure that was deliberate on the part of the author. Sometimes they need a foil - makes for a more compelling story.

Forgive my ignorance (I live in the rather land-locked city of Phoenix), but can you simply anchor a boat out in the water and leave it there?

Would you have to pay a monthly fee to the city or something like that?

Not really. You generally want to use a mooring instead of an anchor. A mooring is a permanently installed anchor with a chain attached to it and a buoy on the surface. You drive your boat up and tie to the buoy. The mooring is generally rented by a marina or yacht club. The anchor is just not secure enough to leave your boat unattended on. I leave my boat on a mooring through hurricanes.

You also need to be able to get on and off your boat, so having a dock to tie up a little dinghy or having a launch (kind of like a water taxi) is key, and marinas/yacht clubs will have those facilities.

I pay around $800 a year for my mooring rental and having the gear pulled off it and inspected annually, and launch service is included. It is far cheaper than a dock.

Some other practical limitations, if you aren't at a dock you need a generator running for power. If you aren't at a dock I really have no idea how you get internet.

But, having lived on a boat in the past I would absolutely love to do it for work in the future.

Hmm, okay that makes sense. $800/yr (if that is what he is paying) sounds totally worth it. Looking around a bit on google (daydreaming) it looks like it could cost anywhere from $1000-2000/yr depending on the size of the boat.

Internet would be pretty easy to solve, 500ft out isn't that far at all for a PTP wifi link (although the boat moving around might cause some problems with that if you're doing directional stuff). There's also 3G stuff although I once had to spend a couple of weeks working over my AT&T 3g modem and it was almost completely worthless...

/someday

In London you have to rent a place for your boat.

I'm curious how he gets internet access out there. Seems like that could be an issue.

Top Google result:

http://www.sausalitowireless.com/

http://www.sausalitowireless.com/wirelsfaq.html

    Can I leave the yacht harbour and still have a signal?
    
    If leaving by boat, you can sail out into
    the bay halfway until Angel Island, and
    still have a signal strong enough to
    conduct even video conferencing.
    Alternatively, leaving by car or foot, you
    can access Sausalito Wireless in various
    locations along Bridgeway (Cafe Trieste or
    The Taco Shop for example).

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