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SOME Cathay Pacific pilots are making an effort to stay off the land . . . by living on boats.

  The prime reason for the move is to avoid soaring rents and prices in Hong Kong's residential property sector.

  Pilots, first officers and flight engineers believe their company housing allowances are better spent on water than land.

  ''It's the only way to get away from Hong Kong's greedy landlords,'' said pilot Roger Robertshaw, who lives on a 17-metre Avanti power boat in Discovery Bay.

  ''You can't buy much for about $2 million any more. People are paying a lot of money to live in 600-square-foot flats.

  ''My boat's total space is about 1,800 sq ft, including the engine room.

  ''But although it is an expensive way to live, it's also a security measure where, if anything happens after 1997, I can just sail away.''   The cost of living on a boat can be cheap, but up-front financing catches a lot of people out.

  It is difficult to get mortgage financing for more than five years and insurance charges are high.

  John Findlay, general secretary of the airline's Air Crew Officers' Association, said: ''The ones doing it just like to get away from it all.

  ''In Hong Kong, people tend to live in little concrete cells.

  ''It's also especially good to just up anchor and go sailing for the day.''   Cathay has more than 1,200 flight staff based in the territory.

  The boat option has proved a big attraction since rents and prices, particularly in the luxury residential market, jumped in the first half of this year.

  Most use their allowance to rent junks or more expensive fibre-glass crafts at the Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club's marina.

    But Mr Findlay said none of the staff moved on to boats for investment purposes. The boats depreciated in value, he said.

  Paul Neilsen, master instructor at Mandarin Divers, who lives with his wife, Lorraine, on a junk at Aberdeen marina, disagreed.

  ''It's done for investment. Rather than spend money in the concrete jungle, the Cathay people invest in a boat so they have something when they leave.

  ''Property prices are going up all the time so, depending on what type of boat you have, it can be a good investment.''   People thinking of trying to escape the rat race for a quieter life have to consider the downside.

  Take Typhoon Becky for example. If there was a direct hit, the damage would be considerable, said Mr Neilsen.

     There was also the large amount of work to be undertaken preparing for the storm or repairing subsequent damage.

  He said regular maintenance work, including painting and varnishing, had to be undertaken to keep boats maintained, at a cost of about $15,000 a year.

  Marina fees were around $5,000. A boat could be moored elsewhere, but another boat was needed to ferry the owner to shore.

  Boats were also cramped and sometimes without facilities normally taken for granted.

  A timber junk is cheapest to buy at around $100,000. More expensive versions are over $2 million.

  Mr Neilsen added: ''It's an escape, an environment of simple living. That is the opposite to the concrete jungle like Happy Valley, where thousands of people live in such a small places.

  ''Coming through the gate to the marina is like leaving Hong Kong.'' 



Cathay pilots bail out of land option