Posted on 07/19/2018 10:29:09 AM PDT by sodpoodle
You’ve just weighed anchor on another night of bliss, lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of your sailboat in the calm sea. Before you is a small cove lined by craggy cliffs. Clear blue waters end at a white-sand beach. You’ve had it all to yourself for the last week.
It was supposed to be just an overnight stop. But it was so beautiful, you decided to stick around. After a quick dip, you’re enjoying a cup of coffee and a light breakfast on deck as you contemplate which island paradise you’ll go to next.
This life could be yours. Plenty of everyday people are choosing to live on the water full-time—in their retirement, no less. After a bit of training and hands-on experience at home, they’re tying up beside mega-yachts in the Mediterranean…finding large floating communities of like-minded expat sailors in the Caribbean…and island hopping in the Gulf of Thailand, heading wherever their fancy takes them.
This lifestyle is more affordable than you might think, often costing folks less than staying at home. For under $100,000, you can buy a well-equipped, used sail boat around 40 feet in length—plenty of room for two people. And you can live on it for as little as $1,000 to $1,500 a month, including marina fees. That fee usually gets you a full-service facility with water, power, WiFi, and other amenities.
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3672260/posts?page=27#27
Fifteen minutes before you posted...
wait! i thought that you’re supposed to write some novels first...
:)
Ah, the plane my uncle served on in WW2 in the pacific. He really had some stories, just the funny ones he mentioned.
Divorced two years ago.
Have been researching it for a while, and you can actually do it for a lot less than $1000/mo, depending.
It’s a buyer’s market for used boats. You can actually find quite a few for less than $50K in great shape.
The key to boat living is setting up a preventive maintenance schedule and sticking to it.
Living with less is the very easy. Winter can be tough to manage if you don’t have a plan (think moorage in a southern clime).
Also, keep in mind you can ANCHOR. Anchoring is almost free. You use a dinghy with a small motor (some are now electric, and reliable as a primary dinghy motor with a traditional gasoline backup) to go in for supplies.
Having a good store of replacement parts for the critical bits of the boat is important too.
Living on a marina is heaven. You get sunrise and sunset every day. Everything is better. I’ve also known people who rent a storage facility and they keep a chest freezer and all their hunting/fishing toys in there. They also keep crab pots, dive gear, kayaks, extra dinghies, and a complete set of repair tools and a work bench.
They now make portable water makers, heads that macerate that don’t require ullage (a tank), good reliable solar panels and wind vanes that generate power.
I’m a sail guy, as opposed to a motor sailor. You have way more choices for used boats, but they tend to be more expensive.
Boats don’t hold their value like homes. They hold them like cars, actually, so don’t think in those terms.
My plan is a 40’ sail yacht, maybe up to 48’. Homeport in the PacNW, but winter in San Diego. I’m setting myself up so I can work from where ever.
Been a rough two years, but my youngest has got maybe two years until I can sort of execute this.
As for thinks like washer/dryers and those amenities, you can certainly have those, but the marinas these days are pretty well kitted out in that area. They do make small ones for boats, but you’ll find there isn’t much point.
If you are an East Coast guy, your options are pretty huge. You can always go down to the Islands, which you’ll find are pretty safe for the most part. There’s a cruising community that is very tight, and hugely helpful.
West coasters have fewer southern options. Up north, there is the Inland Passage, Vancouver Is, and the San Juans. Great in the summer, but not much else. The Pac coast is BORING and can be an uncomfortable sail going north.
With the right gear, Pacific sailing can be very safe. EPIRBs, GPS trackers, AIS, etc are there to make sure if something happens, somebody knows about it. On the East Coast, you can also sail to Europe too. So many options there.
A boat is a hole in the water, lined with wood (or fiberglass)into which you pour money.
The author hasn’t done his homework. Something always needs to be repaired, Or painted.
Sailboats are not roomy below deck, galleys are always small and inconvenient. The head is a joke.
Forty feet is difficult to handle in rough seas with just two people, never mind a real storm.
It sounds so nice in those Jimmy Buffett songs, until that hurricane comes.
Or the Mistaka in Jamaica!
“Had a boat and got rid of it and now am a member of a boat club.”
From the school of wise sayings: “If flies, floats, or fornicates, better off to rent.”
Realtor commissions are replaced with broker fees, and the cost of having the hull surveyed, which you must do unless you want a very costly surprise.
Sailboats are more economical in terms of actually running them.
Relying on engine power is expensive, no doubt.
Hmmm, don't think Mrs Dad would appreciate that one. ;^)
Ernest?
Yeah. Until maintenance item #1 occurs, and then you can triple that.
80 gals/hr
TM/Bracken is on his annual summertime cruise. He usually doesn’t post much this time of year. He’s not a full timer.
There used to be a FReeper here that was a full timer. Forget the name.
I’m sure my dogs would not enjoy that lifestyle, they need grass.
You do just plop it in the water and forget about it.
Motorhomes have similar initial costs & depreciation costs as boats, and, while they have higher maintenance costs than regular autos, they much cheaper than boats.
Same principles of being unbound, paid & free camping, operating costs (gas, propane, electrical), but the complexities of land vs water are orders of magnitude simpler.
While living on a boat takes some research, most people are already familiar with driving their own vehicles, with millions having experience with camping, trailers or actual RVs. It's really a bit of no-brainer - there are armies of motorhomeless by the beach.
They range of true bandit RVs to pretty nice rigs that are stopping by while on the way to someplace else.
Owning a boat is like owning an MG or any British classic. They require at least 4 hours a week.
A friend has a boat in New Bern and the first few hours are spent fixing it.
Then comes a hurricane....
I loved that show!!
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