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Overall, IMHO the author was wearing some heavily tinted, rose colored glasses when writing this. A boat will work for some and be a money hole, relationship disaster for others. If a person or couple are not acquainted with the lifestyle, I would advise chartering a boat first to get an idea if it can work for you.

There are folks that can do this for $1000-1500/mo as the author tosses out. However, this usually is going to take a pretty frugal lifestyle of spending the majority of your time at anchor, cooking for yourself and fishing for dinner. If marinas are going to be your thing, budget $100-150/day same as if you were on a car trip. Marina rates are based on $$$/foot of boat, drop some for weekly and like a rock for monthly stays, paid in advance. Off season rates are less as well.

Food and fuel costs at destinations can be all over the place. Bahamas and most Caribbean islands are generally more expensive than the US and sometimes lots more. In the smaller Bahama islands and some other islands, water for your water tank can be towards $0.50 per gallon.

The $1000-1500/mo leaves no allowance for maintenance. Sailboats nickel and dime you then whop you with a bigger bill every once in awhile. Diesel power boats have greater fuel bills but tend to not nickel and dime you near as much

Honestly and critically assess your and your partner's compatibility living very close with little private space. Will you drive each other nuts? Assess your and your partners physical abilities. I have been a sailor and a power boater. At this point in my life, I physically do not want to commit to the constant physical exertion of sailing, living at an angle and moving from hand hold to hand hold. YMMV.

Whether buying a sail or power boat, get a competent surveyor to critically examine the boat. You may want to coordinate with the surveyor to have a second expert in engines to inspect the engine, transmission and generator. Make any offer to buy contingent on a survey satisfactory to you or the deal is off and your deposit returned. You can also contract a buyers broker that will search for boats meeting your specifications and geographic areas of interest. This is normally at no cost to you as the buyers broker splits commission with the seller's broker. If buying from a private party, I suggest getting a lawyer to handle contracts and escrow $$$.

Finding a seaworthy sail boat with respect to offshore cruising capability is easier than finding a power boat for this purpose. If you go the power boat direction, you will primarily be looking at trawler type boats and for gawds sake don't get gas engines or any go fast boat. For example, check out www.yachtworld.com and search for used Nordhavn, Kadey Krogen or Nordic Tug for a different style power boat.

With that $100k dollar figure tossed out for a boat cost, you're going to be looking at boats a decade or three old. Before even getting a surveyor involved, do your own inspection. Is the wiring a rat nest? Oily bilges? Odors? The boat is just sloppy or dirty? Dirty oil in the engine or generator? Obsolete or non-functional electronics and electrical stuff? These can be red flags of neglect that will cost you $$$ to fix. Learn the term boat bucks. One boat buck is $1000. Boat bucks are the unit to think of when replacing or fixing stuff.

Lots of rambling I know and better stop! BTW, pretty good chance I will be moving onto a boat in a few years. A used smaller diesel powered trawler is what I am targeting. Winter in FL, Gulf Coast and Bahamas. Hurricane season in inland lakes or the upper east coast.