Need advice , moving my family onto a cat for 6 months or a year to cruise the carib.

[cdy]

Don't think anyone said your kids would like or dislike the idea - just best to get them on board before hand - making teenagers do things they don;t like (especially older ones) is a bit like herding cats - its not easy. As a father of 5 - have a bit of experience - I would think if you propose 6 months at first with the possibility of 12 months on the boat - if the family likes it would be the easier sell.

Just my preference - like the idea of a place in Mexico with a smaller boat - maybe a 30 footer -you would have more of a base but could still cruise at shorter intervals with some of the family - and you could also just day-sail - something harder to do on a live-aboard

[alansmith]

Russ, where there is a will... there is a way! Check out San Carlos in Sea Of Cortez. Lots of good boats there. Beauty. Cheap cost of living. Can drive to Tucson if life goes sideways on ya. Medical costs are just outrageously good and level of medical care is excellent. Mexican people are warm and hospital. I have fallen in love with Sea of Cortez. Hurricane season can be frightful.

Lot of excellent boats at great prices versus Usa. Get in YouTube and watch some
Videos. Better yet... drive down to San Carlos and check it out.

[russelljw1976]

Originally Posted by bluenomads

You can definitely do it. There are boats out there that would work for the family size and price. There are insurers who will insure you. You'll need to be prepared to travel to find the boat, and it may be 20+ years old and need some work and probably will be a custom build rather than a major manufacturer, but they're out there...

Yup, thanks
I don’t mind a older boat. I can work on anything

[russelljw1976]

Yup I like that ideas too.
It does not have to 6 months it’s open to what we want to do as a family . They may won’t off the ride in 2 months , no problem. Who knows
Thanks

[russelljw1976]

Originally Posted by cdy

Don't think anyone said your kids would like or dislike the idea - just best to get them on board before hand - making teenagers do things they don;t like (especially older ones) is a bit like herding cats - its not easy. As a father of 5 - have a bit of experience - I would think if you propose 6 months at first with the possibility of 12 months on the boat - if the family likes it would be the easier sell.

Just my preference - like the idea of a place in Mexico with a smaller boat - maybe a 30 footer -you would have more of a base but could still cruise at shorter intervals with some of the family - and you could also just day-sail - something harder to do on a live-aboard

Yup I like that ideas too.
It does not have to 6 months it’s open to what we want to do as a family . They may won’t off the ride in 2 months , no problem. Who knows
Thanks

[Wmkenney]

I live very the plan, I agree with the advice on separating the husband and wife team to each get a better more thorough training as one will be dominant. My wife and I took the training courses together and it works fine, but I think it would be better training if we we're not reliant as much with each other. water sailing">Blue Water Sailing School out of St. Thomas was awesome for me, Jose was my instructor and I would very strongly encourage him/ them. As far as such a large family on a Catamaran for $100k, not gonna happen unless you buy a wreck....then it will take at least 3x 's the $$ to make it sea worthy. Agreed with the previous post, use the $100k for a down payment, finance the rest, sell when your done cruising. Good luck, don't give up on the dream of Sailing 😎