Any fellow veterans looking to start cruising?

[Bgonzalez262]

Hey there! I'm putting my feelers out there in the sailing community, trying to find other veterans like me that are looking to start cruising. I have a Niagara Nautilus 36 pilot house and I currently have it in the Puget sound. I am actually beginning to plan the first big shakedown cruise up in the San Juan islands followed by the rest of the Puget sound. I have already begun the process of setting my life up so I can make it happen, but wanted to ask few questions.
1. What are your plans? Or plans to make plans?
2. Are you planning on using your VA Disability to fund it?
3. What other avenues will you pursue to fund your lifestyle?
4. What questions do you have, whether it be about the VA, getting a higher percentage or even about making the choice to give it all up for a new life?

I hope this feed gets some action! It doesn't take much to sail around the world, but I found that the hardest part of it all was actually making the decision. What better way to move forward than to connect with others in the same scenario?

[JTGoodwin]

Ah, Seattle. Lived there for three years. Issaquah, actually. 18 miles from my apartment to work at Seattle Center. Hour and a half commute. Do not miss it. I did love the Puget Sound, though.



I was med board retired, so I have TriCare as well as VA C&P (90%) coming in. My wife and I have three kids that will be out of the house relatively soon. When that happens we plan on traveling. A lot. I want most of it to be by boat. She is mostly onboard, but doesn't care in the end as long as we are traveling. I desperately want to do a circumnavigation, but that may be outside of what I can persuade her on.


The intent is to be debt free by the time the kids have flown the coop. The current plan is to use my C&P and rental income from our house to cover everything.


As to other avenues, my wife is a university professor who wants to maintain her "day job" for a while longer. There's a little cash there. Mostly, though, it's C&P and rental.


I filed for IU recently.So unless you have a magical way of guaranteeing it, then I'm good on this end. As to a new lifestyle, I want it so bad I can taste it. I feel restless and out of place and just want to point myself at the horizon and never stop. We need a Veterans cruisers rally. Maybe sail to exotic locales, fight some Somali or Venezuelan pirates, and remain in a rum induced coma most of the time. We'll call it the "DV Navy."

[Lepke]

Been cruising. I'm a VN vet w/60% disability. On the water most of my life. Managed to push my body to about 55. I winter on the Columbia and try to go north before it gets hot. Like a lot of single vets, I like quiet and solitude, and go to Canada and Alaska to find it along with the great scenery. I rarely anchor where other boats do. Sometimes with fishermen I know. I mostly solo, but sometimes take friends or unpaid crew if I'm going to run 24 hours. But most of my friends are getting too old for boat travel or have nagging wives that are banned.

[STAE Sea]

Currently still on active duty in the DC area. When I retire in May 2020 my wife and I plan to cruise the Eastern Seaboard in the Summer and Fall and spend the winter in the Caribbean and on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, ( grand kids in Louisiana). I would enjoy hearing how other Vets are handling the challenges of cruising.

[ShellBack89]

Originally Posted by Bgonzalez262

Hey there! I'm putting my feelers out there in the sailing community, trying to find other veterans like me that are looking to start cruising. I have a Niagara Nautilus 36 pilot house and I currently have it in the Puget sound. I am actually beginning to plan the first big shakedown cruise up in the San Juan islands followed by the rest of the Puget sound. I have already begun the process of setting my life up so I can make it happen, but wanted to ask few questions.
1. What are your plans? Or plans to make plans?
2. Are you planning on using your VA Disability to fund it?
3. What other avenues will you pursue to fund your lifestyle?
4. What questions do you have, whether it be about the VA, getting a higher percentage or even about making the choice to give it all up for a new life?

I hope this feed gets some action! It doesn't take much to sail around the world, but I found that the hardest part of it all was actually making the decision. What better way to move forward than to connect with others in the same scenario?

Brandon!


Very cool on cruising. We have 2 power boats now but have them on the market so we can buy a Cat. My youngest has 3 1/2 yrs left in HS and then my wife and I are off. We'll begin selling everything during her senior year.



1. What are your plans? Or plans to make plans?
** Buy a Cat and prep in FL. Once she's ready we'll head to the Bahamas followed by the outer islands. First year we may head north to get away from the hurricane box but after that we'll stay south. We'll do that until our youngest is out of college so about 4 years. We want to stay close enough that if we have to fly home we can do it quickly. After that we'd like to head west. Don't know if we'll do a full circumnavigation but that's our goal. We for sure have our bucket list places to visit which will take us to NZ. Would love to cruise to the Med but it's that in between that we'll need to evaluate when the time comes.



2. Are you planning on using your VA Disability to fund it?
** Yes but we'll have more. I'm 100% and also collect SSD. My wife will retire as a hospital administrator but she is also a professor at 2 universities where she teaches online. Since we'll be staying close to civilization she'll be able to do that until we decide to head west. We won't have any bills so once we decide west is the plan my money will pay for everything. In addition we'll have saved up a nice cruising kitty to last several years.



3. What other avenues will you pursue to fund your lifestyle?
** See above


4. What questions do you have, whether it be about the VA, getting a higher percentage or even about making the choice to give it all up for a new life?
** Still doing research on healthcare. From what I've read the VA will pay for any emergency visits that may come up when we're away from CONUS but there is still other care that I'll need that may or may not be covered. From what I've read and seen, healthcare is affordable in these other countries.



We've been planning this for awhile. Our original plan was to do The Great Loop on our power boat but fell in love with sailing so we'll wait to do that when sailing to far away lands isn't a reality anymore.


Good luck to you Brother! Love it when I hear my fellow brother and sisters living their dreams. We deserve it!


Mike

[ShellBack89]

Originally Posted by JTGoodwin

We need a Veterans cruisers rally. Maybe sail to exotic locales, fight some Somali or Venezuelan pirates, and remain in a rum induced coma most of the time. We'll call it the "DV Navy."

That would be awesome!