How does it feel...

[miked40]

Knowing you finally took that dream and made it real?

[LoudMusic]

Right now it feels like a shipyard. An expensive one at that.

[RaymondR]

I have discovered it's a bit of a trap, any other lifestyle is just to damned tedious and boring to contemplate.

[sailhand]

"LIKE HOME!!!!!"

[Hudson Force]

Just yesterday I drove over a high bridge spanning a piece of my former cruising ground and recalled the peace, joy, thrill, independence and adventure of our near five decades aboard. I still have endeavors that bring satisfaction, but I do miss the cruising life. So, in line with Sailhand's comment, I'm away from "home".

[miked40]

This is all really great to hear people!! Hudson Force I have to tip my glass your way. 5 decades is one heck of a run and a life few will ever have the pleasure of living or knowing.

[Ahquabi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_ZXglPhalc

[theDangerz]

Well... if you mean the dream of living aboard - we're still figuring out how exactly it feels and so far it's still different every single day (or every minute depending on whether some disaster just occurred or whether we're staring at the sunset or some awesome nature experience)...

But its been about 8weeks since we pulled out of the marina in FL and started living aboard and learning to sail in earnest... and I can say overall it feels amazing. We have already started having less of the terrifying moments and more of the relaxing/rejuvenating moments we had hoped for.

I can also say, since the boat life is new to us, but since we've been living on our own terms and chasing dreams/happiness for 7yrs (in a self-converted campervan) that there is simply NO better feeling on the planet.
Nothing feels more joyous, more free, more ecstatic or alive than knowing that you completely control your own destiny (and schedule and decisions and location). Nothing can possibly replace the glee that comes with knowing that you aren't wasting a second sitting behind a desk or clocking in and out so that someone else can make a dollar on your hard work.
Nothing provides more complete joy than knowing that if you learned today that your days on this world are numbered...that you wouldn't change a thing and you'd spend those last few days living exactly as you're living today. No regrets, no second guessing, just living each and every day chasing happiness and passion.

I highly recommend it... and if I can make any suggestion at all - don't wait.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by miked40

Knowing you finally took that dream and made it real?

That's what it is.....a dream.

Can you imagine being stuck on a small boat with no home to return to? (especially if all you are doing is cruising the ICW)

It's great for a while but don't limit yourself.

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by thomm225

That's what it is.....a dream.

Can you imagine being stuck on a small boat with no home to return to? (especially if all you are doing is cruising the ICW)

It's great for a while but don't limit yourself.

It all depends on what makes you happy. We have been cruising full-time since September 3rd on a Bristol 29.9 and it's been amazing, exhilarating, scary, tiring, surreal, and we wouldn't trade it for anything. Other people couldn't imagine cruising on a boat our size but it works for us. A bigger boat would have meant that right now we'd be setting the alarm clock to get up early tomorrow so we could snowblow the driveway before heading off to work all day. Instead we're in an anchorage in the Bahamas getting ready for tomorrow's adventure.

As for the ICW, before we left I'll admit I thought similarly ("All you are doing is cruising the ICW"). I thought it would drive me nuts, motoring day after day and that it wasn't really cruising. Now that we've gone down it once, I realize I couldn't have been more wrong.

The ICW is great! The scenery is different every day, there are countless different places to explore, and you meet so many friendly people. I can absolutely see why people enjoy doing it year after year. However, we also ran across people who couldn't stand it and just looked at it as a means to an end. Again, I think it all depends on your perspective and what you makes you happy.

Don't think that the ICW is something "lesser" than what some other cruisers are doing. If you're traveling on your boat full-time (and not just on vacation), you're cruising regardless of whether its on an ocean or an inland waterway.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Cthoops

It all depends on what makes you happy. We have been cruising full-time since September 3rd on a Bristol 29.9 and it's been amazing, exhilarating, scary, tiring, surreal, and we wouldn't trade it for anything. Other people couldn't imagine cruising on a boat our size but it works for us. A bigger boat would have meant that right now we'd be setting the alarm clock to get up early tomorrow so we could snowblow the driveway before heading off to work all day. Instead we're in an anchorage in the Bahamas getting ready for tomorrow's adventure.

As for the ICW, before we left I'll admit I thought similarly ("All you are doing is cruising the ICW"). I thought it would drive me nuts, motoring day after day and that it wasn't really cruising. Now that we've gone down it once, I realize I couldn't have been more wrong.

The ICW is great! The scenery is different every day, there are countless different places to explore, and you meet so many friendly people. I can absolutely see why people enjoy doing it year after year. However, we also ran across people who couldn't stand it and just looked at it as a means to an end. Again, I think it all depends on your perspective and what you makes you happy.

Don't think that the ICW is something "lesser" than what some other cruisers are doing. If you're traveling on your boat full-time (and not just on vacation), you're cruising regardless of whether its on an ocean or an inland waterway.

That's good news!

I'm certainly happy for you. (and I like those Bristol 29.9's also and almost bought one) I just worry about some that sell everything to live on a boat.

As far as the ICW, I've sailed or motored quite a bit of it already in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and Mississippi and I grew up boating on it on seaside and on the Chesapeake Bay on bayside.

I would like to sail ocean stretches even as a singlehander. I just found out about the Echomax XS Active Radar reflector recently that buzzes (and/or lights a light) if it's being painted by radar. This plus AIS would allow me to sail on the outside (the ocean) more safely from Virginia Beach to Cape Lookout or Morehead City (Beaufort Inlet) as a start even as a singlehander. I used to fish at Cape lookout so it would be fun to visit there again

[boatman61]

Thomm.. Unlike the movie this River has a return.
I have left shore for the sea and after a few years returned.. stayed ashore awhile then left again.
Its all down to the individuals risk tolerance.. land or sea it makes no odds.. I am a life long No Fixed Abode
Some are Linus.. others are Charley Brown..
Security blankets are more psychological than real as many formerly house owners of yesteryear will confirm from the squat, cardboard box of today.
Where there's the will, there's always the way.. if you can live on a small boat efficiently you can live anywhere in my experience.. till the next small boat..

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by boatman61

.........
......... if you can live on a small boat efficiently you can live anywhere in my experience.. till the next small boat.

'more great wisdom from Boatman! We cruised a bit wider range than the ICW, but we spent great times in the "ditch". After selling our ketch and moving to shore we haven't stopped moving. We can "live anywhere". Well, anywhere without stairs,- 'my wife's mobility loss took us off the boat; however, we can take two lightweight backpacks and be on a plane to an adventure for a month at any time. "Home" is just where we are spending the night. There is a great freedom in non-ownership! ...and this freedom came with our years on the small boat.

[Capt JJ]

Nice to be living aboard a vessel I own outright again, 16mo couch surfing living outta my corvette and the 2 women who sold me on living with them/bait and switched me to a point I went back to couch surfing/living outta my corvette got old quick!

Presently living in boat yard is getting old, miss floating and sudden bobbing if wake tossing hull some...but yard life nice in point I can sand, paint varnish grind apoxy repeat all times as much or little as I want...

Nice thing about sailboat life, when I need a break I can haul out, hop on Harley and take off just like my RV living boat hating critic types...

Ready to splash after bike week, ready to go cruising...just little more work...

I’m so not the home owner type, gladly throw $$$ at my boat/expenses of owning a boat vs owning homes again...

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Thomm.. Unlike the movie this River has a return.
I have left shore for the sea and after a few years returned.. stayed ashore awhile then left again.
Its all down to the individuals risk tolerance.. land or sea it makes no odds.. I am a life long No Fixed Abode
Some are Linus.. others are Charley Brown..
Security blankets are more psychological than real as many formerly house owners of yesteryear will confirm from the squat, cardboard box of today.
Where there's the will, there's always the way.. if you can live on a small boat efficiently you can live anywhere in my experience.. till the next small boat..

Yeah, it's just that I've seen quite a few while living in Florida not last in the cruising life too long.

I remember seeing folks anchored in small boats just hanging out for weeks on end or motoring the ICW. I'm thinking both get old after a while

As long as you have a destination (or multiple destinations) and continue to move toward it or them, that might work, but to just hang out not doing a lot won't work for many of us