Reality Check: Is the Liveaboard Lifestyle Possible for Us?

[azhootie]

with regard to our house, we never planned to keep it. in fact, we'd originally planned to sell it prior to coming to South Africa but my sister decided to leave her hubby after 23 years of marriage and came to AZ because that's where my mom was....we were on a 6 month contract in FL at the time....so rather than come back to AZ and prep the house to sell, we rented it to her (at a fairly substantial rental loss but that's what ya do for family and/or friends in my world).

Our goal was to sell it and buy a small place in some tropical diving location like Costa Rica, Honduras, etc.....so again, keeping it was never in the plans. It's way too big for us now....a 3200 sq ft one story house with 5 bdrms, a library, exercise room, massive back yard with pool and built in bbq area, court yard, butler's pantry, 3 car garage, etc.

My sister has kept it pristine and everything that has gone wrong with it has been fixed immediately so it's ready for new renters. I'm thinking with a high end home, renters are often of a higher quality (although when i was young and poor and a renter, I still treated the rentals I lived is as if they were my own).

I don't think we could cash flow it even though our mortgage is at 3.25% because of all the extras (pool service, lawn service, HOA) but we could come pretty close to breaking even and we could let it appreciate for a couple more years til we're ready to buy a boat. We're fortunate that we purchased when the market hit bottom and our home has already gone up almost $100K in value.

I guess the bottom line is I am with ya when you said "that hanging onto a house only for financial considerations may not make sense." I don't think it makes sense for us beyond the time we are here in SA.

[Kenomac]

On your projected budget, I don't think you're going to be able to travel the world on a motor yacht. The catamaran would be a better choice. But on your boat budget of $200k, the catamaran is going to be quite small.

[azhootie]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

On your projected budget, I don't think you're going to be able to travel the world on a motor yacht. The catamaran would be a better choice. But on your boat budget of $200k, the catamaran is going to be quite small.

small is okay! been chatting with some folks who have a 36 footer and are quite content. And if I have to give up the thought of traveling to Fiji and various other parts, I'm good with that. Just wanted to find out if it was realistic and if it's not, well then that's okay, too. We can always just fly there and do a liveaboard dive trip if I find that I can't stay away.....I'm guessing that there will be enough to keep us busy in the Caribbean and South/Central America for many years anyway.

Gracias for your input!

[marlinmike]

A lot of great information on this thread, I think you and your husband are as good as candidates to go live-a-board then anyone from what I read. Like others have suggested and since you have almost two years before you pull the trigger, I would charter down in the carribean for a couple weeks or more and "get your feet wet". After that I think you both will have a good idea what you like and don't like.

Side note, A/C for use for sleeping is rarely seen/done, between the noise of gen and A/C, in addition to noise to neighbors, just doesnt happen much. Not to say I wouldnt want an AC on the boat, when at marina's is a very nice noise REDUCING appliance.

[Lepke]

A couple more thoughts...

How old is too old - my boat is 1942, my commercial boat was built in 1927, originally as a rum runner. It's still around with its' 4th set of main engines. Here in the NW, there are wood halibut schooners and tenders still working. Boats that were built more than 100 years ago. Maintenance is the key. Wood will last if properly preserved and cared for. They take more effort than steel and much more than fiberglass, but once brought up to standard, they are not that difficult to keep up. In my youth, for a time, I worked as a shipwright and so wood isn't the daunting task for me.
Your husbands health care is probably available in American Samoa. My VA is. Also Guam and the Philippines. Lots of people from those places served in the military. For where you want to travel, Samoa might make a good home port.
Lepke

[BandB]

Originally Posted by azhootie

I'm thinking with a high end home, renters are often of a higher quality

.

Don't think that at all or you'll make a serious mistake. Make sure your sister or someone you trust is keeping an eye on things. If you have a need for any repairs, get an impression as to how it's being kept. There are many times families rent high end homes and the parents basically let the kids do anything because they're thinking "it's not our home." So, just like any other group you can get good or bad renters.

[boating2go]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

This statement from Vic trumps everything else that has been said about expense, repairs, and miles per gallon. If you want to cut your fuel costs in half, simply spend a little more time enjoying the port your in before cruising to the next destination. If you want to lessen your repair costs, wait for the best of weather and take the route with shorter hops while.
I'll be the first to admit that we are lazy "cockpit potatoes"! We usually take a slip near family for the holidays from Thanksgiving to the New Year and then we might take a month to cruise from North Florida to the Bahamas or Keys. I'll turn around for a northbound cruise this comming saturday and I'll likely arrive in Maine sometime in mid-july. That will be five months for us to get from Florida to Maine. I'm not propossing this style of travel for all, but I'll be quick to point out that it is vastly cheaper to complete a potential two week voyage in five months! We're not choosing this manner of cruising in order to conserve funds. It's just a beneficial outcome of what we enjoy.

This sounds perfect to me! Enjoy life instead of rushing through it.