Transitioning to a 'Liveaboard' Lifestyle

[jcmcdowell]

Consider buying a smaller boat- Lot's cheaper to buy, to maintain, to dock, to handle solo, who needs 3 cabins anyways? I don't have that many friends...)

look for something with a full or modified keel- especially at the beginning and solo you'll sure be glad you did after running aground a few hundred times on the southern eastern coast.

[Stillraining]

Nothing wrong with the brands you chose...their all over the world...

Here are some friends of mine that just finished putting 20,000 miles under the keel of theirs.

Good luck and thanks for being there.

Ruby Slippers » Rard Family Ocean Adventure

[sneuman]

Having lived aboard for nearly two years now, I have what I think is a simple rule for choosing a liveaboard monohull:

Lots of storage, heavy load carrying capacity, full or modified full keel (or, more precisely, beefy ballast).

The first is obvious and the second two interrelated. You will need all the storage you can get. If you actually sail (which I do), you will need a boat that will bear a liveaboard's posessions without performing like a slug. The first time you are aboard during a nor'easter, you'll understand the value of a full keel (i.e., not having to sleep on the cabin side).

All of these things come with a good cruising boat; Clorox bottles need not apply.

[floridanomaly]

get a catamaran! shallow draft, no heeling, faster, more space, and best of all... no 10,000lb lead keel hanging under your boat just waiting to drag you down to the abyss if you ever get holed :0 but seriously, you can find used cats in "the mid 40's" within your price range, but you are gonna have to do a bit more digging. check the link for the cat-advantage.

Top 9 catamaran advantages over regular sailboats.

[Cheechako]

That link wont work but its a Voyage 46 in St Martin. Yacht Depot, Inc (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

[witzgall]

Are you looking to finance the purchase of said boat? If full time cruising is in your future, than go out and buy the book "The Cruising Life". It give some pretty good advice and ideas on how to get there in five years. Financing a boat is not one of them (for most of us).

Chris

[Meerkat]

Originally Posted by witzgall

Are you looking to finance the purchase of said boat? If full time cruising is in your future, than go out and buy the book "The Cruising Life". It give some pretty good advice and ideas on how to get there in five years. Financing a boat is not one of them (for most of us).

Chris

Which author please?

Steve

[GordMay]

The Cruising Life:
A Commonsense Guide for the Would-Be Voyager ~ by Jim Trefethen
➥ The Cruising Life: A Commonsense ... - Google Books

The Cruising Life - How to Get Started ~ by Sue & Larry
Part 1 ➥ The Cruising Life—How to Get Started - SailNet Community
Part 2 ➥ The Cruising Life - How to Get Started, Part Two - SailNet Community

[Meerkat]

Quite surprised to see that Sue & Larry's expenses were only $13,476 a year in 2005.

So that'll be about $15,000 now?

I guess our pensions of $50,000 will be adequate to fund a liveaboard life then?

Steve

[TritonSailor]

Originally Posted by Meerkat

Quite surprised to see that Sue & Larry's expenses were only $13,476 a year in 2005.

So that'll be about $15,000 now?

I guess our pensions of $50,000 will be adequate to fund a liveaboard life then?

Steve

Steve,

I'm sure you know how it is for most people, the more you have, the more you spend. Aside from mortgage and such, can you live on $15,000 right now? Cruising will be as expensive or more so than your budget now, if you do not decide that there are some things your going to do without. Sue and Larry went without a number of things that they had on land. You can live comfortably on $50,000 a year, but remember the emergency maintenance's, custom fee's, marina fee's, provisioning, everyday maintenance, and having fun money. If you are willing to live without things you take for granted now, then you might be able to budget $15,000. It will take some sacrifice though, everything isn't "cheaper" outside the US.

Jeff

[Tom Hildebrandt]

Matthew

Retired US Navy here, you will never regret the decision to go cruising if you like adventure and going to different places. My recommendation is for a first boat, go smaller, I have a 12 meter sloop, and for me as a single guy I think it is just a bit too big and expensive to operate. I would buy for me by myself, an experienced guy, 35-38 feet. For a person who has limited experience, I would buy something smaller, 26 feet or so, particularly if you are single, then get out and go sailing without a big investment. While a boat in this range is really too small to do cruising internationally since you need to carry so much stuff, your initial mistakes will be more affordable and you will not have to invest so much upfront capital. You can always sell the smaller boat once you have a year of cruising, say Bahamas or Carib, and even if you lose a couple of grand in the sale and resale of the smaller boat, you will be paid back many more times by getting the more appropriate type boat for you once you decide what and where you want to do your sailing. Since you will be out sailing, you can also put yourself in spots where you can find the better bang for your buck, and be in a better position to know what is or is not good advice!

Contact me privately if you want to chat more!

Cheers

Tom

[witzgall]

Thanks Gord - I was talking about Jim's book. I did not realize the Pardey's had written a book with a similar name.

Chris

Originally Posted by GordMay

The Cruising Life:
A Commonsense Guide for the Would-Be Voyager ~ by Jim Trefethen
➥ The Cruising Life: A Commonsense ... - Google Books

The Cruising Life - How to Get Started ~ by Sue & Larry
Part 1 ➥ The Cruising Life—How to Get Started - SailNet Community
Part 2 ➥ The Cruising Life - How to Get Started, Part Two - SailNet Community

[witzgall]

I am making percentages up, but I would guess that over 75% of cruisers out there spend less than $30k a year for a couple. Completely unscientific guessing.

Chris

Originally Posted by Meerkat

Quite surprised to see that Sue & Larry's expenses were only $13,476 a year in 2005.

So that'll be about $15,000 now?

I guess our pensions of $50,000 will be adequate to fund a liveaboard life then?

Steve

[JackHinks]

Sgt. Mitchell,
As a former Eleven-Bravo, I got to say that almost any sail vessel is an upgrade over sleeping on the ground or in a fighting position! I lived on my Catalina 25, yeah, pretty small, but others have lived on the 25. She has a ton of room for her size, and I was single, my lady lived ashore and we visited each other. I may move up to a larger Catalina such as the 30 or 320 soon. My neighbors next to me lived aboard a Beneteau 350 or 351 and they like it. Only complaint they had was that there wasnt' a straight line or 90 angle on the entire vessel (a lot of rounded edges, curves). I didn't see that as a problem, but maybe cus I was living 5-6 nights a week on a 25ft vessel and thought their boat was palatial! My neighbors thought I had it made, cus my maintenance and cleaning was a lot less, but I paid for it with a lot less room. There are always trade-offs. Just get on a lot of different boats and you will start to learn what will work for ya.
Charlie-Mike Sgt!

[Tom Hildebrandt]

Hello fellow sailors

I have lived aboard solo (except for backpackers who shared expenses of food and fuel) and cruised for over four years, travelling from Australia, New Caledonia, Vanauato, Indonesia, Thailand, across the Indian Ocean to Seychelles, Madagascar, Mozambique, around S. Africa to Namibia, across the S. Atlantic to Brasil, French Guiana, Surinama, Trinidad/Tobago and now Grenada. I have a 12 meter steel hulled sloop.

My costs ran about $1,000 a month, not including capitol replacement for things like sails, major engine repairs, dinge engine,etc. Not eating fancy but well, the occasional night on the town, but no high end restaurants. Few marinas, doing most of the maintenance myself. There was not money leftover for tours and trips inland off the boat, except occasional day trips, no flights home, I carry little to no insurance, and my boat is a simple boat, foot pumps rather than electric pressure systems. Most cruisers with a boat my size have a budget of $2,000USD per monthand that can cover most everything if you budget well and do not spend the $2,000 each month ashore playing! These numbers also mean the boat is owned free and clear.

The best advice is what JackHinks has said,and I can not stress it enough for a single guy getting his first boat, go small, see how it goes, see where you spend your money and how you like the lifestyle, learn to sail and get out to the islands. Once you have the experience and have "made the mistakes" we all do while learning, then you will know what type of boat is right for the style of cruising/liveaboard you wish.

If you go small, your money will go so much further, less bottom paint, less haul out fees, less everything except comfort. If I had known I was to be doing this single handed, I would have 36-38, and would probably be a the lower end of the size range!

Regards

Tom