Hello!

[WanderingNomad]

Hello to all, I'm Andrew. I'm a senior guy in the IT field in the private sector and have been travelling and bouncing around the world over the last 9 years doing contracts and some infrastructure design builds etc. I've been planning to purchase something like a 35 Intrepid or Hydrasport for a couple years now but i recently had a revelation of how unhappy I really am. I've found that im at my happiest when i have my camera, im travelling and i have my peace and solitude; yes all in that order. I've got bitten buy the youtube bug and found a few sailing channels of people vlogging, living aboard and travelling full time. I know there are challenges with boat ownership, trial and a learning curve that comes with experience. Over the last 4 months i've been scowering the internet daily looking at bluewater boats. My 'plan' as of now is to take a two week sailing course spring of next year. Probably volunteer my hand on a rig a couple times to gain some first hand experience. Id like to find my boat in the next year, spend an additional year rigging her how i would like and eventually put her in the water as a live aboard and do short sails to build my comfort and experience and eventually walk away from my current lifestyle. My dream is to sail the bahamas, turks and caicos and eventually make it down to mexico with home port being south east florida. I'm currently looking at some morgans and catalinas but still learning as i go day to day. Again hello and wish me luck!

[JoeRobertJr]

Hi, Andrew
It is good to have dreams and better yet to actively work towards them. Best wishes!

[tkeithlu]

Good luck and welcome.

The longer you put off the purchase the better chance you have of getting the right boat for you, because your preferences are going to change as you get experience. On the other hand, the quicker you get the boat he quicker you have bunches of experiences.

Some people choose a smaller, cheaper "first boat" for experience while moving toward their dream boat.

Buying boat that needs serious work as your first really creates a problem. The DIY can stand in the way of your getting on the water.

Ergo, consider the possibility of a smaller closer to ready to go boat as a first try.

Chance your dream, and tell the rest of you about your adventure.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Andrew.

[WanderingNomad]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Good luck and welcome.

The longer you put off the purchase the better chance you have of getting the right boat for you, because your preferences are going to change as you get experience. On the other hand, the quicker you get the boat he quicker you have bunches of experiences.

Some people choose a smaller, cheaper "first boat" for experience while moving toward their dream boat.

Buying boat that needs serious work as your first really creates a problem. The DIY can stand in the way of your getting on the water.

Ergo, consider the possibility of a smaller closer to ready to go boat as a first try.

Chance your dream, and tell the rest of you about your adventure.

Thanks to everyone that replied for the warm welcome. I thoroughly believe in the six Ps. Proper planning prevents piss poor performance. Im methodical to a fault so my plans are to purchase something from the late 90s-2000s that wont require a massive refit. I'm a techie by nature so id like solar panels, a wind generator, healthy battery bank, i even thought about running a tesla power wall and doing things that reaches my level of comfort but to be honest all i need is a tv and somewhere to play video games on my low boring days. I know the boating world can become a bottomless pit based on subjective desire from just par-rousing the interwebs. My realistic goal as of now which will evolve im sure is something 34-42ft, preferably early to mid 2000s and upgrades for creature comfort. Solar, wind, battery bank, i have some pretty great design idea for a SBC - single board computer to do some monitoring of ships systems with an always on display, up to date vhf, depth finder, radar etc. Still in the learning stage but i spend so much time researching that its fun and overwhelming at the same time.