Landlocked in Vermont

[hzcruiser]

You’re worried that she’s not on board with your dream, but how do you know sailing is the future for you?

Have you tried to charter a boat first for a weekend, then a week, then two?

IOW, learn to crawl first.

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Let me introduce myself: I'm Ann. […]
Doing that will set you up to at least be able to explain why it is important now in a way your good lady wife may be able to hear.

We've another member here who may chime in, Fred from Wings, calls himself <wingless>. He can be quite eloquent. He says flexibility is key, and I know for darned sure it is important, too.

Ann

Very sound advice, as usual, Ann!

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by David Mathis

You aren’t alone. My wife loved boating until the day we were married. Then the boat bedroom was too small. So I bought a trawler with a big master which included standing room and a vanity. That was too slow so I bought the present boat, a 43’ with a cruise speed of 23 - 25 knots, lots of room,full galley with a big freezer, twin air conditioners, etc. then she decided she didn’t like boating. […]

That sounds rather sad, I’m afraid.

[JimsCAL]

Lake Champlain is a great place to sail. So charter a few times to see if sailing is for you. Then if you like it, get your own boat. You may find like I did that living full time on a boat was not for me, but daysailing and a few weeks cruising in the summer was.

[dreamer1]

Originally Posted by squarpeg

It’s a cool dream, I wouldn’t get wrapped up in distant plans at the moment. I’m a Vermonter myself. I have a boat in Fla I spend winters on. Been boating a long time. My wife and I spent a lot of winters in the Bahamas. Something that I have learned is boating is or can be quite scary and difficult. While my wife has been a great sport about it, no way is she going to be talked into going around the world. There are easier safer and cheaper ways to travel. There is no way I’d let her go because she didn’t want to sail the world. My suggestion like others is to just get a cheap small boat. Lake Champlain is a sailor’s lake. What a joy. I have a Catalina 22 sitting in the woods I used to sail up there. Come tow it away and you can start your journey

I have no doubts about scary moments. I think it would be an incredible way to see the world...and to get to places planes don't land. I would love to come check out that Catalina 22 if you're serious.

[TrentePieds]

The Cat22 is an EXCELLENT little boat to learn the basics on, but it is not the boat you want for serious long time cruising.

A 30 footer will do the world-wide sailing for you, but you won't like to live in it, and a woman who is not a "hard core cruiser" like our Ann Cate will flatly refuse to participate in such a thing.

Let me tell you something very prosaic, something which is a deal-breaker for women who are not quite exceptionally competent and long-suffering in respect of dealing with sanitary needs:

Even in a 30-footer, let alone anything smaller, the width of the "heads" (the toilet room) is so little that you simply CANNOT do the "paper work" delicately while still sitting on the "throne" which in itself will be rather too low for hygienic use by people of normal proportions. And if you can't do it sitting on the throne, where ARE you gonna do it?

Once you are at 36 feet LOA, it becomes feasible to widen the heads enuff that it becomes useable for normally dimensioned people. The extra width must, however, be bought at the sacrifice of space for activities that you will engage in for far longer intervals than you will use the heads. Choices, eh?

Once you are into boats the length of Ann's and Jim's, this conflict between necessity and desire is much easier to resolve.

Then there is the question of ablutions. Again, in a boat big enuff to have a water heater, the imperative need that most women feel for hot running water on tap can be solved by installation of a bulkhead mounted propane fired "flow through" water heater. I am not aware that a diesel fueled such thing exists. Your storage capacity for propane will be very limited, however, say three dozen "normal" showers. And propane is NOT available everywhere.

Then there is the question of water tankage. Will you really have enuff to permit showering? Why not just take a dip in the sea? Because the sea is salty and your skin, to stay healthy, will require a flushing down with fresh water after every swim.

I think, dreamer1, that you need to put some seriously hard thought into analyzing the practicalities of implementing your "dream". The best way for you to acquire the specific knowledge that such hard thought demands is to take you wife on a "cruise'n'learn" vacation in the first instance. All good sailing schools offer them. I used to teach them. If a Cruise'n'Learn experience in, say, 6 months of retrospect, is remembered by both of you as a pleasurable experience, the cost of which has been but a few thousand bux, then kick it up a notch by chartering a boat for say three weeks (which the cruise'n'learn will qualify you to do). That, at a manageable cost, will be the proof of the pudding.

You, at the end of that three weeks, get to decide if you'd rather have a boat or a wife. She, conversely, gets to decide if there are things she would rather do than cut herself off from terra firma (and the kiddies, of course) going cruising with the man she's married to.

Heavy stuff, nicht wahr? But we all have to face it at some point!

All the best,

TrentePieds

[thomm225]

Here's a list of small boats for world wide sailing (cruising) that won't break the bank account. He also gives some good advice.

That is after you have sailed the Catalina 22 for a few years on the lake.

https://atomvoyages.com/planning/cla...ers-list-html/

[vermontjohn]

Landlocked if you need a good starter boat call me I repair boats in Grand Isle and have a good starter boat 802-372-3967

[JimsCAL]

The Cat22 is OK for daysailing and maybe a long weekend local cruising. Move up to 28+ for something that will work for a couple of weeks aboard. As has been noted the head layout is important. Most would also put hot and cold pressure water and a good galley stove are also on the essentials list for longer term cruising. I put lots of storage for food and supplies at the top of the essentials list. Diggind through boxes of stuff thrown in unused berths gets old very quickly.

[mvweebles]

Long range cruising is really about being self sufficient. Head and galley are obvious but are not a good barometer of whether a boat is adequate. To be self sufficient, most carry a LOT of tools, spares, and provisions. Plus a fair amount of power and propulsion adjuncts such as dinghy, outboard, rigging, fuel, solar, sails, batteries, controls, etc.

There's a lot of stuff and it has to go somewhere.

Still, given the OPs original post, my recommendation would be to go with a nice daysailor (Cat 22 would be fine) and see where wind and whim guides his dreams.

[fox9988]

Newbie cruisers here. Welcome.
I started similarly 6 years ago. Zero sailing experience. Discovered the Great Loop on the web. Started dreaming. YouTube. Forums. Books. Etc.
I was unhappily married, again. Got divorced, again. Put a plan in motion. Bought a $10K boat. Found a fantastic girlfriend. Retired at 48 years old this June. We don’t need a lot of money to be happy. It’s a mindset.
We preped the boat then practiced sailing for about 40 hours on the local small lake (not very fun for us). Left Oklahoma on the Arkansas River. 850 miles to the gulf.
We are loving it but it can be tough. Almost always weather dependent. Living in a ~240sqft boat isn’t for everyone. There are leaks, things break. Spent 5 days anchored lee of an island exposed to gulf swell in up to 43kts wind. Got tossed around. It was cold. Not fun. Waited it out. Left there on a 200 mile gulf crossing (seas still rough). Witnessed a nice 43’ sailboat being abandoned to a CG helicopter. Sailed on in our little Catalina. Arrived to sunshine and beautiful weather.
It can be amazing. Dry Tortugas. Snorkeling in water you’d just have to see for yourself. Sea turtles. 400lbs grouper. 8’ nurse sharks. Etc. Stuck in Key West now, waiting on weather. Enjoying KW SO much more than we expected. Amazing people and music scene here.
In my very limited experience, you’d have to love this lifestyle to tolerate it. We love it. (Being rich would make it more comfortable, not necessary for us).
We get one life. I refuse to waste mine being unhappy. Did I mention all my ex wives? Lol. They needed happiness too.
Good luck.