How did you get from house to boat?

[valhalla360]

Lots of possibilities but consider this:

- You have lots of time so put the house up for sale now, take your time and get a good price for it (not when you are ready to head out and just want to unload it).
- Move into a small 2 bedroom apartment and liquidate as much stuff as possible. While still spacious compared to a boat, if it's too small, it's much easier to bail on the plan at this point.
- Buy the boat and in the summer live on it. If you can, do 6 month leases on the apartment, so you aren't tempted to go back to the apartment when the boat feels small. Again, much easier to bail at this point.

This way by the time you are ready to head out, the whole family is comfortable on the boat and it's just the traveling aspect you still need to adapt to.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by LF4

I agree with you, start small and build up to what the dream might be.

Just an FYI - starting small and moving up wastes a lot of money. You buy, maintain, upgrade, and sell the small boat, each of which is lost money that could go into your final boat. All you learn is sailing, which is the easiest part of cruising (sailing is easy and only really hard in books). I started on 39' boat, all I learned for the $10-15k I lost owning and selling that boat was how to spend money for the next owner.

Take some lessons and join a sail club to be sure you are OK with sailing/boating. Then get the boat you want to cruise on and forget those waste money intermediate steps.

[stainless guy]

Originally Posted by LF4

Stainless, I know we are also going to want to head north to see Scandinavia. What boats can make that trek?

As for the property income. What burdens come with managing a real estate portfolio from abroad, what benefits? This is a path we have the means to potentially pursue for passive income while traveling.

For your first comment i believe the time of year would play a part up there? People go everywhere in every concievable hull material just largely seasonally dependant in some areas due to ice

Commercial RE is easy if you have the right tenant... Triple net is the only way yo go

Short term rentals. We are doing this only so we have somewhere to come back to whenever we like. The goal with this is to break even and maybe gain some equity in future

Best to look into tax laws for passive income wherever you are as some areas rates are rediculous.

[tarian]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Just an FYI - starting small and moving up wastes a lot of money. You buy, maintain, upgrade, and sell the small boat, each of which is lost money that could go into your final boat. All you learn is sailing, which is the easiest part of cruising (sailing is easy and only really hard in books). I started on 39' boat, all I learned for the $10-15k I lost owning and selling that boat was how to spend money for the next owner.

Take some lessons and join a sail club to be sure you are OK with sailing/boating. Then get the boat you want to cruise on and forget those waste money intermediate steps.

This is good advice, maybe charter a few different kinds of boats, e.g go get a Cat on a holiday then next a mono hull, then work out what works for yu , people will give you rocket science on what boat is best what keel what rigg , but all boats can cross a ocean especially if tradewind, if you want to go into the northern latitudes, outwith ice there is no issues,
a boat should be easy to handle the right size for your family and good sea capabilities , do not get bogged down trying to find the perfect boat , its not out there , so if you fall in love with a boat and it ticks most of the important boxes , and surreys good , go for it ,
Learn on your dream boat get a skipper to teach you for a week and let loose , it is not hard to sail, it is not hard to anchor , it is not hard to steer, it is down to your own belief in yourself and your confidence and getting experience, there is many who have bought a boat and just set sail and learned as they went along with a can do attitude and there is those that have had their boat for 30 years and sailed it up and down the coast in summer
Go forth and enjoy do not every be daunted it is easy if you make it easy

[SY Kelpie]

Our plan began about eight years ago. We already owned a good little 27ft boat that we had equipped for long distance sailing, with new sails and a windvane. Whilst on a cruise from Scotland to Ireland we made the decision that we wanted to be able to cruise indefinitely.
So we decided to build a small house to provide rental income, alongside our own house. That came to fruition last year, and in two more years we hope to be in a position to sail away.
Our budget is far smaller than yours, but we hope it will be enough.
We already have a 33ft boat and spend as much time afloat as we can (2 adults, and our 2.5yr old boy). But we have concluded that we need a bigger, newer, and better found boat to be able to do the kind of sailing we want.

Having said that, the choice of boat is a pretty small factor in the whole plan. You don't hear of very many people who come home because they bought the wrong boat. Unless it's a dog, almost every boat is capable of sailing in pretty much any part of the world. It's the crew that are the weak link.

I trained as a primary teacher a few years ago, so I am reasonably confident on this aspect. My plan is to (loosely) use a curriculum approach for literature and numeracy, but everything else will be much more flexible. Think of every day as a school trip- there are opportunities everywhere to discover history, science, arts, and every other curricular area.

But it will be hard work. They say you need to dedicate one day a week minimum to boat maintenance, just to keep on top of breakages and servicing. This is alongside being a teacher, navigator, and administrator (customs etc). The actual sailing bit, i.e. how to trim a sail, is a tiny part of the skillset that you will need.

[Pelagic]

There only way to achieve that freedom is to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE.
Stop buying non essentials, simplify your entertainment, lifestyle costs and focus on identifying the boat that will suit you, by crewing on Other's boat of the size and type you aspire to.
Buying a beginners day sailor is a waste of your savings, but crew whenever you can to learn.
(With crazy racers you will often learn what NOT to do)[emoji4]

But that has great value to

[jen1722terry]

Hello again, LF4,

Fishtown! Wow, my Mom grew up in Northern Liberties. Small world.

We loved the old yacht club in Riverton during the 30 years we lived nearby. It's wharf is at the end of one of New Jersey's loveliest streets. The town was always a destination for Sunday afternoon walks/bike rides. A nice place to sail and keep a boat.

RYC was always less expensive than many other yacht clubs. They own their land and many members have contributed generously to the club over the decades. It's also one of the nations oldest clubs (1865) with long traditions of family-friendliness as well as "not too serious" racing. It's all about friendship and learning to love sailing.

It's also easy for you to get there from your part of Philly. And don't miss the July 4 children's parade down Main St. with fireworks. One of South Jersey's best traditions.

They still race the 19' Mariners there. I owned one of these many years back, my first boat that I could overnight in. Great family boat and they can be had in good shape for under $5k with trailer. The club allows trailer storage on the wharf so you can just use their cranes to dump her in when you feel like it or get a reasonable ball mooring in the river for the summer. Great way to get into the seasonal rythms of the sailing season and learn basic boat maintenance without investing huge $. There are some creeks and small inlets along the river for overnighting and a sail down to Penns Landing is always fun.

If you think you may be taking the family up to the gorgeous and popular Acadia National Park in Maine some summer, get in touch. We have a seasonal mooring float in Northeast Harbor, perhaps Maine's prettiest harbor. We'd be glad to meet you and maybe do a day sail around the pretty sea islands near that fabulous park. We're just completing a 6-year refit of our boat so we can share some of the experience we've gathered.

Good luck with the adventure. Lets us know how things are going as you and your family decide if life aboard is a practical dream.

Jenn and Terry

[goodnumbers64]

One thing you should consider is the Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia. It is located on the Delaware just below the airport. See the website for details. There is an adult learn to sail as well as a junior sailing program which could be good for your kids. Most of the cruising fleet is based on the Chesapeake, this could be a good place for learning and for building sailing friendships. Many members have cruised and done a lot offshore, transatlantic, even a few circumnavigators. You should at least take a look at it. It provide some of the resources you are seeking.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by LF4

First time poster.

Can you layout your steps from the moment you decided to unplug from the conventional world and travel with your family to the day that you left? Please lay everything out from income while traveling, downsizing your household in preparation for departure, selecting your sailing vessel, sailing lessons and other training, and did you chose to homeschool your kids or unschool them?

I'll answer your question and refrain from dispensing advice.


The idea was first mooted by my brother in 2009 who was at the time entertaining escapist dreams of purchasing a new or newish Kady Krogen motor trawler. We explored this as a thought exercise together on and off, I discovered this forum, and I dealt with certain land-based responsibilities. In 2017 I started thinking more in terms of sail, watched some of the various YT videos, explored the possibility of lessons and charters, looked at some boats, and made a decision to buy a boat that we could afford rather than dream about one we couldn't.


Looked around at a couple of local boatyards, ended up with this older 25' weekender, sailed, took care of the boat, started getting an understanding about cruising boats, systems, marina culture, weather, and the way various family members react to the idea of a life on the water. Went on some trips, had fun, made videos, made mistakes, made memories.


I never took a class. I don't do well with classes.


I hope to get a boat more suitable for longer trips. I would like to explore nearby areas as there is much to see locally both in the inland river system and the Great Lakes. We may charter a boat in the Bahamas at some point. It isn't necessarily an objective for me to become a full-time long-term liveaboard cruiser. I see a series of voyages of moderate duration (months?) being more realistic in my circumstances.

[LF4]

Again, a big thank you the the CF.com community. You have really helped our family come to terms with the long path that we have ahead.

We are going to be doing the following.

1. Continue to keep our girls in the water as much as we can. Going to the local Kroc center and telling them its fun to walk home in the rain..etc. I am starting to believe that a soggy/dirty kid is the happiest kind.
2. We are going to start our sailing lessons this summer. We are going to go with the local yacht clubs and possibly sign up for some ASA sailing lessons as well. Turns out, one of my good friends grew up on boats...we just never talked about it. His father owns a Pearson 31 and they invited the family to come up to Lake Champlain to enjoy it.
3. We are continuing to downsize our lives and focus on what is important to us. This is going to be key, it helps us save money, and it makes us happy. Total win, win, win.
4. We are looking into vacations away in the Caribbean that would allow us to charter a boat for a few days so that we can test out everyone's sea legs.
5. We will just keep doing what we are doing. At the end of the day, if we become nothing more than day or weekend boaters, we will have spent our time at something worthwhile TOGETHER. That, and we will have amassed a war chest of funds to do something else or just FIRE.

[chuckr]

Great plan LF4 -- but one more thing. Perhaps the most important thing out here is weather - learn to forecast the weather - it will take a lot of time but watch the pressure movements, winds around them, their movements - Chris Parker is a for pay weather router in the Caribbean and one of the best around. We met and talked to Chris who is a heck of nice guy. In our discussions we said we really trust him. His response was he sometimes makes mistakes and we need to be able to forecast our own weather. And we do.


When do day sails we look at 2-3 forecasts and for long sails we look at 4-5 forecasts and do a bit of our own. More than a few times the forecasts do not agree. as you get into them you will find most are from 2 models.

And when you get a bit better at looking at the weather find the grib files which is one of the models and begin to understand the weather and pressure movements.
Good luck and have fun.

[Wolfhound]

Get your children good swimming lessons: they -- and their parents -- should swim like fishes.

Alan

[SharAndy]

Saddest man I ever met told his story at a Looper Gathering....Had sold his business; sold his home; sold most possessions and moved aboard his 'new' boat in anticipation of a number of years of full time cruising. This was DAY THREE of being aboard. With tears in his eyes, he announced the boat was for sale...Wife hated it all.

With small boat experience, mostly on lakes, we caught the 'bug' but spent several years (while working full time) exploring the type of ocean going boat we'd ultimately purchase. We took a number of classes during those years in order to strengthen our skill set (ie Diesel engine repair; advanced first aid; navigation; weather; etc etc). We poured over various blogs and other publications such as this one for insights. We also charted boats for 10 days at a time ( BVI three times & Belize). Retiring, we were both on the same page that this was our mutual dream. Bought a trawler, sold the house; downsized but kept two large storage units of the Cannot Give Away furniture, etc. Full time cruising from Canada thru the Caribbean for 6 years. Never a moment of look back. Sold the trawler and settled back on land. Only issue was "Why in the name of god did I store THIS?". Way tooo much in storage. Now, a few years later, just purchased another boat because we miss cruising so much...but not back to full time cruising... just a few months at a time such as in the Bahamas.

Morale of the story: Prepare Prepare Prepare. As fyi we met many couples and insights are all over the board as to selling/renting out your home. Some sold as we did; some rented out their home and some of those promptly sold it upon return and wished they'd sold it long ago. Some were happy to move back 'home' and pick up where they left off. I will tell you the years of cruising will change your outlook, your perspective and your values.

Just go for it. Don't ever have to say, "I wish I had......."

[Pivo]

Hello. Awesome thread! There is some really great advice throughout (saving, minimalism, planning, etc...). I can share our experience...we have (had) a similar vision for our family of five. I started with a $600 laser and bought / sold a number of progressively larger boats - doing some work on each one to maintain or increase its value (hull, sailing, rigging, systems) in order to learn about sailboat management. Generally, it cost me very little as I bought smart (usually in the winter when people are trying to dump their boats in cold climates) and made good boat choices. At the same time, we started cruising and navigation courses. Over about 3 or 4 years, completed all the necessary courses and had some boat ownership experience. Again, not all that expensive and amazing learning about what we liked and didnt like. We did some chartering in the Caribbean to figure out the size and type of larger boat we wanted. A little more cost but made it a fun family holiday. Overall, we have owned about 6 different boats, cruised the Caribbean, and learned a lot about sailing. Our total input costs to this point are quite low and definitely worth the education and experiences.

Key learnings:
- one has to reinvent how the family works in order to go from living on land in a house to living on a boat. This is not a small change...
- we love being on the boat for a 10 to 14 days. Longer than that and we start to get cabin fever.
- as the kids get older, friends and sports start to become extremely important...impacting enjoyment on the boat.
- Long distance cruises are difficult with five people when only two crew are overly useful.
- Not everyone (in the family) will tolerate the inconveniences of life on a boat as much as the person (me) with a passion for boats.
- Boat ownership has to be a passion...as it's a lot of work.

Most importantly, we learned that although we love being on the boat and owning boats, we actually just want to simplify our lives and get away from the rat race. Actually being on the boat for months on end was more of a dream that helped us to cope with the challenges of the craziness of our lives. We have dramatically simplified our lives, maintained our sailing lifestyle, and begun to shift to living (on land) more and more in Central America. Our approach to learning about boat ownerships, sailing, and the cruising lifestyle was great family fun, not that costly, and helped us figure out what we really wanted in life. Overall, worked out great!

That's our story. Best wishes to you on your journey!

[JanetGroene]

Some random thoughts:

*Don't buy the boat too early. She's a demanding mistress. On the other hand, you need to know what household items will be needed on board.

* Rent a storage locker, at least for the first year. Don't be too quick to sell everything. At the end of the year you'll know what, if anything, you want to keep, sell, give away, take to the boat, etc.

* Start downsizing by selling large and valuable items that can be sold on Craigs List so you're dealing with buyers one on one by appointment. Putting everything out for one, big yard sale can get unwieldy.

* Keep your words sweet. You may have to eat them later.