New to this site new to sailing

[Wes_Taylor]

Hello everyone. This is all new to me. I am very intrested in the idea of living on a sail boat and going "wherever the wind takes me". I have two big questions though. What do most of you liveaboard's do for a money? Are you just living off of money you have saved up? Are you living off of intrest on some investment? Are there things that you do to make money while at sea? And my other question is about how much would I need to budjet for my boat and all the gear that goes with outfitting? Keep in mind that I have a wife and 3 young children.

[Talbot]

Welcome to these forums.

Your question is much more difficult than you might think (or at least the answer is much more complex). The cost for set up depends primarily on how much comfort you want, and how spartan the equipment level. 3 young children will also have a major impact - for example you might be content with a single cabin with three bunks for all the kids, or want individual cabins for each (very dependent on age) as they get into middle to later teens, kids need more individual space, plus each needs more study space, so things can get more expensive.

Intended liveaboard/cruise plans will also have a big impact, plus how capable are you at repairs and maintenance. If you are not very handy, but want to do long distance, then a new boat has attractions due to warranty plus reduced risk of problems.

The type of boat will also have an impact on cost - cats are more expensive to buy, but have more space for the family, and are nicer to liveaboard.

Costs for liveaboard vary significantly again due to lifestyle choices. If you intend to swing around an anchor rather than use a marina, and catch your own meal from the sea, rather than use a restaurant, life will be much cheaper, but your kids might not be so happy!

[Wes_Taylor]

I think that the kids would do just fine sleeping in bunks while they are young. We can always upgrade if needed. We are more minimalists anyway. I also think that some swinging around on an anchor will be ok. At least for a while, but then I have not experienced that before so if the water is choppy then my wife might be begging for land. I want to be frugal but still enjoy life.

What really got me thinking about sailing around is that we are Christians and want to peruse foreign missions. Though we would be limited how far inland we could go what better way to travel then like the Apostle Paul.

[Ex-Calif]

Hi Wes and welcome aboard. Embarking on the Liveabord Lifestyle is a serious undertaking. There are a multitude of skill that you and the family will need to master including:

Sailing
Sailboat maintenance and repair
Navigation and passage planning
Weather analysis and evaluation
Home Schooling?

And probably a bunch more I am not recalling.

In terms of making a living it is little different than any type of job. Do you have universal and portable skills that can be used anywhere? i.e. Mechanical skills.

Or are your skills such you can work remotely - i.e. internet based.

The vast majority of people cruising and cruising on savings and investments.

You are wise to question the family's ability to adjust and you should take steps to evaluate this.

[Allan S]

I have a small military pension now, will have another small pension when I turn 55 in seven years. It won't be huge but it will get us from one anchorage to another. Our plan is to, and it is being enacted as we speak, is to learn all aspects of maintenance on a fixer-upper (That is polite-speak for smelly old boat). We will upgrade in about 5 years to THE boat and practice on that while waiting for the magical 55th birthday then Canada can look at my pimply rear end as I sail to points unknown. Ahh, the calm just flows over me just typing that.

Oh yes, we also can't afford a brand new turn-key boat, but we will find a solid cruiser ideal for our needs. When we finally slip our lines it will be all ours, no debts.

Allan

[Talbot]

Allan, there are a number of threads on here about budget end cruisers. There are some good ones out there amongst a lot of overpriced dross. I suggest that you study the threads and look at lots of boats, plus spend a bit of time on them in order to refine your needs and wants. You then need to document the must have, need to have, and want to have aspects, plus the hate to haves as well. You then need to start seeing which ones hit the correct boxes, to the point where youu can start to add a price differential as well, because believe me, there will be one!!!

You also need to keep a budget for the items that need to be fixed/replaced/upgraded/installed in order to be able to safely carry out your plans.