8 year preparation for circumnavigation

[SBenfares]

Hello all

I would very much appreciate advice and guidance on my plans to circumnavigate the globe.
I am a 19 year old university student from London.
I have given my self 8 years to prepare financially and otherwise.
I intend to leave for the circumnavigation september 2022 for two years.
I am planning to gather a budget of £50,000 for the boat.
£20,000 for expenses.
Of course this is all vague planning and time will sculpt what it wills but I would really appreciate advise on information regarding the following:

Finance:I will not be having children so I will not have to endure the financial burden.

Appropriate vessel:I have no idea of where to start with this.

Time:

Realismo I have to be more realistic (finance wise)

If any one could help me I would be eternally grateful as you can understand a decision like this takes many years of planning to ensure success.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by SBenfares

Hello all

I would very much appreciate advice and guidance on my plans to circumnavigate the globe.
I am a 19 year old university student from London.
I have given my self 8 years to prepare financially and otherwise.
I intend to leave for the circumnavigation september 2022 for two years.
I am planning to gather a budget of £50,000 for the boat.
£20,000 for expenses.
Of course this is all vague planning and time will sculpt what it wills but I would really appreciate advise on information regarding the following:

Finance:I will not be having children so I will not have to endure the financial burden.

Appropriate vessel:I have no idea of where to start with this.

Time:

Realismo I have to be more realistic (finance wise)

If any one could help me I would be eternally grateful as you can understand a decision like this takes many years of planning to ensure success.

First of all, you may find a boat for £20,000 that you spend £50,000 refitting, particularly if you decide to re-engine.

Secondly, I have been at this for some time. You may wish to read my blog listed below...it was started in 2007! There have been lots of challenges, some of which have involved other peoples' expectations, as if they ever got the work done.

About the best thing I can note in your case is that your time frame seems realistic, and starting at 19 is not a bad idea!

[x-ray]

You didn-t tell us, and may not know yet, how important comfort will be to you.
Living in London, i think it is a good idea to spend a holiday in Marmaris, as this is a place,
where many boats end up after a circumnavigaton, or at least after spending a long time in the Med,
and there are many well equipped boats for
sale at very reasonable prices. But before you do so, learn to sail, go sailing for a longer time, learn how to live
and work on a boat, and by doing so, learn what kind of boat you like to have.

[cwyckham]

Buy a26-28' older boat right now. Get sailing and learn to own a boat.

[jangann]

SBenfares --

You have 3 things to do:

Build capital so you can get a boat plus go sailing,
Learn seamanship, and
Get a boat.

For your first task, I might suggest taking a look at these websites:

Mr. Money Mustache
Early Retirement Extreme: — a combination of simple living, anticonsumerism, DIY ethics, self-reliance, and applied capitalism

They will help you become financially independent, and not part with money for idiotic things that will prevent you from leaving on an adventure.

For your second, you need to get out and sail. A lot. Go on other people's boats at first, take some lessons, join a racing crew, or buy a very small boat you can learn on. You can also learn a lot from reading books, following blogs, and taking courses like the Red Cross's boating safety (if they have something like that in your area).

Finally, get a boat. There are lots of ways to do this, but in your circumstance, I might recommend this book:

Fatty Goodlander, S/V Wild Card - Buy, Outfit, and Sail

Don't buy the book; you can't afford it, since you are now saving to go sailing. Borrow it from a library . . . .

Good luck, fair winds! Preparing for the journey is half the fun.

[Celestialsailor]

I don't know how you can plan 8 years ahead of time. I have problems figuring out the next 6 months. Maybe just tell yourself, you will move forward with your dream a day at a time, learning as you go. If it was me at your age, I would buy a cheap fixer dinghy for a few bucks, make it safe, learn to sail and sell it next season for 5X and buy a 20+footer, fixer, doing the same. That might take you to your dream boat.
A lot can happen in 8 years...jobs, family, health. If you want adventure, you can find it on a lake estuary or river.

[Tantalus]

I think the best advice I would give are contained in the words of Rabbie Burns.

"The best laid plans o' mice and men gang aft agley"

But hold strong and maintain focus and you may just do it.

In the meantime take every opportunity to sail, but spend little money on it.

I wish you well on your quest..it's an admirable one, regardless of what any naysayers may say. It's also achievable. Godspeed

[DoubleWhisky]

Originally Posted by cwyckham

Buy a26-28' older boat right now. Get sailing and learn to own a boat.

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

I don't know how you can plan 8 years ahead of time. I have problems figuring out the next 6 months. Maybe just tell yourself, you will move forward with your dream a day at a time, learning as you go. If it was me at your age, I would buy a cheap fixer dinghy for a few bucks, make it safe, learn to sail and sell it next season for 5X and buy a 20+footer, fixer, doing the same. That might take you to your dream boat.
A lot can happen in 8 years...jobs, family, health. If you want adventure, you can find it on a lake estuary or river.

Both above are excellent advices.
It is all important really to own and fix a boat before the boat for circumnavigation. You need the "before-boat" to be small enough to be quite simple (but not primitive) to heave it fixed without much of a spending, but on the other hand big enough to have most systems You will need to deal with on Your "round the worl boat".
Learning to sail is quite simple task. Learning the systems is more difficult (more still, if You are not of technical bacground).

Following the advice of Celestialsailor You will be not loosing money on the road, it is very important.

Eight years is long time, if You will use it properly, You surely will do Your dream come true

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by DoubleWhisky

Learning to sail is quite simple task. Learning the systems is more difficult (more still, if You are not of technical bacground).

Very, very good advice. None of us is born to be an electrician, mechanic, plumber and detective.

A small boat will teach you to sail. A slightly larger boat or one with more sysytems (some very small ones can have them, but most not) will begin to expose you to all the moving parts beyond standing and running rigging.

And as you "grow" you will begin to find out what you like and what works and what doesn't.

Good luck, nice dream.

[marlinmike]

For a circumnavigator you really need to be a sail maker, celestial navigator, mechanic, electrician, electronics tech, wood worker, plumber, cook and bottle washer. Best way to achieve all that is get a low cost 20 something foot boat and start at it, if you really love it, you will most certainly be ready. All the best, love the dream!

[GrowleyMonster]

What they said.

Get a boat now, and progress through the learning and experience curve. Take your licks in a catalina 27 or similar fiberglass sloop from the 70's. You can pick these up cheap, usually under $10k. I got my Cal 2-27 for $2k basically ready to sail away. In fact I did go for a short sail the day after I bought it, as I recall. A 25 to 30 foot boat is (barely) usually big enough to live aboard. Possibly cheaper to live aboard than to rent an apartment. It is for me, anyway. Start out with day sails in local, protected waters and work up to overnights, short coastal cruising, and eventually longer trips. You get a better grip on stuff like provisioning, emergency repairs, voyage planning and navigation, regulatory stuff and paperwork, as you go along. If you start now, you will possibly be ready to skipper your hoped-for circumnavigation in 8 years, yeah.

It has been said that with motor boats, it is all about the destination, and getting there. With sailboats, you are already there. It is all about the journey. I would apply this figuratively as well as literally. Don't focus tightly on circumnavigating at this point. Set your sights on something a little more immediate. Enjoy the journey, the process. If you are living large and enjoying a boat, your time and money will not seem to have been wasted if for some reason you never go around the world or if you just lose interest. At 19, your hopes, aspirations, and goals seem more solid and unbending than they actually are. So get some fun time in on the water now, or at least in the next year or so.

A small liveaboard cruiser as your first boat is not the only way to get started. You could also start with a daysailer, a "trailer queen" that you can simply park at your house instead of paying for a marina slip. Maintenance is way easier, all costs are less, and you still have a lot of fun. Even a cartop dinghy can be a blast, and a dinghy teaches you a lot about how sailing actually works, real quick. (The first capsize is a major rite of passage!)

Getting some professional instruction of some sort is a great idea. Yeah, you can go it alone, self-taught, but there are distinct advantages to going through a formal course of instruction. Most sailing schools have a bareboat charter qualification course that gives you the credentials that charter companies recognize. Can you picture yourself a year or two from now, skippering a nearly new and immaculately maintained yacht through the Caribbean for two weeks? It is a realistic short term goal that fits right into your long range plan.

Local sailing clubs and marinas are great places to meet people and offer to crew for races or short cruises. If you are willing to do the grunt work and menial tasks that all boat owners would rather not do, and you bring the beer, you will find a spot on someone's boat, yeah. You will learn a lot and make friends for life. You will hear about boats for sale, before they are listed. You will learn about all the stuff a boat owner has to do to keep on being one!

The totally self taught option can be a rocky one. If you go it on your own, you really should supplement it with at least a little bit of crewing and/or formal classes.

So, try to
(1) get started sailing now
(2) be flexible
(3) focus on short term goals while still dreaming the dream.
(4) make use of all available learning resources
(5) BE SAFE
(6) HAVE FUN

[SBenfares]

Thank you so much for the reply.
The information you have given me is very valuable and I am very grateful that you have written so much for me to consider and learn and the undoubtedly the information you have given me will serve me well in the run in to what is my most sought after dream.
Again thank you and god bless.

[Barefootnavigat]

I can't tell if you are serious about this or not but if y0u are why waste your time with college? If you actually circumnavigate it will change your life and give you opportunities that college never will. Your young, live your life. You can go back to college when your 40 and even if you pursue multiple degrees you still have another 25 years left to work, longer than you have been alive. Get a good little boat and 5K and split, the rest will sort its self.