Retirement in the Caribe

[thepath]

I am curious about the opportunities for retirement in the Caribbean living aboard a boat. There are concerns of establishing a US residency, boat INS, Medical issues, Taxes, etc. Please advise if you have knowledge about such things.
Thank you!!

[s/v Moondancer]

A marvelous life but you need enough money to buy a reasonable boat and it will take more than one SS check to live reasonably.

Residency is not a problem we move from Island to Island.
We have US health insurance and medicare.
We have repatriation insurance to pay for return to a US hospital
Taxes are paid in US if due, none due elsewhere.
Boat insurance is a US company about 2-3%of boat value
Hurricane season is spent in the ABC's Dutch island or Grenada, safe and a reasonable cost.
Winter is spent in the Northern island like St Thomas, BVI, Guadalope.
I spend 10 hrs/week on maintenance.
We live in a moving community of good friends who we meet in different lovely locations.

https://www.google.com/search?q=bona...w=1252&bih=609

We make 100 scuba dives a year.
A friend just returned to the land for his 80th birthday.

Oh yes, it helps if you know how to sail.

[thepath]

Sounds Great!! I am wanting to establish residence in Florida prior to my retirement from my company in California (so I will start with that) then I was thinking of changing residency later to Puerto Rico for the centrality of it.
Comments?
Additionally I am looking to get a power boat, rather than a sailboat, so that bears the question, will your boating community accept all boaters or only sailboaters?
Comments?
I am planning on utilizing newer technologies in my cruising plan, i.e.,
www.omegasails.com sailing/powerboat
Everest Water - Yeti AC-12 AC/DeHum/Watermaker
and then of course solar panels and I am in search of the best windgen. . .

WindTamer Turbines - The Most Efficient Technology | WindTamerTurbines.com - YouTube

This company needs to marinize a design, I believe.
Comments?
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond!!

[SaltyTanned]

For 18 years I have been living aboard in the Eastern Caribbean. Temperatures are great especially south of Antigua. During hurricane season I went for 15 years to Venezuela but now consider this far too dangerous. So I summer in Grenada or Trinidad.

If you are looking for a more sedentary life at a comfortable island, with excellent medical facilities, good and relatively inexpensive marina, a security level comparable to home, and in general access to all modern facilities then either Guadeloupe or Martinique will meet all these criteria.

In general the Caribbean was nicer, less expensive, less dangerous some 15 years ago than now. It is still quite nice but more restrictive and expensive though today. On the plus side it is much easier now to find everything for the boat, the supermarkets now abound and the menu can vary from the strict: pork, fish or chicken of yesteryears.

It is not a "yes by all means do it" recommendation, but for many it can be a wonderful life. Especially if you like meeting and making friends with people of different cultures and languages be they onshore or on boats.

Hope we can have you aboard for sundowners some afternoon.

Michel