Visit our Popular Forums

rtbates · 25-11-2013, 19:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by elireloaded

I would say their design is quite genius compared to some other units I have seen

By design, may I assume you mean the cabin layout? That's the least of it when it's blowing stink and you're beating off a lee shore.

I wish you the best.

WebWench · 26-11-2013, 05:46

Here is a suggestion for you:

Sell or rent out your house and get sell most of your possessions. Put whatever you have to keep in storage.
Buy an older motor home....30-32 feet. Travel and live in that for about 6 months to a year. Go to camp grounds very infrequently.... mostly when you need to pump out your sewage tank and refill your water supply. Lots of walmarts let motor homes park for the night. You will gain experience on what it will be like living in tight quarters and being self contained....off the grid.
Drive around the country and look at boats. Stay somewhere near a sailing school and sign the whole family up for lessons. Florida has sailing schools and the climate is warmer there so you can learn year round.
Doing this will help you to get first hand experience on traveling and budgeting (by not going to campgrounds) also limit how many meals out that you will eat. At anchor you will need to do most of your cooking on the boat.
Your older motor home will likely need maintenance and systems will fail, engines will have issues....this is a blessing because you will have solid ground under your feet and can go to a motel while things get fixed. In the ocean it is not so easy. If at the end of your time you find a boat that meets your needs (you will know much more about what those are by then) then you can sell the motor home, buy the boat and go for it!

SV THIRD DAY · 26-11-2013, 07:28

honestly....despite all the try this...try that...forget all that.

Find a boat you can afford with a layout that will give you room and buy it.
Whatever you do or buy you will look back with more experience and realize you could have done it better...that is for next time and no amount of book or chat room reading will save you from some of those classic mistakes because part of this whole process IS the learning curve and no one can do it for you.

Move aboard and go. As much as people love to make it sound more complicated than it really is...it isn't. You can cruise the Sea of Cortez on a raft for heavens sake and be safe, happy, and live CHEAP...like under $1000/mo. We did it with our two kids for 4 years and if I could...anyone can. Your biggest problem won't be doing it...but it will be all your friends and family trying to talk you out of it...or calling you crazy.

elireloaded · 26-11-2013, 08:17

WebWench- Currently, we have a 28' class C motorhome and we were thinking the exact same thing last year. We spent 2 weeks in Flordia, except we were staying in a campground. We ate out little and cooked most of our meals in the unit. All in all it was an enjoyable experience. I figure if we can do two weeks in the motorhome then it should work well. The real difference I think is gas, so it makes costs somewhat different. Excellent thing about a sail is that you can go most anywhere at little cost.

SV Third Day- My feelings exactly. I look foward to posting, possibly on this same thread, the very day we make this happen. If one has the will, a person can accomplish most anything. I can recall discussing remodling plans on our first home we had about 10 years back, with our relatives. We had no experience and planned to do all the remodle ourselves. Our family either thought we were crazy or it would never happen. I also remember the feeling when it was done and were able to prove everyone wrong. ...Then a few months later when we sold it for twice what we paid. Not so much the pride of it but accomplishing something that everyone said would not happen.

RedFeather · 26-11-2013, 08:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

honestly....despite all the try this...try that...forget all that.

Find a boat you can afford with a layout that will give you room and buy it.
Whatever you do or buy you will look back with more experience and realize you could have done it better...that is for next time and no amount of book or chat room reading will save you from some of those classic mistakes because part of this whole process IS the learning curve and no one can do it for you.

Move aboard and go. As much as people love to make it sound more complicated than it really is...it isn't. You can cruise the Sea of Cortez on a raft for heavens sake and be safe, happy, and live CHEAP...like under $1000/mo. We did it with our two kids for 4 years and if I could...anyone can. Your biggest problem won't be doing it...but it will be all your friends and family trying to talk you out of it...or calling you crazy.

For some people, the planning IS the fun; actually sailing is the icing. And I do wonder, given the drubbing Scoobert has gotten, that if elireloaded did not plan, whole lotta people on this forum would be calling him/her crazy for not planning.

The take away: Do what makes sense to, and works for, you.

The Garbone · 26-11-2013, 08:36

I would get a job near the coast and rent a house. After that look for you boat. A Catalina 42 or Hunter, something similar is good not only because the price but because there are a lot of them and parts and fellow owners are plentiful for support in fixing the boat up.

I would buy the boat and bring it to a cheap marina near your new place and with a rental ashore you can afford a real fixer upper as far as inconvenience. Having to hustle down a ladder to use the head while you gut out your waste system is not the best option for living aboard at the start and with children it could really get hairy.

Once you get the basics sorted and a few short trips under your belt move aboard and cast off.

Pay cash for everything, do not finance. Financing tends to let you over extend and why make payments on something that you will be putting money into anyway, its not a car, you need to buy kit and parts from the get go, sail away condition is only sail away if you don't mind neglecting your rig until the point you get into trouble.

Good luck.

Gerrycooper56 · 26-11-2013, 08:37

We bought a 1991 Hunter 43 to live on in Jax, Florida in 2001. We got it for around $84k and was ready to live on with A/C, fridge etc all working. We spent 5 years fixing up and improving systems and eventually left in 2006 to sail to Oz. You don't mention where you intend sailing to but if it's just Florida and the Caribbean then a Hunter or similar high volume plastic boat would be the best for a family of 6 with $80k to spend on the purchase. I would definitely go as large as you can to begin with as with only 2 people on board we found 43 small.
Also with that number of people and marina living I would go with a step thru transom and large cockpit (possible with Hunter, Catalina). Everyone will appreciate the ease of getting on and off thru the transom especially with shopping. In Florida you will be in the cockpit a fair amount of time so need comfort. I would be starting at 75% of any asking price because at present yards are full of boats for sale. Boats with a bridge clearance greater than 65 foot will generally be cheaper than similar sized boats with a bridge clearance of less than 65 foot so if you don't plan on motoring along the ICW it may be an option.
Happy hunting

scoobert · 26-11-2013, 08:39

You could also consider a few cats... 4bd rm many of the old charter ones.

elireloaded · 26-11-2013, 08:43

The direction that we are leaning: Hunter 380 - Tri-Cabin Gallery - Ref: 77574 - YachtWorld.com Mobile ....but price is too much

The Garbone- Very good suggestion and we have considered that. Flordia does not seem to have that great of employment right now so we are researching the coast of Texas. I have done everything from pig farms to my current position as an A/V manager with quite a bit of construction in between. So I am open to just about anything.

annsni · 26-11-2013, 09:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by elireloaded

The direction that we are leaning: Hunter 380 - Tri-Cabin Gallery - Ref: 77574 - YachtWorld.com Mobile ....but price is too much

The Garbone- Very good suggestion and we have considered that. Flordia does not seem to have that great of employment right now so we are researching the coast of Texas. I have done everything from pig farms to my current position as an A/V manager with quite a bit of construction in between. So I am open to just about anything.

Let me tell you - with 6 on board, that's going to feel small. Our Catalina 42 is way bigger than that with 2 heads, a lovely private master stateroom, a large galley where more than one can work and lots of light. There's no way my family would be comfortable on that Hunter.

elireloaded · 26-11-2013, 09:27

LOL...I was just thinking of roping the kids to the mast and calling it good.

annsni · 26-11-2013, 09:30

Here are a few candids of our family on the 42 through the last 10 years:

Eating blueberry pie in Block Island at the salon table:

Me getting ready - my foot is in the master stateroom (bed on the left, closets and drawers on the right) and I'm in the master head with stall shower (where you can see a laundry hamper).

My daughter making lunch in the galley:

annsni · 26-11-2013, 09:31

More pics:

Big girls asleep when they shared a cabin:

6 at the cockpit table for dinner (we eat out here as much as possible)

View from master looking aft:

elireloaded · 26-11-2013, 09:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by scoobert

You could also consider a few cats... 4bd rm many of the old charter ones.

We also thought a pilothouse would help but not= seaworthy.

elireloaded · 26-11-2013, 09:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerrycooper56

We bought a 1991 Hunter 43 to live on in Jax, Florida in 2001. We got it for around $84k and was ready to live on with A/C, fridge etc all working. We spent 5 years fixing up and improving systems and eventually left in 2006 to sail to Oz. You don't mention where you intend sailing to but if it's just Florida and the Caribbean then a Hunter or similar high volume plastic boat would be the best for a family of 6 with $80k to spend on the purchase. I would definitely go as large as you can to begin with as with only 2 people on board we found 43 small.
Also with that number of people and marina living I would go with a step thru transom and large cockpit (possible with Hunter, Catalina). Everyone will appreciate the ease of getting on and off thru the transom especially with shopping. In Florida you will be in the cockpit a fair amount of time so need comfort. I would be starting at 75% of any asking price because at present yards are full of boats for sale. Boats with a bridge clearance greater than 65 foot will generally be cheaper than similar sized boats with a bridge clearance of less than 65 foot so if you don't plan on motoring along the ICW it may be an option.
Happy hunting

The seat that transitions to a step on some of those Hunters is really cool. Seems to make boarding much easier.

We would love to sail the ICW, but I have heard that its not good for sailboats. I thought parts of the ICW had less clearance then that. Heard there is one part where some have to step down their masts. Seems like I have also seen something similar to this on a smaller scale: