12 Year plan, what to buy?

[gixxxer]

So I've been dreaming of living the cruising lifestyle almost ten years now. And I have a plan

Currently I'm 33 (34 this year) and plan is to leave when my daughter turns 18 which is in 12 years.

At the moment I have 80000 euros invested in stock market and I'm investing 1000 euros each month and hopefully for the next 12 years.

I have done the calculations (excel sheet from hell and this is the budget that I could assume that I have.

This is calculated with 5% yearly interest so anything above this is only a plus.

So let's start cracking, with 80000€ in the investment at the moment and with that 5% interest + 1000€ a month added to savings, after 12 years, I should have around 335000€ and when we deduct the income tax from the profit, we get around 290000€.

With this money, I should be able to buy a boat and cruise for at least 5 years.

What I would be looking is between 40 feet and 50 feet monohull with deck saloon and at least 3 cabins and capable for blue water cruising and if needed, can be sailed single handed.

I have looked for catamarans in the past but my budget just won't allow that to happen because I would like to get a newish boat so I don't have to replace everything on it in the first year of cruising.

If needed, I could extent the investment for another 5 years to a total of 17 years and then the budget would be after taxes around 410000€ which would of course give me more options but this is just a back-up if profits aren't what are calculated or something else comes up in my life. But I have to go when I turn 50 even with a small boat and rowing if nothing else works

And of course the amount that I have left after buying the boat, would be invested in stocks and would make me more money while cruising and hopefully extent my cruising time

I have done different calculations with 10% profits and 2,5% profits etc but have to plan with something and what I have seen in the past, 5% is doable in the current market state.

So if you have managed to read this far, what would you buy, how would you split the money to buying the boat and cruising?

[Cotemar]

Buy a nice offshore rated mono-hull sailboat.
Much cheaper to buy and there are plenty for sale.

[Sea Dreaming]

12 years is a long way off. Stuff happens. Concentrate on your investments and the boat question will answer it's self over the next few years : )

I say this because we had a 10 year plan and in the interim "stuff happened" and we went cruising on a quarter what we planned. Dream big, count on nothing and love the hell out of what you get.

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by gixxxer

So if you have managed to read this far, what would you buy, how would you split the money to buying the boat and cruising?

I have a similar plan, only I am leaving in two years.

There are two potential problems with such a plan. First problem is a financial discipline. If I was sufficiently disciplined, I would have left long time ago. Second is the expectations vs reality thing. The expectations are usually to sail long distance, and the reality ends up having a boat tethered to a slip most of the time. Unfortunately, the reality is that by myself I probably won't be able to do multi-day passages, and hence will be limited to coastal navigation. For coastal cruising power boats are more practical, one only needs a sailboat for crossing the oceans. However, that practicality theoretically restricts freedom of movement, so I am still undecided on what type of boat to get, although the list is quite short. I have owned three sailboats so far, and not a one powerboat excluding the inflatables.

That aside, I am planning to spend about 200k USD on a boat, and have the rest, about 500k, for the life support for the rest of my life - mostly invested, of course. I am 51 now.

[valhalla360]

Move closer to the water, get a boat with what you have and move on board. Then start doing some local cruising with your daughter in tow.

12yrs is way too long and too big of a commitment. What happens if you find you chose poorly and hate the lifestyle? Now you have a ton of money tied up and are stuck.

[gixxxer]

I've been sailing with friends boats so I know I love it. And for living in a boat now, I'm from Finland so pretty hard during winter. And also I make more money investing that amount rather spending it now.

And if thing changes, I can always buy a condo from Spain when I'm 50 and retire

[snort]

Buy a cheap boat now. You'd be amazed at what can around the world, but right now, the sailing experience will make you ready for that future big voyage.

[akprb]

What does "cruising" look like to you? Those 5 years non stop cruising?

Here's our experience and I've seen it play out in various iterations many times. After 3-4 months of non stop cruising it gets tiring (unless on a mission like cross the Atlantic or Pacific or circumnavigate).

At that point one becomes a functioning alcoholic or welds the docklines where they end up and basically the boat becomes a condo.

We evolved into a hybrid cruising lifestyle which is something you could start sooner perhaps. This also works well with a partner in the earlier years who uses the boat when you are back home doing what you do. The boat ends up somewhere new for your next trip and vise versa.

For us it morphed into 3-5 weeks cruising, 2-3 months "home" working on the business (self employed, that helps), time at remote cabin in the summer and RV trips thrown in here and there.

When one thing starts to wear thin the next is right around the corner.

Pick up a copy of "4 hour workweek" by Tim Ferris for a more formal explanation and practical how to tips.

Been doing his model for decades by accident :-)

All the best!

[a64pilot]

12 years is a long time, by then there will I think be a whole bunch of used Cats for sale as well as Mono's.
What I continue to not understand is what it seems to be an obsession with BIG boats.
( I'm not singling you out, however you post is very similar to many others)

Seems that the perfect cruising boat was thought to be in the low 30's for a couple, that crept up to 40', and is now at least 50', and I see posts of it has to be at least a 50' Cat etc?
I sort of understand that from Americans as a spin off of what I call the Mcmansion phase, but Europeans I have always thought used / wanted / needed less space?

But to get back on track, build quality in my opinion trumps age every time, that is often a well built 20+ yr old boat is in better shape than a 5 yr old mass produced boat, but the price is similar.
It took me months and hundreds of hours and a boat purchase to discover that myself as I began looking only at 5 yr or newer boats, and ended up with one that was 27 when we bought her.
Come down is size and operating expenses and upkeep come way down, maybe to the point to where its not a 5 yr cruise, but a way to spend the remaining good years of your life?

[a64pilot]

gixxxer, Suzuki GSXR perhaps?

[gixxxer]

Originally Posted by akprb

What does "cruising" look like to you? Those 5 years non stop cruising?

Here's our experience and I've seen it play out in various iterations many times. After 3-4 months of non stop cruising it gets tiring (unless on a mission like cross the Atlantic or Pacific or circumnavigate).

At that point one becomes a functioning alcoholic or welds the docklines where they end up and basically the boat becomes a condo.

We evolved into a hybrid cruising lifestyle which is something you could start sooner perhaps. This also works well with a partner in the earlier years who uses the boat when you are back home doing what you do. The boat ends up somewhere new for your next trip and vise versa.

For us it morphed into 3-5 weeks cruising, 2-3 months "home" working on the business (self employed, that helps), time at remote cabin in the summer and RV trips thrown in here and there.

When one thing starts to wear thin the next is right around the corner.

Pick up a copy of "4 hour workweek" by Tim Ferris for a more formal explanation and practical how to tips.

Been doing his model for decades by accident :-)

All the best!

Plan is to do a very slow circumnavigation. If I find a nice place, stay there for x amount of time and then move on.

I love to dive so that works with cruising and living in Finland, I hate winter and cold weather

[gixxxer]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

12 years is a long time, by then there will I think be a whole bunch of used Cats for sale as well as Mono's.
What I continue to not understand is what it seems to be an obsession with BIG boats.
( I'm not singling you out, however you post is very similar to many others)

Seems that the perfect cruising boat was thought to be in the low 30's for a couple, that crept up to 40', and is now at least 50', and I see posts of it has to be at least a 50' Cat etc?
I sort of understand that from Americans as a spin off of what I call the Mcmansion phase, but Europeans I have always thought used / wanted / needed less space?

But to get back on track, build quality in my opinion trumps age every time, that is often a well built 20+ yr old boat is in better shape than a 5 yr old mass produced boat, but the price is similar.
It took me months and hundreds of hours and a boat purchase to discover that myself as I began looking only at 5 yr or newer boats, and ended up with one that was 27 when we bought her.
Come down is size and operating expenses and upkeep come way down, maybe to the point to where its not a 5 yr cruise, but a way to spend the remaining good years of your life?

For me, the size is so that it can accommodate six people comfortably, have a separate shower, large enough cockpit and bigger boats handle the seas better than smaller boats. And also space for enough fridge/freezers so that I can do ocean crossing without any problems.

And for a newish boat, I like the new designs with light colored interiors with lot of light coming in. And also how the lines are done etc. You could do all this to an old boat of course but I'm not planning on refitting it for the first year or two before going.

I have done more research and Dufour pops out at the moment. Easy to sail with thought out design, light interior and the pricing is very competitive.

[gixxxer]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

gixxxer, Suzuki GSXR perhaps?

Yes, that's where the name comes from

[chris mac]

Long ago, I had the same plan. Like you I will be 45 when my youngest graduates.
I looked at it a little different though. I picked a number that I needed in investments to live off the interest. Anything above that is my boat budget.
I would love a nice new cat with all the bells, won't happen:-(
You have a lot of time left. Save wherever you can, invest what you can. Compound interest is a great thing. If you are diligent you might surprise yourself.
And I'm with you on hating the cold. Working outside in alberta winters:@ I've done my time. Bring on the tropics!!
Ps my time frame is down to under 3 years:-)

[laika]

Agree with a64pilot that build quality trumps age. And there's a big benefit to having to inspect and possibly replace certain systems on an older boat..it forces you to learn the boat and become a more confident, self-sufficient skipper.

It's a grand lifestyle..the last real bastion of freedom in the world perhaps. I'm 33, lived aboard full time for the last 7 years and now hybriding it with a home base on land. Similar to akprb, other passions have crept back into my life alongside cruising.

Everyone does it differently, but get out there at least part time as soon as you can and start enjoying the dream. You may find that dream evolves into something else down the road..why wait 12 years to find out? I've got two good cruising friends who are single fathers with pre-teen daughters.