Crazy idea? One year sabbatical...

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I can imagine, cause unless I'm mistaken you have the Zeiss made lenses?
I have always like Zeiss glass over the Japanese.

I think since the digital age, lens quality has not been given as much attention as it should, there is more to it than simple pixel count

Buy yourself one, the prices have come way down to even less than a 35mm pro level camera. The Phase One can be purchased for 20% of the cost of a new one, if you wait five to six years.

If I take a picture, the clarity and depth of field is not to be believed. A small window in the picture a 1/4 mile away, I can see a person reading a book by lamp light. If I blow it up large enough, I'm sure I could tell you what page he's on. Not an exaggeration.

And the images don't have the fake look like most digital images have today, very natural depth of field that leaves you feeling like you're still standing there.

[donradcliffe]

I did what the OP is considering 25 years ago. Took the sabbatical, sailed for a year to NZ, had a ball. Then the company dangled $250k in front of my nose to come back. Sold that boat, worked for two more years, bought another boat, and then went full time cruising for 15 years. I don't regret my decisions for a minute.

[a64pilot]

I always thought of a Hassleblad as a studio camera, an excellent Portrait camera, but sort of big to carry around as a tourist, and keep it hidden as its a little like wearing a Rolex watch.
My Brother was lucky, he only lost his watch and not his life years ago.

The quality has a lot to do with of course the very large size of the negative so that you didn't have to "blow up" the image nearly as much as you did in say a 35 mm Camera, of course the camera itself and the lenses were excellent. I assume the CMOS in your back is larger than a 35 mm format camera?
Having said that my life now is sort of a point and shoot consumer grade digital stuff that is small enough to fit into the wife's purse.
I know absolute crap quality, but phone cameras are the new standard.

It's a lot like music is now, videos have made music horrible as its more about how pretty she is than how good she sounds, can you imagine Mamma Cass Elliott or Janis Joplin being successful now?
Then digital is horrible, Bluetooth makes it even worse.
My Daughter is going off to College and wanted a "bluetooth" speaker. I just couldn't do that, instead I got her a decent Yamaha amp and gave her my JBL Studio monitors as the towers are too big for a dorm room.
She was amazed, she never knew the music sounded like that. Her words, not mine.

When we swallow the anchor, I want those Klipschorns that I have lusted after since I was a kid, I will keep the vinyls in airconditioned storage until then.

[Taichungman]

Hi Peppepep,
Your Questions:

- I thought my budget for the boat could be 200-250k€ all included, plus 1500€ a month for sailing during the 12 months, is this realistic?

* Only you can figure this part out; only you know your true budget. I do think that 1500 a month is reasonable to eat/live/sail on. You will spend all you take.

- I need to start a serious investigation about the entire project now, if I want to be ready to go in one year...do you think this is a crazy idea?

* Yes it a crazy idea but that's OK; that is how most ideas start out. I think you just need to keep on figuring and thinking, asking questions and you will find a solution. You can make it work with some adjustments. Massage it until it looks right on paper and fits your pocketbook.
Lots, I mean lots of boats for sale in the Caribbean.

Happy sailing...

[Steven UK]

Dear OP
Your story is very similar to mine, very similar...! I have run some numbers and when the last of my mortgage is paid and my son can drive mid 2018, I can cast off (wife has given me permission). I have budgeted more per month and less on the boat purchase than you have. I want no debt to keep me up at night, I don't mind living lean. Good luck and please keep us posted on the progress.

[peppepep]

Oh wow, I didn't expect such a huge discussion around this post, but I'm so happy to read lots of useful comments

Maybe I should give a couple of additional information to clarify on a few points:

1- 50k€ is the cash for the boat. We have 50k€ more that I want to keep aside as risk mitigations. On top, we have approx 2M€ invested in real estate properties that we rent out. Only a little part of this amount is loaned from Banks. Therefore I think it should not be a big issue to get some money from a bank, having as a guarantee part of this value. This is to explain why I was thinking about 200-250 k€ lagoon...

2- I don't live close to the sea unfortunately, because my job prevents me that...and therefore I don't want to buy a boat that I have to travel 200 km to see...On top, I live in Berlin and the closest sea will not be an interesting option to "enjoy" the way we are looking for (Baltic Sea ).

3- now, I have calculated that if I rent out everything that we have (including the flat where we live in now), and I deduct the amount that we have to continue paying for our existing loans, plus the new loan for the lagoon (I think around 1500€ a month, but I'm not sure, just guessing now...), taxes etc., I get into my pocket approx 3000€ a month. I wanted to know if half of this amount (1500€) would be sufficient for living on the boat because I want to continue saving money as a risk mitigation against the "**** can happen" mantra

4- I'm a mechanical engineer, and I'm quite handy with reparations, manual things. However I have very little experience about boat maintenance at this point in time, but I think I can learn quickly...

5- I'm Italian and not French, but that's OK

Now I think you have the complete picture... any further comment?

p.s. Have seen a blog today of a family with 4 kids that has been travelling for the last 3 years on a Catana 431, 20 years old...what a hell of a fast boat!!!

[daletournier]

My experience is on average cruising couples spend approx 35k usd/ year, this is based on my personal spending and conversations ive had with a number of cruising couples as well as various threads I've seen here etc. Look up chuckr budget thread.

Now I know some will think this is heaps but most of the couples I know aren't rich or poor they are somewhere in between (its all perspective).

If you have 2m in real estate and are an engineer I would suggest you live reasonably well and your suggested budget wont be very satisfying, it will costs more than you think.

Although others try to accuse Ken of living large due to having a nice boat, im willing to bet he spends similar to the average due to anchoring out etc. Ive been surprised how often that approx figure of 35k/ year rings true when I ask around, although I expect opposition to it will follow.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by peppepep

Oh wow, I didn't expect such a huge discussion around this post, but I'm so happy to read lots of useful comments

Maybe I should give a couple of additional information to clarify on a few points:

1- 50k€ is the cash for the boat. We have 50k€ more that I want to keep aside as risk mitigations. On top, we have approx 2M€ invested in real estate properties that we rent out. Only a little part of this amount is loaned from Banks. Therefore I think it should not be a big issue to get some money from a bank, having as a guarantee part of this value. This is to explain why I was thinking about 200-250 k€ lagoon...

2- I don't live close to the sea unfortunately, because my job prevents me that...and therefore I don't want to buy a boat that I have to travel 200 km to see...On top, I live in Berlin and the closest sea will not be an interesting option to "enjoy" the way we are looking for (Baltic Sea ).

3- now, I have calculated that if I rent out everything that we have (including the flat where we live in now), and I deduct the amount that we have to continue paying for our existing loans, plus the new loan for the lagoon (I think around 1500€ a month, but I'm not sure, just guessing now...), taxes etc., I get into my pocket approx 3000€ a month. I wanted to know if half of this amount (1500€) would be sufficient for living on the boat because I want to continue saving money as a risk mitigation against the "**** can happen" mantra

4- I'm a mechanical engineer, and I'm quite handy with reparations, manual things. However I have very little experience about boat maintenance at this point in time, but I think I can learn quickly...

5- I'm Italian and not French, but that's OK

Now I think you have the complete picture... any further comment?

p.s. Have seen a blog today of a family with 4 kids that has been travelling for the last 3 years on a Catana 431, 20 years old...what a hell of a fast boat!!!

Your clarification makes a HUGE difference in recommendations.

YOU'LL BE FINE. Sounds like an excellent plan. Don't listen to the people telling you to downsize.

Good luck and feel free to send me a PM if you need some help.

[a64pilot]

Then there is SV BeBe, a couple circumnavigating in an Amel I believe that spend 60K a yr.
However they were able with that budget to have their boat shipped to the Med and avoided trouble areas that way, and I think they fly home at least yearly, and travel extensively on land.

It to some extent comes back to it will cost what you have, as long as you have the minimum amount.
However add kids into the equation and costs do increase, they eat, wear clothes etc. and you require a bigger boat.
The downsizing comments were to try to stay within his original stated budget, which at best in my opinion would have them living check to check so to speak, one expense away from a ruined sabbatical.
Remember if they lay up somewhere to work and recharge the kitty, a lot of their year is gone.
Now that they monthly amount has been doubled, plus there is an Uh-Oh fund, I'm sure they will be fine.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Then there is SV BeBe, a couple circumnavigating in an Amel I believe that spend 60K a yr.
However they were able with that budget to have their boat shipped to the Med and avoided trouble areas that way, and I think they fly home at least yearly, and travel extensively on land.

It to some extent comes back to it will cost what you have, as long as you have the minimum amount.
However add kids into the equation and costs do increase, they eat, wear clothes etc. and you require a bigger boat.
The downsizing comments were to try to stay within his original stated budget, which at best in my opinion would have them living check to check so to speak, one expense away from a ruined sabbatical.
Remember if they lay up somewhere to work and recharge the kitty, a lot of their year is gone.
Now that they monthly amount has been doubled, plus there is an Uh-Oh fund, I'm sure they will be fine.

I maybe wrong as it was sometime ago when I read BeBe budget, but I think it was 50k usd? and that's when your US dollar wasnt so good. I find 50k aud allows me to live comfortably, thats eating out regularly and flights etc. It dosent include my current refit which as normal has blown out due to the want list increasing rather than just sticking to the need list.

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by peppepep

Oh wow, I didn't expect such a huge discussion around this post, but I'm so happy to read lots of useful comments

Maybe I should give a couple of additional information to clarify on a few points:

1- 50k€ is the cash for the boat. We have 50k€ more that I want to keep aside as risk mitigations. On top, we have approx 2M€ invested in real estate properties that we rent out. Only a little part of this amount is loaned from Banks. Therefore I think it should not be a big issue to get some money from a bank, having as a guarantee part of this value. This is to explain why I was thinking about 200-250 k€ lagoon...

2- I don't live close to the sea unfortunately, because my job prevents me that...and therefore I don't want to buy a boat that I have to travel 200 km to see...On top, I live in Berlin and the closest sea will not be an interesting option to "enjoy" the way we are looking for (Baltic Sea ).

3- now, I have calculated that if I rent out everything that we have (including the flat where we live in now), and I deduct the amount that we have to continue paying for our existing loans, plus the new loan for the lagoon (I think around 1500€ a month, but I'm not sure, just guessing now...), taxes etc., I get into my pocket approx 3000€ a month. I wanted to know if half of this amount (1500€) would be sufficient for living on the boat because I want to continue saving money as a risk mitigation against the "**** can happen" mantra

4- I'm a mechanical engineer, and I'm quite handy with reparations, manual things. However I have very little experience about boat maintenance at this point in time, but I think I can learn quickly...

5- I'm Italian and not French, but that's OK

Now I think you have the complete picture... any further comment?

p.s. Have seen a blog today of a family with 4 kids that has been travelling for the last 3 years on a Catana 431, 20 years old...what a hell of a fast boat!!!

We did that sabatical in 2011/2012 on a 11 year old Lagoon 410 with kids age 4 & 5. From "hey we could do..." to casting off it took about one year of intense preparation. Challenging but certainly doable if you have the right attitude.


Total living expenses (food, rental cars, eating out, ...) was roughly 16k Euro for 11 months.
Boat budget was 130k Euro, plus 13k Euro for preparation, maintenance and repair. That includes rebuilding the watermaker, some repairs and an unscheduled professional rebuild of one engine while still in spain.
We sold the boat in the caribbean to some US buyers for roughly what we had invested in her (including the repairs / maintenance bills)


The problem will be going back to germany and its shitty weather and your job. I came back and started to dislike the job I once loved (a well paid job that others would kill for but corporate climate changed in the meantime, and my view of the ratrace changed, too) .
Luckily I was in a financial position to just quit my job (with some financial aid from a workforce reduction program. BTW: thank you HP!).


My advice (but that is of course based on my priorities in life, family and financials): Take the sabbatical, go now. Most likely you can go back to the same job and the company will assimilate you in a heartbeat.
If you really enjoy the cruising lifestyle tell the company to get lost and keep going.


Don't wait. Its not getting easier with kids growing up and their peer relationships becoming more and more important. Casting off for the first time with the kids in teeny age may be asking for trouble. Ours have been sailing since age 3 & 4 and still love it. Friends of ours recently joined us the first time for a week and their teenage kids hated it (no internet, no buddies, no teenage parties).

[peppepep]

Originally Posted by rabbi

We did that sabatical in 2011/2012 on a 11 year old Lagoon 410 with kids age 4 & 5. From "hey we could do..." to casting off it took about one year of intense preparation. Challenging but certainly doable if you have the right attitude.


Total living expenses (food, rental cars, eating out, ...) was roughly 16k Euro for 11 months.
Boat budget was 130k Euro, plus 13k Euro for preparation, maintenance and repair. That includes rebuilding the watermaker, some repairs and an unscheduled professional rebuild of one engine while still in spain.
We sold the boat in the caribbean to some US buyers for roughly what we had invested in her (including the repairs / maintenance bills)


The problem will be going back to germany and its shitty weather and your job. I came back and started to dislike the job I once loved (a well paid job that others would kill for but corporate climate changed in the meantime, and my view of the ratrace changed, too) .
Luckily I was in a financial position to just quit my job (with some financial aid from a workforce reduction program. BTW: thank you HP!).


My advice (but that is of course based on my priorities in life, family and financials): Take the sabbatical, go now. Most likely you can go back to the same job and the company will assimilate you in a heartbeat.
If you really enjoy the cruising lifestyle tell the company to get lost and keep going.


Don't wait. Its not getting easier with kids growing up and their peer relationships becoming more and more important. Casting off for the first time with the kids in teeny age may be asking for trouble. Ours have been sailing since age 3 & 4 and still love it. Friends of ours recently joined us the first time for a week and their teenage kids hated it (no internet, no buddies, no teenage parties).

Hi rabbi, thank you for your story, I feel we could be in similar situation. Also in terms of budget, that could be ideal for us (130k for the boat and 16k for one year live onboard).

Is there a checklist or action plan that you can share, because I also feel that the time is short and I would not like to find myself into a situation where we start planning and we discover shortly before the green light that something is missing?

Many thanks in advance