When yo buy

[djeeke]

When to become owner ? ...

My financial situation is almost where I want it to be to buy a big sailboat, equipped for circumnavigation or equip it ...

As I am European, with the current Euro versus dollar rates I am becoming more and more tempted on buying a boat now...

Only how would I cover the time (money gap) between buying and starting the circumnavigation...

- store the boat for a while and keep on working seems stupid, maybe better wait to buy instead...

- Go live on the boat immediately and try to make some money off the boat... Anyone here doing crewed chartering? This sounds a great option as it will allow me to really get used to the boat before sailing off towards sun and moon.

- Go live on the boat and find another means of income.

As I am under a lot of pressure in my current job I am really tempted to buy one now and go to live on the boat. This should dramatically reduce my stress level... (will probably need more time time to fill the gap I need before leaving but is probably worth it)

All your feedback and ideas will be appreciated ;-)
Djeeke

[slomotion]

Everyone is different, but if you are almost there, I'd say wait. Maintaining a boat that you are not living on can be very expensive and put you farther from "there." Living on a boat while working full time is probably not much of a stress reliever. Living on a boat while looking for work is probably a stress creator.

I would echo slomotion's post, but I would add, that there are benefits to living aboard for awhile before you are ready to take off. You will have time to get to know the boat, and discover what you want to change about it, as well as spend time sailing it, and getting to know the sailing characteristics. If you have the option to do this while maintaining your current job, I would recommend it. If it means a career change, I would recommend against it.

[Boracay]

Without knowing your financial position I would suggest looking a boats that are as close as possible to "turn key" (turn the key and go) as possible.

Then you can make a rational decision on when to go and go then.

Boat repairs have a really bad habit of taking much longer and costing far more than one could ever imagine.

I agree that a project might not be the answer, but is there ever such a thing as a turn key boat? Even when we look through the boat play ground at boat shows at all the nice boats that are way over my pay grade, I still find myself thinking, I would move this, or add that to suit my comfort. That is why I would suggest living aboard for at least a few weeks before planning to take off. Granted, not everything needs to be done up front, but I would want to have time to identify those things that I could not live with.

[djeeke]

Thanks for the feedback till now
Aha, My financial situation...

Well some people would say 'what are you waiting for?' and others would say 'nah, keep on working for another 5 years'

Everything stands and falls indeed with the decision on what boat to get... I am looking at a 'close to turnkey' boat indeed. Would indeed sail an extended period, lore than a few weeks however, to as Kai said, get to know the boat, learn how she sails in known waters... Locate items that need improvement and decide what really needs to be done and what we can live with.

Unfortunately living aboard and maintaining my current job, is not an option.
Single way, no rush hour is about 2 hours drive, rush hour will make this 3 to 4, not to mention the travel costs with the fuel exceeding any reasonable person's budget...

To get back on topic, I could buy the boat, go live aboard, pay a tremendous marina fee if I would find a spot to start with and go for another job, wrong idea as this other job would never make me enough money to improve my situation so I would end up with a boat equipped to travel anywhere but would never be able to sail it longer than two weeks in a row

Another bet would be to buy the boat and relocate... Have seen it done...

As for my situation...
I am already able, financially speaking, to do almost what I want, but this would require me not to buy the type of boat I would like... I would have to settle for an older (but still in good condition, not playing on this) and smaller boat and would do great. I am missing that extra bit from this type of boat to what I want... (not only buying price but also taken into account that this bigger boat is obviously more expensive in maintenance, marina's, insurance, sails, ...)

It really is a tough decision