A Few Very Simple Noob Questions

[apoirier594]

I want to live on a boat. I am still young, haven't gone to collage yet. But I plan ahead. I'll be going to collage for either 4 or 6 years.

Anyways. I really want a sea ray 450. lol
I do know I cant get that right away.

But for plans, how much would insurance be?

And dock fees, like live aboard fees a month?

Any other month bills?

As of now, just planning it being me and my golden retriever. But its a big boat, so when the special someone comes along, we have room.

Thank you. Please excuse my low level of boat knowledge.

Also, if I am going to use this as my house, what is the longer loan I could get. Is it 20 or 30 years for living. It seems its 20, but I am new.

I don't intend to rush into this. I plan things out.

[malovich]

tip #1, learn how to spell
tip #2, read the millionaire next door and rich dad poor dad to get into the desired mentality.
tip #3, live in a small cheap boat to see if that lifestyle is for you.
tip #4, spend hours upon hours on this site
tip #5, stay single and you will have a better chance of being happier
tip #6, a sea ray 45 is a BIG YACHT by all means for a couple and a dog, you would need probably at minimum a 35'er.
tip #7, for the cost of a 45' sea ray a sailing catamaran would be comparable in living space but the living room/kitchen would not feel like a cave. Bonus it could sail and use no fuel.
comment #1, this is primarily a sailing forum with a few power-boaters mixed in.
comment #2, post a crew availability in the crew sub-forum to join someone for a passage. Inexperienced people are always welcome because they don't have previous experience that could be wrong, AKA you will do something the way you are told.

[apoirier594]

Originally Posted by malovich

tip #1, learn how to spell
tip #2, read the millionaire next door and rich dad poor dad to get into the desired mentality.
tip #3, live in a small cheap boat to see if that lifestyle is for you.
tip #4, spend hours upon hours on this site
tip #5, stay single and you will have a better chance of being happier
tip #6, a sea ray 45 is a BIG YACHT by all means for a couple and a dog, you would need probably at minimum a 35'er.
tip #7, for the cost of a 45' sea ray a sailing catamaran would be comparable in living space but the living room/kitchen would not feel like a cave. Bonus it could sail and use no fuel.
comment #1, this is primarily a sailing forum with a few power-boaters mixed in.
comment #2, post a crew availability in the crew sub-forum to join someone for a passage. Inexperienced people are always welcome because they don't have previous experience that could be wrong, AKA you will do something the way you are told.

Thanks. I have also been looking at the Sea Ray 350, but does that still seem to big? It seems good to me. I want space. I could say, I could get something small and deal with it, but I am being honest with myself and thinking of something I could be comfortable in.
Also I like to just get one thing and slowly learn from it, like instead of spending more money, going from a really small thing, to bigger.

I have always thought about being single but most people seem to skip what I say when I say that, and say like kids and stuff, and idk if I was to meet someone, also, being honest with myself again. But I plan on being single.

I will be spending a LOT of time here.

PS: What words did I misspell? lol
I am not to good, but I don't think I misspelt any words, but I like to correct mistakes.

Thank you. And I look forward to researching, and hearing what everyone says on this forum.

[S/V Illusion]

A collage might be an interesting college admission essay alternative.

[stark]

Originally Posted by malovich

tip #4, stay single and you will have a better chance of being happier

...too funny!

[TaoJones]

Welcome to Cruisers Forum, apoirier954. We're glad you've joined us. Yes, this is primarily a sailing forum, but not exclusively - we have many power boaters here.

I understand your logic about not wanting to take the stairstep approach to finally owning the size vessel you dream about today. I would, however, caution you to consider that the price you pay for any vessel is merely the entry fee: the ongoing costs to keep the vessel properly maintained, insured, berthed and operated will be daunting with one as large as the Sea Ray 45. And if you're planning on learning the intricacies of the liveaboard lifestyle on your first boat, starting with something much more easily manageable makes a lot of sense.

With all of the associated costs, as listed above, you will probably spend much more time tied to the dock than actually operating the vessel. That being the case, I would suggest that you satisfy your desire for more space by renting an apartment or condominium as close to the water as you can afford, and making the acquaintance of as many boaters as you can in the closest marinas.

They will always be happy to have you crew for them - they may even let you bring your golden retriever along. It could be the ideal way for both of you to decide if living aboard a boat is the right thing to do, and it will cost a tiny fraction of what it will require to do it the way you're thinking.

Again, welcome aboard. There are a lot of friendly, smart boaters here - I hope you will take advantage of the wealth of information here at Cruisers Forum.

TaoJones

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by apoirier594

I want to live on a boat. I am still young, haven't gone to collage yet. But I plan ahead. I'll be going to collage for either 4 or 6 years.

Anyways. I really want a sea ray 450. lol
I do know I cant get that right away.

But for plans, how much would insurance be?

And dock fees, like live aboard fees a month?

Any other month bills?

As of now, just planning it being me and my golden retriever. But its a big boat, so when the special someone comes along, we have room.

Thank you. Please excuse my low level of boat knowledge.

Also, if I am going to use this as my house, what is the longer loan I could get. Is it 20 or 30 years for living. It seems its 20, but I am new.

I don't intend to rush into this. I plan things out.

Hi apoirier594 and Welcome to CF. While I agree it is a good idea to learn how to spell college if you are planning to attend one, it wasn't a very friendly way to welcome you to our community.

Your plans are interesting, tough to achieve and may appear a bit naive to the average boater around here. Many of us have struggled for 30+ years to achieve what you are trying to achieve.

Anyway - In terms of goal planning living on a boat is definitely not cheaper than living in an equivalent or even larger apartment. If living on a boat was cheaper and easier who would live on shore?

You are also talking about loans for the boat - not a bad idea if you have a great job, great cash flow and have lots of your money tied up in money making ventures. However it's often better to spend your money on a boat not the bank's money because they are gonna charge you a lot of interest.

You will also need to repair and maintain a boat and a power boat like you are talking about is very thirsty - I've heard that a good day on the water could run $600 in gas. I don't know the exact numbers for a 45 foot power boat but here is an educated wild-ass guess.

Boat loan (20% down) = $2,000
Insurance = $1,000
Dock fee = $$800
Maintenance = $500
Gas (2x mo) = $1200

So conservatively $5,500 + food, clothes, entertainment, rover the retrievers costs and student loans for that 6 years of college.

You need to be making a take home salary of $8,000 a month to make this work. Choose your degree carefully.

[malovich]

Welcome to the boards!
Sorry about the unfriendly welcoming message, A glaring issue like that needs to be pointed out for a future college student.
I mis-numbered my tips I added one after I had made the list, TaoJones pointed it out but I was not fast enough in correcting it.

[TaoJones]

No worries, malovich . . . all fixed.

TaoJones

[Ex-Calif]

Actually malovich, tip #1 is really good advice.

I know lots of really smart folks who do not get the credit they deserve because they don't spell well. In this highly connected world the skill of accurate, concise and informative communication is esential.

[apoirier594]

Thank you every body. I to am glad to be here. Thank you for all of the welcomes. Do you have a specific intro section? I didn't see any? Like for intros.

And haha, its all good, about my spelling. Collage, lol. Yea. I type pretty fast, so instead of college, yea it was wrong, and I have a mac so it spell checks everything, but I guess thats a different word.

But thank you.

I am looking into a smaller boat to start out.

And I REALLY like TaoJones idea about the apartment close to a dock.

And malovich, its all good. My mistake anyways, not yours.

Anyways, I look forward to this.
I have always been interested in water, especially reefs, have always had salt-water reef tanks of my own.

But thank you for all the welcomes. Look forward to everything everyone has to say.

-Austin

[Bash]

first, welcome to the forum. This is a place where a great number of our members spell as creatively as you do.

1. It doesn't matter if it takes you four years, six years, or a dozen. What matters is what you learn. Find yourself a community collage where you can take a single course next fall, and try it out for size.

2. Forget about the Sea Ray. Chances are that the community collage in which you matriculate, if it's anywhere near water, is going to offer a sailing class. Sign up. Learn to sail. Transform your life.

3. Yeah, spelling counts. When you mean "also," it's spelled t-o-o. That extra o makes a world of difference. You'll learn that in frosh comp. Which is why there's no time like the present to go to collage.

again, welcome to Cruiser's Forum.

[tager]

Get a cheaper boat, and learn to sail. Hey that is exactly what I did!

I have a nice 26' sailboat and I don't owe a dime on it! Insurance? No. Gas? No. Monthly moorage? With liveaboard fee and utilities included: $350.

It can be done.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by apoirier594

Thank you every body. I to am glad to be here. Thank you for all of the welcomes. Do you have a specific intro section? I didn't see any? Like for intros.

And haha, its all good, about my spelling. Collage, lol. Yea. I type pretty fast, so instead of college, yea it was wrong, and I have a mac so it spell checks everything, but I guess thats a different word.

But thank you.

I am looking into a smaller boat to start out.

And I REALLY like TaoJones idea about the apartment close to a dock.

And malovich, its all good. My mistake anyways, not yours.

Anyways, I look forward to this.
I have always been interested in water, especially reefs, have always had salt-water reef tanks of my own.

But thank you for all the welcomes. Look forward to everything everyone has to say.

-Austin

Here's a link to the Forum we call Meets and Greets: Meets & Greets - Cruisers & Sailing Forums. New members who post a new thread there letting the members know a little bit about themselves and how they've come to have an interest in sailing and cruising can be properly welcomed to the Forum, apoirier594.

I have a MacBook, too, but even an Apple product can't tell what word you meant to type if the one you do type is spelled correctly. So here's a nice on-topic collage - it might even have been produced by a "collage professor."

[Ocean Girl]

Austin, welcome to the forum.
Living aboard can be a very reasonable plan, you could even do it during college if your college is near the water.
BUT, yes there is a but, I'd buy an older good condition boat and learn from it, make all your mistakes on it, then move over to the fancy schmancy Sea Ray (I worked for them, know the owners, great boats!). Size of the vessel matters for the marina fees, they bill by the the length. As far as gas, while you are in school you wont be taking her out much anyways. You might even consider an older trawler, they tend to be great live aboards and are diesels so eat less fuel.

so to answer your great questions:
1) insurance--
old boat- roughly 300-400 bucks a year for liability
Sea Ray- a whole lot more!
2) dockage---
old boat/sea Ray- depends on where you are, in Texas slips range from 200-500 month
3) utilities- about 30-50 month
4) maintenance
old boat- only as much as you want to put in it with 100 month for surprises
Sea Ray- 200-300 month, maybe less maybe more

So I say go for it! and again if your college is close to the water and it is a temperate climate, you can do this while in school. It is clear you have a good head on your shoulder, do your research and see if your dream is closer than you think.

Cheers,
Erika

PS
I moved onto a boat at 19, it can be done.

PSS
as the great Twain says:
I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way. Mark Twain