Has Anyone Ever had 2 Boats as Liveaboards???

[beiland]

Originally Posted by GalaxyGirl

I appreciate all of your feedback and insightful thought through responses.

In regard to homeschooling. For my preteens I wouldn't even consider it. There are 4 of them and they love school. I figure we'll live at a marina and let them get through high school. I can take weekend and vacation trips. This will give me time to learn how to operate the boat/s. By the time my older kids finish HS my youngest boy will be in 4th grade or so. I will have to homeschool him only at that point because the others will hopefully be off to college and there is no way that I will wait another 8 years to get him through. It should't be too difficult with him since he will be the only one and he is quite bright. I am actually schooling him at home now some and he's 3.

Have you ever heard of Khan Academy?

Khan Academy
About | Khan Academy

60 Minutes did an interesting story about them
Khan Academy: The future of education? - 60 Minutes - CBS News

seems as though this fellow/organiztion has a very good capability to get thru to kids

[videobear]

Originally Posted by jgbrown

...The simplest way I can describe it is that you are accustomed to caring for a house, but if you go down this road you will be managing two small towns instead. Water systems, electricity, sewage. It is VERY different.
If you don't stay on top of these things, everything will be fine for a while, and then things will fail. At that point you can expect to shell out money at a rate that will truly shock you. ...

House vs. small town. That's the best analogy I've ever seen! Two thumbs up.

[ohdrinkboy]

If you can't get everyone on a boat less than 50', I'd suggest you look at renting a condo that has a dock where you can put one boat. Have part of the family in the condo and part on the boat. Re-evaluate after 6 to 12 months.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by videobear

House vs. small town. That's the best analogy I've ever seen! Two thumbs up.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by ohdrinkboy

If you can't get everyone on a boat less than 50', I'd suggest you look at renting a condo that has a dock where you can put one boat. Have part of the family in the condo and part on the boat. Re-evaluate after 6 to 12 months.

[Therapy]

Notice that everyone with boat experience (almost) is desperate that you toss out the idea of two boats.

We are desperate for your health............Both kinds.

[Captain Randy]

Ahhh....quality problems for the rich. If you have the money then do what ever you want...heck your loaded. You can always sell one, or both or buy 3! But if you want to live any sort of practical life one boat that suits your needs as you can see by the group makes the most sense. But then again im not rich so my opinion may be skewed........

[Greenhand]

None of the large families I know have a bedroom for each kid on land. You have said a few times that each kid needs their own door. Are you sure a lee cloth divider in a double cabin wouldn't be enough? If you are concerned about their err, self control as teenagers, folks have been working that out in crowded homes for centuries now. You speak of them going off to college; they aren't likely to get private rooms there.

Two boats means having two galleys stocked. Even if you can work out your proposed shared dinners, is half the group going to travel to breakfast, as well? What about when conditions would mean getting your foulies on to go to dinner? What about evening munchies - teens eat a lot and just sitting down burns more calories on a boat than on land, comparable to sitting on an exercise ball all day.

Is each boat going to have laundry facilities or is all laundry going to be collected and taken to shore?

If you only take one boat on trips, who now has to share their private space and who has to worry about packing their things for a weekend trip?

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by westwinds

You might consider something like this:Calvert Homeschool Curriculum Overview | Homeschooling | Calvert School where you have all the books, lesson plans and instructions. Also, for a little extra, you can have a teacher at Calvert do the grading and help you over any difficulties.

Thanks, I'll take at look.

[GalaxyGirl]

I'm going to head the advice of all the experienced folks here, since I'm not, and for now forgo the idea of 2 boats. I'll go with one large boat. The trawler, since that is what I really love. I'll can the cat for now. I can always add it later if need be. So, my next step is figuring out how big I can/should go reasonably. What sizes can and cannot do the ICW? What size can be handled by say 2 maybe 3 people without a professional captain. I'm sure that I could get 4 cabins on a 55', I've seen a couple, but is there any way to get 5 cabins? That would be almost perfect.

These questions probably need a new thread.

[Therapy]

Best of both worlds.

Plus
http://powercatamaran.typepad.com/

Their forum might not be all old, rich people.

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by GalaxyGirl

What sizes can and cannot do the ICW? What size can be handled by say 2 maybe 3 people without a professional captain. I'm sure that I could get 4 cabins on a 55', I've seen a couple, but is there any way to get 5 cabins? That would be almost perfect.

These questions probably need a new thread.

For a powerboat or sailboat, depth of keel and height over water are the two big issues. But a powerboat should be fine on the ICW in anything your considering. Anything with a 6 foot deep keel will be fine in most places in florida. Gets a little skinny at low tide in parts of georgia and the carolina's

BTW, there is no way your going to be able to dock a 50-60' boat by yourself, without any training. Think of docking a boat as sort of the same as parallel parking a large car in a tight spot on a inclined iced over road... without brakes.

That's pretty close to how it feels the first few times you dock a boat (even a smaller boat). The people on deck can't fend off a large boat by hand like can be done with smaller boats. It has to be finessed. Add a 10-15 mph cross breeze and its lots O fun.

I have docked 55' boats in a 15 knot cross wind BTW. It is not easy the first time and I had thousand's of dockings in smaller boats.

The insurance companies will probably not insure the boat if you don't have experience. So plan on hiring a captain for day trips and lots O hands on instruction. With that stipulation you should be able to get insurance.

One larger boat will be so much better then two smaller boats, btw.

[beiland]

Originally Posted by GalaxyGirl

I'm going to head the advice of all the experienced folks here, since I'm not, and for now forgo the idea of 2 boats. I'll go with one large boat. The trawler, since that is what I really love. I'll can the cat for now. I can always add it later if need be. So, my next step is figuring out how big I can/should go reasonably. What sizes can and cannot do the ICW? What size can be handled by say 2 maybe 3 people without a professional captain. I'm sure that I could get 4 cabins on a 55', I've seen a couple, but is there any way to get 5 cabins? That would be almost perfect.

These questions probably need a new thread.

Not exactly a trawler, but a real nice powercat that belongs to a friend of mine. This could be real liveable, relatively easy to learn to control, relatively easy to maintain, and economical to operate.





...more photos here:
YachtForums.Com - View Single Post - New to Yachting; 13 Million to spend -

YachtForums.Com - View Single Post - New to Yachting; 13 Million to spend -

BTW, ignore that '13 Million to spend' in the title of that subject thread

This vessel is NOT for sale, I just included it as an example. But I do have a couple of other ideas if you are still interested in catamarans?

[sailorchic34]

BTW, I'm not saying you can't learn to do it. You can. Gee if I can learn almost anyone can. But it will take time, and someone to show you how to do it and to take over if the dock is flubbed.

I've seen guys come into a slip at cruising speed. they used the dock to stop that J boat. Ouch. and a nice bang.. Seen new owners with a 35' powerboat, do three attempts wit a whole lota shouting and then the liveaboards came over to grab the dock lines and fend off. and get it tied down

Most folks start out on smaller boats. Yes you can learn to dock the boat. but not by reading a book or watching a video. Hands on is the only way. But if you've never done it, your going to need someone standing by to take over who can..

One other factor you need to know about is cost of fuel. Mileage for a 55' motoryacht is measured in gallons per mile. A 40' motor boat will run about 2 ish gallons per mile. Could be more or less. A 55' yacht could easily be twice that

Need to factor in a $3K- $4K or more fuel bill at the dock (at each fill up). That's for a 40' ish powerboat, btw.

With all that said, Go for it girl.

[jgbrown]

A wise choice I think. Don't feel too bad, sailnet talked me down from a 47 foot sailboat to a 30' one, thank goodness for that!

Re fuel consumption I've always heard it in gph rather than per mile, the 40 trawler(a real trawler converted to cruiser) burned 1.5 to 2gph at cruise... assuming 6 knots would be 12gph for a 40'er... seems a bit much unless running big old gasoline engines.

Good luck, I'm sure things will work out well.