Never Sailed but Want to Live Aboard

[Michael s smith]

Also iam plannin to put back over the next 2-4 years so the wife can finish school and i can get a boat and i can finish my schooling as a marine engine tech


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[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Michael s smith

Ex calif
I can dig ya man . I just dont like the current position iam in man . Livin with mom and pop got a POS truck and a couple canoes and some camping/backpacking stuff i can call mine . Got a dead end job as a heat and air tech assistant . Dont want a house because of power bill etc. and iam not saying that living on a boat is gunna cost less because i dont know if it wiil be or not . But i really dont want my kid to grow up in the little town iam living in now . I want her to see the world instead of just the four nearby states like i have my whole 20 years of existance . Hell i could just be talking out of my ass and just have this as a dream the rest of my life but i would rather it come to reality .


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I suspected that you had a situation something like this. Lots of stuff happening with a kid coming along and it must feel a bit like a trap.

If you remember anything, just remember this. Life is way longer than you think it is. You are starting with very low resources but you will be amazed how far you can get if you stick to a plan and take one step at a time.

Never run away from a "currently suckie" situation. Suck it up for a while until you can head towards the intended destination.

Spend some time with mom and pop. Live cheap and sock even a small war chest away. You got skills if you are a heating and air tech. Get a book on boat diesel repair and start self teaching that. Then when you got a chance head to a port and see if you can put those boat mechanic skills to work.

Maybe even have to leave the SO and kid behind until you get founded. I konw guys that are off-shore for months while their families stay home.

Anyway - good luck. Just don't take on more obligations that don't add to your equation...

[Michael s smith]

Lol got no skills man i work under my grandpas master hvac /plumbing/ electrical licensees so basically i just go to the walmart ( sub contracted) and work commercial hvac and plumbing which anyone with basic knowledge of plumbing ( **** rolls down hill and never put your fingers in your mouth) can do commercial plumbing and the refrigeration and hvac that i deal with is washing coils and cleaning drains and leak detecting and fool can do that lol .

But in all honesty ive been wanting to do this since i was a kid man . My parents took me to navare beach in fl and there was a sail boat (idk what kind or how big looked huge tho as a kid 7-8) washed up and buried in the sand and the owner happened to be be there and he told me that i could have the boat if i could dig it out . Lol. So the next 3 weeks we went to the same beach and i spent my days trying to dig that boat out and that got me hooked i guess ( feet never touched the water the whole time we was there unless at the hotel in the pool.

As far as runnin i have nothing to run from . Love my wife and family . I just want to opt out as far as the "american dream" i dont like todays society or morals or american culture in general haha dont mean to offend but i just dont man here iam twenty covered in tattoos literaly its not something iam boasting about but when i graduated high school (at18) had money bought liquor and got inked ALOT for about a month straight be cause i was bored with being my self living in town were i can walk 5 miles and be in a neighbor hood with 6-10 million $ houses in and iam living in a double wide trailer goin to the soup kitchen every thursday with mom to get a weeks worth old out of date grocerys ( would of helped buy grocerys but pop wouldnt let me give them money)


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[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Michael s smith

Lol got no skills man i work under my grandpas master hvac /plumbing/ electrical licensees so basically i just go to the walmart ( sub contracted) and work commercial hvac and plumbing which anyone with basic knowledge of plumbing ( **** rolls down hill and never put your fingers in your mouth) can do commercial plumbing and the refrigeration and hvac that i deal with is washing coils and cleaning drains and leak detecting and fool can do that lol .

Don't undersell yourself. Believe it or not there are people that don't even understand **** rolls downhill so you are ahead of them.

Even plumbing skills are a start.

Originally Posted by Michael s smith

But in all honesty ive been wanting to do this since i was a kid man . My parents took me to navare beach in fl and there was a sail boat (idk what kind or how big looked huge tho as a kid 7-8) washed up and buried in the sand and the owner happened to be be there and he told me that i could have the boat if i could dig it out . Lol. So the next 3 weeks we went to the same beach and i spent my days trying to dig that boat out and that got me hooked i guess ( feet never touched the water the whole time we was there unless at the hotel in the pool.

Lots of us got the bug early. Woth a wife and a young one on the way the path may have to take a detour but you can definitely get there.

Originally Posted by Michael s smith

As far as runnin i have nothing to run from . Love my wife and family . I just want to opt out as far as the "american dream"

I dind't mean it like that as you sound like a responsible guy.

What I meant was I see lots of guys "run" to a new job or a "new" situation because they hate the one they are in. Then they find out they ran the wrong way and they didn't get any closer to where they really wanna go.

I tell em life is like a pinball machine - the bumpers are gonna bump you in all kinds of crazy directions but if you keep moving the ball to the top end you'll win.

Originally Posted by Michael s smith

i dont like todays society or morals or american culture in general haha dont mean to offend but i just dont man here iam twenty covered in tattoos literaly its not something iam boasting about but when i graduated high school (at18) had money bought liquor and got inked ALOT for about a month straight be cause i was bored with being my self living in town were i can walk 5 miles and be in a neighbor hood with 6-10 million $ houses in and iam living in a double wide trailer goin to the soup kitchen every thursday with mom to get a weeks worth old out of date grocerys ( would of helped buy grocerys but pop wouldnt let me give them money)

Well I won't compare hard life stories but I started dirt poor. I've lived in condemned buildings, a WWII bomb shelter and in my car. I have had "day-old" bread for free, "ketchup soup" and for one 3-month period lived on plain flour pancakes and strawberry jam.

I was a high school drop out so you're a leg up on me. I ended up working full-time at Pizza Hut and got certified as an airplane mechanic at the local JC. And yup - moved back in with my dad until I was 21 to get it done...

He was old school, "Two hots (hot meals) and a cot. You work or you go to school or you don't live here..."

I finally got my engineering degree in night school in 1999 and now I am shamefully overpaid as a 10%er to run the Aisia/Pacific engineering group...

So I hope this ain't preachy but you can get anywhere you want and I am always confident that I "always" get what I want if I keep my eye on the prize even if there are sacrifices along the way.

My big-assed problem is that I pay way to much alimony to too many ex-wives so instead of a 50 foot boat I have a 25 foot boat -

[Mattdwyerva]

Any sailboats on the Lake nearby? Maybe you can offer to do a/c or other repairs in exchange for some sailing lessons, and ultimately in exchange for a weekend charter one they trust you?

Most of have partners, or had partners, who freaked out when things went wrong. (Not me of course, I was trying to shrimp the spinnaker....) Just thinking you might want to screw up initially without the family on board.

[weavis]

**** rolls downhill?

Sheesh......... here it comes up and splatters all over you.....

[barnakiel]

Anybody can be a liveaboard. No experience nor skills required. A boat is just like a floating mobile home. Try not to sail though.

25 is a small boat. Maybe you do not know yet but it is so much more convenient to have things like proper bathroom at hand when a small child is around. Also, you will want big / wide berths, etc. Not many of them in 25 footers. And then comes the climate thing too - small children need more protection from excessive heat and cold than we do.

Think it over. It is easier in a regular house, for many. If your wife insist on a boat, try to get something roomier.

b.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

My big-assed problem is that I pay way to much alimony to too many ex-wives so instead of a 50 foot boat I have a 25 foot boat -

Jia Lat

Everyone is entitled to a starter marriage and after that.......... your on your own.

[annsni]

My recommendation is this:

* Keep working the HVAC job and work to get your own license and building up a bank account. You have a wife and child to think about and need to provide for them. It may not be glamourous or what your dream is of running away but it is the responsible thing to do. When you are on your own, you have the ability to chase dreams but when you have a family, you need to keep your feet a little more firmly planted in reality.

* Once you have your finances set, get yourself your own place. Even if it's a small apartment, you have a family that you need to take care of and living independently is part of growing up.

* Get a small sailboat when you have your life together. My husband started in a laser and learned how to sail with that - and after many years and building a successful business, we were able to get a Tartan 33 as our first boat when our first child was 18 months old. We sailed that boat extensively and there was definitely a learning curve with now a "big" boat and the systems in it but it was also a great boat for cruising with our little family.

I remember being 20 and you still have a lot of wisdom and growing up to do. Now is the time to prepare for the next stage in your life - being a dad. That is the biggest and most important job you will ever have. Stay focused on that for now!

[barnakiel]

In any case do not let the money thing get on top of you. Boats cost, but so do houses.

Where we live, living aboard saves us heaps. Your costs aboard will be location dependent far more than boat size dependent.

Plan it all out beforehand. See if this may work. Make your decisions together and be ready to change if a change is necessary at a point. Only fools and cowards stick to bad decisions. And we all make them.

Cheers & good luck,
b.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by weavis

Jia Lat

Everyone is entitled to a starter marriage and after that.......... your on your own.

if I keep falling in love with the wrong girl I may be back to dinghy sailing and living in my car - LOL...

Wait - i can sell the car and live in the dinghy -

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

if I keep falling in love with the wrong girl I may be back to dinghy sailing and living in my car - LOL...

Wait - i can sell the car and live in the dinghy -

Nothing wrong with falling in love Mr Dan....... however, marriage is not necessarily the follow through. No one gets married to get divorced....... oh wait....... I just remembered my ex wife.... scrub that statement...

[crazyoldboatguy]

Perspective comes with the passage of time. You can't rush that. One foot in front of the other. That's the stage you are at now. Your plate is full. You're looking inward (wife and child) and outward (what the hell am I gonna be when I grow up) and upward (who am I gonna be when I grow up).

You are 20 y/o. Sounds like you are apprenticing in HVAC. That means the scut work. No matter what you go into for work you have to start somewhere.

What Ex-Calif says is dead on. Do what you have to do for the family you love. In time you will have a bit more room to move around, metaphorically speaking.

BTW, on a sailboat, **** doesn't roll downhill. It is pumped. And in some places you have to carry it around with you! Nothing happens by itself on a boat. Everything you do requires something built of stainless steel and costs a bundle.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by weavis

Nothing wrong with falling in love Mr Dan....... however, marriage is not necessarily the follow through. No one gets married to get divorced....... oh wait....... I just remembered my ex wife.... scrub that statement...

Hey actually it's getting cheaper and cheaper as the halves become smaller.

My next divorce is gonna cost me about $1.98...

[jwing]

In a word: NO.

The boat is too small, you will freeze in the winter, broil in the summer, have no privacy, you'll have to walk the length of the dock and then some to go to the bathroom, and you will go stir-crazy. Your life will not improve by moving onto a 25-ft. boat. When you get ready to sail away from Georgia, you'll find that your boat was not built for ocean travel.

Get more realistic. Keep the dream, but figure out the steps you need to make it happen. Living on a tiny boat on Lake Lanier is not the dream. What you are proposing will turn into a nightmare.

Excuse me for not sugar-coating my advice; you are now in a position that you need to make good decisions, but you don't have the experience to reliably do so (simply because you are a 20-year-old). At least you are wise enough to have asked, now take heed of all us old folk who have offered our councel.