10 year plan to boat living!

[Jhubb_99]

Beginning our 10 year plan to retire and live on a sailboat! Gathering any information we can...so expect to see questions from us soon!

I sailed for years as a child, but haven't in 30 years. We just bought a Precision 18 to get our sea legs back. Looking forward to progressing to a bigger boat and sailing on the ocean!

[Graceunderway]

Congrats on your new boat. 10 years is long time and hopefully you will stick by your plan. We had plan that was much shorter, 2-4 years, and could not stick with it. Bought the boat in less than six months and began living aboard. Absolutely love it. We are glad we were not sticking to long term plans. We already had 16 foot boat and we moved to 45 feet in no time. Being employed can be done as liveaboard.
Good luck!

[Jhubb_99]

I know!!! The more I look into it, the easier it is to move up that timeline!

[Greenhand]

Originally Posted by Jhubb_99

Beginning our 10 year plan to retire and live on a sailboat! Gathering any information we can...so expect to see questions from us soon!

I sailed for years as a child, but haven't in 30 years. We just bought a Precision 18 to get our sea legs back. Looking forward to progressing to a bigger boat and sailing on the ocean!

You must be us! We even started with exactly the same boat, and we love the layout. We can go for four days/three nights, easily. If you have questions about your Precision, be sure to head over to the trailer sailor forums.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Lots of time to learn the rules of the road and engine/electrical repair.
kind regards,

[Jhubb_99]

Thanks everyone! Now I just have to be patient and wait for spring here in New Hampshire!

[Blue Crab]

Welcome. 10 years, wow. 10 days is a stretch for me.

[Teknav]

My opinion...re-plan for 1 to 2 years max. Even that, in today's economy, is a long shot. My 1/2 cent worth of advice, after the 2-year plan. Good luck!

[Matt sachs]

My plan is broken up into " X needs to be done by monday and Y done by spring". In 2-3 years it should be a short list. If sailing isnt as much fun as building, I'm screwed...... One basket , all my eggs....geeees what have I done.??

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Matt sachs

My plan is broken up into " X needs to be done by monday and Y done by spring". In 2-3 years it should be a short list. If sailing isnt as much fun as building, I'm screwed...... One basket , all my eggs....geeees what have I done.??

Sailing is WAY more fun than building .

And as for length of plans, ours was a twenty year plan. If you want to finish working youngish, you need to start planning a long way ahead .

PS Welcome to CF Jhubb! Best wishes with fulfilling your dreams. In the meantime have fun on your Precision.

[Hogan]

Congrats -

I moved aboard a 20 Flicka a couple of years ago, then I met my girlfreind, and we cruised her from Los Angeles to La Paz last winter, living aboard together for 6 months aboard her. It was good for our relationship! You cant run and hide from conflicts, you learn to deal with them right away.

We have now moved up - to a Catalina 30, which is absolutely palatial by comparison. We are back in LA, still living aboard and sailing every week.

The transition was challenging at times, but I cant imagine living full time on land at this point - You learn that you don't need much stuff to be happy - in fact life seems much more manageable now.

Just be prepared - unless all your friends and family are sailors or outdoor types, you will catch some flack from them:

"What???? Why would you sell everything to live in a tiny boat???"

What they dont understand is that your boat is a as big as the entire world, and that when you finally cast off, you get to take the comforts of home with you!

Oh, and its very economical: Rents in this part of town start at around $1800 per month for a 1 bedroom apartment with a bunch of rowdy USC kids for neighbors.

By contrast, our slip fees - including a $200 live-aboard surcharge are around $600 per month.

And its quiet - oh so quiet. Except for the occasional sea-lion barking out back...

=)

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by Hogan

Congrats -

I moved aboard a 20 Flicka a couple of years ago, then I met my girlfreind, and we cruised her from Los Angeles to La Paz last winter, living aboard together for 6 months aboard her. It was good for our relationship! You cant run and hide from conflicts, you learn to deal with them right away............

I am struck by these words of Hogan's as I have said them myself many times. I told them to my girlfriend too, and we thrived without closing a door to conflict. 'and we shared the skill of dealing with conflict with our children aboard until they left our small sailboat home. Life aboard a small shared space excells now too, -as retired. I waited 12 years to fullfill my dreams of living aboard and wether you can shorten the ten or not doesn't matter,- a wonderful choice awaits!

[Celestialsailor]

Welcome to the forum. I'm afraid I did a little too much living in the 60's and early 70s. If I can plan a year ahead, I'm doing good. If I can remember my name, I'm doing better...

[Hogan]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

I am struck by these words of Hogan's as I have said them myself many times. I told them to my girlfriend too, and we thrived without closing a door to conflict. 'and we shared the skill of dealing with conflict with our children aboard until they left our small sailboat home....

I honestly believe that we are designed as species by nature to live close together, in small tribes, not dispersed and alienated from one another in huge cities. Too much choice is a form of tyranny, it paralyzes us with the fear of making the wrong one. This applies to everything from cel phone contracts to our choice of mates.

Look at what's left of modern nomadic cultures, and the physical arrangement of their dwellings:

Small tribes, small tents, and possessions that are limited by what is simple, useful, available, self serviceable, and portable.

Sound familiar?

While there are certainly stresses that come from such a life, alienation and confusion are not among them - rather such cultures tend to have very robust family and community structures - out of necessity.

Then a few wise-guys in the middle east decided that hunting and gathering was too much work, invented bronze, and started dirt farming, building fixed encampments, and stockpiling their food, rather than scrounging and hunting for it. This intensified territoriality, eventually leading to empires and large scale hi-tec warfare, rather than small scale tribal conflicts.

Modern civilization is an absurd extension of this post ice age revolution - now we make war with drones and roadside bombs and computer viruses, and value selfishness and individualism above all else. We might live longer, but are we happier when we put money, power, competition, and possessions above family and community?

To live aboard a boat, especially with others, is to consciously reject such a life. If you go further, and sail the boat regularly, you place yourself in intimate contact with the timeless elemental forces of nature.

If you go further still and cast off for unknown shores, you have engaged a life as led by our ancestors. A life filled with uncertainty and risk. One that strips away illusions of permanence and security. A slower, more deliberate life. A life filled with both enormous independence and enormous responsibility. A life where you are immersed in the real world, as it has always been. It's not always an easy life, but as someone once said:

"I never said it would be easy - just that it would be worth it"

Truer words were never spoken - at least from where I stand. Cruising is the fullest way to engage such a life, mainly because the oceans are the last true untamed wilderness left on earth, but even traveling by Backpack, RV or Motorcycle will give you a glimpse - if you do it in company.

Just avoid cruise ships, ok?

[Amapola]

Welcome! We're into our 12th year of following our plan to cruise part-time.