Crazy or Sane, remains to be seen

[Northstarfamily]

Hello everyone, I would like to introduce myself and my hubby, we are new boat owners, and we are in the process of moving aboard our 65' Pacemaker MY ... It's an oldy, but hopefully a goodie! We are biting off more than we can chew, I'm sure, but it's been our dream to do this for quite a few years now. And the opportunity came to us in a way that we felt we couldn't pass up.
Some will disagree with our decision to liveaboard and deal with the leaks and creaks of an old wooden yacht, but we are so excited that we are about to burst. I will say, we have not a clue what lies ahead, we know a little about boating, and even living aboard, as my mother in law lived on her 38'chris craft sea skiff for 11 years, so we will have some help and lots of family willing to pitch in to get a piece of the fun in the summer months. we have some major things to fix right away, it needs a new water heater, and one of the vacuflush heads is plugged up and not operating correctly.. So that being said if anyone knows a good, honest, fair plumber for marine toilets and water systems, please send them my way. I will include my email address, and if they are local to the portland, or area that would be fabulous!
Well, off to downsize my life, and sell everything we own pretty much, because even though it's 65' long, and 16'6" breadth we have tons of furniture and things to sell over the next 2 weeks to prepare to board and relocate our new home! Wish us luck!
Michele &Kiel Hoff, St. Helens, Oregon
Email- hoffmichele2015@gmail.com

[cabo_sailor]

Welcome to CF.

A 65ft vessel is not commonly run by the owner but usually a paid captain and crew. There is certainly no rule against it in the U.S. but I would strongly suggest hiring a professional captain for some training. Not only for handling but also to instruct you on all the different systems. A boat that size can get a bit complicated.

You mention a contractor to repair your head along with several other items. Any decent boat yard can provide that service. I'd suggest talking to your dock mates. Yards change hands and the locals can usually tell you who is currently in favor. For boats such as mine at 38 ft I am expected to make those sorts of repairs myself, they are usually not difficult just time consuming, if you can afford outside help, fine, but you will still want to know the boat well enough to identify existing and potential problems.

Enjoy your new lifestyle and be safe.

Rich

Oh by the way the forum really does not recommend posting personal info and e-mail address's. There are too many people scanning the net to sell that info to spammers.
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[CrustyChief]

Michelle and Kiel,

Good luck on your boat, hope it turns out to be an enjoyable venture. Where are you guys gonna dock? St. Helens is a little tight for a boat that size. I'm in Salpare Bay on Hayden Island and enjoy it. I'll be back up next month, so may see ya.

[Northstarfamily]

Crusty Chief,
Thank you for the wave hello, we are mooring at St. Helens Marina, we will hang out a bit in our 50' slip, right now she is at McCuddys landing in scappoose, but we like St. Helens Marina better, and is closer for our last son who is entering high school this year. As for the other gentleman that talked about captain help, we intend to do a whole lot of learning, classes, we have a good friend that is a tugboat captain and is going to be moving her for us, at the end of the month when we are finally finished getting all settled in.
It's just so amazing to be finally starting this new adventure we have talked and researched this for a long time, and have learned a lot before we ever decided to purchase. So at least we're not totally blind and naive.
Looking forward to meeting all our new boating friends and salty dogs! cheers,
Michele

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Michele & Kiel.

[Northstarfamily]

Thank you! So excited to be aboard!

[cabo_sailor]

Michele and Kiel,

I hope you didn't take offense at my post. Certainly none was intended. You will face many challenges with a wooden boat of that size in terms of handling and maintenance. My father had a 53 ft Hatteras that I occasionally ran for him as he got older. I tell you truthfully the idea of moving up to 65 ft would scare me spitless.

It seems you have a circle of friends that can help you make the transition. I'm particularly impressed by the tug captain. I have a great deal of respect for the ladies and gentlemen in that occupation. It sounds like you have all your ducks in a row, and you do have a lot to learn. As do we all, but that learning is fun.

Have fun and be safe,

Rich


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[Northstarfamily]

No offense taken at all! :-) I just was saving myself two posts is all.. hehe no, we appreciate and totally respect all advice, opinions and the like! We are total virgins, but yes we do have some connections and hope we find more in our new community of boating folks. I'm so tired right now, we just cleaned out our garage and we have a load of boxes and belongings that we are taking down to the boat tonight, so before I fall flat on my face, I'm gonna get going so we wake up in the morning to go to work.:-) cheers, Michele