Hello from Long Island, NY! :)

[NY GIN]

Hey All! My name is Joe and I am from Long Island, NY. I currently own 3 boats; 1965 Crestliner runabout, 1987 Thompson Daytona 290 and a 2003 Rinker 270 Fiesta Vee. My wife and I started dating in High School and have been together 19 years now. We have 2 wonderful boys ages 9 and 6. We are avid boaters and love nothing more than being on the water.

This economy is killing us, like 99.4876% of the population , so we've been forced to make major adjustments to stay afloat . We have gone from owning our house to renting. Gone from the glam vehicles to the not so glam vehicles .... and you know what, we like it!

Our new motto is "LIVE SIMPLY."

With all these changes has come much stress and anxiety. Plus this aweful NY Winter is killing us!!!! I want to move, the Admiral doesn't and I cant blame her as she is a First Grade Teacher of 15 years and loves her job. She's also got a great retirement coming to us someday.

our answer to the NY stress and Winters ..... buy a large liveaboard boat to frequent throughout the year. We are considering a houseboat or trawler. The Misses likes the houseboat as it is more like a house than a boat and I have to admit, I like that to. However, one of our goals is to do the great loop and spend some time in the open blue water. I am not to sure of how a houseboat would fare in the Ocean. I have concerns that a trawler would just be to cramped to spend a week on with my wife, 2 boys and 3 dogs. For the most part the new boat will be kept at the Marina and serve as a house but like I said, she will be taken out.

Any personnal opinions/guidance/advice owuld be much appreciated! Glad to be a part of the community and sorry for the Novel!

Cheers!

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Good to have you here. It sounds like you've got a lot of powerboat experience. Are you looking for sail or power to liveaboard?
kind regards,

[Kettlewell]

A houseboat is not the vessel to take down the coast, or even out into Long Island Sound without a perfect forecast. However, they are roomy. They're just not seaworthy enough for the ocean. You might be surprised by how big some of the catamaran trawlers and sailboats are, and then you could go places. However, if your main concern is just hanging out at the dock, a houseboat will do the trick.

[NY GIN]

We need flexibility. We are back and forth between a house or boat. We love that we can move from state to state with the boat. I have never sailed and my wife is scared of it so we will be sticking with power. I have someone local who has a 1974 Trojan 53' MY who is interested in trading for my Rinker. His MY is huge and could be perfect for us. Just scares the hell outta me being that big. I handle my boats from start to finish by myself and a 53 footer would need me to rely on my wife. another concern is money. I recently closed my business and am relying on my wifes income. I'm afraid the Trojan being a '74 will require some decent $ invested to get her to my "anal" status.

[NY GIN]

We are now leaning towards a trawler or fly bridge 36' plus cruiser.