Liveaboard in Five Years

[bmcinnis]

Just wanted to throw a first post:

THE GOOD:
- Love the water / ocean
- Loved wakeboarding every morning before heading off to work when I lived in Bel Marin Keys (Marin County, CA)
- Enjoy New Adventures, learning and LIVING
- Grew up in Iowa (not good from a sailing perspective, but great from a core values and work ethic perspective)
- Have always dreamed of not just having a sail boat, but living on one
- Plan to document my education and experiences from not knowing the difference from Port and Starboard to living on a boat in 5 years
- Am currently a web developer, so will have a specific interest in being connected to manage my sites as I travel
- My wife has sailed for years
- My wife and I finally set our sites on achieving this goal and plan to be living on a boat in 5 years when our youngest graduates high school

THE BAD:
- Currently living in Dublin, OH
- Have never been on a sail boat, let alone sailed one
- Currently have no friends that have sailboats or that even know anyone that has sailboats

My wife and I will be heading to the Annapolis Sailboat show Oct. 6th - 10th. Hoping to begin my immersion into the sailing world through forums like this, my subscription to SSCA, books, and hopefully meeting some new friends who have patience with complete newbies like myself.

[SlimRick]

Former Bel Marin Keys (Del Oro Lagoon) resident here too

[bmcinnis]

Awesome! Not get side tracked on the past, but loved living there. Was amazing to find a community in the bay area where you could actually live and boat on the water and with access the bay. Just amazing. I was on Bahama Reef. Thanks for the reply. Looking forward to meeting new friends and living outside of my comfort zone as I try to absorb as much as possible from this forum.

[MikeinLA]

I have a few ideas for you. First, you might try getting your feet wet, literally, out at Buckeye Lake. It seems they have a lot of small boat sailing and you might land some lessons as well.

Clicky

Buckeye Lake Yacht Club - Learn-to-Sail

Second, look for opportunities at Annapolis for "test sails" from the manufacturers. That would be a good learning experience as well.

Sounds like the seed is planted, so just water it, nurture it and let it blossom.

Good Luck, Mike

GO BUCKS!!

[Dennis.G]

Best wishes to you in achieving your dreams. We are down to 9 1/2 months in our countdown.

As you have 5 years to go, I would make some goals for along the way. Might suggest:
> Weeks bareboat charter somewhere (BVI is most popular and easy to do).
> In order to do bareboat charter, take training classes and some sort of cetificate recognized by charter companies.
> In order to do the training classes, learn basic sailing skills in a small dingy. Think local lakes, a small trailerable sailboat that you can sell off 5 years from now.

Other ways to go, but achieving intermediate goals along the way will make it easier and more certain that you will accomplish you final goals.

[Il Pescatori]

Welcome aboard!

Terri and I started taking sailing lessons last year which was how we used our vacation time and budget. ASA 101, 103, and 104. Loved the sailing but it was tough doing the book work when we also wanted to go out for a nice dinner.

Purchased our "Dream" boat this spring. 3 years 10 months and 6 days until we live aboard full time. For now we practice living aboard and sailing almost every weekend and have set up our vacation calender to enjoy her year round moving her up and down the east coast chasing the warmer climates.

Our short term goal is Bimini by next spring as our first off shore destination.

Heading down from Baltimore to Norfolk the week of the Annapolis boat show... perhaps you might want to jump on ship with us! ... see my post on "Crew Wanted".

[Ellis McKinley]

The decision to go cruising is always the biggest. I agree with taking ASA courses and doing some bare boat charters after you get your Coastal Cruising certification. I took all the ASA courses years ago and my wife and I cast off our dock lines in 2006. During a five year period we cruised the Gulf and East Coasts of the US, the Caribbean, portions of South America, Panama (including a Panama Canal transit), Pacific Central America and the Sea of Cortez. You'll never regret your decision. Good luck.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Its great to have you here.
Good luck at the boat show. You might come away with a bargain boat.
kind regards,