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Ron Tan · 18-07-2007, 05:06

Hello, my name is Anton or Tony, I'm a liveaboard sailor trying to upgrade to a cruising sailor at the moment...

My first liveaboard was when a gf and I were on the "outs" in the 80's and I thought I'd spend the weekend on the sailboat...the "weekend" was almost three years long...and it was only a 22' sailboat (SeaStar, looked a lot like an O'Day Mariner).

Work took me into the midwest, I was a respiratory therapist working for a traveling health service that went belly up, after that I worked doing one thing and another and in 2001 started a little part time internet business...the whole time I'm thinking that "I've got to start putting some money away, because I want to retire onto a sailboat some day."

Then my landlord announces he's doubling everyone's rent, I look for another place and everyone else in that small town is doubling their rent too...the local refinery is expanding and everyone's cashing in as they expect the town to double in size...side effect from that hurricane wiping out the refineries in Texas years ago, after Katrina.

So, I have only about $6k in the bank and get a wild hair..."I wonder if I can get a boat I can live aboard for that much? Hmmmm"...and the thought of another Wyoming winter up to my ass in snow, while paying NY style rent pushed me over the edge.

Threw away 99% of my crap. Climbed on a bus with two suitcases. Rode down south and started looking at boats. One after another didn't work out or was just too much of a recovery job for me to handle. Ended up in South Florida looking at a '77 Hunter 27' (a 'Cherubini' Hunter)...and although I was kind of prejudiced going in, the lines really seemed to please me for some reason, it sat there like a fat little duck on the water, and seemed to have a lot of room inside. It needed a little bit of everything, and the cabinetry and interior work was kind of atrocious...but the diesel ran on the first try, and something about it made me feel like if I gave it some love it would really take care of me. I paid the owner $4k for Wind Dancer, maybe I should have whittled him down a little more, but I felt I was home and wanted to get down to it.

And, it's a year later that I'm writing this. She's sailing, and although it's not a racer it's a very sweet little gypsy boat and good in a chop, been through two good blows with it, and it handles a little rough stuff real well, although enlarging the cockpit drains is up there on my list. Still work to do, always is...right now the goal is more towards cutting the umbilical cord tying it to the dock and move out to a more nomadic thing on the hook. My internet biz is now all I do, and the stress is dialed way waaayyy back...I wanted to retire on a sailboat...well, I'm on a sailboat, and I sure FEEL retired...lol

My next goal is a LD cruise sometime late fall or winter...I'd like to be wireless and making my own juice, and hop from one anchorage to another, anchor a week and do my Net biz, sail a week and mess around...hop my way along the coast or from island to island...a preview of years to come...?

That's about all I got going on, strange new life. But I've always been strange to begin with, so there's no adjustment there...lol

Charlie · 18-07-2007, 07:58

Welcome aboard Anton:

Like your story. Congrats. If I had thought about it I could have done the same thing your doing now -- before I got married. Still working on how to get to the point where I sail more (and for longer times).

Love Florida. Chartered there twice. Lots of great people aboard this site.

Good luck with the plans.

scallywag · 18-07-2007, 11:05

Welcome Anton:
The Hunter 27 has a lot going for it. 1) It is paid for! 2) With its shoal draft the Bahamas can be a treat. 3) The intracoastal w/w's shoaling will not be a problem. Having a boat with a draft of 4.5 feet, I did some bumping and running amok on a trip from St. Pete to St. Augustine. 4) You can do a lot of cruising. Do not the let the bigger boat syndrome get you.

John

David_Old_Jersey · 18-07-2007, 12:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anton R

strange new life. But I've always been strange to begin with, so there's no adjustment there...lol

LOL

SkiprJohn · 18-07-2007, 12:53

Aloha Anton,
Welcome aboard!! I like to see folks getting along on smaller boats and doing it just fine. Yes, sailors by and large are a bit strange. Hope you enjoy the forum. I certainly do.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

slomotion · 18-07-2007, 13:20

Echo Scallywag - if you're already in So. FL, you gotta take that boat to the Bahamas. And yes, they have places where you can get wireless at anchor.

Ron Tan · 18-07-2007, 16:52

Thanks for the welcome...looks like an interesting board; don't know why it took so long for me to find it...I also visit the Renegades board and livingaboard.com, I may not post regularly but I read regularly.

The H27 seems roomier inside than it looks outside. The saloon clears my head at 6' and has enough room I can do my karate exercises. I'm also thinking of doing a little experimenting, at least as far as the interior is concerned. I wanted a heavier mast support post, and now I'm thinking of knocking out the privacy bulkheads to make a clean sweep front to back, and glassing in a few reinforcing ribs for hull stiffness as well as reinforcing chainplates and replacing the rigging with something heavier; the hatch is another weak point I want to address. I don't want to build the boat over again, but the simple things that can be done I would like to do one step at a time.

I'll probably be more excited about the Bahamas later in the year...it's so unGodly hot today I have fantasies of going far, FAR north...hang out with the walrus and the polar bears...

Btw my draft is 4'4", there's also shoal draft H27's that draw 3'3". The previous owner was such a totally detached absentee he didn't remember which model he had, before I bought it I took a swim to find out. Not much growth, surprisingly, but it needs a haul out regardless. I'm thinking of changing the name then; there are 1,000 "Wind Dancers" and I want something original. It looks like a big fat duck on the water, I thought "Lord Luvvaduk" might be clever...Nahhhhh

Entlie · 18-07-2007, 17:23

Welcome from a former Wyomingite (born and raised there).

You'll love the cruising life, and the camaraderie you'll find in this forum.

Entlie
Sailing Catamaran Sunspot Baby