Six Years to Early Retirement, then Live Aboard

[Panamajames]

Buy the boat and then register in Panama. You will save thousands in Sales tax.

[jm21]

I wouldn't sink practically any money into a Newport 27. Just think of it along the lines of camping and roughing it a bit.

[gonesail]

calder is ok .. he puts me to sleep as well. as for a 6 year plan: I have you beaten. I now have a 1 year plan (according to my spouse) .. whoopee for me. as for a 60' boat .. hope you and your wife are in good shape. paying cash for a boat is a great idea .. look at it as a spiratual investment.

[bmiller]

Originally Posted by DocSailor

I should get radar, autopilot, depth detector and I want a fridge, TV, coffee maker, microwave, lap top PC with nav charts and a good gps.


I'm trying to be as low tech as possible.......

Bit of a contradiction there.

Lots of amps being chewed up in that list of goodies. Our 27 has a perculator for coffee, well insulated ice box, two burner cooktop and a binnacle mounted compass. TV, never, but that's just me.

We have sailed our 27 across the Sea of Cortez. Our most ambitious adventure to date. Spent a month on the boat and never wanted for more advanced creature comforts. Too busy having fun.

My only advice would be to learn to navigate without electronics. Break out some charts and a compass. Do some dead reckoning, shoot a bearing, learn to plot a course and so on. Some day, and it will happen, those electronics will not power up, then what?

[bobfnbw]

Seriously I would not consider a boat without a dodger and a bimini.
For health reasons alone, getting out of the sun is paramount.
Having a dry cockpit is as well.
No reason you can't have that.

[DocSailor]

Yes maybe a doger and bimini first. I agree that dropping money into the Newport is a bad idea.

When I said all the electronic gizmos, I was quoting the gear folks who do ocean sailing use.

What I actually purchased was a good book on sextents, I intend to purchase a hand held battery powered gps from west coast sail, and maybe a bimini, dodger. It's just that the boat doesn't call for investment and in Los Angeles it never rains. Maybe I'll invest in a good tube of spf 30!

So total cost: spf 30: 5.00
hand held gps: 100.00
bronze sextent 100.00

Then I'm ready like my Italian countryman Christopher something....

Thanks for all the help, alot to ponder.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Doctor,
If you have a choice, don't spend money on a sextant for $100 unless it is plastic. No good metal sextant is going to be less than $350 even in a pawn shop. I've taught celestial navigation for many years and am beginning to believe that unless you are very bored at sea or have lost all your electronic gear then just use GPS. It is much cheaper and much easier to use. I don't even know if the Navy or Coast Guard is using sextants anymore. A dying art which I still practice from time to time.
The reason I recommend dodger and bimini is not so much to stay out of rhe rain but to duck behind when you are really beating to weather and you are hitting the waves and water is splashing everywhere. Bimini to keep you out of the sun. Believe me when I tell you skin cancer is forever.
Try to find a universal dodger and bimini that you can take with you when you are no longer with the Newport. Is Minney's still in business?
regards,

[DocSailor]

Thanks all, so, since I last posted I went to Catalina Island off mdr in LA, 100 plus miles, round trip in two days.

Then last weekend I went to Mailbue, you know, baywatch country and did 34 miles round trip in an afternoon.

I am leaning alot from this forum, thanks.

The only accessory that I really needed was a hand held gps. I want to start anchoring, I feel I need a depth finder. I bought a cheap hand held one and it broke immediatly.

Any suggestions for a cheap depth finder for anchoring?

If none I'm buying a line, a lead wieght and rubber gloves for my 12 year old son....please help him ;-)

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by DocSailor

Thanks all, so, since I last posted I went to Catalina Island off mdr in LA, 100 plus miles, round trip in two days.

One hundred miles round trip, Doc? You take some scenic route from Marina del Rey to Catalina and back that I don't know about?

TaoJones

[DocSailor]

Yeah, I went to twin harbors then around past avalon then back and moored in avalon, had great steak and lobster dinner, slept onboard then circled around Catalina and came back to twin harbors then back to mdr.

I like exploring I think.

Last week we went to paradise cove as the first leg of a trip to the channel islands. It's a hard sail to paradise cove I had to motor sail alot.

Any suggestions?

What about a depth finder, is that a must have? I think if I want to go to new locals and anchor a depth finder would be nice.

Any suggestions, should I get a good one at a few hundred dollars or the basic 100 dollar one at West Marine? They say this one is mounted forward so may not be good for sailboats.

Thanks