Hi All
I have been reading comments and stories on the
forums for the last few and have been totally sucked in by the cruising lifestyle. I have always fancied sailing off into the sunset but reading all your posts has convinced me it is possible.
However, I think it is something that my wife and I will leave until closer to
retirement, we're both 29 with a 3 yr old and have careers in an industry that doesn't lend itself to finding
work for short periods between forays away. I also like the idea of just packing up and leaving without worrying about having to return.
I seem to lean towards
catamaran style boats with no real reason behind it.
I want to pick your brains on what to from here to go from an excited dreamer to future cruiser.
Questions I have are:
1) What is a realistic target to aim for in saving to buy a suitable sized
boat for 2 people to sail for
blue water passages? Would like space for others to visit e.g.
Kids and Grandkids.
2) Where to start with
training? I'm based in Manchester UK and there is a watersports centre nearby that provides Adult RYA
Dinghy courses and also there is a centre in Liverpool that's offers RYA Competent Crew and Day
Skipper courses. Is it worth starting with the
Dinghy course or go straight for Competent crew?
3) My thoughts are to
charter boats for
family holidays to build up experience and wondered if anyone had suggestions of good areas in the EU to
charter and gradually build up experience?
4) I have seen that
maintenance should be estimated at about 10% of the
boat value per year, as I don't expect to win the lottery before
retirement, what is a realistic figure to
budget for this? Wondering whether a pension and other
income will cover this plus other
budget items (fuel,
food etc.) or not and so make this an unrealistic option for retirement.
All
advice, tips and comments will be gratefully received