Back To The Islands

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Messing About

Seller countered with a price I find acceptable and we have an informal agreement. It’s a top end price but I believe this is a special 23 year old boat. One owner, meticulously maintained with all records, spare parts, special tools, dinghy, full boat cover, custom cradle for storing on the hard, and the added value that he will, not only tutor me on the piloting and maintaining of the boat, but he will join me on the delivery all the way to Florida. He recommended we unstep the mast and go the Gulf route thru Chicago and Mobile, AL.
Taking the mast up and down is a little unnerving to me but that’s just my naivety, I’m sure.

He will continue using her this Great Lakes season, he’s already paid for winter storage on the hard.
I will travel there next April and find a surveyor. We will execute a contract, then out of water survey and sea trial. I will get the benefit of learning how he preps her for season launch. If all is as advertised, we will complete the sale and the dogs and I will live aboard at his marina while we learn to sail, under the sellers instruction. I will spend the whole summer of ‘23 on the Great Lakes before we head for our new, my old, port of Charlotte Harbor/Punta Gorda, FL in the fall, hurricane activity depending. Late season storms in the Gulf are a reality.

This plan will allow me to spend the entire winter ‘23/24 cruising, sailing, fishing Southwest Florida and the Keys. By Spring of ‘24, I will be ready for a break and will store her on the hard, returning to Arizona to see friends/family throughout the summer. In the fall of ‘24, I will be back on the boat and plan to head for the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico and beyond to La Caribe!

On a happier note...what boat did you finally end up with...Congratulations!

[Messing About]

Ann, thank you for you message. I realize the addiction of both alcohol and cigarettes is far greater than I ever did in 22 years of marriage. I also accept her for who she is and will see her through to God's hands.

CS:
It's an Island Packet 380. Still a few months until I end up with it but it seems, the scenario of this acquisition couldn't have been better written in the stars.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Messing About

CS:
It's an Island Packet 380. Still a few months until I end up with it but it seems, the scenario of this acquisition couldn't have been better written in the stars.

[Messing About]

Bit if a monkey wrench thrown into my plans. None of the marinas in SWFL can accommodate both live aboard and seasonal storage on hard ground. You have to pay an annual contract to secure a live aboard slip so if you haul out and store elsewhere, you’re paying for that plus the wet slip. Cost prohibitive in my book.

Had hoped to spend the first couple seasons, being a seasonal cruiser but to do that it appears I would have to purchase a deeded slip or vacant residential canal lot in sailboat water. By todays standards, that’s $150-200k.

I could cruise, living on the anchor for 10 years for that money, sailing away to less Hurricane prone latitudes, instead of storing on the hard in Florida.

I have 6 months before I acquire the boat and one year before I sail back to Southwest Florida. Need to rethink much of the geography of my plan.

[Celestialsailor]

See what the boat needs. You may have to be on the hard anyways...then figure it out from there.

[Messing About]

The boat is reported to be turnkey; ready to set sail (subject to survey, of course). That’s what I’m buying this particular one and paying dearly for it.

[thesaltytar]

I've been looking for something similar, except I am planning to live in an RV. Ideally a park that also has wet slips available to be near the boat. I haven't found anything in SW Florida (but really want to).

What I have found are a lot of options in NE Florida in the range of $590/month for RV and $5/ft/month for wet slips. In the St. Johns river area around Georgetown it gets much cheaper, $450/month for the RV, $300/month wet slip. SOME of these places require you have an RV. I don't know their liveaboard policies.

It could be a consideration to get a small trailer to help with the transition afloat (and have a mobile workshop/garage). These are all month-to-month contracts so you could just pack up and put the boat and trailer in storage for the winter and ultimately sell the trailer when you're ready to leave for good.

[Messing About]

Originally Posted by thesaltytar

I've been looking for something similar, except I am planning to live in an RV. Ideally a park that also has wet slips available to be near the boat. I haven't found anything in SW Florida (but really want to).

What I have found are a lot of options in NE Florida in the range of $590/month for RV and $5/ft/month for wet slips. In the St. Johns river area around Georgetown it gets much cheaper, $450/month for the RV, $300/month wet slip. SOME of these places require you have an RV. I don't know their liveaboard policies.

It could be a consideration to get a small trailer to help with the transition afloat (and have a mobile workshop/garage). These are all month-to-month contracts so you could just pack up and put the boat and trailer in storage for the winter and ultimately sell the trailer when you're ready to leave for good.

I have a luxury 40’ 5th wheel but I plan to leave that in AZ at my son in law’s property, so that I have a place to go to away from the boat while returning to visit kids/grands and my 90 year old Mom (still healthy, independent and driving).

For me, I want to live aboard the sailboat and only visit the RV when I need a break.

For you, the Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda is a first rate facility, with rates to match. They now charge $19 per foot per month, on an annual contract but have a two year waiting list. There is a nice RV a park a short drive away on US 41. I believe it used to be called the Sun & Shade or Sand & Shade or something like that.

Other nice marinas include Fisherman’s Village, and Gasparilla Marina. But again, for me, if I plan on hauling out for 5-6 months at another facility, it doesn’t make sense to pay an annual contract at any of those marinas.

I may just have to live on the hook at the various anchorages during the winter and still pay for off season haul out. I plan on at least a year long Caribbean cruise, through the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. That will be life on the hook too, so I may as well start getting used to that from the start.

[JPA Cate]

Messing About: why do you want to store the boat on the hard? All the times we've left our boat, up to 7 months two times, we left it in the water. I think the boats are better supported by the water than leaning on props and standing on their keels, which can lead to deformation. You still would have to strip the boat for the hurricane season, either way.

Perhaps there's somewhere on the West coast of FL that will meet your requirements???

Good luck with the search.

Ann

[Messing About]

I guess unattended while in he water seems a much bigger risk than unattended on solid ground, but that could be a complete false sense of security on my part.

The boat I’m buy spends 7 months of the Great Lakes winter in a custom designed cradle. Not sure what I will do with that, as it’s included in my sale, but if I didn’t leave it in place and pay the annual storage contract up there, I don’t know where I would put it.

My plan is to spend the first 5 mo this of ownership up there before bringing her on the water to SW FL for the next 7 months. Maybe I should think about returning her to her cradle in the marina on Lake Michigan for April to Oct ‘24 so I can get the planned break with less stress. Then in Oct ‘24, repeat the journey down the southern leg of the Great Loop, into the Gulf. Plan to gunkhole from any potential late season storms before heading for the Caribbean around Nov/Dec. by then I would be prepared to stay about for 12-18 months without planned breaks away.

So much to plan for and against.

[Mariefred]

Don't stress it. You've got a good boat. It'll all work out. Just enjoy the process wherever it leads. It's all an adventure. You have my utmost respect and support.

A lot better than being glued to a sofa, staring at a screen, while drooling into a TV dinner.

You are a dude. And you certainly abide.

[Messing About]

Originally Posted by Mariefred

Don't stress it. You've got a good boat. It'll all work out. Just enjoy the process wherever it leads. It's all an adventure. You have my utmost respect and support.

A lot better than being glued to a sofa, staring at a screen, while drooling into a TV dinner.

You are a dude. And you certainly abide.

Thank you very much.
Can’t wait to get out there again.
I’ve been reading my old blog, I wrote in my 9 prior years in FL and on the East Coast.
It’s got me jazzed to get back on the water.

Ironic how back in ‘08 I was trying to sell a home during the mortgage crisis, while waiting to buy a new boat. 14 years later, history repeats itself.

If anyone would like to read my old blog, here’s a link:

https://messingaboutinsouthflorida.b...-down.html?m=1

[Tetepare]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

I think the boats are better supported by the water than leaning on props and standing on their keels, which can lead to deformation.

Ann

Boats are safer on land, both during hurricane season and during Northeast winters, according to the insurance company statistics.

There are thousands of boats in the Great Lakes that spend five to eight months each year on the hard with no ill effect to the hull. Yes, I have seen them fall over when improperly supported on jackstands, and I have seen deformation (which usually pops back out) when improperly set in a cradle. I have never seen any hull deformation when the supports were used properly.

[Messing About]

Update on my wife and my retirement boat business plan. She continues to lose about a pound a week. We recently started using our home scale; previously used the one at the cancer center, so we had to establish a new baseline. Today is the day of the week the Hospice Nurse visits, so we will weigh her.
The cracked femur has improved over four weeks since she fell. Her mobility with a Walker is very good, although understandably slow. She has taken a few steps without it but is much safer with it. Malnutrition continues to be her downfall. She can’t or elects not to eat but a small bite or two a day. She only drinks an Ensure on rare occasion. Cognitive decline is more apparent than ever. She’s often confused, especially at night. The nurse thinks this is more likely due to the cancer entering her brain than it could be to dementia or medication. She complains of tongue burning on the inside. This is also likely cancer pain, as it is alleviated with medication. She smokes about a half pack a day and drinks 4-6 glasses of wine each day between 2 and 6/7 PM. I’m still successfully diluting the wine with 30-40% water. Now that she’s more mobile, I have to be careful she doesn’t pour her own.

Boat business plan update:
I have four more weeks of paid leave, then 80% of our income will be cutoff. She makes up the other 20% with her social security retirement. Her income will cover our mortgage, car/home insurances and Medicare/Supplement. Utilities, groceries, fuel, my health & life insurances and incidentals will have to start coming out of savings by mid-October. There’s plenty to cover it for a couple years but I did not count on having tap into these funds for living in this house.

My bucket looks like this: cash on hand, plus equity from home sale is 50%. 401k retirement savings is another 25% and my social security retirement income (still 5 years out) will be the final 25%. That latter two, I don’t count as available to me so this leaves the first 50% as a stand alone fund to break out as follows:

33% would be spent on paying for the boat I have selected and made an informal agreement on.

33% would be used for maintaining the boat, cruising the Great Lakes and Coastal SW FL for the first 2.5 years and living expenses over the same time. The final 33% would be cash reserves.

In Q2 of 2025 I would be free to draw from my 401k, without penalty, if needed. This is about 50% of my current net worth. By Q4 2027 I can draw my early social security, which will be about $26k per year.

I will have been on the boat for nearly 5 years and will have cruised deep into the Caribbean for the first time. I should know well and good if I want to continue by then or if I want to re-establish and land based life.

The plan doesn’t wholly depend on the proceeds from sale of the house but the financial comfort certainly does.

I don’t plan on carrying health insurance during my plan. It’s the one roll of the dice I’m willing to do. If God has plans to reunite me with my bride in heaven, I accept that. Until then, I would use cash clinics for absolute medical necessities.
If something worse happens, I gave it my best shot. I’m totally comfortable with that, as I’m the type who believes this life is not the only one and is certainly not the best one awaiting. Again, if I’m wrong, it won’t matter anyway.

I’m open to comments and constructive criticism. As always, thanks for giving me this Avenue to vent to. There’s no one in my life I can share these intimate and sensitive thoughts with.

B

[Mariefred]

Happy to listen. That's something I noticed about cancer. No one wants to listen. The subject is usually changed quickly, or they suddenly have somewhere else to be. It's difficult to unload. And man, do you need to unload sometimes. You put on a brave face for the world and the sick person you're caring for, but the burden builds up and you just need to let loose. So feel free.

In my case it was my daughter, who was 10 at the time. She's fine now, thank God. But joking and keeping her laughing throughout the treatment, and hiding your stress - especially in the operating theatre a few times as they knocked her out - takes a toll.

Your wife sounds like she's in the same condition as my dad when he had about a week left. Skin cancer got him. Developed from "What's that on my arm?" to dead in 3 months. Once it was in his brain, it went quickly.

He was old, he knew he'd had a good innings, and was contentedly resigned to it. Not sure how aware he really was at the end. It was a pretty good death, if that's possible. He was making light of it. At one of his last doctor's appointments before going into the hospital for the last time, he was asked how his bowel movements were. His response was that he was saving a fortune on toilet paper and was holding out for a world record. Hadn't taken a dump in two weeks. Which was news to all of us. Including my mum.

So feel free to splurge all over the page.

The boat plan sounds good to me. I guess you'll invest whatever excess cash you end up with the from the sale of the house, so that's another source of income, especially if interest rates rise. Or if the stock market tanks and there's an opportunity to get in on a bottom.

I think an Island Packet is a good 'test' boat as they seem to hold their value due to their relatively strong brand.

So, keep a had (as my Geordie father used to say).