How large of a yacht can I afford?

[Fluenta]

Originally Posted by Mountain sailor

My boys will be 7 and 9 when we plan to do this in 5 years.

Great ages to head out. Our older two children were 6 and 8 when we left for our seven year trip.

Enjoy the adventure whatever size or type of vessel you get !

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Stewie12

Marina fees are going to be your biggest expense.

We haven't spent a cent on marina fees in 4 years.

If we had a smaller boat we would probably be tied to one often
And need to live off boat in a house
And need a car to get to the boat
And need a job to pay for the marina, small boat, house and car.

The bigger boat actually SAVES us money

[Mountain sailor]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

We haven't spent a cent on marina fees in 4 years.

If we had a smaller boat we would probably be tied to one often
And need to live off boat in a house
And need a car to get to the boat
And need a job to pay for the marina, small boat, house and car.

The bigger boat actually SAVES us money

I like your way of thinkin'! Not sure it would apply for our Great Loop portion but after that...

[Mountain sailor]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Man .................................................. if I had anywhere near that $$$$$ coming I sure wouldn't be wasting my time with this place!!!!!!

Can you please explain? I'm learning a great deal from you guys. Or are you saying I should be asking questions in a more dedicated yacht forum?

You see, just because we have that sort of income doesn't mean we spend it all every month. Far from it. We save and invest a great deal. I'd say we're still members of the "rat race". House in the 'burbs squished in between 2 neighbors, 2 cars, high property taxes which seems to go up every year, etc.

[David Mathis]

You mentioned spending the first year cruising the Great Loop. That limits size as the loop has something that the sea doesn't - bridges. You may decide that a 125' triple deck with a crew of eight is your ideal boat but before you buy it, get charts of the areas that include your desired voyage then check all of the bridge heights. That will be your primary limiting factor.

If you want big with a crew managing everything, just book a month or two on a cruise ship. That may be better suited to your idea of nautical leisure. When it ends, you go home with good memories, a hard drive filled with photos, and no concerns of slip fees, maintenance, or other problems relating to boat ownership.

Many families of four or more are completely at home on trawlers of 38 - 48'. As to hiring a captain, learn boat handling by taking a couple courses and asking owners of similar size boats for help and suggestions. When cruising with children, you may hear complaints of "There's nothing to do." which will be more frequent and more valid of you have a crew managing the navigating, piloting, lockings (they're frequent on parts of the loop), and other nautical tasks.You and your family will learn more and gain a greater love and appreciation of boating if they invest time and labor in the experience rather than sit back and let Dad's checkbook manage the labor and necessities of the trip.

[TBill36]

I haven't seen this mentioned before, but I would think that finding a captain and crew that you want to live with will be harder than finding the boat.

[DShant]

Many many boats have a Captain and crew. If you don't like the one you have it is very easy to lose that one and hire a new one. Boats on the other hand are not so easy to get rid of I've found.

[Wckoek]

Captain for smaller yacht, say 70-120 feet is harder to find as not a lot of qualified people would want to waste their time for smaller boats when they can work for higher pay at larger ones.
Berthing is much harder, how many spots for 100+ feet is available in your area?
I'm sure not a lot of richer boat owners would let go of theirs.