Thinking of living on a sailboat and traveling world, is this possible?

[GettingOutofUsa]

Thanks for all the info, seems like there is some hope to make this work, i don't expect it to be easy at all, but believe would be a peaceful life for the most part. Sorry late reply Everytime I tried it logged me out and erased every thing I typed lol. On a cell also:s

About that $500 a month is that enough to live off of? Had a bussiness going here that I was going to have someone run when I get it up and send me a little to survive the place I was going to was only $50 a month for rent if I wanted to live like they did there. I wished I learned about the exchange 20 years ago lol of be retired by now on an island. Was thinking selling fish but think I heard that's a tough one to get into, I'll probably fish most the time favorite thing to do.

I am able to get a passport, but unlucky they don't want me to travel but it's legal for me to do it. They just pay countries to deny us make it harder. I think as long as I'm not flying I'll be ok that part. Was also going to bring a buddy and pick someone up in another country, I don't think I would try this far alone, so definitely would need a bigger boat. I was trying to Google this if I got denied and needed to restock and someone else is able to get in would they let then in and let me wait on the ship? Guessing I could get a dingy to and stay in international waters as well

Was going to go straight into this April but this Coronavirus, first destination on the border with China, not able to bring myself to even risk it, Which is good definitely need to prepare better. Have more hope with this now, being landlocked noone knows what to think about it here. And most probably think I'm out of my mind for it lol

[Redinari]

I don't think it would be possible to stay at anchor in international waters (typically 12 nautical miles from shore) and send a dinghy out to resupply. I could be wrong, but entering a country's waters, even in a dinghy, means the person would have to check in, and arriving in a dinghy from 12 miles away would probably raise a lot of suspicion and possibly investigation from authorities. Using a dinghy in open water for that distance is probably extremely risky as well. I don't see how you could make this work. Seems to me you have a lot more research to do, especially pertaining to entry laws in various countries.
It's beginning to appear, to me, that your best option would be to fly out to where you want to go and buy a boat there to live on, if you're determined to live on a boat. Sailing from the US to Asia requires a lot of advance preparation, not only in finding and fixing up a boat, but learning to sail it, and then learning to sail it offshore, plus all the documentation and paperwork necessary to go to various countries that you'll eventually have to visit to restock your boat.
For someone who is determined and has a lot of time to spare and spend on the project, of course this plan is absolutely possible, but will take a lot of hard work and research first.
I wish you every success!
Red

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, GettingOutofUsa, and Red.

[Redinari]

Thanks, Gord

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by passage_paul

" This is a bizarre plan at best" "Sailing around the world is best accomplished with at least 3 crew on board for watch duties (otherwise you're a hazard to yourself and everybody else)"



Really Joel??


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_circumnavigations

solocircumnavigation.com/solosailingcircumnavigation/singlehandedcircumnavigators.htm

Far too many singlehanded circumnavigators in that list for me to count.

I could probably make a list just as long of all sorts of activities and claim they are hazards to others and to themselves.

Good G-d, how many zombies are floating about??(

"If you dont do x y and z as I think you should..then you are a hazard"

Maybe there should be a law?? Thank goodness 64 oz sodas are being outlawed!


I certainly could care less if any ADULT is a hazard to themselves. Nor do I care if they are a hazard to you. That would be YOUR problem.

People making your issues theirs and their issues yours..

Yes I know.. COLREG...........................

You fail to mention that these Solo Circumnavigators all have extensive sailing backgrounds and I'd bet money they all had AIS and Radar with alarms on those boats. When was the last time you saw a 10K boat that had either?

Solo navigation is possible but it's not for a newbee on a poorly equipped small boat. The OP has a big hurdle here and it ain't going to happen in the US which is why I recommended Rio Dulce where he could find a cheap boat, get it fixed up and figure out how to sail it without having to cross an Ocean anytime soon. Seems like a much better recommendation than your rant Paul.

[reflectionsv37]

Suggest you look for a sturdier boat. I owned a Catalina 27 and I wouldn't want to cross an ocean in one. I have 2 friends who have sailed across the South Pacific and beyond on Vancouver 27's. Very sturdy boat and safe for ocean passages. One, who is anchored about 100 meters away has lived aboard and cruised for more than 20 years. He recently crossed the 50k mile mark in the boat.

Your plan is certainly do able. Follow the dream.

They say as you get older you never regret the things you have done. It's the ones you didn't do that you end up regretting.

[MVNightWatch]

Two things my friend: one please don’t try to try to go around the world in a 27 foot Catalina. Two: You’ll get really tired of fish. I suggest you look more at the build of the boat than the size or style. You want something that will survive nuclear war.😊

[Terry107]

I have sailed across the Atlantic and pottered around the carib for a couple of years in a 27ft yacht, a Phillipa 27.I had replaced the engine, sails , and rigging.running rigging etc with all new prior to leaving the UK. I anchor in preference to buoys. I lived quite frugally but still enjoyed myself. I managed all of this on my military pension, and my state pension plus 2 corporate pensions.
I do all of the maintenance myself and can manage most if not all jobs.I had a emergency reserve of £10k for unexpected expenses but did not have to dip into it.Now back in the UK but planning another jump across the pond and maybe through the canal and further afield.Now own a Rival 34.Refitted new engine, rigging ,sails etc ready for a new adventure at the age of 73.Do it before you get too old!!!!!

[sv Stella Maris]

Yes you can, but please do us all a favor and BUY INSURANCE ! Your learning curve should not be at the expense of another. After you’ve cruised for years and decide not have insurance and are willing to become indentured to anyone you financially harm with your vessel, so be it...

Buy a boat and get going. Still reading?? Get going!!! ;-)

Start in the Sea of Cortes Mexico or Caribbean. Training grounds for sure.

[liz.w.]

Hey! Yes, a 27 ft can absolutely make it around the world. Yes a single hander in a 27 ft boat can navigate and be fine. And yes, even a cheap boat that’s been refitted with excellent craftsmanship and specifications for offshore sailing can make it. And yes you definitely need to do waaayyyy more research to make sure you have the skills necessary for this immense undertaking.

But honestly that’s not the real concern here. If you are trying to run from the law attempting any sort of international escape is downright madness. Especially if you are poorly financed and totally unprepared. The absolute first thing you have to do is get things straightened out legally. I know, I’m not a fan of the government either, but there is no way you will outsmart them. Do not leave if you’re on parole. Do not attempt to leave if you’re on parole. Better to be legally free to go in 5 years than attempt any sort of escape now and have your freedom taken from you forever.

Wishing you all the best luck, but please don’t jeopardize your freedom by doing something as foolish as trying to go on the run.

[zjames]

There are plenty of countries around the world with large expat communities. Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama and even Columbia, Curacao and Bonaire to name a few. There is also Philippines and Viet Nam. I would stay away from the countries that use the Dollar. The high Dollar and the conversion rate will really help you live well. Also in countries everywhere in the world they want to learn American English so you can teach and make good money.
Sailing a boat though is a whole other game. Boats require daily maintenance. Salt water and air take a toll on all boats. Whether it is winch maintenance or engine maintenance it is constant. You have to stay ahead of the boat and not wait for something to break but something always will. A monkey can sail a boat. Seamanship however makes a sailor. You have the advantage of YouTube, Google and Books before your planned departure. My first boat was an O'Day 25 and it was great for coastal cruising and I sailed it allot. I also learned allot owning it and had some hard lessons. There times I was caught in a squall when I was just praying to get back in. The sea state was rough with large waves with heavy Rain and lightening while I was in the cockpit. As the boat came down the back side of the wave to the next it felt like it was going to break apart. I started the engine to motor sailed. I found out what Cavitation was that day. There is no better teacher than experience and an ASA approved Sailing School. I too are planning to sail away in two years.
Fair Winds and Blessings
ZMJ

[Carl-T705]

Huh?? You live in a car for how many years and you can't put together 10 K. It suggested you move South of the US because there is more opportunities there.... Well you shouldn't have any congestion issues because it appears everyone is heading north to get into the US . I'm confused when people from the US can't make it here, yet people forsake their families ,, language and culture to steal a chance to get into this country and in time are successful. If you want out and on a minute budget I wouldn't buy a boat at all. I would move the car ( if it can move ) to a boating area anywhere where the climate suits you and search out free boats. They are everywhere, I am offered boats all the time. Well .. quite often, in the last year I have turned down a Hunter 27, which needed cleanup and a factory finished West Sail 32 that had the rudder knocked off . I don't even search them out, Of course people who are not capable to do anything will tell you to stay away from old cheap boats . Resourceful folks will always prevail. You can do quite a lot of refiiting of an older boat just from what you dig out of a dumpster at a marina that allows owners to work on their own boats. Find your own way to success and blow off the naysayers. Don't. Get trapped with the length/ size of a boat. A old Pearson alberg 25 ft Ariel will carry you anywhere in the world you would want to sail to. There are others as well .

[GrowleyMonster]

As I understand it, your plan is unrealistic.


You can cross oceans in most 27' boats if you know what you are doing. You don't, not yet. You can't do a crewed charter, hiring yourself out as skipper, without a license and that takes some time, experience, study, and resources. Bareboat chartering your boat would leave you with no home while your floating home is in the hands of strangers. And the day rate for an under $10k boat is going to be miserably low. Insurance will be astronomical. Don't go there.


Singlehanded voyaging is done all the time. But do you fully understand your legal and moral obligations regarding keeping a watch at all times? Do you have enough experience to know how quickly after scanning the horizon and taking a power nap that a disaster can unfold? Do you realize that if you are doing 5kts and a ship is doing 20 that you could be approaching on a collision course fast enough to wake up very dead? Or collide with another boat doing the same thing, and kill someone else? Singlehanded voyaging is possible but it is definitely not for newbies.



How well do you know Rules of the Road? Can you identify different types of vessels from several miles away by their lights, and determine which way they are headed? Can you determine whether or not risk of collision exists? Do you know which lights you should be burning and when, if motoring or sailing or both? Who has the right of way, you, or a power driven vessel? (That is a trick question, sort of, but you don't know what the trick is if you haven't studied Rules.) There is a LOT to learn that you need to have a PERFECT understanding of. Many people don't, and sail off to wherever anyway. That doesn't mean that you should. Be responsible. Avoid prison or fines or damage to your or others' vessels, injury, loss of life, by KNOWING The Rules. Not just studying them, but KNOWING them.



Do you know how to construct a plot sheet, or even use one pre-printed, to keep a DR? That is the most basic part of navigation and too many guys out there don't have a clue. No, you can't count on your electronic chart plotter. You can and should USE it, but if you DEPEND on it then you are asking for trouble. Being able to take a celestial observation and reduce it to an LOP and advance or retard it to another one for a position is kind of important, too. It's not hard, but you do have to learn it and practice it or you simply can't do it. Even simpler is just taking a Latitude at Local Apparent Noon (hint: only rarely will this actually be noon by the clock) and this can be learned in a couple of hours, but you do have to learn it and practice it to use it. Keeping a DR requires no accurate time reference, no sextant, no tables, not even an almanac, but can with surprising accuracy keep track of where you are and where you are headed for if you keep to your course. YOU NEED THIS. You need to learn about compass corrections. You need to learn about set and drift. You need to learn to read a pilot chart and this has nothing to do with airplanes. You need to learn what the difference is between a Rhumb Line and a Great Circle, why one is usually better than the other and when the other is better than the one. You need to learn about Aids to Navigation. How to read a Light List. How to read a chart. How to make use of the various tools that help you to enter or leave a strange port and plan a safe passage to the next one.



What will you do when you run hard aground? Has this happened to you yet? What will you do when you blow out your only mainsail, and what could you have done to prevent it? Can you read a weather chart? Do you know how to get one, while you are in the middle of an ocean? What side of a storm is the dangerous semicircle and why is it so, and should you or how can you avoid it? What do you do when you find yourself in a serious storm with waves as tall as your mast? What do you do if you roll over and your shrouds part and your mast goes swimming but the boat end keeps trying to pound its way through your hull? Do you know how to put out a fire, and how to prevent it from happening in the first place? Do you know how to maintain batteries? Can you do simple repairs or even emergency repairs to your diesel? What happens when your boat starts mysteriously filling up with water and you don't know where it is coming from? And all these things you might have to know how to handle when you are days from help.


The short answer is first of all don't be days from help, or even hours from help until you know more about what you are doing. Crawl before you walk. Walk before you run. Learn The Rules, before you take your boat out, even just to the pump out station. Then take some months or years to get used to the boat and to sailing, on inland and inshore waters. Then try some coastal cruising. Day hops. Overnight passages. Be VERY competent before trying a multiday solo passage, and think well and hard about the wisdom of doing it, even then.What do the Rules of the Road say about it? Anything? What do they imply?



The size of the boat is not such a limiting factor for long sea voyages. The general construction and condition do matter. Some boats simply are not designed for crossing oceans and are poor candidates for doing so. Some are designed from the keel up to be sea boats. Age does matter. Not necessarily age of the boat as a whole, but age of the rigging, sails, hardware, engine, etc. Your $10k boat probably will have standing rigging long overdue for replacement. How do you tell when a stainless steel wire needs replacing? You need to find out. Then be ready to shell out some bucks when you find that your wires are 30 years past their end of life in an offshore environment. Sails... how do you tell when they need replacing, and when can they be repaired or upgraded? Can you pick out a used sail, and should you even try? Can you tell when your mast is ready to fail? Can you replace or repair a steering chain? Rig an emergency tiller or rudder? Patch a hole in your hull or deck? Learn this stuff before you head into blue water, when you are only a VHF call away from help should things suddenly go North on you. Don't try to cross an ocean until you are ready, and your boat is ready. Don't try to make a near coastal passage before you and your boat are ready. Don't try to cross a bay or sound until you know you and your boat are ready. Don't leave the dock until you and your boat are positively ready. This might take a while and it might put you over your $10k budget even if someone gives you the boat for free.



The good news is in the right marina, you can live aboard if you can meet certain contractual, moral, legal, and sanitary requirements. That will save you the double jeopardy of paying for a home ashore and a boat at the same time. You will learn about making repairs and stuff while you meet fellow boat people and learn from them. You will be immersed in the sailing world. You will be able to hitch a ride on other people's boats and learn from them. Race days are really good for that. You start out as rail meat, then learn to grind a winch and tend a sheet. You will learn how to get the most power out of a set of sails. You will eventually learn how to most effectively steer clear of marks while being set down on them or away from them. Maybe you will even get to go as unpaid or even as contributing crew on a short cruise or delivery.


Your 14 foot boat no doubt taught you a lot. But there is a lot of difference between that, and something you can live on and intend to go voyaging on. It is a good start, yeah, but don't underestimate the length of the road still ahead of you.


Totally unprepared guys have simply taken off and most have survived. Many have made it to their destination and back. But many more conceded defeat and admitted they weren't up to it. Usually the boat can take more punishment than skipper and crew can, but sometimes the boat just can't protect itself and keep going when the human infestation aboard is hell bent on self destruction. Don't be that unprepared guy. Dont get me wrong, most of us admire a man with guts enough to just go for it. An example:
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...uda-91566.html


Seemed like a great guy and sure, you just couldn't help but cheer him on. He had a will and a passion but in the end he threw in the towel, and it was the smart thing to do. Don't be like that. When you set out to cross an ocean or two, be competent to do so and ensure that your boat is properly set up for the voyage.

[LLCoolDave]

Growly Monsters response is near perfect. Kudos to him for taking the time to write it. Yes it's possible but you have a lot to learn. I haven't lived in a car but I did live in a small RV before I bought my boat. Living in the RV was a lot easier. You get to go anywhere as long as you have gas in the tank.

I know of a young sailor in Rio Dulce. He's anchored out on a 26 ft boat. He can't afford to renew his cruising permit to stay. He can't afford the fines when he leaves. He can't pay for a marina. If he leaves the boat at anchor it will get ransacked by locals. He has no way to work unless it's the daily local rate. That's about $10 a day. You don't want to be this guy.

[Minggat]

Originally Posted by LLCoolDave

I know of a young sailor in Rio Dulce. He's anchored out on a 26 ft boat. He can't afford to renew his cruising permit to stay. He can't afford the fines when he leaves. He can't pay for a marina. If he leaves the boat at anchor it will get ransacked by locals. He has no way to work unless it's the daily local rate. That's about $10 a day. You don't want to be this guy.

Yep. Sounds like the traps I was talking about early on. Just before someone said "ignore the naysayers".

Life has all kinds of traps. Go to sea thinking that you can escape and find out. So many trapped stories right in the US tropical paradise of Hawaii !! Desperate people who think that if you really wanted to keep your...whatever.. you wouldn't have made it so easy for them to steal.

There's plenty to wish was better in the US. Also much to be thankful for.