Advice from wiser minds

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traditionally built wooden schooner, design Daniel Bombigher
in the background: Taiarapu Peninsula, Tahiti

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...the owner has got all the work- & I can enjoy the beauty anchored next to us!

[MuffinMan]

I can see why the work of a wooden boat can be overwhelming. Do you guys think that the amount of work and how difficult it is to keep up with is due to other things in life like work, family, other bills etc. If I live aboard and my only real expense is boat related/living per month will the work of keeping up with a wood boat really be that difficult?

[NormanMartin]

MuffinMan: When I was little we cruised and everyone had a wooden boat... maybe there was a steel one once in a while... and we all enjoyed cruising just fine. The boats were not too much trouble, in fact. The amount of space below was less than modern fiberglass yachts and we had none of the modern services such as refrigeration, A/C, hot and cold pressure water, or navigation suites.

Now, in marinas, I see/hear about systems repair more than vessel repair. In my youth we didn't struggle with system repairs since there weren't any. A wooden vessel on which you live stays in good repair because the owner is aboard all the time.

The problem, as I see it, is not that boats are so hard to maintain compared to houses but that getting a house repaired is so much simpler. That is what makes living ashore in a house seem simple.

[MuffinMan]

Originally Posted by NormanMartin

MuffinMan: When I was little we cruised and everyone had a wooden boat... maybe there was a steel one once in a while... and we all enjoyed cruising just fine. The boats were not too much trouble, in fact. The amount of space below was less than modern fiberglass yachts and we had none of the modern services such as refrigeration, A/C, hot and cold pressure water, or navigation suites.

Now, in marinas, I see/hear about systems repair more than vessel repair. In my youth we didn't struggle with system repairs since there weren't any. A wooden vessel on which you live stays in good repair because the owner is aboard all the time.

The problem, as I see it, is not that boats are so hard to maintain compared to houses but that getting a house repaired is so much simpler. That is what makes living ashore in a house seem simple.

Thats good to know. I have gathered that much of what people talk about is system repair not boat repair. Obviously there is maitnance but it seems to me that if you keep up with your boat itll be alright. The struggle to try keep electronics alive on a small boat on water doesnt work out too well. I've lived without all of those amenities before and while they are nice I'll be fine without them on my boat. Ill have the essetials obviously but I aim to keep electronics to a minimum.

A wooden vessel on which you live stays in good repair because the owner is aboard all the time. Thats what I figured. I know that everyone is out to help but there is a lot of doomsayers too. But thats a sentence for the "No adivce is good Advice" thread. I do appreciate everyones input.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by MuffinMan

Thats good to know. I have gathered that much of what people talk about is system repair not boat repair. Obviously there is maitnance but it seems to me that if you keep up with your boat itll be alright. The struggle to try keep electronics alive on a small boat on water doesnt work out too well. I've lived without all of those amenities before and while they are nice I'll be fine without them on my boat. Ill have the essetials obviously but I aim to keep electronics to a minimum.

A wooden vessel on which you live stays in good repair because the owner is aboard all the time. Thats what I figured. I know that everyone is out to help but there is a lot of doomsayers too. But thats a sentence for the "No adivce is good Advice" thread. I do appreciate everyones input.

Maybe but there are LOTS of folks living aboard that have the worst boats at the marina

Also, there is a reason most folks own fiberglass boats rather than wooden boats.

There are some beautiful wooden boats out there, but you better know what you are getting yourself into before purchasing one.

Most of the small ones I owned leaked probably because they were old.

One had a plywood bottom and would bend with each wave it hit. Another was lapstrake / clinker built ...enough said.

The next were old also but were aluminum or fiberglass. No more leaks/hull problems

[MuffinMan]

Im sure there is. No difference from houses. I take pride in my appearance the things that represent me. I would do my upmost to maintain a quality appearance on any boat I had no matter what material. I know wood has its own problem. Im not exclusively looking for a wood hull. But I do like them and the history that many of them have so if I'm just trying to get a solid gauge of having one. It can be a tough things to guage as everyones standard are different. How much "work" someone considers something is pretty subjective.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by MuffinMan

Im sure there is. No difference from houses. I take pride in my appearance the things that represent me. I would do my upmost to maintain a quality appearance on any boat I had no matter what material. I know wood has its own problem. Im not exclusively looking for a wood hull. But I do like them and the history that many of them have so if I'm just trying to get a solid gauge of having one. It can be a tough things to guage as everyones standard are different. How much "work" . someone considers something is pretty subjective.

Just one major difference from houses is that a boat sits in the water......all the time

There was a kid on my Littler League Team who's dad owner a Charter Fishing boat. He went along as crew and took over as an adult same boat.

It was a wooden boat and they must have owned it for 40 years or more but they grew up around wooden boats and the knowledge of the correct way to maintain it was passed down

They took fishing party's out 50 miles or so to Norfolk Canyon to fish for marlin.

[MuffinMan]

Take care of your things and they will last. Who would have thought. I guess the key is to find on that has been well maintained through its life and continue that not get a different material. All good food for thought.

[thomm225]

So it looks like this could be your first boat.

And you are thinking about "sailing away" on it and living on it full time

On top of that, you are considering a wooden boat!

That's a lot to learn really quickly.

You are also in transition from the military to civilian life and are seeing exactly what your life might be like...…..which is very similar to many others

I still think the slower route is best. Get a smaller boat and sail in your area for a few years.

And just to show the strength of an old fiberglass boat check this link if you haven't already.

This old boat has crossed a couple oceans and the skipper kept himself busy by writing software for a tiller pilot and for the CPN Free Navigational System.

This is another important thing for would be cruisers to understand. There's a lot of time that has to be passed while stuck on your boat so you need a plan to avoid total boredom.

His goal at one time was to live on one dollar per day while he sailed the world.

https://towndock.net/shippingnews/se...-and-alexandra

[MuffinMan]

Originally Posted by thomm225

So it looks like this could be your first boat.

And you are thinking about "sailing away" on it and living on it full time

On top of that, you are considering a wooden boat!

That's a lot to learn really quickly.

You are also in transition from the military to civilian life and are seeing exactly what your life might be like...…..which is very similar to many others

I still think the slower route is best. Get a smaller boat and sail in your area for a few years.

And just to show the strength of an old fiberglass boat check this link if you haven't already.

This old boat has crossed a couple oceans and the skipper kept himself busy by writing software for a tiller pilot and for the CPN Free Navigational System.

This is another important thing for would be cruisers to understand. There's a lot of time that has to be passed while stuck on your boat so you need a plan to avoid total boredom.

His goal at one time was to live on one dollar per day while he sailed the world.

https://towndock.net/shippingnews/se...-and-alexandra

This is really sound and practical advise. Im just not that type of person though. I still work on the see one, do one, teach one method I've always trained in. I know quite a bit about doing something like sitting in a hole or tent or other very small featureless place for long periods of time where fun is definitely not the goal. I've spent hours before throwing rocks at a slightly different colored rock and I've lived for years already with less personal space than most cruising couples and vastly more people. I'll be fine with the space and boredom.

I have a couple of things that I want to learn or refine in myself. Ill enjoy the long voyages and privacy to do so. I've got a pretty solid understanding of myself as a person. I miss the military for the caliber of people I worked with and the bonds we forged. I've not had any struglles being a civilian its just boring. At least the boredom in the military was broken up with gun, booms and fast roping from helos. I thought about LEO. But it would have been for the wrong reason. I just like being in high pressure scenarios, I feel my best, I dont have an actual interest in enforcing the law.

Im doing this because I have the time and freedom to do it. In 5 years of service I only saw shitty countries and airports of nice ones. Now I'm not going to waste my time with some job i dont care about for things I care eqaully little about.

I am very sure I'll be happy living the boat life and if I'm not then I'll suffer my choices until I can make new ones. I would rather forge ahead with full confidence and later regret rather than go about this timidly and never make it anywhere at all. As I've read from many on this very forum, tons of people spend years planning their voyage only to never slip their moorings at all. I'm certainly not putting it off another couple years. I'm not without wife or child because I cant get one. I made a choice to be very careful about who I marry because I only want to do it once and there is more still I'd need to have in order before I want to take on a kid.

I want to do this alone. Im sure it amazing to see the world with a partner but I'd rather do it on my time and term. I do have very specific private goals associated with this. Besides, (you may call arrogance) I am confident I could lose my boat in some way in most any country (not all) in the world and Ill find my way through life none the less. Harder to be so flexable with a wife and child. This whole adventure I'm on is very selfishly about me.

Also unlike women I dont have an experation date on knocking someone up and Im only going to get better looking with age if I can judge by my Grandpa, so I'm not worried about waiting a few more years for the family angle. Again some of you may think this sounds over confident, I do listen to advice and take it into account, I just never doubt my ability to accomplish the task at hand.

Also forgot to mention I am getting into the local community of sailing around and lining oppertunities to learn small boats and to crew on bigger ones. I am trying to learn as much as possible from all before I venture out truly alone.

[thomm225]

Sounds like a good plan but the more prep you do to learn about sailing, navigation, anchoring, reading the water (for shallow spots if you are near land and haven't checked your chart), your boats systems (solar, sail repair, electrical,etc), heavy weather tactics (warps, running off, heaving too, laying a hull) the better.

Once you get your boat you have to learn it.

But I guess those of us that have been sailing for years have different requirements when it comes to learning.

As a beginner, you cannot learn before you learn so to speak.

It's like in school with math. You don't start with differential equations but with 2 + 2.

You can jump on a sailboat and make it move but you will continue to learn for years which is a good thing.

And lastly speaking of wooden boats, even Robin Knox-Johnson's boat Suhaili had leaking problems that he had to continually repair during the 1968 Golden Globe Round The World Race which he did non-stop single handed and won

You might even enjoy his book which I recently read.

Here's a short article about he and his 32' boat Suhaili:

https://www.classicboat.co.uk/articl...suhaili-words/