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Joh.Ghurt · 15-05-2021, 01:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

To me chartering a boat for a weeks teaches you as much about cruising on a boat as staying a night n a Holiday Inn Express teaches about owning a house. But of course at a much higher cost.

However this is the easiest way to check if wifey and children are interested in cruising at all. And in case they aren't, like the majority of wives are, even those who say sure honey she's supporting his dream, this will be cheapest way of check it out.

If you were used to live outdoors and consider moving to a house, the Holiday Inn is a good way to check if you can sleep comfortably without seeing the stars.

mglonnro · 15-05-2021, 09:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joh.Ghurt

However this is the easiest way to check if wifey and children are interested in cruising at all. And in case they aren't, like the majority of wives are, even those who say sure honey she's supporting his dream, this will be cheapest way of check it out.

If you were used to live outdoors and consider moving to a house, the Holiday Inn is a good way to check if you can sleep comfortably without seeing the stars.

I think it's a more involved process that requires a certain amount of "skin in the game" as well as training and development over time.

The "try chartering" option seems to me a bit like: Do you want to learn how to play the piano and enjoy it? Rent a piano for a week and check it out before committing to anything..

Getting out there is always (I think) a leap into the unknown, and that leap is important (I think), but it's not unwise to take it in smaller hops.

sailorboy1 · 15-05-2021, 09:19

I have found that long term cruising is a lot different than “sailing” or a week long “cruise”.

cAmstar · 15-05-2021, 09:27

I’m sure there are pluses and minuses. Would love to hear your thoughts if you have experience.

Talk Story · 15-05-2021, 10:23

I did two, week long liveaboard sailing schools that were quite beneficial. It showed me enough to know I wanted to be out on the water as much as possible.

JC Reefer · 15-05-2021, 11:16

Sell the condo and buy something that can be rented. Here is a cap rate calculator. Look a the values on Zillow and plug in the numbers. For long term rentals I shoot for 10%. Generally Short term brings me twice what I make compared to long term. So 20% cap rate for those. https://www.calculator.net/rental-pr...alculator.html

The Airbnb game takes more energy so I pay a management company 20% gross but still make twice what I would compared to a long term rental.

Another option is to put the money in the market. Both options come with risk. Not to mention capital gains taxes on the sale of the condo.

Because of your budget I’d recommend against buying a 40+ cat or spending 300k. Finance the boat and try and keep your money working for you. There are plenty of options.

SeaStory · 15-05-2021, 11:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Talk Story

I did two, week long liveaboard sailing schools that were quite beneficial. It showed me enough to know I wanted to be out on the water as much as possible.

We started with a trailer sailor and decided if we enjoyed our long weekends together in that space, we would probably also enjoy living aboard and cruising. Longest cruise so far is three weeks, but we do love it.

Chartering is so expensive when you fly to the most popular places to do it. It can be more reasonable in places less thought of as vacation destinations. Look for local charters.

Macblaze · 15-05-2021, 12:13

I'm not gonna comment on the finances beyond noting there are way more fiscally conservative people here than I would have thought.

If you do manage to acquire a boat I would offer the suggestion of choosing an initial cruising ground that gives you options. For example we took our sabbatical in the PNW. Since we didn't necessarily want to make miles, but rather learn to cruise, we eventual settled for just staying in the area while we learned—there are decades worth of places to visit. If we had the time and the inclination we could then have taken off to Mexico and beyond with very little ado.

We did this with a lot of consideration given to the Med and the Caribbean but eventually decided there was enough risk inherent in buying the boat etc —why not mitigate the possibility that we would hate it or just suck at the lifestyle. It worked for us. So if you do go, give yourself an out; but remember every place has a off-season and some are worse than others

P.S. Most of the posters here are right, starting work anew in your 50s actually is harder than you would think.

Hesti · 16-05-2021, 00:35

There are a lot of things you want, some fairly far away in the future and no one can say what the future will bring. Some very good advice above, like looking for a place you can rent out.

One aspect that you can not count on is being able to earn similar money to what you earn at the moment after the return from the sailing trip. That may not work out. Full stop. And no one knows, what your boat and savings will be worth in a few years time.

300 k USD for a first boat? I am impressed. That is so far away from me and my means - but still: The first boat is normally not the last one, is not the ideal one, is a learner you move away from eventually. With what you wrote about your plans, you will not be able to just walk away from 300 k USD, you will be all in. Which is a gamble to start with.

As you only want to leave in a few years, I would suggest you get a small boat now, say 20 to 30 years old, budget between 20 and 40 k USD (or something like that), something between 26 ft and 33 ft. Sail it on weekends and in the holidays to get practice both at sailing and at boat ownership, do the maintenance and repairs yourself and manage the big ones with a yard. On the base of that experience, you will be much better suited to buy a big expensive boat in a few years and cast off.

RedneckRedcoat · 21-05-2021, 06:38

There are some interesting and not so interesting comments in here....

My wife and I have just sold everything , and are planing to cruise with our three children 13,13 and 11, my wife and I are 53 and 45.

My advise is just do it. Life is worth so much more than just how much money is in the bank or how much you will retire on. You kids will appreciate it later in life and you will get far more rewards for spending time with them. Way more than paying for a college degree or electronics , iPads or laptops.

We chose to buy a usd $100k boat. That’s in reasonable condition and will be upgrading and working on it. We have been working on this plan for 2 years and everything is coming to fution in the next few days

My other advise is don’t listen to the majority of people on forums. Find yourself some sailing buddies. There are a lot of arm chair sailors out there and I sit you need this and you need that a lot of the time the advise is based on making them feel important.

So again my advise just do it ...

Adiona · 21-05-2021, 06:46

Has anyone mentioned Ed healthcare? And the possibility of emergencies? What about emergency surgeries? There needs to be some slack in the budget for these things. I agree that cruise might be a better option than circumpmmavigation. The world is not as safe as it used to be, pirates, covid, hostile governments. Think and plan carefully. Get solid advice from those who have done this recently. What is your plan if you are quarantined for covid somewhere for a month? Or worse refused entry? What will you do? Not to be an alarmist but these are real world scenarios that you will meet. What if your boat is seized? Not a fantasy anymore. If you plan for the emergencies they most likely don’t happen. Just my two cents.

JMR1138 · 21-05-2021, 06:59

We're about to do exactly what you're considering with eerily similar crew and timing. So,, naturally I'm going to say I think its a great idea.

That said, your savings do seem a little light. I dont know much about how retirement works in CA, but $1M is generally seen as a 'safe' number in the US (you can live off less, this is just a benchmark).

I'd run this by a financial professional (you'll probably want to look at insurance and taxes anyway) and have them tell you.

Biggest risk is coming back, not getting a job and being stuck having depleted your savings. Very real risk, so making sure you have a fallback is key.

rescher · 21-05-2021, 07:01

You can do this on a boat that costs less than US$300K. If your timeline is two or three years then you probably don't need a bluewater boat. You could buy a decent mono-hull in the US$150K range that would be comfortable for four people. I know of a few that are in the market now in the $100K range in the southeast Caribbean.

Plan on maybe as much as US$50K to outfit the boat to your liking after purchase and to get yourself to the boat. This amount is somewhat optional, as you might stumble onto a nearby boat that is well-setup for your family.

You would need to budget US$50-60K per year for living expenses and minor boat maintenance and maybe insurance. We manage with two adults and four kids for under CAD$70K/yr. This means living at anchor and seldom going into marinas. Eating out is a treat, done maybe three or four times a month. If I was in your place and had $150K invested in the boat I'd probably skip insurance, other than liability. You would not be devastated by the loss of the boat and insurance is a hassle.

Assuming you start with US$750K. Deduct the US$200K (150+50) for the boat and you're left with US$550K, or maybe CAD$700K. Put that into solid dividend paying blue chip Canadian stocks (BCE, T, ENB, PPL, TD, RY, BNS, CM etc.) and you'll be able to sail indefinitely off the dividends and your CCB. If you're lucky, you will have no income while sailing, so you will likely have minimal tax on your Canadian dividends and you will be eligible for the full CCB amount.