What was/is your bug out number?

[Mike OReilly]

SailingFan... sing it brother . You and I would find little disagreement. I was just pointing out that while everyone smiles and nods and pretends to appreciate this oft-quoted Hayden passage, very few here actually believe it, and even fewer try to live it.

My views are well known to the regular posters here. I am definitely in the 'go small, go early' camp. But I am in the minority. I say, go with the smallest boat you need, not the largest one you can afford. But that is at odds with all the cultural messages most of us are bombarded with living in our consumerist countries. Here the message is always: more, More, MORE! The concept of enough is foreign to most of us.

This is why I said up-thread that I've chosen to focus on the expense side of my budget, rather than the more common theme of chasing the revenue side. If you can live well with less, then your income/wealth needs are a lot easier to achieve.

[Dogscout]

There was one other (number) that occurred to me when my father died.

There is not enough daylight left in my life to do the things I want to do. Things that I could not do while working.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I say, go with the smallest boat you need, not the largest one you can afford.

Wise advise, indeed.

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

If you can live well with less, then your income/wealth needs are a lot easier to achieve.

The main thing is, live within your means. Or, as Wilkins Micawber says in "David Copperfield"...

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."

Just as true today as it was 150 years ago when Charles Dickens wrote it!

[sailorboy1]

so if we are going to talk boat size now

I say go on smallest boat you can live COMFORTABLY on, not the smallest boat you need because that is silly

do I need to link the thread when I said using real number of what would have been different the last 4 years of full time cruising that a 10' smaller boat would have only saved me 4% of what I have spent doing it

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I say go on smallest boat you can live COMFORTABLY on, not the smallest boat you need because that is silly

"Smallest boat that meets your needs" does not mean the absolutely smallest boat that it is possible for you to survive on. That WOULD be silly. If I am going to live full-time on a boat, then I NEED to live comfortably. That is what I define as a "need." Looks like you do, too. So, I think we're all saying the same thing.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

"Smallest boat that meets your needs" does not mean the absolutely smallest boat that it is possible for you to survive on. That WOULD be silly. If I am going to live full-time on a boat, then I NEED to live comfortably. That is what I define as a "need." Looks like you do, too. So, I think we're all saying the same thing.

Well put. Comfort is a need. Looking at the question from the smallest size forces you to understand what it is you actually need to be comfortable. The same principle applies to all the cruising questions.

The silly approach is to buy the biggest boat you can afford, without any thought to what you actually need.

[Chotu]

I’ll also add I need good motion at sea for comfort. I have a good size boat. I don’t have it for extra room or to show off or anything like that.

I have it so it’s comfortable in nasty weather.

Sometimes, bigger is a requirement. After all my years bobbing around on smaller boats it was either this or a cabin.

[tanre]

I would think I would feel comfy and secure with about 700-800k after boat purchase/refit

[Mike OReilly]

I definitely think you can go too small. Going with the smallest boat that you need does not mean getting the tiniest boat out there. For example, despite its fame as a RTW cruiser, I would not want a Contessa 26. Way too small for my needs.

[Rastarea]

49 for 2 years fulltime, then 6 months per year for 10 years. Now at 59 100% retired.

[Itsfun1]

Only YOU know what your bugout number is. The bigger the boat the higher the costs. Lifestyle will decide your monthly budget, if you stay in a marina much higher than at anchor. Will you cook or eat out. Do you drink 9$ wine or 35$ wine or 79$ wine or no wine? Will you do most of your own boat work or hire it done? Will you need to return to the state often or live on the boat full time? These are some of the questions only you can answer.
Good luck and Cheers
remember the most valuable resource is your time
Courtney
svTrippin

[CappyMac]

Isn't their an axiom out there that says " If you wait until you have enough - you will never leave the dock"?

[Captain Graham]

I am also enslaved by an evil corporation with golden handcuffs.
Every year they give me a good bonus, a good pay increase and good benefits.
At age 64 it is just hard to give all that up.

But to get serious I will never bug out and become a liveaboard cruiser.
My plan is to have a retirement business around boats so I can get my sailing fix and earn money at the same time.
I will also spend 1-2 weeks doing a small sailing cruises whenever I fancy.
Like doing the north channel (I live in Cleveland Ohio) and going down the Erie Canal.

Don't get me wrong I love sailing but I also love other things.
1. My wife who does not like boats.
2. My 3 boys who are now young men and getting married.

If I was to retire on a sailboat I would need about 4 times my income invested in my 401k stock market fund.
I can up with this number based on
1. You should be able to live on 50% of your current pay.
2. Your Social Security should give you about 35% of your annual income.
3. Using the 4% rule your investments should give you about 14% of your annual income (4X4=14).
So 35+15 is 49% almost 50%

If you retire before you can collect SS then you would need to find a part time job that will give you 35% of your income or have more money in your investments.

[theDangerz]

I always think there's a deep issue built into "the number".

There are too many other things shifting around that number to make one scared, to allow one to change their mind and keep staying with what is already known and comfortable.
Obviously not related to the small minority who actually love what they do and want to do it forever... good for you!!

"The number" also allows someone to keep living exactly the same lifestyle without making any changes because... "we aren't there yet".
It's far too easy to chicken out if you hit you magic age number or magic $ number (or both) and the markets take a hit the day/week before you planned to give notice or walk away. Its too easy to convince yourself its "worth" working another year, or 2, or... and then suddenly one of you becomes ill or weak or a grandchild is born or... and your dream gets pushed back again and again.


Rather than aiming for an age or a magic savings amount, why not start making moves/takings actions today that shift your lifestyle today?

Start moving into smaller and smaller homes, buy less stuff (because those are both exactly how you'll have to live on a boat).
Use the smaller rent/mortgage and lower monthly bills to payoff debts and once the debts are gone, buy some investments that will pay you instead of the other way around.
If you're entrepreneurial start a side business that can run from the boat.


The simple fact is that none of us know how long we have here... so the goal shouldn't be an age or a number, the goal should be "how do I quit tomorrow (or at least ASAP) and make it work?"

This was our mindset and resulted in us walking away from our jobs before my 35th birthday. Not immediately to a boat in our case... but we continue to learn after leaving that there are actually ways to survive, make money and be creative other than the 9-5 that we've all been trained is the only way.
Nothing in life is black and white.. and the act of choosing "the number" seems to paint the entire before/after of ones lifestyle into a very stark black and white contrast that rarely works well at the end of the day.

We have now been traveling full time for almost 9years, have more confidence than ever that we won't have to "go back to work later" and have spent 9years living our absolute dream life while were young enough to enjoy it fully and having each other to enjoy it with!!

[kazo]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I've been criticized for saying this before in similar threads, but "bugging out" is not the only possible approach to this. Some of us chose careers we enjoy and don't ever plan to retire from so long as health holds out, and which are compatible with a decent amount of cruising every year.


Living without work holds no appeal to me. I would like to die with my boots on. I love my boat and love cruising, but three or four months out cruising every year is enough for me. YMMV.

I've been wrestling with the same question for some time, and I'm leaning toward your position.
I'm sure St.Joseph, patron of workers, didn't retire