If You Could Live Aboard / Cruise One Area, Where ?

[captain58sailin]

I would vote for the PNW as well, however there is a serious shortage of mangoes and papayas here. I spent a year in the south pacific in the late 70s around the Marquesas group, loved it, don't know how it has changed since, then. I am thinking back to the south pacific, maybe to one of those island groups no one talks about.

[spawnywhippet]

I'd agree with an earlier poster who suggested SE Asia. Warm all year round, no real tides or currents. Lots of beautiful islands and Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are still relatively cheap.

On the downside, Singapore is probably the most expensive place in the world to buy boat parts and services though. $500 to pull the prop off a 43' boat, $13k to antifoul (excluding materials), $1500 to supply a VHF antenna that costs $40 in West Marine catalog. Generally nobody carries stock of anything, and the boating labour force in Singapore are fairly unskilled, but the company owners charge as if they were aircraft engineers.
There is also not much wind, so lots of motor sailing, and the diesel is frequently contaminated with diesel bug (I have had 2 infections this year)

[undercutter]

Originally Posted by spawnywhippet

I'd agree with an earlier poster who suggested SE Asia. Warm all year round, no real tides or currents. Lots of beautiful islands and Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are still relatively cheap.

On the downside, Singapore is probably the most expensive place in the world to buy boat parts and services though. $500 to pull the prop off a 43' boat, $13k to antifoul (excluding materials), $1500 to supply a VHF antenna that costs $40 in West Marine catalog. Generally nobody carries stock of anything, and the boating labour force in Singapore are fairly unskilled, but the company owners charge as if they were aircraft engineers.
There is also not much wind, so lots of motor sailing, and the diesel is frequently contaminated with diesel bug (I have had 2 infections this year)

I would have to agree with this recommendation, the SCS is relatively inexpensive compared to most places we have been which is fairly limited. Most items can be attained by shipping direct from US. Can be expensive for freight for sure, but at least you can get stuff shipped in. Labuan is a great place to bring parts in Duty Free and American Express has depots all over the area. We even managed to fly in diesel treatment as the brand we found was not restricted from shipping by air and it works. NZ and OZ are also close although parts are expensive from this area as well. We were able to ship Maxwell windlass parts from the US for a lot less than we could even buy them from NZ and everything was in stock.

No heavy weather to worry about if you stay inside the phillipines and do not venture to far into the Indian Ocean. We will spend this winter in Indonesian waters and it looks like there a many beautiful areas to visit.
\language is a bit of an issue but this is the case in many parts of the world. Also a great jump off location to just about anywhere except the med with all the pirate activity.

[Ex-Calif]

Go with what you know...

I personally cannot imagine running out of places to see and go that are cheap and predominantly friendly as the southwest pacific and SEA.

And as undercutter points out - no winter, easy to avoid bad storms, relatively short passage making to lots of places. Tons of free anchorages. However if you are a "marina" hopper you will probably find that top quality marinas are relatively far apart by US, med and caribbean standards and even then they are pretty "clustered" together in these parts.

Many spots are remote and hard to source parts true, but with proper haulout and maintenance planning not too hard to be in a reliable, relatively inexpensive yard, usually very flexible to self repairs and often with expatriate management.

[Dreaming Yachtsman]

I have certainly enjoyed our time in the Northeast Caribbean from Puerto Rico to St. Martin. Language is not generally an issue, water is warm, and getting US parts is relatively easy. Add to that, travel by visitors to PR and USVI is much less hassle than say BVI's.

[Cheechako]

Hard to beat the Caribe, dont hurry through the Bahamas though. The PNW is nice, but only for maybe 5-6 months a year at most.... and a whole new set of issues with heat etc on the fringe of that time. 53 degree water doesnt make for a warm boat anytime of year. Mexico is an option but I feel there is less diversity and fewer places to go than the Caribe. Still... Mexico was a lot of fun!

[tropicalescape]

anywhere it is cheap and warm,with lots of pretty people and places to fly , dive, and fish...DVC

[Seahunter]

Next years expedition; Nuk, Greenland.

[maxingout]

I would make a slow cruise through the South Pacific and take a couple of years to get to Australia. Then I would use Australia as my base of operations for trips to New Caledonia, Vanuatu, New Guinea, the Louisiades, and South East Asia.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by bewitched

Philippines

Cheap, largely friendly, english speaking, largely undeveloped, warm, 7,000+ Islands, calderas, reefs, wrecks, flat water, underground rivers, beaches, diverse wildlife etc etc

Love it

Like the guy on the right said, we need "Pichers!"

[Doodles]

Thailand of course, especially Phang Nga Bay and the Andaman Sea. If you include the Gulf of Thailand, then there are literally thousands of islands to explore.

[bella]

What the others said about the Caribe.and Bahamas. western side as well... otoh...
I have spent a lot of yrs sailing SW Florida and the Keys. and love every minute of it.. no matter where I go, I still come back here.. lots of anchorages...
warm weather yr round.. love it..
'bella

[nautical62]

Probably the Bahamas - It's easy to anchor just about everywhere. Pick a small town or an island to yourself.

Queensland, Aus, would be my second choice.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by ty.gregory

For those of you who have been around, I'm looking for ideas as to a region of the world to stay and cruise for a few years. I want to sail, but sleep nights on the hook. I'm hoping for some ideas of places that are not expensive and hopefully warm. I will be single handeling and writing. I know El Caribe is one choice. Is it the best one? Where would you go? I guess I can ship my Gemini anywhere, right?

I would vote for SE Asia - a squillion islands to explore and about the same number of adventures to be had that are only limited by your imagination ...........but then again have never been to the Caribbean .

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

I would vote for SE Asia - a squillion islands to explore and about the same number of adventures to be had that are only limited by your imagination ...........but then again have never been to the Caribbean .

+1 with addtion of the southwest pacific and northeast aussie coast. This is my "defined" cruising grounds and I am absolutely positive that I will never run out of new places to discover.