Living Aboard in the Caribbean - Any One ?

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Velma

Thanks Hud,
. . . Do you know of any good places in the Caribbean that we could purchase a sailboat?. . .
Sweet sailing, Velma

Just about every island in the Caribbean has plenty of boats for sale. You can get good boats out of the charter rental outfits or just visit boatyards and marinas and find some great bargains. It is all determined by what kind of boat and how new or fancy a boat you want.
- - As mentioned, there are plenty of "listings" for boats for sale in the Caribbean both in sailing magazines and on the internet. The biggest problem is first determining what kind and size boat you want. After that finding them is fairly easy.

[John A]

Here's a scond publication that is widly read in the Eastern Caribbean. Their offic is Bequia and is a great source for information.

Caribbean Compass - Caribbean Yachting and Boating News Magazine

[97fxdwg]

A couple of the Negatives: a) Trying to sleep with the serious heat and high humidity, b) Bugs, the flying or crawling and biting kinds that can make sleep nearly impossible

A couple of the Positives: a) Wonderful people, b) Unlimited things to see and do, c) Warm water, d) Plenty of wind, e) Variety.....

[Jon Hacking]

Originally Posted by Velma

...Do you know of any good places in the Caribbean that we could purchase a sailboat? ...

The trip from FL to the E Caribbean only involves 4 overnight passages, I think. But pretty much the whole way is upwind, often dead upwind.

We didn't care where we bought Ocelot but it ended up being from SunSail in St. Martin (NE Carib). There are LOTS of charter operations in the E Carib, & the good ones sell their boats after 5 years or so.

Ocelot needed a new suit of sails, dinghy, radar, SSB, watermaker, & a storm anchor, but most of the rest was there. Mostly she needed conversion from a charter boat to a cruising boat, which mostly involved getting away from dependance on the engines for anything except propulsion. So we added solar panels & converted a fridge to 12v electric & bought a sun-shower. Unless you buy a boat that's been cruising a while, plan on spending a few months converting a charter boat into a cruising boat. St. Martin was a good place to do that.

Other aspects of living in the Carib mostly depend on your lifestyle. If you want to live like you're in the USA, you'll go through a ton of money (& probably be unhappy). We cruised the Caribbean for much of the 80s (our son was born in Martinique) & again in 2002 with both kids (then 12 & 15) at the beginning of our current cruise. Much of that is written up in the Caribbean section of our website. (Gosh, that seems like such a long time ago...) In our Cruising Info section we also have an FAQ page that you might find helpful.

One lovely aspect of the cruising lifestyle is that cruisers are VERY supportive of each other & will usually help other cruisers in any way they can. We tend to work on a "karmic circle" principle, as we know we'll all need help sometime ourselves. Very different from the dog-eat-dog world of corporate USA.

Good luck finding your dream!!

[Hud3]

Boats for sale... Most folks look in the Virgin Islands and St Maarten. There are a number of threads about the subject. Use the custom Google search feature in my sig line.

[osirissail]

Some more "out of the way" places to look for bargains are:
Salinas, Puerto Rico
Fajardo, Puerto Rico Area including Marina del Rey
Vieques
Dewey, Culebra
Coral Bay Harbor, St John USVI
- - and for some really good bargains - Luperon, Dominican Republic

[bruce smith]

The laid back attitude is "no problem", until it is a problem.
I would come down a week after the next big hurricane if I needed another boat.

[zoombats]

Trinidad has been a good place to buy a used boat. It is beyond the reach of the hurricane season and is a great place to haul out and even keep your boat over the summer if you have to return to Alberta to replenish the funds or visit friends and family. Flights all over the area and international as well.

[dennisjay]

The only other drawback, albeit a small one, if you do a lot of cruising around the Caribbean, is the time and expense of checking in and out of island nations. Some are a real pain. Be nice if they all would get together and come up with one Caribbean cruising permit.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by dennisjay

The only other drawback, albeit a small one, if you do a lot of cruising around the Caribbean, is the time and expense of checking in and out of island nations. Some are a real pain. Be nice if they all would get together and come up with one Caribbean cruising permit.

I think there is as much for that as there is for all the North American countries to have one simple check-in/out and visa system. You can also change the "North" to "Central" or "South."

[kenny chaos]

Still looking?
There's one in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia right now on e-bay.

[Chrysalis]

Working on living the dream soon. Bought the boat this summer and have been working on it little bits here and there to get her ready to sail south come springtime. Then the plan sail down thru the chain then over to hang out in Costa Rica while the hurricane season passes. Currently living aboard with my wife and 2 kids (dogs). Life is good but it's been getting cold and the close quarters can be a little challenging, but other than that there is nothing more cozy than cuddling up in the v-birth.

[Chrysalis]

The sunsets are definitely better from the mooring!