No sailing experience but wanting to buy a 41ft morgan out island as a liveaboard

[jsizemore76]

Hello! Im Jesse. Ive followed many sailing channels, uma, delos etc. Ive been wanting to get off the land and liveaboard for over 5 years now. Been looking at boats. Trying to find one i like and ive found one for a good price.

I dont have any sailing experience but im reading some sailing books and researching online and i have a knack for figuring tomhings out. A 41ft morgan out island center cockpit. Needs some cosmetic tlc but from what the broker says the boat is solid and last used in april. Its in my budget.
All apartments and houses around here arnt since hurricane michael cat 5 came thru 5 years ago everythings doubled or tripled in price. I plan to anchor it in the bay just north of my job. Probably get a stern anchor to ensure it stays in place. Eventually i would live to do a circumnavigation but thats not anytime soon. Any advice, suggestions is welcome! Thanks in advance!

[SV Confianza]

Welcome to the forum. Well, you're going to get a lot of flack on here for trying to save money with a boat haha. Just make sure you've got the right amount of savings for the maintenance and repairs. Get a good surveyor to tell you what the boat really needs and how much you'll spend.

I would suggest to start with something smaller and work you're way up, but everyone has to live their dream =).

[Celestialsailor]

Go for it. I did and never regretted it. Been doing this since 1975. Built and rebuilt many boats, 21' to 38'...made lots of friends and have had the time of my life. I've gone cruising and have anchored out.

[knot smart]

i think its hard not to love the culture in boating.. youre gonna have a blast.. however, although i have no experience doing the full time liveaboard thing, i do have lots of experience with all of new and different challenges schlepping back and forth to the boat on my dinghy.. and im hard pressed to think getting a slip is much less expensive than an apt. im in new jersey and in my experiance you are paying someone else at all times to store said boat.. and its not cheap .. but if you really want to know what life is all about .. its having all the memories of running aground, broken toilets, broken shackels, halyards, sheets and lines, calls to seatow, moldy cushions..

id love for everyone to chime in on all the woderfull memories im forgetting

[OldManMirage]

If you're actually going to live on the boat at anchor somewhere - just make sure that you are allowed to stay at anchor there. If you're in Florida there are places that don't allow it. You don't want to get all set up for the dream only to have it shattered by the Marine Patrol telling you to up anchor and move along.

[Adelie]

Welcome to CruisersForum!

I would suggest updating your profile with your general location and your boat make & model or “Looking” in the "Boat" category. This info shows up under your UserName in every post in the web view. Many questions are boat and/or location dependent and having these tidbits under your UserName saves answering those questions repeatedly. If you need help setting up your profile then click on this link: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3308797

I would happily help more if the link above is not enough.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by OldManMirage

If you're actually going to live on the boat at anchor somewhere - just make sure that you are allowed to stay at anchor there. If you're in Florida there are places that don't allow it.

Hardy any place in FL that you aren't "allowed" to anchor really. The bigger problem is that most "good" liveaboard spots are already full of forgotten boats.

[floydmiami1]

Go for it,I've been doing it for the last 25 years mostly florida, Bahamas and Carribean.Theres about 5 days a year when I seriously think about being a dirt dweller,about 10 days a year when I could take it or leave it and 350 days where I thank the great spirit of the universe for allowing me the privilege of such an incredible and rewarding life on the water.The Morgan 41 is probably one of the best boats for the money that you can choose for that purpose,Good luck and ignore the piss clams and dream stealers.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by floydmiami1

Go for it,I've been doing it for the last 25 years mostly florida, Bahamas and Carribean.Theres about 5 days a year when I seriously think about being a dirt dweller,about 10 days a year when I could take it or leave it and 350 days where I thank the great spirit of the universe for allowing me the privilege of such an incredible and rewarding life on the water.The Morgan 41 is probably one of the best boats for the money that you can choose for that purpose,Good luck and ignore the piss clams and dream stealers.

Dream stealers?

Why would anyone want to steal a dream like that?

Buying an old sailboat when you have never sailed and then living on it when you have never lived on a boat before.

Dream or nightmare?

[dwedeking2]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Dream or nightmare?

For me it was a dream.

I originally started looking at this lifestyle when I started thinking about downsizing/simplify life. Thought of the boat as just a means to move from place to place.

In learning to sail and doing some bareboat charters to figure out what size boat to purchase I found I liked actually sailing.

I have an old Morgan OI now. I've owned another boat and did daily rentals of a number of charter fleet boats. I found the Morgan filled my needs.

1. Enough storage to allow me to be off grid for good periods of time. Get my dive gear to dive sites.

2. Easy to sail singlehanded

3. Built like a tank, so when you screw up as a newbie you have some forgiveness.

4. Gets you close to nature. Never had a dolphin swim in the front yard when in a house or apartment.

The downside is I've had to rebuild almost all the systems due to age.

I will say that those I've seen who live aboard solely for financial reasons usually go back to land after a couple years.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by dwedeking2

For me it was a dream.

I originally started looking at this lifestyle when I started thinking about downsizing/simplify life. Thought of the boat as just a means to move from place to place.

In learning to sail and doing some bareboat charters to figure out what size boat to purchase I found I liked actually sailing.

I have an old Morgan OI now. I've owned another boat and did daily rentals of a number of charter fleet boats. I found the Morgan filled my needs.

1. Enough storage to allow me to be off grid for good periods of time. Get my dive gear to dive sites.

2. Easy to sail singlehanded

3. Built like a tank, so when you screw up as a newbie you have some forgiveness.

4. Gets you close to nature. Never had a dolphin swim in the front yard when in a house or apartment.

The downside is I've had to rebuild almost all the systems due to age.

I will say that those I've seen who live aboard solely for financial reasons usually go back to land after a couple years.

Nice but for many if not most people being stuck on a boat all the time isn't a dream at all.

I like having another place to go when I get tired of being on the boat. At this time, it's either work, my apartment, or my home in the country.

As far as those living aboard for financial reasons, those seem to be the main group group at least up this way that continue to liveaboard

[hpeer]

You will never know until you try.

There is no non-risk path forward.

The sooner you know the truth, about yourself, the sooner you can move down the correct path, no matter what path it is.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by hpeer

You will never know until you try.

There is no non-risk path forward.

The sooner you know the truth, about yourself, the sooner you can move down the correct path, no matter what path it is.

Right but buying an old 41' sailboat to find out just might not be the right way to go about it.

For example, I bought a 27' sailboat for $2,000 to find out (and btw it was like my 12th boat with 5 of them being sailboats)

That was in 2011.

I have seen lots of liveaboards come and go in the mean time when I have visited my boat at the various marinas where I have kept it.

I'm usually at the boat every day

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Dream stealers?

Why would anyone want to steal a dream like that?

Buying an old sailboat when you have never sailed and then living on it when you have never lived on a boat before.

Dream or nightmare?

Originally Posted by thomm225

Nice but for many if not most people being stuck on a boat all the time isn't a dream at all.

I like having another place to go when I get tired of being on the boat. At this time, it's either work, my apartment, or my home in the country.

As far as those living aboard for financial reasons, those seem to be the main group group at least up this way that continue to liveaboard

Originally Posted by thomm225

Right but buying an old 41' sailboat to find out just might not be the right way to go about it.

For example, I bought a 27' sailboat for $2,000 to find out (and btw it was like my 12th boat with 5 of them being sailboats)

That was in 2011.

I have seen lots of liveaboards come and go in the mean time when I have visited my boat at the various marinas where I have kept it.

I'm usually at the boat every day

A Chinese Philosopher once wrote..."If someone tells you the way...it's not it".

[Fore and Aft]

Jesse I am on the fence about your dream. Most of my clients who are Newby live aboards forget the logistics. You need to get water to the boat and have a safe place to leave the dinghy. Hot showers and laundry are other issues along with car storage. Then there's those nights with heavy rain/wind and you have to get home. There's a reason I was 20 kilos lighter when I lived aboard. Don't even talk about the occasion you get to the car and realise the keys are back on the galley bench. Or even ask me why I am sitting on a towel with friends in a restaurant after a particularly wet dinghy ride. LOL, but the wife and I are suckers and would live on anchor again if that's all we could afford. Now we live ashore and keep the yacht in the marina. I also look like an egg on legs from all the easy living.
Cheers