Seeking advice (boat buying process/live-aboard life)

[angelar889]

Hello Liveaboard Forum!
First time poster and I would love some general advice if anyone is willing! Please forgive me if these questions seems stupid/basic...

My husband and I are making plans to be full-time liveaboard sailors. It's a years-long dream in the making but we are over-preparers so I'm currently gathering as much info as I can.

We have a self-converted van that we travel around in but are mostly based in Southern California. We are not super familiar with sailing but we are in the process of finding a live-aboard style ASA certification class to take. My questions really have more to do with the process of boat buying, getting insured, finding a marina, getting mail/paying taxes...all the boring logistical stuff and not so much the learning to sail process.

The plan we have is to take our classes, purchase a boat and then remain state-side in a liveaboard marina for a year or so, while we do any required boat work and get more comfortable sailing. Eventually down the road, we'd be full-time cruisers not based in the US (Bahamas/Caribbean/BVI initially). We're looking in the 40'-46' range (still having the great debate over mono vs cat) with a budget of a few $100K+

1. How do you find a marina spot without having a boat first? How do you purchase a boat without having somewhere to keep it? Seems like a catch-22 situation...

2. What is the specific boat buying process...search online, go see the boat in person? When is the broker involved? Is that who the boat would be listed through, or do you have to get your own broker? Then you get it surveyed by a third-party?

3. Is it a totally crazy plan to try and find a liveaboard marina (with pets) these days? From my research it seems like these are few and far between.

4. Any advice on the insurance process? Do you have to have certain ASA type certifications to get insured, or is it more based on sailing time? Is it possible to be insured and sail your own boat without having a crew of people right off the bat?

5. Down the road as full-time cruisers who are not based in the US...how do you get mail, pay taxes, etc without having an address?

Thank you in advance for any information!
Excited to be here
-Angie

[psk125]

1 and 3 are both the same question. Finding a marina that doesn't accept liveabords and pets is not going to help you. They are few and far between. You need to search around (online, on the phone, in person...) to see what you can find and if you like what you find.
2 is pretty straightforward. You look online to see possible boats and when you see one you like you contact the listing broker, who then shows it to you. Often they are aware of other boats that might be worth having a look at, so that you can see different features that might or might not appeal to you. It is a learning process that can take months.
4 depends on how much insurance and what types of insurance you want or need. Many marinas will not accept boats that are not insured. Having ASA certificates or other experience will be useful.
5 There are various mail forwarding firms that can help maintaining contact with civilization. You won't need to figure this one out right away.

[Enfant Du Vent]

Ahoy angelar889:


Since you haven't bought a boat .... yet my advice is to find a good therapist to help you get past this fantasy.
Even many sessions will be cheaper in the long run.


But if you are STILL that crazy, then DO join us......out here your weirdness won't be noticed / you'll fit right in.

[leecea]

1. How do you find a marina spot without having a boat first? How do you purchase a boat without having somewhere to keep it? Seems like a catch-22 situation...

We spoke with the marina we wanted ahead of the purchase and they had us pick the slip we wanted from the ones they had available. I don't remember the exact sequence of what we paid when, but we did what they wanted to hold the slip. Once we got the boat and insurance, we sent them the details and it was all good. The area we are in typically has plenty of marina space available. Some areas have very few spaces available and you may have a harder time there.

2. What is the specific boat buying process...search online, go see the boat in person? When is the broker involved? Is that who the boat would be listed through, or do you have to get your own broker? Then you get it surveyed by a third-party?

Not that much different from buying a house. We found a broker we liked as our "buyer's broker" and it was a mix of boats she found and boats we found. You can do things yourself - as with buying a house - but as a new buyer we felt that we wanted help with all the paperwork.

3. Is it a totally crazy plan to try and find a liveaboard marina (with pets) these days? From my research it seems like these are few and far between.

From what I've read, southern CA live-aboard spots are very limited - possibly similar in FL.

4. Any advice on the insurance process? Do you have to have certain ASA type certifications to get insured, or is it more based on sailing time? Is it possible to be insured and sail your own boat without having a crew of people right off the bat?

If you have nothing but some ASA certs and then want to insure a fairly large and expensive boat, I think insurance could be a challenge. Try to get some experience - crewing is OK but captaining is best. We did it by chartering at small local charter companies who would let us take boats out based on our training. We started with small ones and leveraged each bit of experience to move up to the next size of boat.

5. Down the road as full-time cruisers who are not based in the US...how do you get mail, pay taxes, etc without having an address?

The bigger question - from some recent posts I've read - will be how do we get insurance to cover that. You'll have a US flagged boat sailing outside the US. I have no experience with that but others do.