Selling everything and buying a sailboat

[Cheechako]

My advice is CAUTION. Take it one step at a time, How much sailing have you done? If little, Take a 2 week charter and see what works for everyone and what doesnt. It can be very fun, but it can be a lot of work and at times stress also. It's not for everyone. I've seen couples spend 2-3 years getting a boat ready, do little sailing other than local jaunts, leave to "sail the world" and be done in a few months.

[DefinitelyMe]

Some friends of ours did something very similar to you. Family of four, children the same ages, limited experience. They bought a boat, moved on board and set off from Europe. We met them in the Pacific. Their choice of boat was interesting and very clever I think.

Basically, instead of buying a boat second-hand they bought one brand new and took out a loan for the cost of the boat. They bought it and registered it in the EU but because they left the EU immediately they didn't have to pay the tax. After three years they can return to the EU and, if they choose, sell the boat duty-paid but without ever having actually paid it. Perhaps someone who is really familiar with the rules can expand upon this?

However it works, it did work for them. At the end of those three years they worked out that the total cost for their boat came to 35,000 dollars (US) because although the value had depreciated they had saved the cost of the tax by simply staying away for 3 years. Furthermore, because everything was new it was all in good shape, and any of the little things that broke were covered by warranty (water pumps, solar charge regulator etc. etc. ). Their boat was a catamaran, 42 feet. The kids got one whole side of the boat to themselves and had plenty of room to run around without things getting too crowded.

[Andy prince]

Thank you for your comment, we just want to get out of the rat race for a while and see the world and for our children to experience different cultures, lots to plan and think about but really appreciate everyone's comments, it all helps!

[Andy prince]

Sounds fantastic we will look into this. Thanks

[Andy prince]

We live on a small island and spend most weekends on the sea in the summer and the children seem to be at their happiest when we are on the sea, always wanting to be out on the boat, we have spoken to the children about sailing and they seem really keen, however like you said it would be worth sailing around our area to see if the children are comfortable with our decision.

[JPA Cate]

Hi, Andy Prince,

Welcome aboard CF.

We knew one cruiser who did hair for yachties. You won't make much money serving yachties, and it's actually not legal for you to work in many foreign countries without a work permit. So, you'd be sneaking around to do it, and it would depend on whether or not someone cared enough to bust you.

There's another problem. There are a certain number of men and women who have just learned to cut their spouses' hair. When they are seen at the dinghy landing in the Marquesas, all the other guys who want haircuts, ask. And that novice, although her haircuts may not be very good, her haircuts are free, because what goes around, comes around. Now, if you happen to be very good at it, there will be some who will love to have you cut their hair (for instance, in Fiji, the ethnic Fijians really know how to cut tightly kinky hair, but not so much totally straight hair--don't ask!), and to repair haircuts they didn't like.

Take a look at Steady Hand's thread about making money when cruising. Folks we know earn money writing articles (with pix) for sailing magazines, and in some instances, these articles have been re-sold to different mags. One guy we knew did cabinetry under the table. One couple who were keen birdwatchers got a paying job in a foreign country teaching birdwatching--they learned to speak Portuguese to do it. Some people with computer skills were sponsored and hired for contract work. It is possible to find jobs, or invent them, but it's really small. Basically, everywhere you go, those who have jobs want to keep them, and competitors for those scarce "freedom chips" are unwelcome. People who work in IT that plan on keeping jobs from their country of origin have to solve problems related to being able to transmit and receive enough data, and wind up spending a lot of time in marinas for the internet connections, at least in the South Pacific; that may be better elsewhere.

This is not to say that you couldn't earn something, just that it would be a great deal less than what you would normally make in a day, and that the days would be pretty spread out.

Among full time elder cruising women, it is common for them to not colour their hair, too, whereas they might have done so ashore. Cruising tends to attract independent women, and they are less susceptible to advertising that tells them bright red hair looks good on 70 yr. olds, if you get my drift.

Ann

[Andy prince]

Hi Cherod

Thanks for the heads up what site would this be on

[Andy prince]

Any suggestions on what size vessel would suit I'm looking in the 50ft range but open to suggestions also does draft stop you from going to a lot of places Thanks