A great big “ahoy” to all of you from a previous “lurker.”
I’m a Toronto ON based cartoonist (I’ll post a couple of them), and have been following the threads on here from all of you very knowledgeable people for quite some time with my girlfriend (Who’s my soon to be wife, I just hate using that six letter “f” word. The one with the proverbial “nails on a chalkboard” ring to it…)
We want to join in all the fun you’re having out there, and we have been talking about it and researching it for over a year. Although we’ve learned a lot this year, the biggest thing we’ve learned is that we have a lot more to learn. But, no bother. We’re too excited, and it’s lit a fire in us to learn all we can about our new passion. We’ve both sailed before, but have nowhere near the knowledge we’d need. Yet. Big yet.
Our plan in a nutshell:
We aren’t rich, so we’re looking to do it on a shoestring. The plan is to
work like
dogs, save save save, and hopefully buy something on the less expensive side this year, literally between $10-$20k for a +/- 32 footer with a
fiberglass hull. While understanding that the
boat may not be prepared for long journeys, at that point, neither will we. So – we crew a lot in Toronto this summer, and
work on said
boat while the
weather is still warm. Then – this is the tricky part –
winter on our boat to complete some of the tasks that will need attention to the inside of the boat, and of course, save a lot of
money. Then next year, finish the reno’s to the
deck and
hull (with a copy of “This old boat” beside me, and help from my new found and very friendly community). All of this while we’re still employed, spending
money on the boat and saving money all the while for our cruising kitty. We’d hope to be able to sail her a little in the summer of 2012 around
Lake Ontario and hone some of the skills that people have been so good to teach us. And then – make the move… late summer,
head down the
ICW and spend a long while living frugally in the Caribbean/Bahamas. I understand the
ICW is shallow in
parts, it is a lot of motoring…. I’ve done lots of
research. But, with the
motor going, and a little bit of sailing with a shore on either side, and lots of other
boats, I think it would be a tremendous
learning experience to add on to the knowledge we’ve already acquired. In fact, the trip from Toronto to Norfolk will probably be more treacherous! And the ultimate goal; If I can just double the business of what we’re doing with my comic strip right now, we may just not come back.
That was long, sorry. We’re just very excited, and are looking to make friends all over, and especially in Toronto if anyone would be so generous to help us up to your level. We’d be much obliged.
Thanks in advance, cruisers. In a couple of years, we won’t have to be jealous anymore.
T
- and 
but might be worth having a plan B for living ashore, eve n if you hope not to. Even a bare 1 room bedsit ashore may be better than sitting in a floating fridge 24/7 
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