From Arm Chair to Captain's Chair-Save Me

[BS on BS]

Hello All,

I'm a long time sailor. Started racing when I was six. Cruised the Bahamas the summer I was 15 with my 16 year old friend in his father's Columbia 31. Raced all through college and then life got in the way. I owned a Catalina 250 for about six years after 9/11. One season I put it in the water, but never took her sailing. The next year she sat on the hard all summer and I decided if I wasn't going to sail I needed to sell her. Now I'm 59, the kids are grown, and I am staring at retirement in the next five years. The itch is strong to buy something in the 35 foot range. Probably new (I am aware of the deprecation), likely a Catalina 355 (not trying to start my boat's better than your boat flame throwing thread), will likely be a marina queen for the next five years while I am still working (live aboard one week a month with weekend cruises). Then the time will come and I hope to do some extended cruising in the Bahamas and Virgin Islands and possibly beyond.

Look forward to the advice I know I can expect from those of you on this forum.

Boatless Bill in St Louis

[acem]

What matters most is what you want.
Looks, performance, comfort, cost etc.
Once you decide what you want, in general terms, the choices become easier.

Thx-Ace

[Warby12]

Best of luck to you BS, sounds terrific and don't worry too much about the boat, do your research, look at as many as possible but don't sweat it too much. Whatever you get will be yours. It's more about the life than the boat (shock horror, I know) just enjoy it

[tkeithlu]

Hmmm. St. Louis and coming retirement, plus boat itch.

Is this predominantly what you want to do in retirement? Where will you locate the boat until retirement, and where when you retire? Will an "obligation," emotional or not, to the boat interfere with other travel or other activities you want to pursue when you are cut free? Do you have loved ones whose dreams need to be taken into consideration? Is there another way to satisfy the itch between now and retirement, perhaps by charter, such that you make the boat choice based on your feelings then, rather than now, or is the itch strong enough that you really will spend a week per month on board for the next five years?

I had a similar trajectory, which in my case involved building the boat of my dreams across my last 12 working years. What I found was that retirement is a bunch of changes, and the combination of wanting other travel, trips to grandchildren, commitment to volunteer service, owning dogs, wanting to get back to riding dirt, and a bunch of other interferences resulted in diminished boat use after the first three years, and shorter rather than longer cruising radius.

You are not going to go badly wrong in any case, given you are ready to accept that depreciation factor and sell your way out of either a wrong choice of boat or a decision that you want to do something else. When you think about it, just go down to the dock and count the marina queens. You are in far better shape buying a new boat that you can immediately use or sell, rather than getting into the "project boat" trap, or, god forbid, building your own.

Go for it. Just keep your eyes wide open.

[MicHughV]

last time I counted.....there are four hundred trillion, fifty billion, forty nine million, six hundred and fifty thousand models of sailboats out there...I'm sure you'll be able to find something suit your needs...
coming here, you will get "opinions", but what is required is for your feet to hit the pavement and get out there...!!!!!!

[BS on BS]

Appreciate all the comments, especially from tkeith. It's funny you mention getting back to riding dirt. I don't know exactly what you mean, but recuperating from a recent dirt bike accident is part of what has me thinking I need a gentler, more mellow activity!

[wolfgal]

i'm crawling toward my dream still - sometimes two steps forward, one step back (and visa versa). cover has messed quite a few things up for me, but i'm not giving up

so yes:
moving forward is the best way to move on dreams
don't let time slip away
don't let your body get too old
don't let life to throw a wrench at it all
and ignore the naysayers: they just cannot imagine, no matter how hard they try

good luck to you nd let us know what boat you choose!

[MicHughV]

I could spend an evening here listing stuff that has happened to me...including a brain stem stroke...which drs pronounced would leave me in a wheel chair in a nursing home...with a feeding tube stuck out of my chest...
but as you can see.....well...you can't see...but I'm not in a wheelchair nor a nursing home... and in fact just finished a fine dinner washed down with some wine... and in fact shopping for my 4th boat....

every morning when my feet hit the floor...it's a new day..I don't look back...only forward...
I don't listen to others...I only listen to my own heartbeat...
nothing is impossible...nothing...zero....

until the day I see someone throwing dirt over my face....I'm gonna be going balls to the wall...

it's your life...not somebody else's......you don't need excuses, reasons, family, friends...etc, to tell you what you should do....or not do...

do whatever the hell you want...you don't need anyone here's permission or guidance...
if you screw up....start again....just keep going....

I'll tell you this...as long as you keep putting one foot in front of the other, life will will hand you opportunities...take 'em wherever they lead you...

but sitting on yer arse ain't gonna get you a boat...I'm a lot older than you....by far...standing still in front of me is gonna get you knocked over...

I'm tellin' you again..git yer arse outa dah door...away from the computer...and down the road...go look at boats....talk to people....wander around...hop on a boat here and there....jes' get going !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[scarpozzi]

I've had similar thoughts for when I get closer to retirement. I'm actually planning now to have funding for the purchase, but I just turned 40, so I luckily have time to keep throwing pennies in the jar. Currently, I'm going to get me something for my smaller local lake with a very shallow draft since the water in front of my docks has been really low lately. (I'd rather not get stuck paying for a slip cause that could go toward my fund!)

Kentucky Lake isn't far from you and has access to the Gulf. As long as your mast isn't too high for a few of the bridges, you could motor down within a few weeks time. Consider that if you haven't. A friend of mine did the loop starting from the other side of the Tennessee River.

https://thegulftrip.blogspot.com/201...y-lake-to.html

[barnakiel]

Hi,


I think if you retire in 5 years, you can take care of the boat in 4 years.


A boat in the marina is just cost. Save yourself the cost, buy when you retire.


I wish you all the best, Chase the dreams. Never give up. Never grow up.


Regards
barnakiel

[WHEELEYBIN]

“G’day from Aus. I’m new here but long time reader based north of Sydney.”