Hello from Massachusetts U.S.A.

[Alan K.]

Hi Forum,

Glad to of found this forum... Have plenty of questions running through my head pertaining to retirement, sailing and living on a boat (as opposed to your traditional house).

Anticipated time frame is roughly 5 yrs +/-.

A little about Me, so you get a better understanding. I did own a boat many moons ago, lol, roughly 30 - 40 years back (owned it for roughly 10 years). It was a great boat for spending a summer day on.... beaching, fishing, maybe an occasional overnight stay.... nothing really major.

My question(s) Are there too many complexities to giving up the traditional lifestyle and placing your entire life into a boat?

I'll leave the rest of my thoughts for future posts to this thread.

Glad to be here.
Take Care.

Alan

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Alan.

[skipmac]

Hi Alan and welcome to the forum.

Good question but the question may be more complex than the answer, depending on your situation, your goals, plans and attachments.

For a lot of people contemplating the same idea the biggest concern is what to do with all their stuff. Frequently it's not a problem to sell the house, the furniture, extra car and such but then they run into a problem with things like family heirlooms or keepsakes, pictures and similar. A few times I've read questions from mechanics or carpenters or others with hobbies and occupations requiring a lot of expensive tools about what to do with those.

Depending on how much and what kind of stuff you may have and your attachment to it you may get rid of it all or chose to keep some and put it in storage or give it to family or friends for safekeeping.

Speaking of family and friends, unless your current home is close to the water (quite possible since you live in MA) moving to a boat might put you far from them although sometimes that can be a good thing.

A lot will depend on your plans. Are you just envisioning a boat as a home on the water or do you plan to go cruising? Very different concerns depending on this answer.

For some there's an adjustment moving into a much smaller space. Even a large boat is smaller than the smallest of houses. Not only do you have to give up a lot of your stuff but how well do you do in a much smaller space? What if it rains for a week and you're confined to the cabin most of the time?

You have owned a boat before but are you prepared for dealing with all the systems on a boat, either maintain them all yourself or have the budget to pay a pro? Speaking of budget, if you plan to stay in MA area, staying on a boat might cost more than you think if you plan to stay at a dock. Also, you know what winters are like here. Planning to stay or head south? If you stay there's all kinds of issues with warming a boat and dealing with the resulting condensation that usually accompanies this.

Maybe helpful to elaborate more on your plans.

[Alan K.]

Skip,


Thank You for the in-depth reading / thoughts.


Here's Alan in a nutshell if you will...
Single, do have a significant other... slowly convincing her of the ocean.
Don't know how her daughter factors into it.... Stays put or joins (my guess is stays put).


Family pretty much doesn't exist. Parents are deceased, siblings haven't been around since last funeral (2006). I have photos of my parents (for reminders), those can easily be placed on a wall in a cruiser.


There isn't too much to Alan's life.... always tried keeping things simplistic.


You mentioned the New England weather aspect.... I am getting to old to shovel the 3 - 4 feet of snow. If funds permit... I was thinking... just follow the warm climate, see the world... which never happened in the past.


I'm probably missing a lot of what you addressed... but right now my head is in a blender being back to work after 2 weeks off.


Once again.... Thank You very much.
Alan

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Alan K.

Here's Alan in a nutshell if you will...
Single, do have a significant other... slowly convincing her of the ocean.
Don't know how her daughter factors into it.... Stays put or joins (my guess is stays put).

Hope it works out with the SO. Some really take to it and love life on the water, some don't.


Family pretty much doesn't exist. Parents are deceased, siblings haven't been around since last funeral (2006). I have photos of my parents (for reminders), those can easily be placed on a wall in a cruiser.

Sounds a lot like me, except I do see my siblings every year or so at a family reunion.


There isn't too much to Alan's life.... always tried keeping things simplistic.

My life has gotten more complicated but in a good way.
Daughter finally figured out reproduction so we just got the second grandchild. Love it but sure puts a crimp in cruising plans.


You mentioned the New England weather aspect.... I am getting to old to shovel the 3 - 4 feet of snow. If funds permit... I was thinking... just follow the warm climate, see the world... which never happened in the past.

Good place to start, learn the boat and keep to the nice weather is to join the annual migration up and down the ICW every winter and spring.

I'm probably missing a lot of what you addressed... but right now my head is in a blender being back to work after 2 weeks off.

I almost hate taking a vacation. I think the theory is you take a break and are revitalized so back to work. For me vacation always made me realize I liked vacation more than work and didn't want to go back.

Once again.... Thank You very much.
Alan

Very welcome and best of luck with the boating plans.

[GypsyC]

Alan
I am retired and have my goal set for next year this time to have my seawings. Asking myself the very same thing. I think what we are moving toward is far more advantageous for us than what we are leaving behind. Here is to vast horizons favourable winds and many sunrises. Talk again soon

[Alan K.]

Hi GypsyC,

Nice hearing that someone is roughly at the same point I am.
If you don't mind.... Love to keep in touch... Just to track your progression.

Who knows... The chance arises to cross paths on the water... Be kind of cool actually developing a friendship in real life that evolved from online.

Good Luck on your plans.

Take Care

Alan K.