Hey, new here. Looking of liveaboards?

[DrewStu]

Hey!
Well I am actually new to the whole sailing thing, but plan on learning, and developing my skills in the next year. Me and my wife wish to liveaboard a sailboat in about a years time. We are both young, and wanting to travel. It is like a dream that we both share and wish to do! We plan to liveaboard for at least a year and travel as much as we can. Had a few questions and such!

Well I will start by describing my ideal plan lol:
Been looking around at sailboat prices and could find the best prices in the US. Correct me if I am wrong but I seem to be able to find used sailboats around 20-40k.. Well anywho heres my ideal specs:

perferably 1980+ (at most 1975+)
At least 30+ feet (perferably 35')
onboard washroom + shower head.
Stove, and decent size fridge
cruiser/sloop
more open layout to seating area!
fiberglass hull
.. pretty much about it. Heres a good example, and great price for what I am talking about : View Boat Photos - YachtWorld.com

(you can click the top return link to go back to the ads page) This is pretty much what I am talking about. I have seen some similar size boats where one bench is pushed back further and wraps around a small table. I pefer the table way more, because it seems to make the boat feel larger inside ;D

..Now ideally I would try to find a boat like this around 20-25k.. spend some good time reno-ing it up. Adding features to make it more livable.

One of the things I was hoping someone might know more about was some features such as solar panels and wind gens. To run electricity without runing the motor. This ideal setup is:

A wind gen on top of the mass (unless this messes with the steering?)
Two larger solar panels laid on the roof, towards the front of the boat.
and maby two smaller wind gens. attached to the back corners of the boat.
Hook them up to a good number of marine batteries, and hopefully wire it right into the already marine battery/electrical system.

has anyone ever added these to their boat? and how well does it work?

Basically need computers on board (a desktop, and laptop to be exact). I own an independent game company, so I can take this with us and work from the boat, still bringing us in income! So these alone are some of the reason for solar power and such. Will probably set up a satellite internet plan before leaving, so I can use the internet while on board ;D

Now another thing I was interested to know if someone has tried. Satellite TV? if so do you get clean reception out at sea? and well anywhere you travel?.. I was interested in looking into free-air satellite TV. Basically it is free fully legal satellite TV!

ok one more thing. Do boaters ever travel in.. well flocks? I was interested in doing some serious traveling to south america and elsewhere.. but it can always be dangerous given storms, and other hazards.. So I was wondering if boaters ever travel in groups? If not would anybody ever be interested in something like this?

Sorry for the long post, just excited lol

Thanks for any help!

[Ram]

Hi Drew
All the answers to your questions are here on the board- just do a search and ye shall find- Good luck & if you really want to do it hang in there- why not rent or do a charter for a week or two to see if this is something you really want to do

[stevensc]

You can also search (google) for "Living Aboard Magazine" you will be in contact with many of the liveaboard comunity.
Good Luck
Steve

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Drew,
Welcome aboard! The answer to most your questions is yes. I would advise taking some sailing courses, join a yacht club or sailing club or just hang around a marina and get yourself invited aboard a few boats.
If you look at masts in marinas you'll see wind generators and all kinds of other things mounted to them. Some boats have dedicated masts just for wind generators. You'll also see solar panels and many antennas for wifi, tv, radios of all sorts and radar.
I'm not interested in phone or TV access while cruising so can't give you answers about it.
Happy boat hunting!
Kind regards,
JohnL

[Martinini]

Man are you in for a shock! You sound like me awhile back. Solar panels first. Find them at Sun Electric, best prices I have seen. Read Lots!

[Celestialsailor]

Welcome DrewStu...Like it has been said before...all your answers will be here and on the docks. Just walk around docks and boatyards. For me, it really is a lot of fun.

[theonecalledtom]

Drew - sounds to me like you're on the right track. Start looking at boats in person and imagining the reality of sitting on a computer in them with your wife (what is she doing?).

Wrt to the wind generators you are thinking about each one you add adds complication to the integrated system that is your boat. But a decent unit plus some solar and a good set of batteries might get you somewhere. You need to start looking at amps consumed vs amps generated (I'm working on this myself - my aim being to get to a certain lifestyle with about one hour of engine runtime every two days).

Might want to ping you about being an independent games developer - might be doing something very similar myself one day...

[Vega1860]

Welcome Drew,

You will find the answers to all of your questions here and on other sailing forums. You will get conflicting advice because we all have different opinions, goals, expectations, budgets and experience.

My wife, Laura, and I are minimalists representing the lower end of the scale in that we live aboard and cruise a small boat with fewer amenities quite happily. We have many years and many sea miles behind us and look forward to many more.

I run a web site and a video channel on YouTube from my boat so you may find the links in my sig interesting.

Happy to answer any questions, as are all of the members of this forum and just about any boater you may encounter anywhere. You will find we are a friendly bunch.