Welcome, Irene --
It is a fascinating and wonderful lifestyle. My wife and I are only 5 months into it, but having the time of our lives. We've really only gone a short distance in the scheme of things (Ft. Lauderdale, where we bought the
boat,
Bahamas for a couple of months, then to
Georgia and then up the
ICW (with some outside) to NC, where we are at the moment, doing a haulout/maintenance).
We've met wonderful people, had some of the best
meals ever, danced under the moonlight,
lost weight without trying (amazing what a more active lifestyle and eating better will do -- I haven't been this light since our wedding 22 years ago), seen a lot of wildlife, incredible sunrises/sunsets -- the list goes on. Not that there haven't been trying times, too.
Boat maintenance is a never-ending and often frustrating chore. There have some times of terror (dragging
anchor in a 40-knot blow that came out of nowhere) and a few tricky dockings. But, those are far outweighed by the other. We've gotten to know great people and shared lots of
funny stories.
It is definitely, way cool.
ID