Hi all! As the title says, this is my second
winter living aboard a sailboat. It's certainly been interesting so far.
Bit of
history...
Before
purchasing my first
boat in spring 2016, the only sailboat is ever been on was a tall ship in Boston harbor.
I'd spent years watching all of the YouTube sailing channels and obsessing over cruising until finally the planet's seemed to align, and I moved out of my apartment and onto a 1982
Catalina 30 "Good Question." I spent the summer and
winter working on her while working mostly from home in IT while docked in Portsmouth, RI.
After 12 years in IT, I was growing bored and restless (even before Good Question), but once I started spending time aboard her, I didn't want to do anything else. So I dropped my clients, ran out of
money, and started working for a sailing school/charter operation here in
Rhode Island. For so much less
money. And way more
work. I was able to bring Good Question to the new marina, and it made the commute to
work very convenient!
Haha.
I've been a lot happier though, so definitely worth the pay cut.
Early summer, I decided that I wanted to upgrade my
boat, since the
Catalina 30 isn't capable of doing what I'd like to do in the future. It's a lovely coastal day sailer, but
living aboard feels like living in a dorm, not a home.
So with the help of my boss, I found a
new boat that checks most of the boxes I wanted, and purchased her in July, just over a year after I got Good Question. She's a 1980
Hunter 37
cutter, designed by John Cherubini.
I absolutely love this boat, and it's amazing going from the C30 to this. I feel at home, and really like the feeling of knowing I'll keep her for an extended period of time, and can upgrade and customize without worrying about wasting money on a boat I'm going to sell soon anyways.
I'm fully embracing my career change, and immersing myself in the
marine industry. It's a welcome change, and it feels great to be
learning so much after stagnating in IT for years.
So far I've gotten the ABYC
electrical certification, and
NMEA installer/network certificates. Soon I'll get the
NMEA CMET(certified
marine electronics technician) cert, along with ABYC standards and systems certifications, achieving Master Technician status.
Along with those, I'm working on my captains
license, shooting for 50 ton master, and will be getting
ASA instructor qualifications as well since my boss is one of the only people in the northeast who can qualify new instructors. It would be dumb to not take advantage of that opportunity.
Buying and living on a sailboat has been a life changing (to say the least) event. It is, without a doubt, the best thing I've ever done in my life.
Thanks for reading along, and I look forward to participating in the forum!
Mike Colarusso
Re: Second year liveaboard in Rhode Island
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