Need Women's Opinions - New Liveaboard Couple

[CaptBrosnan]

Hey Everyone,
I am new to the idea of living aboard. I mean, I am fairly new to the idea, Ive known about it under 18 months. My girlfriend and I are living together quite peacefully in a good sized house and we have also lived in a much smaller apartment comfortably.

So, Other than the obvious things, what can I do to help her transition to a livaboard a comfortable one?

Thanks
DB

[Red Charlotte]

Quick question before we start offering all kinds of advice, is she open to the idea or are you going to try to persuade her?

[Maren]

Originally Posted by Red Charlotte

Quick question before we start offering all kinds of advice, is she open to the idea or are you going to try to persuade her?

There's a good question. Let me add this one: have you asked your girlfriend the same question?

[CaptBrosnan]

Maren,
she is excited about going but worried about not knowing navigation well enough. I have limited navigation skills an nothing near the magnitude of this adventure. So she is onboard . we have both completly freed up our schedules job wise I will be working from th boat via wifi.

Thanks,
DB

[Randy]

Maybe an ASA nav class or similar would be the fastest way to create a comfort level for both of you. It is a bit daunting going out sight of land the first time.

[cdennyb]

I certainly agree... start gathering education to reach a "comfort level" you both are easy with. I started my girls education out one night looking at the stars and showing her how their position just kinda 'rotated' around the dimly visible NORTH STAR and showed her how the Big Dipper basically pointed the way. That led to some very simple celestial navigation and then it turned to GPS and how it related to the map. After that, and with the help of Google Earth... it was easy to feel comfortable about navigation.
Reading a nav. chart is just like a road map without roads. LoL even when you're out of sight of land, it's just like being away from home. If you go up in the hills camping, can you still see your house from there? Same thing. Instead of trees and mountains you get to see wave, and waves, and waves. LoL

[Starbuck]

What does her hesitancy about navigation have to do with your stated plan of living aboard? You haven't said anything about the boat moving anywhere: is that part of your plan, namely, cruising?

Maybe you should give some more information; the feedback will be much higher quality.

Come clean, CaptB, come clean.

[CaptBrosnan]

Originally Posted by Randy

Maybe an ASA nav class or similar would be the fastest way to create a comfort level for both of you. It is a bit daunting going out sight of land the first time.

Great idea it looks line this is the ticket
all the other classes I've found look like they are an expensive and very short charter. Which seems like a waste of resources to me.

Thanks,

DB

[CaptBrosnan]

Originally Posted by CaptainJeff

What does her hesitancy about navigation have to do with your stated plan of living aboard? You haven't said anything about the boat moving anywhere: is that part of your plan, namely, cruising?

Maybe you should give some more information; the feedback will be much higher quality.

Come clean, CaptB, come clean.

Hey jeff,
moving somewhere is the main objective.
A winter cruising the Bahamas has been our objective for a while now.
We are in the process of purchasing a boat in fl.
Then in nov. We are hoping to depart to the Bahamas.
I have saved up 20k for a boat and hope to spend 15k on boat and 5k on repairs. We have an emergency fund and I have an online salary job that we will live off of.
I have looked up all the wifi hotspots I could find around the Bahamas.
Basically we will be hopping from wifi hotspot to wifi hotspot.

We have been practicing eating and cooking with no refrig.

[babykinz]

What kind of boat?

[CaptBrosnan]

Originally Posted by babykinz

What kind of boat?

I am in the process of discovery then we are going to fl to look at boats and get surveys for a month

here's my list of boat candidates let me know which you think is best
Boat Research

thanks,
DB

[TaoJones]

Your search spreadsheet seems to stop at boats listed at $22k max. While I know you only want to spend $15k on a boat purchase, why limit yourselves to boats with such low maximum asking prices?

It's a buyer's market, CB. If I were in your shoes, I'd look at boats up to $30k, fully expecting to grind the price down to half that. And if I was looking at boats with an asking price of $15k, I'd always assume I could buy one for less than $10k.

TaoJones

[slomotion]

DB,

There is an almost infinite variety of cruising life styles, and they are all valid for different people. As a result, it is impossible for someone else to say which boat is best for you. All of the boats on your list are, or at least were, capable of cruising the Bahamas. But, they are all old. The "best" one is the one that is in the best condition and is big enough to support your life style and carry your stuff safely. With the vintage you are considering and given your intended use, condition is far more important than original design:

1. Size: The good news is that in the Bahamas most people spend the vast majority of their awake on-the-boat time in the cockpit (it needs to be comfortable and well shaded - especially for computer use). Thus, there is little premium placed on spacious salons, etc. You sleep and cook "in" the boat. But, for the most part, you don’t live "in" it. Nevertheless, the boat needs to be big enough so that the cabin doesn’t become a catwalk between supplies. Also, you may have special issues such as height requirements. IMO lack of standing head room below decks is unacceptable for extended cruising.

2. Bed/bath/tanks/dinghy: Crawl-in bunks, awkward sit-down showers, and restricted water capacity probably spoil more cruises than storms and reefs - especially for women. Bending, stooping, crawling gets old. Most of the boats on your list probably have reasonably accessible V berths, but you need a good mattress and you need to keep this area clear of stuff. Use the quarter berth for storage, and forget about fold out settees - they are a PIA for everyday use.

I don’t know what your girlfriend’s views on showers are. But, most of these boats probably carry 20-30 gal. of water. Most likely you will be making frequent jerry-jugging dinghy trips. Nothing wrong with that, but it serves to highlight the need for a good reliable dinghy. In the Bahamas many people use their dinghy every day - not much point in being there if you’re just going to stay on the boat.

3. Electricity: You mention going without refrigeration - not my idea of fun in the Bahamas. But, it can certainly be done, and it will vastly reduce your electrical needs. Nevertheless, communications, navigation, entertainment, lights, and your computer have significant demands. You will have to spend some time calculating and accommodating these demands. The engine can charge your batteries for this kind of use, but you will be running it frequently. Some energy reduction strategies are quite inexpensive - eg. solar garden lights.

I also agree with TaoJones. There has almost always been a significant difference between asking and selling prices for older 30 something cruising boats. And in today's economy, that difference has probably expanded.

[Red Charlotte]

I had a lot of hesitancy about moving aboard as well, but I did a ton of reading, both of books, blogs and websites, and now I love living on our boat. I'd recommend any books by Lin and Larry Pardey to get started.

My husband and I keep a blog about living aboard. Here are a few of my posts about it:

Pros and Cons of Living Aboard (feel free to add suggestions!)

Women and Life Aboard

Liveaboard Clothes for Sailing Women - Cute and Functional

All of my posts about life aboard

I also found it was helpful to make connections/friendships with other women living aboard so I could ask them questions and get their perspective on things.

I have a list of several boat blogs if she is interested in them.

[Maren]

Originally Posted by CaptBrosnan

Maren,
she is excited about going but worried about not knowing navigation well enough. I have limited navigation skills an nothing near the magnitude of this adventure. So she is onboard . we have both completly freed up our schedules job wise I will be working from th boat via wifi.

That's an easy fix. But from what Tao mentioned (the link is block from where I am now) 15k is a bit tight as it is. So I think you consider a squadron course over an ASA course. Now, I havn't taken any courses from them, but there are some respected members here who have.

I do want to go back to the 15k issue. Remember that it needs to include all the little inconviences like taxes, fuel, maintaince, etc. And you may need gear that is required by the CG. And if you are planning to go to the Bahamas, you'll need a 'Q' flag at the very least. The point is costs can sneak up on you with boats.

Here is my second couple of questions:
1) What other concerns does she have?
2) What do you two imagine living aboard will be like? Specifically, that is.