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Retiring on a ship.

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BNB

BNB 100

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I didn't realize there were that many people out there like me.  I guess it is a thing. So, hopefully opening a new boat thread isn't a thing.  This is my dream retirement.

I grew up with a Hunter 24' on Lake Travis.  My dad and I had great weekends sailing around and camping in coves.

I have been putting away money for awhile and my home keeps going up in value.  

Now in my 40's, I think about doing it more and more. 

Watching videos on youtube, and reading up up seems to put out further away.  A lot about is boating is dreaming.  

I originally thought about buying a 75' sailboat, but after reading, maybe just a  42 to 50'

I had thought about being able to sustain by chartering, but I looked into all the vessels for Charter and there are tons.

I've been looking into a catamaran vs a single hull.  The catamarans seem like they are the way to go for possible  charting.  

Realization, I need about  up to 20k a year. Maybe only 10k-  sailing on my own.   2% for boat insurance.  One should have boat maintenance done in cheap labor countries.

I hope to be able to afford something like this in a few years.  The guy from Dennison also has a good youtube.

https://www.denisonyachtsales.com/new-yachts-for-sale/fountaine-pajot-sailing-catamarans/saba-50/

Distant Shores is a good "Show" I have been watching.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-RhmDrxuxpXx96KsNVCrDw

 

 

 

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davidg

davidg 4036

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Do spend a lot of time browsing Yachtworld and watching SV Delos and La Vagabond videos?  Do you have a spreadsheet with boat purchase costs, maintenance/living expenses, gear and spare parts lists that you play around with every day or so?  Have you tracked your retirement accounts/assets  and have a number set that is a kickoff point?   Have you figured out where would be the best place to spend 6 months to a year doing a refit on an older boat before heading out?  Do you want to cruise the Carribean/Bahamas/around the world or do you want to just live on a boat somewhere relatively inexpensive?

 

Do you yearn?

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BNB

BNB 100

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Just starting out, even though I have been dreaming of this for 20 years.  I have been watching a lot of youtube videos on repairing boats.  I have always been a fix it guy.  

I have watched videos of people talking about spreadsheets.  Saying, one should only pay a certain percent on a boat, so I am scaling back on an expectation of spending 500k to maybe 400K  or 350k for my first boat.  To handle all the fees for being in another country, fishing, LTE, boat maintenance, etc.

I have been reading on the forum Cruisers Sailing Forum.  Hopefully that is a good one.  I know I have tons of reading and work to do in the next few years.  

I hope that anyone here will give mewith  any experience and knowledge.

I have been told so many times in my life you can't do this and that, that is out of your reach. I have overcome for most of that.  This is something I have wanted for almost half my life.  I don't think any one can talk me out of it.

 

 

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BNB

BNB 100

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1 hour ago, crash_davis said:

All is Lost is great movie.  

I agree, but a lot of sailors think it sucked due to lack of authenticates.

I have also enjoyed:

Adrift: based on a true story.  It shows the worst of what can go wrong.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6306064/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1  

Another movie based on a true story.  Kon Tiki - Based on a 1947 voyage to prove people sailed across the ocean.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1613750/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

White Squall.  I was a big fan when I saw this in High School. Kids on a ship, learning to sail and getting an education. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118158/?KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true

Maidentrip.  Another good movie about a the girl going around the world.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2555268/

Wind (1992)  - A great film on sailboat racing.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105824/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Some Good Documentaries:

Red Dot

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4157550/?ref_=ttls_li_tt

Dark Water:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460766/

 

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BNB

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1 hour ago, Kilgorehorn said:

41" boat would be sort of small to live on. /s

Yeah thats why I am thinking 50 but the cats, they are huge.  If you look at any videos, the 42' looks nice, It has a nice living area, then you go 50' and it looks like a luxury condo.

So I am thinking somewhere in between.  It will depend on how well I do in the next 2 years.  

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MadBurgerMaker

MadBurgerMaker 404

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59 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

How long does it take to overcome sea sickness?

Took me a couple days or so, although I didn't have it bad to begin with.

Some people just don't ever seem to get over it.  Had an ensign show up about 6 months before I came back to the states, and that poor bastard was still getting majorly seasick any time it wasn't basically smooth as glass by the time I was getting ready to leave.   

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1 hour ago, Armybrat said:

I’ve read something about condo cruise ships, but those are undoubtedly very expensive .... and they already have a crew.

Yeah, I looked into what 40-50 foot charters are.  They are 10k for a week.  I don't know if they get those, and I will try to do a surly discount when I get out there.

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CleverNickname

CleverNickname 1308

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I was obsessed for a while. Had a subscription to Latitudes and Attitudes and Blue Water Sailing. My thought was to look for a 32' to 39' (37s is ideal imo) Etap, the so-called "unsinkable" boat. Not a lot of storage space with the double hull, but I think the goal would be to be lean and mean. You can find a used one on the med for about $100k. Figure another $50 to do a complete overhaul. That would keep a lot of cheddar on hand for other stuff. Or go smaller, like the 32s, and really be nails and single-handling. 

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Sbbruin

Sbbruin 21829

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On 10/1/2018 at 12:22 PM, Kilgorehorn said:

41" boat would be sort of small to live on. /s

I wrote on the old site about our family cruise in 1982-83.  I'll cliff note it here for now.  But we left Marina del Rey in June '82- after spending 4 months on a shakedown cruise to Mexico-  and sailed 2,600 nm to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands.  We spent the next 10 months sailing the Marquesas, Tuamotus, and Society Islands, returning to the Marquesas to begin what would be a 40 day non-stop return trip to San Diego.  The crew were my parents (mid 50's), 5 kids ranging from 23 at the high end and 13 at the low end (I was 15 when we left), and 2 dogs- a Rottweiler and a Pekingese.  And this was all on a 51' boat.  So   

So my question would be- is it you alone, or with a crew?  From my experience- and the experience of many others we met who knew way more than we did-  don't get bigger than you need.  Don't think of what size boat you can handle solo in settled weather.  Think about what you can handle in heavy weather.  Smaller boats can handle the weather.  But you may not be able to handle a larger boat in heavy weather by yourself, or with only one other crewmember.  

But I say do it.  Just do your homework first.  And whatever you think you need for money, double it.  You can live simply, but the boat will require repairs and parts are not always available.  And you don't get to choose when something breaks down so you can be sure you are in a cheap location.

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Sbbruin

Sbbruin 21829

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A pic we hired a photographer to take in Bora Bora, and it was the one day there was no wind at all.

7184d6e5e257b95aa4a9d746433035e3.jpg

 

My dad, brother and I (even had a UCLA hat on then) hiking to surf in Nuuk Hiva, Marquesas.

28362e2c3f876bf7282087fb8f8e3ec0.jpg

 

Our totally awesome best dog Asta at Takaroa, Tuamotus.

01887d8f8d45e601c8553c0f4f1f3417.jpg

 

Our boat upon delivery. Custom ordered Force 50 built in Taiwan. Mast not even stepped yet.

 

4f67030ce5bb6e00dbe9289962a0e62f.jpg

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Hamttx

Hamttx 419

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21 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

A pic we hired a photographer to take in Bora Bora, and it was the one day there was no wind at all.

7184d6e5e257b95aa4a9d746433035e3.jpg

 

My dad, brother and I (even had a UCLA hat on then) hiking to surf in Nuuk Hiva, Marquesas.

28362e2c3f876bf7282087fb8f8e3ec0.jpg

 

Our totally awesome best dog Asta at Takaroa, Tuamotus.

01887d8f8d45e601c8553c0f4f1f3417.jpg

 

Our boat upon delivery. Custom ordered Force 50 built in Taiwan. Mast not even stepped yet.

 

4f67030ce5bb6e00dbe9289962a0e62f.jpg

Im very impressed by this. The closest I have ever got to trying something this bold was hitchhiking from Damascus to Jerusalem in 74. 

However, going to sea is an entirely different animal. I have a friend who did something on a much smaller scale. And we would debate for hours on the ethics of carrying firearms. He claimed he never did as maritime law. I told him I would never go without them.

At a minimum a large caliber handgun, and a fully automatic rifle would have to be on board before I would consider being in international waters.

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Sbbruin

Sbbruin 21829

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18 minutes ago, Hamttx said:

Im very impressed by this. The closest I have ever got to trying something this bold was hitchhiking from Damascus to Jerusalem in 74. 

However, going to sea is an entirely different animal. I have a friend who did something on a much smaller scale. And we would debate for hours on the ethics of carrying firearms. He claimed he never did as maritime law. I told him I would never go without them.

At a minimum a large caliber handgun, and a fully automatic rifle would have to be on board before I would consider being in international waters.

Interesting topic.  When we did Mexico prior to the South Pacific, we had several handguns and rifles.  But we (collective we, as I had flown back to finish 9th grade after sailing down to Cabo) were approached by a Mexican Naval vessel for coming too close to a prison island.  They approached on the starboard side, and my brother dumped the pistols over the port side.  Long rifles and handguns are perceived radically different in foreign countries, and my dad didn't want to take a chance.  But that was part of the rationale for bringing the dog.  The thinking being that if a pirate or other miscreant wanted to rob us, they would just shoot the dog if she was aggressive, which she most assuredly was until we let her know the approaching person was OK.  If it was a government or military boat, they would require us to restrain and contain her.  So if someone shot the dog, our guns would be blazing.  So we a 30.06 an M-1.  But no pistols.

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Jhawk

Jhawk 1075

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This topic very much interests me.  Not because I want to live a life going from port to port but because my dream is a beach house with a pier and boat out there.  When the weather is going to suck where I am I'd love to sail away to an island on a whim.  Basically, set up a home base and then once or twice a month take a week long cruise to wherever the wind takes me.

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davidg

davidg 4036

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5 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

You were going to dump a Garand over the side?  Bro.......

Do you even mexican prison?  

Not sure I would cruise with firearms.  Seems like there are tons of issues with them dealing with customs and clearance when you have them not to mention countries that outright ban them from coming into port.  Hiding them would be an issue if you ever tried to use it or were caught with them.   Probably better awareness of your surroundings is more crucial and not transiting the gulf of adean  and areas of Indonesian or the Philippines if you are headed for a circumnavigation.   You are not going to fight off a boat of  guys with AKs anyway.   Look on noonsite.com and you'll find most issues to cruisers are stuff stolen off of boat decks at night or mugging/assaults that happen on the backstreets of town on drunken cruisers.

As for the OP original cost, I think you will be low at $2k month if you are actually cruising and not just trying to live aboard cheaply at some anchorage.  Here  is a spreadsheet of the detailed cruising costs of one retired couple (www.SVBebe.com)  that  completed a circumnavigation over 10 years and tracked costs to the penny.  They had a ton of other travel and medical costs in there and old boats are expensive to maintain but I would think these are realistic costs that might be incurred.

 

Budget+Actual+Cost+Summary+for+website+2

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Sbbruin

Sbbruin 21829

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If I was going to do this on my own, I would get something along the lines of a Pacific Seacraft like this ($82K waiting for you in MX)

16546__2018-08-21_7436_kailani1.jpg

Or other sturdy monohull cruiser like an Island Packet, Tayana or the like.  You want a boat you know can take a punishing.  I really wouldn't look to make money chartering.  You will likely have to jump through a lot of hoops with local authorities, and if you want to do it on the sly, it won't be for much money.  You're better off doing one-off odd jobs to keep the coffers full.  

This thread has me dreaming.

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justhookit

justhookit 4191

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On 10/1/2018 at 9:05 PM, BNB said:

Yeah, I looked into what 40-50 foot charters are.  They are 10k for a week.  I don't know if they get those, and I will try to do a surly discount when I get out there.

Where are you going to be while your boat  ship is out on these week long charters? Are you planning on getting a captains license and running the charters yourself?

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davidg

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If we are going to dream (and I could put Walter Mitty to shame) my cruising plan would be to retire at 55 and take a 5-7 year circumnavigation.   

Boat criteria would be 2 full cabins/ 2 heads and 1 or 2 sea berths to sleep 6 without using the saloon couches.  Enough tankage to cruise 800-1000nm under power.  Enough solar/wind gen and battery (perhaps LiFePO4s) to run all fridges/freezer/electronics without needing daily top offs from the main or gen set.  A watermaker is a must and dive compressor/gear would be nice to have aboard.  Electric furling main and genoa would make for easy handling for a crew of 2.

I figure $200-300K purchase price for a 15-20 year old boat and have a $75-120K refit.  Budget $4-5K month expenses and running maintenance.   Sell for $200K when done.

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Sbbruin

Sbbruin 21829

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^^ my man is talking about going in style.  

Here is one you could slip the lines with tomorrow for $100K.  Acapulcos are solid, and this one was originally built for the original builder, hence the very cool interior woodwork.  

I'm spending too much time dreaming of cutting bait thanks to the OP

00d0d_ead1ygxMMca_600x450.jpg

https://www.sailmaluhia.com/

 

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Brew

Brew 3049

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On 10/4/2018 at 12:43 PM, Jhawk said:

This topic very much interests me.  Not because I want to live a life going from port to port but because my dream is a beach house with a pier and boat out there.  When the weather is going to suck where I am I'd love to sail away to an island on a whim.  Basically, set up a home base and then once or twice a month take a week long cruise to wherever the wind takes me.

This is more my plan although it will involve something in the 40 foot trawler/cruiser range. I like engines. Bought the house, just need to start working on the boat.

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