Thank you for an unvarnished and unflinchingly accurate appraisal of 5 big downsides to boat living, but done in a completely lovely and charming way. You guys did a great job being precise and real without trying to sugarcoat it or overplay and demonize it. You were vey easy to listen to. I must say I found it very informative and enlightening. Thank you!
My goal is to NOT own a boat but instead to fly to different places in the world to bareboat. I also want to continue to make myself more valuable onboard through training and experience such that I'll be asked a lot to crew.
My dad once said: "I could give you many reasons why not to buy a boat but they would be pretty much the same reasons not to have a child. And you're my greatest joy."
Haha! Exactly. If you sit down and think about the advantages and disadvantages of having children it is a wonder anyone has them at all in the end. A smart person would put it off until they are more economically stable, and limit the number of children they have to just one, or maybe two replacements for the parents. Perhaps maybe even not having any children at all would be the most advantageous. I guess that might explain why the human race seems to be getting stupider as the world becomes more and more over-populated. ;)
Buying the right boat makes a huge difference. Moisture is the No#1 cause for failures. Wet electronics, wet engine rooms etc; are the main causes. I owned a Commercial fishing boat for 30 years and had annual maintenance, but besides general R&R I had little issues. The big issue with pleasure boats is there are many places where the outside environment gets into soo many areas. An excellent sail boat like a Norsemen 447 along with some sort of DRY heat running all the time will eliminate most issues. Also stick with a manual toilet and plastic water and holding tanks and aluminium fuel tanks. And remember stainless is half as good as it looks and Galvanized is twice as good as it looks. Modern stainless is a disaster. Rust and electrolysis eats right thru it. I've seen stainless propellor shafts cut right in half by electrolysis. A good old iron shaft looks like crap but will last forever. My fishing boat was 60 years old and still going strong. Get rid of all the electronics that are out in the environment. Keep them indoors with dry air circulating. A pilot house vessel is also the best for all of this. I know, in the tropics keeping your gear dry is tough. If you live above the tropics KEEP YOUR BOAT WARM AND DRY. Including your engine room and all of your storage compartments. $50 worth of heat per month will save you thousands $$ and pain in the long run.
Three years ago, at 74, I bought my eighth boat, a 12-foot kayak. The Perception Carolina 12 cost $1,000 (new) and another $1,000 of gear was needed for safety and comfort through three-season paddling. Twice a week, in fair weather or gloomy, I paddle out along the shore for three or four miles, enjoying the motion of the kayak through the water, the sun and clouds, the waterfowl, and the shoreline sights. I am the captain of the ship. When the muscles begin to tire, or over-heating or chill sets in, the course is reversed. Then I return to a temperature-controlled home, enjoy a long shower, and savor a leisurely lunch. I am getting as much pleasure from this boat as from the others, and it has has been far less trouble. Nothing has broken and maintenance has been limited to an hour per season. It is an underrated option for those who want to "cruise" but enjoy the comforts of a landside home on a modest income.
I owned and lived on my 60 foot commercial fishing boat 15 years. I learned that the proper equipment, properly installed, and properly maintained seldom 'broke'. Very seldom did I see things break or wear out, but you have to stay on top of things 24/7, constant maintenance is a must. Your video was very accurate.
I have a friend who brought a second-hand 45 ft boat in immaculate condition it was near new, He is sailing from Greece to Australia very slowly, it's been four years now, and every email or journey update bar none includes stuff that has gone wrong, endless expense. He loves what he is doing but he has the income to do it. Budget sailing, forget it, these kind people are giving out priceless information.
Owning a boat was extremely expensive but so worth the memories. I have no regrets of owning 3 boats in my life but I’m on to other things now. Cheaper things.
This is why i own a 20 ft Flicka, 1/4 the cost for repairs and replacements of any kind than one ten ft longer....new set of sails aprox 1700., new standing rig aprox 1000., Bottom Job aprox 600. all told DIY. Time/effort to paint the bottom is about 1/3 that of a 30 ft boat.....varnish about 1/2.....etc, etc,.....
There's certainly a lot to be said for smaller boats, but 20ft is too much of a compromise for two people to live comfortably and sail the oceans IMO. If ever we were to retire on land I could see myself being very happy with a boat like yours though 😃👍 Fair winds to you.
Reasons for not owning a house. 1.council tax currently £2000 pa (U.K) 2. Constant maintenance including garden 3. Fuel bills it takes alot to heat a house. 4. Constant cleaning. 5. It's can go down quite significantly. 6. It's static. You wake to the same view every day...how boring is that? 7. Insects rodents and that's just the neighbours !
@Brexit Monger Living in a Marina is monthly, between $200-500 around here. Housing is decrepit and starts at $1k per month. I can move South any time I want and live on a mooring for free. Insurance is $600 per year. My boat is 45' long and has more room than I want. I actually wanted something way smaller. I just couldn't pass up the deal. I'm a restoration carpenter and would never own a house. Neighbors suck.
@@retrocoast8179 Yup, the worst part of owning a house is having to kill your neighbor. On a boat you just pick up and leave. Much cleaner that way and less hassle having to answer a bunch of stupid questions.
The good thing is, I am a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter, a gardenener, a welder and a mechanic because I live in a house and have cars. I think it comes down to your standards. I always want to know how everything works I own and use to understand it properly and know, when I'm screwed over by service providers. The honest ones get more money from me. So I have no problem with a simple structure like a boat. It's more dense, but less complicated.
You didn't mention losing things. Truly a phenomenon shared by many in a tiny space. Because there's not enough space, you're continually juggling your possessions to get at the ones you want. This in turn means you bury and misplace things you're going to need again. Cleaning is a bigger chore outside than inside the boat. If you have allergies watch out for the nasty molds that grown inside the boat.
Had a sail boat for 6 years and sailed around the world. Very honest what you say about the 5 reasons not to buy a boat. By rule of thumb it costs 10% of the value of the boat per year for the pleasure regardless of the value eg.a $10M boat cots $1M per year to maintain. That said my wife and I saw places and did things that were fabulous and made friendships with sailor people that have endured. Trust in each other by necessity is enhanced by. We were fortunate to have sold for more than we paid but spent plenty in the middle!
Thank you. I had never even thought of getting a boat for the reasons you brought out. I will be 70 in November and one of the things I have begun to discover, and I hope I am not unique in this, is that as I have gotten older, I have more of a desire for peace and tranquility in my life. As I have gotten older, it seems that I am less willing to tolerate calamity and upset. I want a smooth road more. I suspect that that has to do with the amount of conflict I have had in life, both outer and inner. I suspect and hope that all human beings are this way. As I have aged the less that I want challenges and it is my opinion, just mine, that all of us get to that point and that it is just a question of time. For all of us I think that we get to the point where we want to "hang it up"...maybe that point comes at 60, maybe at 70 or maybe the day before we pass from this existence.... I admire you both for hanging in there...smooth sailing...
WA5CVI I bought my first boat aged 61...., for the exact reasons you mentioned not to have one, a challenge, something new to learn, exercise and adventure.
@@cm-kl2wx It's a Tattoo 26, the old McGregor replacement. Ideal first boat to try out on, although the deck is a bit awkward to get around for an OAP, maintenance is minimal being all fiberglass inside and out, cheap and cheerful. Having said all that, it's had little use, since I developed repeated back problems. It just seemed a shame not to have a boat on in our area, and having our own ramp access from our property.
Hmm, I bought my first boat two years ago at age 60, a 28 year old Westerly Oceanranger. I bought it to fulfill my lifelong dream, to enjoy anew the adventures I had thirty years ago working on a tall ship in Asia, to have an absorbing project into retirement, to learn new skills, to provide adventure and learning opportunities for my family. I am quite well advanced in completely restoring and upgrading her, it has taken a lot more time and money that I expected, but I found both and she and I are richer for it. I will start to make voyages next year, sometimes alone, sometimes with family and others. I also juggle time and money maintaining the family home. The home though has no soul. The boat is a thing of beauty, adventure and peace and I now know and have worked on almost every inch of her. When I’m home I enjoy the family and the comfort. On the boat I feel immersed and at one with nature and alive in the universe, the stars, clouds, nature, the ocean, the wind. One can set the boat up and adopt good practices to minimize risk and chaos. It is riskier driving a car everyday than cruising a boat. My great boat is a lot cheaper than even the smallest flat where I live. I’m not trying to make money from the boat, true wealth is about something higher level than money.
Yes owning a live aboard boat is money absorbing but the places you go to and the people you meet are worth every penny . We've been on board our yacht for 20 years and wouldn't change it .
Very good information. I started sailing singlehanded and retired singlehanded. My family would visit at various ports for short sailing days in ideal conditions. I’d never would want to expose them to the nasty ocean conditions that I had to endure many times. I met many unhappy couples and crew at various locations. Taking care of the boat is bad enough in storm conditions without having to worry about seasick incapacitated crew. I have no regrets of my sailing days and storms helped me come to terms about my physical and mental limitations.
@@Burevestnik9M730 I’m an electrician and spent a lot of time around the construction trades learning a few things from each. I was in electronics during my service repairing radio receivers and transmitters. So I had the benefits of several skills going in to sail boat maintenance. I got started sailing on a 20 ft sailboat on San Francisco Bay, the hard way. No lessons, but the mistakes taught me hard lessons.
As an alternative to owning a home, the maintenance cost and effort of a forty foot sailboat is less. When I had an apartment owning a 40' boat was a joy and a great escape. Now that I own a home, I have electrical work, house painting, weeding, seeding, mowing, pruning, cleaning, servicing heating systems, air conditioning systems, shoveling snow, cutting up trees that storms have knocked over, fixing leaky roofs, repairing windows and screens, insects, water wells, filters, plumbing, flooding, laundries, fridges, etc. As far as I am concerned maintaining my sailboat was much easier to maintain than my small cape on an acre of land, also much cheaper. I pay $11,000 a year alone in property taxes, and that's cheap in my area.
Yeah with all the reasons not to live aboard , it sure is much less costly than living on land. On top of everything you just mentioned, add cars and unnecessary impulse shopping... not to mention costly social outings. Sailing is a great way to travel the world.
Yeah, no. If your house cost more to maintain than your boat, then you bought a big house, and you're comparing it to a small boat. You will still have the same problems with a boat that you will with a house; painting, electrical, plumbing, etc. There may be less to paint, but you will be painting much more often. There may be less wiring, but the salt water means you will be replacing it every 5-10 years, instead of every 40-50 years. You will still need to commute to a job, if you have one. You will have to pay more to use on-shore laundry, to fill your water tank, etc. The other thing to consider is value; a house appreciates. Very few boats (or vehicles in general) ever do. Neither a boat or a house is something to buy without great consideration, but if you look at them from the standpoint of investment, there's really no contest. Living on a boat might work out cheaper if the interior is smaller than an efficiency, you don't have to commute to a job, and you don't mind going without a shower or doing laundry for a week at a time, but for most people to live comparably to what they can afford on-shore, they'd need a large, expensive boat with quite a lot of high maintenance amenities.
ill take working on the boat any day over house stuff. now i live in a lake community with no grass, only some small landscaping... will never look back.
My wife and have full timed in our Motorhome for the last year . Boating full time sounds very similar . Things are constantly breaking down . Used or new . Of course being in the middle of the ocean versus a two lane highway in the middle of Montana is better when shit happens ! The best advise I have ever heard 39 years ago. Is to ask yourself. Can I live with my husband or wife in a hallway. The best to all of you who make it happen !
Thanks for the honest assessment of being a sailboat owner. It's easy to believe otherwise when you watch some of the TH-cam channels with young couples sailing around the world and (seemingly) always having a great time.
Ahh, reluctantly I have to admit this is what I expected to hear and it crushed my years long non-realistic dreams. I am so thankful for your honesty! 🙏
Don't let it put you off. We're still on our boat after 15 years, we just wanted to address the "sunsets and cocktails" image of cruising. A dose of reality. But we would never change our lifestyle!
Love the honesty, my late dad always had fishing boats right up to when he passed away, I vowed never to have a boat but after much deliberation, we now want to learn how to sail & want to escape from all the dire modern-day life & all the negative media, so thank you for your wonderful reasons not to have a boat, my wife & I have worked together for 24 years as salon owners and we are rock solid, so that won't be an issue, maintaining the vessel & the skill sets needed may be a learning curve, but it's a challenge am willing to take on .
You’re right, a boat is a hole that you keep putting in money and never stop. I’ve had 3 motor boats and I can testify to that. I have never own a Sailboat and I’ve always been fascinated to own one. I’m thinking of getting one. Maybe a 23 footer and learning to sail on weekends. Something that I can do with the family on weekends. Thank you for your advice.
A friend told me how he was with pen and paper at the table trying to show a caravanner travelling around Australia how it didn't make financial sense with columns for fuel, maintenance, repairs, depreciation, park fees, loss of income etc etc. Satisfied with his logic and costing proof he was met with the response. "You forgot the value of the Fun column". Case closed I guess. Life has many perceptions of value and worth.
Thanks for the honesty guys. I kind of agree with most of what you said but especially agree with that when times are going well there nothing like boat life. Fair winds and following seas all!
Dinar AndFriends planes crash, houses catch fire...things happen no matter what you do. As much as I love my motorcycle, I wish I bought a boat instead.
Maintenance also depends on the age of the boat you purchase, I’m on my third sailboat. The last two were purchased new, first was 40 foot used 15 years old next 41 foot new now up to 54 new and neither new had any out of the ordinary expenses. While the 15 year old boat over 7 years of ownership probably cost me the difference of just purchasing new. I’ve learned the first 10 years of boat ownership are the easiest maintenance wise.
i bought a rowboat. i would keep it on a trailer at the marina, load it myself down a ramp. sunsets - you go out, you eat, you talk you come in. loved it.
Hi guys, hats off to you for persevering. I bought my first boat aged 61, only a 26' trailer motor sailer, being a first timer and not so young, it's got an outboard engine, and no timber. It was part of the dream along with good sized land (no close neighbours), sea frontage, in the tropics. Call in if you're passing, 7* 30' 16"N - 99* 06' 22"E. I regret waiting so long and not perusing my dream much younger, as I will now never own an ocean cruiser and "take off". One of my best experiences was a trip from Langkawi to Port Said on my ex employers 80' gin palace, except for the French crew! Still a very small place with the wrong people...., but I could see the attraction. One piece of advice regarding the cockroaches, owning a restaurant in Phuket one time, with a walk over doorstep to the kitchen, we had problems also. A sailer gave us this piece of advice, spread Boric acid powder around all the room edges/corners, they tread it into their nest and kill off the whole brood, job done, and it worked a treat. Happy sailing.
You speak the truth! I am some 50+ years sailing, and agree that in spite of the fact that it is a hard life.....the freedom of the open water is irreplaceable by anything ashore,
Hi. I have 2 lives. One in philippines on my yacht and one in australia with home, farm, kids, friends. Farm is a paradise and away from most people surounded by forrest. Kids friends home all have their place. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is be where i want when i want. Covid has presently screwed travel up a bit biy 9 months on yacht in subic bay was great. Home again is different. "Viva la difference"
hey let me ask you something if you had the skill set couldnt you just do the rigging yourself and get it inspected for insurance? Or are they jerks about it
Agree with all of that! I haven't been a live-aboard, but even just having a weekend boat I can tell you lots of hilarious stories of things-gone-wrong. You really need to be okay with the downsides to move forward with this fantasy. That said, if it really is what you are suited for, nothing beats the floating life!
Oh the stories! Sailors are made for telling yarns! Yes, you have to accept the bad times and just get on with it - not always a quick and easy lesson to learn! Peace and fair winds. Liz x
After 30 years I bought a small open sailboat 6.5m to see if I still could handle a sailboat. I learned a lot, especially from my own silly mistakes. Nature, wind, sun and rain out there sailing 2 years now on a small lake. I love it. I learned knots (i had never heard off), how to look, preparations, talking to other enthusiastic sailors, and I learned, how to fix a boat. I like to customize, clean and change things on my small boat. I keep doing this for another three years and then I buy myself a bigger boat. Sailing is fun.
You are so right, when people buy a boat in most cases they do not know what to expect even after reading and you tubing on sailing. I am that do all person and so is my Partner. We have owned boats from 22' to 50'. We soon will be owning a 51' to do some blue water sailing. Its a lot of work but we both enjoy it immensely. I have {we} have been sailing all our lives and wouldn't change it for anything. Thank you
21 years in 5 submarines got me to where I can sleep on top of diesel engines, use hydraulic oil to comb my hair with and wash my hands, and shower every other week. You know, you can get 4 weeks wear out of one T-shirt. Week 1 - wear it regular. Week 2 - turn it around and wear backwards. Week 3 - turn it inside out and wear front-ways. Week 4 - Inside out, backwards. Of course, the arm pits do get a little crunchy from time to time. hehe. Love the video and the soul searching questions you put in it because I don't think a lot of people really consider the "really togetherness" thing, water rationing affecting hygiene, etc. Thanks for taking time to do it.
They are quite straightforward points now we've been doing it for 12 years, but did we think about them before we started? NO! Your t-shirts sound like Jamie's! 😁 Liz x
You can avoid many of the maintenance tasks by simply upgrading on specific parts. Replace the diesel engine with an electric one. Replace the head with a composting toilet. These two things will get rid of a lot of problems. As for the rest, owning a house will require even more work than owning a boat. It's really is just a matter of choices. Boats are definitely cheaper than homes.
My sailing instructor when I mentioned my goal is to buy a catamaran and sail the oceans, told me several reasons why a cat wasn't a good idea, and then she gave me a tour of her boat - a cat. All the best things I've done there have been excellent reasons why not to do it. The thing is the naysayers are all grumpy about reasons not to, because end of the day they usually don't. Those of us who do... all good information is well worth consideration. Next lesson I mentioned that I'd like to live aboard my sailboat, she took me on a tour of several boats big enough to live on and all the reasons why that's a pain. I got into boating by building a wooden strip glass and epoxy sea kayak. Took me three times longer than I expected, lasted about 6-7 years a lot less than I expected. Regrets? Only that I hadn't done it years earlier. Rats aren't too difficult. Peanut butter, in a tangle of hair or monofilament. They hook a tooth on the hair tug at it, set off the trap. Without the hair you check the trap and think, oh I must've forget to put peanut butter on that one. They just gently licked it clean. Multidays without showers? Merino Wool, maybe cotton, but never synthetics (fleece on an upper layer is okay). synthetics stink. If you want to grow smelly bacteria, polyester is great. Stinky swimsuit or other gear? Hang it up in the sun. Turn it around, inside out. I left my wet swim suit (synthetic, there are exceptions) in the car for a week. It reeked. I washed it twice, washed it with the recommended wet suit deoderizer, even used a little bleach. Nope. Hung it in the sun for hour days. stink all gone. Wool if you hang it up for a day or two smells like lanolin, it's naturally antibacterial. As a backpacker when I switched to wool I stopped smelling awful. It wasn't me, it was polyester.
Thank you, thank you! Considering I can barely use a screwdriver, I don't think learning maintenance would be up my alley. You have also confirmed the expense can be overwhelming. I think I'll just retire here in my mortgage free lake home!
@@gurnblanstein9816 I'm on a Morgan 45 and spent years working tall ships. Everybody who will never understand look at me funny when I say WaterWorld is a great movie. I'm actually going to dump my diesel main and gen. Go batteries and electric motor. Solar panels and when under sail the prop will charge everything. Remove all the through hull fittings. ~And never buy diesel again~ I could stay at sea for months.
Put that on the seafront in the tropics, as we did, and you may as well have a boat! Mind you the wife loves gardening, and we have a gardener to help. It was a dream to live aboard an ocean cruiser, but I ended up with a sail averse wife and a trailer motor sailer to launch from our garden instead, life's compromises....
Our 20 acre hobby farm was a money pit, i was sad and glad to sell it this time last year, id be very surprised if a ~40ft yacht would be as expensive on own and operate.
I'm looking in to buying a boat farther down the road of my life. This video was very educational, but not discouraging enough to make me think twice! I'll have it some day. Thank you very much for sharing.
Yep - excellent advice, thank you. Just about to convert our patrol-class vessel into an explorer yacht, and every day is a relevalation on how much it's going to cost. Having downsized from a large house, to a 2-bed off-grid (batteries, solar, generators, solid fuel...) cottage in the middle of nowhere, we're well prepared (eyes wide open). It's always about water, power, space, and acoustically, when an engine starts making a strange sound, or there's a flicker in the lights, it absolutely cannot be ignored. It always, and without exception, means something is wrong, and it needs to be addressed immediately. Oh, and have spares. Lots of spares!
I learned how to sail, two weeks later took the advanced sailing course. Two week later looked over the classified ads for a good used sailboat. I found a 1982 Catalina 25' sailboat. A few months later I was on board living. I spent over a year living on board. My slip fee was only $125 a month. I had occasions when my motor stopped sometimes because I was careless with how much fuel I was carrying on board. When the engine stops on a sailboat nothing much happens. you pull up the motor, and spread out a couple yards of canvas and you go on the wind. I've sailed into more than on marina that was well protected from wind effect. Sailing flawlessly into your slip the first time is well satisfying. I found it easy to keep my oat clean, and enjoyed tending it. I considered time well spent. I did wind up selling it eventually when I had to deploy for a year, but I think I will return to it again after time wen I get bored with land again.
So true, we wouldn't trade either! Looks like we may be heading your way, via Japan and Aleutians, so if you are open to questions I'd love to get in touch with you, I've loads of questions. Would be cool to hook up when we get there. 👌✌️ Liz
That would be AWESOME to meet up and definitely ask me any questions you have!! Canada's west coast is an amazing part of the world! You can direct message me at alfy@lifeislikesailing.com or on FB if that is easier! Or if you have good wifi at we can have a Skype call to answer everything you need to know! Alfy
It's really like a love affair, or a good martiage if it works, in that it's loving the good and the bad equally. I can't tell you how many people I've known, who just buy boats for the joy of tinkering on them, and fixing them up, who really don't even want to take them out of the slip. A good friend of mine is like that and. he has the most beautiful sailboat, that never goes anywhere, that you have ever seen.. But, it makes him happy.
I love sailing and have a great deal of experience. But, I've never considered abandoning the landlubber lifestyle: house, car, motorbike, furniture, appliances etc etc....,to live aboard simply because I am not very very rich! Great video folks.
This is why I'm a trailer sailor. I have a few high-performance dinghies. I take them to the lake on windy days and have a lot of fun sailing, and then I take them home and go inside my large and comfortable house.
I am a great all around mechanic and electrician and Plummer. My wife and I are highly organized! We are clean and neat and never had any bugs in our boat with the exception of mosquitos. We love sailing and I love fixing and tinkering! Every moving vehicle straight down depreciates!
All you new unsuspecting newbies take a long walk round some real boatyards (not the gin centres) and sea the fields of dreams that will never be any more than a ruinous nightmare. you need to be a Plumber. Carpenter. Electrician.Engineer. and general handy person. Alternatively be VERY rich ! I'm subscribed .very good public information video !
people are put off by professionals doing what they do best - scaremongering as to what will happen if you don't use their services - get on with it if you have even half a brain, some confidence in yourself, and some competence
Jon Wilmot -- You’re to funny. I know Hundreds of boaters at marinas and very few are like you said. The ones I know want to learn and they enjoy sharing experiences with each other. They love helping each other. They boat together. They cook in groups. Swim together. Party together. Bond together when someone has health issues. They are like family. Kind of sad you didn't see that side of it or didn't want to see that side. One of them has a problem with their boat everyone pitches in to help. If you moved in the second you drive your boat to the slip they are there welcoming you tie up and get settled in and immediately you have dozens of caring friends.
@@Dld1985 there's a lot of truth there - depends which marina/club - in my experience they are like any club - some are more active and more 'family' than others, some are cold, some are brill, and I have met some of my best friends through helping one another with boats and sailing all over the world. And there are usually several to choose from locally. Bonnes voyages!
I came up with a way to calculate the cost of maintenance. First you put the hull and engine block on the left hand side of the ledger. Then list everything else on the boat. Nuts, bolts, cables, cousins, etc. I mean everything like you are going to build the boat except electronics.Next you price every item, not from the manufacture but what it will cost you down at the local Marine store. Next after you add everything up you will find it adds up to more than the boat cost new. You are paying retail not wholesale. Now take the total from all the "stuff". Now add depreciation of electronics over a three year period. Add it all up and multiply by 10%. That is what you will spend every year on maintenance. And that is assuming you become the plumber, electrician, sailmaker, etc. If you have any labor costs you have to add that to your annual total. Just the way it is. After three boats over 30 years it comes out pretty close. I happen to just love to piddle and repair things. On average I would spend most of every day working on something. If you get the todo list too long you will never catch up.
Thanks a lot. Stuff we hear from time to time but need to be reminded of before you take the big leap to full time cruising. Like you said the goal is to have the good times out weight the hardships and the bad times. Cheers and safe cruising! Craig
We had a wooden 12 ton Gauntlet - Tiare Taporo III" built in NZ and bought in NZ in 2002 when she was 24 years old and in need of much work to go offshore. We had the original 1964 4 cylinder Fordson and BW Velvet Drive transmission. Engine was 54 years old when we sold her and always ran like a top, except when approaching Timor in Indonesia when the fuel lift pump failed! We eventually replaced it in Malaysia. Used an electric one in the meantime. We left NZ in 2011 and sailed to New Caledonia, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. In total we lived on board for 10 years and that counts for something financially. We had great experiences and some not so great and spent a fortune getting her ready in NZ for the big OE!! BUT it was always a lifelong dream and we don't regret any of it. Character building! Moneywise - it is a very expensive way to travel and only at about one hundredth of the speed of flying! But think of all the bracing experiences along the way and the ability to see very remote places - but they can be daunting too because anchoring information, etc is often sparse. The people you meet make up for much of the tribulations. Buying a boat and sailing offshore is a very personal decision - one that you have to make with almost no prior experience!!!
Home ownership has the same issues. Things go wrong, have to fix things or spend a lot of money to hire someone to repair it. Of course, homes don't have sails but, still, many problems about. I've seen many things tear relationships apart. Jobs particularly. Truck drivers, railroading, long hospital hours in nursing, pilots and such things. When people choose to marry, then they need to consider they need to forget everything else and do whatever to be with each other. I know being apart certainly drives a wedge between couples. So it is amazing to hear too much time together takes a toll on relationships. Never have enough money. You just described ownership of everything, everywhere. Most people are in debt, not eating much because the little they earn goes to bills. They have to be in debt to have vehicles. They have to borrow money they never return to repair vehicles or something wrong with the home. It never ends.
What a lovely couple! Apart from all the sound advice I am so impressed by the 'double act', how you cover the points together alternately and so fluently and harmoniously.
When I sailed my boat fifty weekends a year, towing over 12,000 miles, and racing over one hundred races per year, it made absolutely no sense at all except for the sheer joy of it. Driving a sailboat is one of the most lovely ways there is to spend the hours you're given, here on earth.
we moved to land 3 years ago after 18 years of circumnavigation basically the boat was getting tired and the wallet had shrunk due to a divorce. I cry every day for the freedom and hate Europe with all its bull...! At least we did it and dont regret it
The profile picture Fortuna was our home and the boat we worked for over 25 years as a tour boat from Gibraltar. We sailed away from the UK a couple of days after the 1987 hurricane with 4 children aged from 7 to 12. It's true to say we where very lucky, it worked for us but it is hard work living on a boat and we saw many many couples break up, plenty of work a never ending list of repairs and maintenance. So take onboard the warnings by this couple.
Many years back I took sailing classes and got to where i could single hand a Shields (30', graceful, no motor) out on the Pacific coast of central California. While i still know what year it is and before I need a walker, I'm thinking of buying a 28' to 32' sailboat capable of coastal cruising the west coast. Having some brains left, I'm taking sailing lessons (ASA) to see if my sailing dream is just a fond memory or something I still love and still capable of doing. So until the classes begin, I'm in irons, flapping about, going nowhere and very much appreciate watching pro and con videos of people with real experience such as this one. Thank you Sailing followtheboat.
I hear you on the working on the boat and keeping it up but like I live on a Chris craft consolation 57feet and it’s a joy but it’s just me and my two dogs but I have a full sized closet so I got to keep all my clothes and a full sized kitchen and master bathroom so it’s like a nice little house but because of the cost of driving it I don’t take her out much but I do find that it’s cheaper to live on her then it is land and I’m happier
This was the most honest and dutiful reminder to all those who dream, as every dream has it's compromises. Lovely to see a couple in alignment with each other and living their dream.
Excellent, much appreciated reality check...especially on the destructive capability of a relationship, and unexpected costs. Kudos for putting it out there.
I know some people remove the paper labels from all cans (and label the ends with a sharpie pen) and never have cardboard boxes on board. Get rid of the roach food and you should have less roaches. Lots of plastic bins.
It’s so funny what you said in this video! When I was taking my sailing classes in Florida I asked our instructor and Captain if he had a sailboat? He laughed and said I would never own a sailboat I Sail them I put them in the slip and go home . He said the very thing that you said they’re always breaking down and very very expensive to fix
My father, Roger W. McAleer, the naval architect and designer of the 24' planing daysailer: "Raven" (called the first muscle car of sailboats back in the 50's), had two family sailboats through the years. Throughout the 60's and 70's we did weekend and two week vacation outings in the Chesapeake Bay on his 35' and 40' custom wooden sloops. The only trouble we had was running aground in narrow channels where we had to run back and forth from starboard to port and rock the boat to get her free. No trouble from the rigging, plumbing, or electrical. He sold his last sloop in the 90's. Those who built my dad's boats did it right. The only real cost were the marina fees.
I turned the forward cabin into my workshop. Still sleepable but most of the drawers were filled with my stuff. One whole drawer was filled with electrical bits, soldering irons, switches etc. The closet was full of tool boxes. Another drawer was full of plumbing bits. The lazarette was full of emergency stuff, extra dock lines, fenders, flashlights, knife (a good one) cleaners, rags, long ropes and a stern anchor of course. The engine room cabinets were full of filters belts, torque wrenches, spanners, channel locks, hammers, drills, extra bilge pumps, toilet parts and plumbing bits, an entire selection of hoses for every purpose, extra oil, fuel jugs for priming, battery testing kits, to name a few. When we sold our boat it took two pickup truck loads to clean out all of my tools, bedding, clothes for 3 seasons etc, leaving behind the dishes, cutlery, dock chairs, dock lines, emergency stuff, TV, Satelite dish, dinghy and motor etc. etc. along with my heart :(
Your video should be compulsory viewing for all who undertake RYA qualifications! My only further comment is that mooring fees can be surprisingly expensive too. Terrific video! Next time do it with the sunglasses off, so that we can be further persuaded by the genuine sincerity evident in your eyes! Keep up the good work!
Loved your video... it's real what you say but we are not discouraged. It's an important message to share, especially the part about your spouse equally wanting to liveabord. One thing worth mentioning is dealing with near-disaster situations like dragging anchor into another boat or rigging failure (the roller furling genoa falls in the water while sailing, oops!).... eventually something bad and sudden is gonna happen. We've seen sailboats put up for sale after disaster strikes. Sad. We've also seen couples stop cruising after an unfortunate event. We always tell people, buy a smaller boat to start, try anchoring for an afternoon and then a night and then try a weekend and then a vacation of 1-2 weeks. After all that, you'll have a better idea of owning a boat and getting along together. Just maybe... Last summer, we took it to the next level by spending 28 nights on our 26' pocket cruiser and we even experimented cooking like liveaborders as opposed to weekend cruising. Disaster struck once and we had an engine issue too. Despite a few setbacks, we loved our vacation and this gave us the confidence to prepare for liveabord life... on a bigger boat 😆. Bottom line, even on our small sailboat, my summer weekends are filled with happiness, adventure, great sailing friends, relaxation unlike my cubicle work colleagues can say. They think I'm rich. NOPE! All the beautiful sunsets, the lapping of waves against the hull, the freedom of driving through the wind, the intimacy with your "significant other", the quiet anchorages (well not always), breakfast in the cockpit with a cool breeze blowing... trumps all the maintenance and cleaning we do... and the occasional disaster. Thank God for Gin or Rhum after a disaster! 😂🍺😜😉 Wishing you both fair winds 🙏
Good point. There WILL be disasters, but they can be prepared for. It's how you react and deal with them that counts. ☺️ Sounds like you have a good life. Peace and fair winds! Liz
Yes, but you have to compare with the alternatives. For instance house disasters: you discover your roof leaks or there is mould in your cellar, or a biker gang has bought a neighboring house to use as a club house. Write down all the house disasters you can think of and compare the list with boat disasters. Gives you perspective.
All of the "expenses" are optional. As an engine-free cruiser who traveled to many places over 40,000 miles, I can say engines are a common mistake. I never used plumbing either except a bilge pump, and electric is optional, but it's so easy to twist wires together. Rigging can be cheap if you use galvanized wire, and unlike stainless it can last 50 years as well. My (used) sails cost $20 - $50 and last several oceans.
"Twist wires together" .. My heart almost stopped working. As an electrician i am mortified. ;-) keep it up but invest 10$ in Wagos and electrical tape. XD A drum of 2.5mm rubberized flex cable and a multimeter will be your friend.
I needed a complex hobby in retirement, we have sailed for 40 years and love the light adventure, shared experience and social platform it provides. I agree with the five points here, yet they do not put us off.
The reason for this episode is to point out (to those with little experience other than watching sailing channels) that living full-time on a sailboat is not all cocktails, parties and white sand beaches. This amazing lifestyle brings problems as well as the good times. We've been living aboard full-time since 2006 and wouldn't have it any other way. If you watch till the end, you'll hear us say that. The accompanying episode, "5 Reasons Why You Should Buy A Boat" explains why we love this life: th-cam.com/video/NF4dvGuEip8/w-d-xo.html
We lived on a yacht for 12 years before selling up and buying a barge which we converted into a house boat. Like you, we love the lifestyle and only gave up the yacht for health reasons. Both of us were competent and experienced sailors before making the jump to becoming ocean dwellers and I fully understand the tough times. Good video... thank you.
Bought a 30 year old traditional and reasonably well-built house 27 years ago and have been working big and small repairs non-stop since. Mice, rats, ants, termites, and much more creatures are visiting and/or living in the house in much larger quantities than possible on any sail boat. The window surfaces to clean are larger than your boat, the balcony larger than your deck is also hard to keep clean (leaves and algae). The total roof repair and insulation was estimated as expensive as a nice size sailing boat. It's located in the S-W of France where it rains three times more (in volume) than in the UK. This must make many boat owners feel better. ;-)
I bought a Catalina 22 as a new sailor in 2019. After the outboard left me stranded the second time I went out, I nearly gave up on the whole thing. Slowly, I’ve worked, and worked and worked hard at getting back to feeling comfortable sailing her again. I took a risk, and it has been a learning experience, not without headaches but worth the investment in myself to take on something completely foreign and command a ship of my own. My dream is to buy a used sailboat and sail offshore. I’m partial to (Oyster’s, & Swans) so the budget will be pretty tight. So no matter if I get there, I’ve learned a lot on my little Catalina 22 and at the end of the day that’s all that matters.
I think lots of bad points of owning a sailboat can be "overcomed" by living and sailing on a Small but sufficient boat. It depends of course of the level of comfort tolerated. But some solos or couples of long term sailors sail and live aboard 24 to 30 ft boats, even for ocean passages, in the "keep it simple" philosophy, and the costs and technical issues at least can be easily reduced this way. Not a big spaceful catamaran but nothing is perfect in life !
We met a couple while cruising and asked about where they've been and their plans. The wife hissed, "It was his F..king idea" as she climbed down the companionway and pulled the hatch closed. I'd bet they aren't still cruising.
Upon talking with the husband, we learned that he was dreaming of tropical beaches, palm trees, rum drinks, and half naked women. He admitted to forcing her into his dream.
My girlfriend and I sailed the Bahamas in 2017 with a couple on a Pearson 38. One day the wife forgot to turn the windlass motor off (which had been rewired...no fuse) once the anchor was up. The windlass motor burned up ($2500). I thought I was gonna have to step between the captain and his wife to prevent a fight. Later learned they divorced.
Excelent! Why I didnt see your channel before? I dream with have my iwn sailboat and live and travel with she, hope is not too late to start (Im 44...). Good winds for you!
Thank you for being so honest. You two are so cute, and it must be true love that keeps you together. I'm currently in the middle of it all as a cruiser on an older sailing vessel. Admittedly, I have never been so challenged my entire life, but I do try to enjoy every minute. A true adventure is what it is, and I never would have been able to imagine what I have already experienced in my wildest dreams. I am a motorhead, but under it all, I truly love sailing and sailboats. Thank you for all of your presentations. I have watched many before and enjoy each and everyone. G.
Thank you for the kind words, Garneau. Yes, every day there is a new challenge. We've just been through another one along the Sulawesi coast and it's testing. It's all good though 😃👍
“If it flies, floats or fu€ks - it’ll cost you a fortune, you’re better to rent it!!!” is the old expression! As a married airline pilot with a boat, I now understand!!! 10% of original list price is the average cost per year after 5 years. But it’s in your blood and great on a sunny day to clear your head and make some of life’s greatest memories!
don't Care - Funny but true. We call it two foot iDis. Boaters always say if my boat was just two feet longer it would be perfect. I use to say that but what I learned a larger one is just more to clean.
1951RKP If you can afford a 60-70 footer motor yacht, you can afford paying for regular cleaning. And everything else too, including maintenance, upkeep, fuel and storage.
@@greghooper16 I've noticed that a lot of decent or better sailboats seem relatively inexpensive to buy--but one realizes that the real cost is in the operating/repair expenses.
Befriend a boater, they are the salt of the world. You have to love it. Try being on a small boat for a couple weeks or more you'll see. Things that are different on a sailboat: rain patters loud on the deck and the wind rocks you as the waves lap the hull. In a house you might hear the fridgerator pump and the heater vent or some street noise etc. In a sailboat you can smell when your food is done the space is so small and everything to be discarded is given a second thought that it may have some other use. In a house cooking may be safely relegated to a timer and trash is a few steps away in gigantic bins not carted off the boat. In a boat you are closer to and affected more by nature. You pay more attention to everything around because especially at sea resources are critically finite for survival and you may be the only person available to keep the thing afloat and stay alive in relative comfort. House on the grid you just pay your bills/call a repair person. On a boat especially at sea you must learn to repair most of the things around you. So by default you are in charge of navigation, engineering, electrical, plumbing etc. It's a physical life being on the water. You don't have to be, and, it doesn't make you a hard body but you get tough and sensative at the same time. Just what boat life makes you do. You should please learn to keep your wits about you though some very unwitting people operate boats and I guess only have luck on thier side. Better to have luck and some wits though. A healthy respect for mother nature is helpful along with having some grace of people skills in close quarters maybe lots of travel or camping skills helps.
"Salt [is] good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another." - Jesus Christ Thank you for sharing this information with us!
My very unwitting neighbor and his wife were on their new acquisition about 8 days when he pumped a water/gas mixture from his fuel tank. Well, until the bearing in the drill pump he used overheated. Then the stern exploded in a huge fireball. Instantly catching my express cruiser ablaze. Now 7 years later I'm taking the plunge again. 27' Catalina. A bit cramped compared to my Tolly 32 but a whole lot cheaper to operate. Found a pretty good one for a cheap price that is devoid of electronics, stove, microwave, radio, depth finder etc. but it does have new sails and the boat itself looks to be in really good shape. Glad to be getting her knowing there will be problems and expense.
Sean Paul the world is full of money. Look around you and just see it all. You only need a small slice of the pie to keep the adventure going. It’s not difficult to make money once you’re outside of the normal circles!
Hi, I hope I’m welcome to say a few words. I was raised on Great South Bay, Long Island, NY and sailed small boats. I eventually lived near Seattle and did more looking than sailing. A couple bought a CT-41, I think 42,000 pounds displacement. They knew nearly nothing about sailing. I asked why an SHE said, “it’s so roomy inside.” My thought is, if you want “roomy inside” rent a hotel room at the beach. 25 - 33’ long is livable but very uncomfortable. Larger is livable but not fun to sail when they’re so big. You can enjoy sailing best with a mostly flat bottom boat like a Roberts Spray 27 or an old Atkins Little Bear, but building it might require several years. Buying older and small is a better idea. Trailering is excellent. Take it home, keep it clean and dry. Use it on weekends or for transportation when gas is unavailable. “A boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money.” Learn to live the 1850’s ways without all the high tech equipment, and repairable with hand tools. Stuff that is basic, simple, Bronze, painted iron/steel, or wood. Stuff you can make yourself. If you intend to live aboard build a flat bottom 34’ hull and outfit it as a floating home. Don’t add rigging and sails. Just enjoy living on water. Or….decide I’m all wrong, do it your way and see for yourself.
I don't know really I have been a live aboard for 3 years now. House or boat hmmm I have more money now than I ever did living in a house. I wish I had started living in a boat in my early 20's I would be retired at 35. The best part is I own my boat, I do the maintenance myself, I never want to live on land again it's too expensive.
SFTB, happily you're wrong about a boat as an investment... in an odd way. If you buy a boat rather than a house and invest the difference in equities by the time you retire you would be much richer. For every 35 year period since WW2 the COMPOUND growth on property has never exceeded 3%. The same for a broad portfolio for equities is 5.9%. So you'd be twice as rich!! Off course you're unlikely to spend as much on a boat as a house... so you'd be much, much... much richer. What do you think?
Liz, so did I, but the data (USA and UK) says that on average property investors lose money Vs passive investing in operational businesses. Also, there are professional brokers that make a lot of money buying and selling boats. But for a typical live-aboard on a boat for 10 years Vs living in a (UK or US) house for 10 years... assuming you could earn the same income... at the end, you would be richer on the boat. Am I making sense?.... Mind you keep it quiet otherwise they'll all be selling their houses and crowding the seas!!
I owned a 30' keelboat for seven or eight years and sold it because my new wife was not interested in sailing. During that time, I spent far more time working on the boat than I did sailing it. I enjoyed the tinkering for a while but the expense wore on me after a while. When there was a storm, I spent my evening at home worrying about the boat on its mooring. When I was sailing, the responsibility for everyone sailing with me was wearing, as well. The best situation is to find a good friend who owns a sailboat and needs a sailing partner. I didn't believe this until I bought the boat. One of my good friends sold his boat because he had decided it was more pleasant to stand fully clothed in a cold shower, tearing up $20 bills. I loved my boat. But I was happy after it was sold.
Boats are a joy when everything is going well, but they are hard work. True about having friends or family on board, always being a big responsibility. Maybe charter now and then to feed the passion? 👌✌️ Liz
Ive thought about a lot of these issues and Ive weighed the pros and cons..(pro to a wiring repair con, I know how to wire up a boat..my brother taught me and he's a marine electrician..con of it ... havent messed with it a bit so I will need to refresh myself on a few things to feel warm and fuzzy about it) sails and sail repair...Ive made sails ..for other people of course ..plus they werent for large boats, and I do plan on getting a boss mechanical sewing machine to repair my sails (it can also double and a quick fix for clothing repairs and salon cushion making (another way to make money while in port somewhere)..helps that my mom was a seamstress and did all sorts of random work....I was her asst for yrs and have a few weird tales that I should keep to myself on odd requests from customers lol) engines...now here is a great pro to a con....I was the only girl in my HS to ever take shop class (4 yrs in a row) in that class I rebuilt multiple car as well as boat engines ( my senior project was to repair and install a old ferry boat engine that had locked up, and it had to run for at least one hour and actually move the boat up the Mississippi river .... it worked lol..from what I found out that old Ford ran on my repairs for 3 yrs before it went in for a new check up) shhh dont say it, I know...Im a bit of a oddball in my skill choices..if its different from the everyone else.......I want to do it lol. But I can fix my own car..cook my own food, make my own clothing as well as other things, and last but not least since I have had a multitude of "iffy" landlords......I can do a lot in repairing and replacing plumbing issues...now money..Ive held a ton of job...and tend to get them when I need them most..(I have a income from a few wise investments but if I need a bit extra I tend to find odd jobs and do pretty well at it ...and Im frugal as hell lol ...I enjoy a good life but Im always conscious of spending and how to get the biggest bang for my buck.) Ive always been considered the gypsy of the family, never settling in one spot for more that a yr or so...usually only a few months, I love change and to see whats around the next corner (Im a bit like my gramps on that....he was a merchant marine for ages so he could ramble the world and see whats out there...I think he would approve of what Im planning .... even if the rest of the family thinks Ive gone and lost my marbles..they dont understand what its like to want and need to see new things and meet new people( Ive done the backpacking across Europe and Ive spit off the Great Wall of China ...but there's more to see of this world by water)....there's nothing wrong with a healthy bit of skepticism or fear..but you cannot let in run your life..I don't, I have been wanting to see more of the world and frankly I hate flying so this is the best way in my book to just sail) I love that you made this video so it wakes a few up and to the good and bad of making this choice for a life ............. and I still can wait for my new travels to begin..(I think I may have found a seawitch that needs some love but still has a lot left in her ... Im off to see her in 2 weeks and I am going to be brutal on my personal "servey" of her...make a pro and con list to see if she's worth my time and funds to get her off the hard and back into ship shape. (she's been on the hard for a couple of yrs due to health issues of the owner sad to say ) sorry to be so long winded ...keep up the great work you two...
You sound to me like a person who will do very well living aboard. That yearning to explore and see the world (and oceans!) is an itch which has to be scratched. ☺️ I love that you shared your story here. Thank you. Peace and fair winds. 👌❤️✌️Liz x
I enjoy your back-and-forth commentary. It can feel staged or stilted if not done properly and you both seem to strike the perfect balance in all of your videos. Well done.
Thanks for your advice! I am retired military, and was considering buying a live aboard yacht. After talking with boat owners, and watching UTube channels on boat ownership. I decided against it. I can always just rent a boat!
Thank you for an unvarnished and unflinchingly accurate appraisal of 5 big downsides to boat living, but done in a completely lovely and charming way. You guys did a great job being precise and real without trying to sugarcoat it or overplay and demonize it. You were vey easy to listen to. I must say I found it very informative and enlightening. Thank you!
Thank you for the positive feedback and for seeing the video as it was intended 👍
My goal is to NOT own a boat but instead to fly to different places in the world to bareboat. I also want to continue to make myself more valuable onboard through training and experience such that I'll be asked a lot to crew.
My dad once said: "I could give you many reasons why not to buy a boat but they would be pretty much the same reasons not to have a child. And you're my greatest joy."
Excellent comment! Love it 👌
I like your dad! Clever bloke :)
Haha! Exactly. If you sit down and think about the advantages and disadvantages of having children it is a wonder anyone has them at all in the end. A smart person would put it off until they are more economically stable, and limit the number of children they have to just one, or maybe two replacements for the parents. Perhaps maybe even not having any children at all would be the most advantageous. I guess that might explain why the human race seems to be getting stupider as the world becomes more and more over-populated. ;)
Great great school of thought.
What a smart and accurate reply.
buying a boat was the worst financial decision of my life. i now own 4 of them...
😁👌😎 Liz
Serveck - tooo funny !
Serveck
Have you had to buy four boats to realize having made a bad deal ?
I have three hoping for just one.
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha gulp!
Buying the right boat makes a huge difference. Moisture is the No#1 cause for failures. Wet electronics, wet engine rooms etc; are the main causes.
I owned a Commercial fishing boat for 30 years and had annual maintenance, but besides general R&R I had little issues. The big issue with pleasure boats is there are many places where the outside environment gets into soo many areas. An excellent sail boat like a Norsemen 447 along with some sort of DRY heat running all the time will eliminate most issues. Also stick with a manual toilet and plastic water and holding tanks and aluminium fuel tanks. And remember stainless is half as good as it looks and Galvanized is twice as good as it looks. Modern stainless is a disaster. Rust and electrolysis eats right thru it. I've seen stainless propellor shafts cut right in half by electrolysis. A good old iron shaft looks like crap but will last forever. My fishing boat was 60 years old and still going strong. Get rid of all the electronics that are out in the environment. Keep them indoors with dry air circulating. A pilot house vessel is also the best for all of this. I know, in the tropics keeping your gear dry is tough.
If you live above the tropics KEEP YOUR BOAT WARM AND DRY. Including your engine room and all of your storage compartments. $50 worth of heat per month will save you thousands $$ and pain in the long run.
I have spent over 2000 hrs per year on the ocean for 30 years; with the same boat. Never an issue.
Thanks, for the good advice.
Is that because you followed the above advice?
Three years ago, at 74, I bought my eighth boat, a 12-foot kayak. The Perception Carolina 12 cost $1,000 (new) and another $1,000 of gear was needed for safety and comfort through three-season paddling. Twice a week, in fair weather or gloomy, I paddle out along the shore for three or four miles, enjoying the motion of the kayak through the water, the sun and clouds, the waterfowl, and the shoreline sights. I am the captain of the ship. When the muscles begin to tire, or over-heating or chill sets in, the course is reversed. Then I return to a temperature-controlled home, enjoy a long shower, and savor a leisurely lunch. I am getting as much pleasure from this boat as from the others, and it has has been far less trouble. Nothing has broken and maintenance has been limited to an hour per season. It is an underrated option for those who want to "cruise" but enjoy the comforts of a landside home on a modest income.
Beautifully put Sir....just such a Great comment on this subject.....!!
I started sailing a topper ,similar to a kayak with a sail , very affordable ….
I owned and lived on my 60 foot commercial fishing boat 15 years. I learned that the proper equipment, properly installed, and properly maintained seldom 'broke'. Very seldom did I see things break or wear out, but you have to stay on top of things 24/7, constant maintenance is a must. Your video was very accurate.
were boatyards of any use? would 10% of the boat value per year be sufficient for unanticipated repairs?
I have a friend who brought a second-hand 45 ft boat in immaculate condition it was near new, He is sailing from Greece to Australia very slowly, it's been four years now, and every email or journey update bar none includes stuff that has gone wrong, endless expense. He loves what he is doing but he has the income to do it. Budget sailing, forget it, these kind people are giving out priceless information.
Owning a boat was extremely expensive but so worth the memories. I have no regrets of owning 3 boats in my life but I’m on to other things now. Cheaper things.
This is why i own a 20 ft Flicka, 1/4 the cost for repairs and replacements of any kind than one ten ft longer....new set of sails aprox 1700., new standing rig aprox 1000., Bottom Job aprox 600. all told DIY. Time/effort to paint the bottom is about 1/3 that of a 30 ft boat.....varnish about 1/2.....etc, etc,.....
There's certainly a lot to be said for smaller boats, but 20ft is too much of a compromise for two people to live comfortably and sail the oceans IMO. If ever we were to retire on land I could see myself being very happy with a boat like yours though 😃👍 Fair winds to you.
Reasons for not owning a house. 1.council tax currently £2000 pa (U.K) 2. Constant maintenance including garden 3. Fuel bills it takes alot to heat a house. 4. Constant cleaning. 5. It's can go down quite significantly. 6. It's static. You wake to the same view every day...how boring is that? 7. Insects rodents and that's just the neighbours !
8. You miss out on one hell of an adventure.
Number 7 Just the straight up truth!
@Brexit Monger
Living in a Marina is monthly, between $200-500 around here. Housing is decrepit and starts at $1k per month. I can move South any time I want and live on a mooring for free. Insurance is $600 per year.
My boat is 45' long and has more room than I want. I actually wanted something way smaller. I just couldn't pass up the deal.
I'm a restoration carpenter and would never own a house. Neighbors suck.
@@retrocoast8179
Yup, the worst part of owning a house is having to kill your neighbor.
On a boat you just pick up and leave. Much cleaner that way and less hassle having to answer a bunch of stupid questions.
@@greghooper16 Amen to that!! My favorite part about boating vs. home owning as well :)
The good thing is, I am a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter, a gardenener, a welder and a mechanic because I live in a house and have cars. I think it comes down to your standards. I always want to know how everything works I own and use to understand it properly and know, when I'm screwed over by service providers. The honest ones get more money from me. So I have no problem with a simple structure like a boat. It's more dense, but less complicated.
You didn't mention losing things. Truly a phenomenon shared by many in a tiny space. Because there's not enough space, you're continually juggling your possessions to get at the ones you want. This in turn means you bury and misplace things you're going to need again. Cleaning is a bigger chore outside than inside the boat. If you have allergies watch out for the nasty molds that grown inside the boat.
Yes! This!
Had a sail boat for 6 years and sailed around the world. Very honest what you say about the 5 reasons not to buy a boat. By rule of thumb it costs 10% of the value of the boat per year for the pleasure regardless of the value eg.a $10M boat cots $1M per year to maintain. That said my wife and I saw places and did things that were fabulous and made friendships with sailor people that have endured. Trust in each other by necessity is enhanced by. We were fortunate to have sold for more than we paid but spent plenty in the middle!
how much did it cost you to visit Greek islands by boat?
Thank you. I had never even thought of getting a boat for the reasons you brought out. I will be 70 in November and one of the things I have begun to discover, and I hope I am not unique in this, is that as I have gotten older, I have more of a desire for peace and tranquility in my life. As I have gotten older, it seems that I am less willing to tolerate calamity and upset. I want a smooth road more. I suspect that that has to do with the amount of conflict I have had in life, both outer and inner. I suspect and hope that all human beings are this way. As I have aged the less that I want challenges and it is my opinion, just mine, that all of us get to that point and that it is just a question of time. For all of us I think that we get to the point where we want to "hang it up"...maybe that point comes at 60, maybe at 70 or maybe the day before we pass from this existence....
I admire you both for hanging in there...smooth sailing...
WA5CVI life is like a roller coaster on land and if you sail you live the roller coaster Out on the Ocean
WA5CVI
I bought my first boat aged 61...., for the exact reasons you mentioned not to have one, a challenge, something new to learn, exercise and adventure.
@@cm-kl2wx It's a Tattoo 26, the old McGregor replacement. Ideal first boat to try out on, although the deck is a bit awkward to get around for an OAP, maintenance is minimal being all fiberglass inside and out, cheap and cheerful. Having said all that, it's had little use, since I developed repeated back problems. It just seemed a shame not to have a boat on in our area, and having our own ramp access from our property.
Hmm, I bought my first boat two years ago at age 60, a 28 year old Westerly Oceanranger. I bought it to fulfill my lifelong dream, to enjoy anew the adventures I had thirty years ago working on a tall ship in Asia, to have an absorbing project into retirement, to learn new skills, to provide adventure and learning opportunities for my family. I am quite well advanced in completely restoring and upgrading her, it has taken a lot more time and money that I expected, but I found both and she and I are richer for it. I will start to make voyages next year, sometimes alone, sometimes with family and others. I also juggle time and money maintaining the family home. The home though has no soul. The boat is a thing of beauty, adventure and peace and I now know and have worked on almost every inch of her. When I’m home I enjoy the family and the comfort. On the boat I feel immersed and at one with nature and alive in the universe, the stars, clouds, nature, the ocean, the wind. One can set the boat up and adopt good practices to minimize risk and chaos. It is riskier driving a car everyday than cruising a boat. My great boat is a lot cheaper than even the smallest flat where I live. I’m not trying to make money from the boat, true wealth is about something higher level than money.
Yes owning a live aboard boat is money absorbing but the places you go to and the people you meet are worth every penny .
We've been on board our yacht for 20 years and wouldn't change it .
Couldn't agree more, Colleen 😃👍
As a former boat owner for 6 years I agree with all 5 things mentioned here . And now that I am retired I am looking to buy another boat .
😁😆😂 Yes!!
why? you like cockroaches and rats?
Very good information. I started sailing singlehanded and retired singlehanded. My family would visit at various ports for short sailing days in ideal conditions. I’d never would want to expose them to the nasty ocean conditions that I had to endure many times. I met many unhappy couples and crew at various locations. Taking care of the boat is bad enough in storm conditions without having to worry about seasick incapacitated crew. I have no regrets of my sailing days and storms helped me come to terms about my physical and mental limitations.
how did you get into boating? were you a natural born handyman?
@@Burevestnik9M730 I’m an electrician and spent a lot of time around the construction trades learning a few things from each. I was in electronics during my service repairing radio receivers and transmitters. So I had the benefits of several skills going in to sail boat maintenance. I got started sailing on a 20 ft sailboat on San Francisco Bay, the hard way. No lessons, but the mistakes taught me hard lessons.
As an alternative to owning a home, the maintenance cost and effort of a forty foot sailboat is less. When I had an apartment owning a 40' boat was a joy and a great escape. Now that I own a home, I have electrical work, house painting, weeding, seeding, mowing, pruning, cleaning, servicing heating systems, air conditioning systems, shoveling snow, cutting up trees that storms have knocked over, fixing leaky roofs, repairing windows and screens, insects, water wells, filters, plumbing, flooding, laundries, fridges, etc. As far as I am concerned maintaining my sailboat was much easier to maintain than my small cape on an acre of land, also much cheaper. I pay $11,000 a year alone in property taxes, and that's cheap in my area.
Yeah I do feel like many of these sailing videos are off people that don't work/work anymore; kind of different if you're young(er) and doing this
Yeah with all the reasons not to live aboard , it sure is much less costly than living on land.
On top of everything you just mentioned, add cars and unnecessary impulse shopping... not to mention costly social outings.
Sailing is a great way to travel the world.
Yeah, no. If your house cost more to maintain than your boat, then you bought a big house, and you're comparing it to a small boat. You will still have the same problems with a boat that you will with a house; painting, electrical, plumbing, etc. There may be less to paint, but you will be painting much more often. There may be less wiring, but the salt water means you will be replacing it every 5-10 years, instead of every 40-50 years. You will still need to commute to a job, if you have one. You will have to pay more to use on-shore laundry, to fill your water tank, etc. The other thing to consider is value; a house appreciates. Very few boats (or vehicles in general) ever do. Neither a boat or a house is something to buy without great consideration, but if you look at them from the standpoint of investment, there's really no contest. Living on a boat might work out cheaper if the interior is smaller than an efficiency, you don't have to commute to a job, and you don't mind going without a shower or doing laundry for a week at a time, but for most people to live comparably to what they can afford on-shore, they'd need a large, expensive boat with quite a lot of high maintenance amenities.
ill take working on the boat any day over house stuff. now i live in a lake community with no grass, only some small landscaping... will never look back.
Okay, I'm convinced. No boat for me. Instead, I'll get a friend who has a boat.
that is the way to do it, ownership is a financial hellpit and headaches
Gayle Spencer Best of both worlds! Hang in there,!!
That's very true! And there are many solo sailors who wish they had a reliable friend to go sailing with. Good one!
There’s usually a little line for those kind of guys
So a friend with (boat) benefits...
My wife and have full timed in our Motorhome for the last year . Boating full time sounds very similar . Things are constantly breaking down . Used or new . Of course being in the middle of the ocean versus a two lane highway in the middle of Montana is better when shit happens ! The best advise I have ever heard 39 years ago. Is to ask yourself. Can I live with my husband or wife in a hallway. The best to all of you who make it happen !
Thanks for the honest assessment of being a sailboat owner. It's easy to believe otherwise when you watch some of the TH-cam channels with young couples sailing around the world and (seemingly) always having a great time.
Thanks for the realistic look at living on a boat. Most channels only show the glamour of it.
Ahh, reluctantly I have to admit this is what I expected to hear and it crushed my years long non-realistic dreams. I am so thankful for your honesty! 🙏
Don't let it put you off. We're still on our boat after 15 years, we just wanted to address the "sunsets and cocktails" image of cruising. A dose of reality. But we would never change our lifestyle!
Love the honesty, my late dad always had fishing boats right up to when he passed away, I vowed never to have a boat but after much deliberation, we now want to learn how to sail & want to escape from all the dire modern-day life & all the negative media, so thank you for your wonderful reasons not to have a boat, my wife & I have worked together for 24 years as salon owners and we are rock solid, so that won't be an issue, maintaining the vessel & the skill sets needed may be a learning curve, but it's a challenge am willing to take on .
It sounds like you have the right attitude. You'll love it, hardships and all. Fair winds to you and your wife!
You’re right, a boat is a hole that you keep putting in money and never stop. I’ve had 3 motor boats and I can testify to that. I have never own a Sailboat and I’ve always been fascinated to own one. I’m thinking of getting one. Maybe a 23 footer and learning to sail on weekends. Something that I can do with the family on weekends. Thank you for your advice.
A friend told me how he was with pen and paper at the table trying to show a caravanner travelling around Australia how it didn't make financial sense with columns for fuel, maintenance, repairs, depreciation, park fees, loss of income etc etc.
Satisfied with his logic and costing proof he was met with the response. "You forgot the value of the Fun column".
Case closed I guess. Life has many perceptions of value and worth.
Couldn't agree more, Shaun. Nice little anecdote, thank you.
Thanks for the honesty guys. I kind of agree with most of what you said but especially agree with that when times are going well there nothing like boat life. Fair winds and following seas all!
BOAT = Bring Out Another Thousand.
Sixth reason: boats often sink or capsize, often in the middle of the ocean.
Lol, you’re just not a boat person Dinar AndFriends. Nothing in life is foolproof.
@@JoeSaidso
I use my boat regularly.
Dinar AndFriends planes crash, houses catch fire...things happen no matter what you do. As much as I love my motorcycle, I wish I bought a boat instead.
Maintenance also depends on the age of the boat you purchase, I’m on my third sailboat. The last two were purchased new, first was 40 foot used 15 years old next 41 foot new now up to 54 new and neither new had any out of the ordinary expenses. While the 15 year old boat over 7 years of ownership probably cost me the difference of just purchasing new. I’ve learned the first 10 years of boat ownership are the easiest maintenance wise.
We were ready to meet with a broker about a purchase of an 80 footer. Your presentation stopped me dead in my tracks, thanks ever so much!
i bought a rowboat. i would keep it on a trailer at the marina, load it myself down a ramp. sunsets - you go out, you eat, you talk you come in. loved it.
Hi guys, hats off to you for persevering. I bought my first boat aged 61, only a 26' trailer motor sailer, being a first timer and not so young, it's got an outboard engine, and no timber. It was part of the dream along with good sized land (no close neighbours), sea frontage, in the tropics. Call in if you're passing, 7* 30' 16"N - 99* 06' 22"E.
I regret waiting so long and not perusing my dream much younger, as I will now never own an ocean cruiser and "take off". One of my best experiences was a trip from Langkawi to Port Said on my ex employers 80' gin palace, except for the French crew! Still a very small place with the wrong people...., but I could see the attraction.
One piece of advice regarding the cockroaches, owning a restaurant in Phuket one time, with a walk over doorstep to the kitchen, we had problems also. A sailer gave us this piece of advice, spread Boric acid powder around all the room edges/corners, they tread it into their nest and kill off the whole brood, job done, and it worked a treat.
Happy sailing.
You speak the truth! I am some 50+ years sailing, and agree that in spite of the fact that it is a hard life.....the freedom of the open water is irreplaceable by anything ashore,
Hi. I have 2 lives. One in philippines on my yacht and one in australia with home, farm, kids, friends. Farm is a paradise and away from most people surounded by forrest. Kids friends home all have their place. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is be where i want when i want. Covid has presently screwed travel up a bit biy 9 months on yacht in subic bay was great. Home again is different. "Viva la difference"
hey let me ask you something if you had the skill set couldnt you just do the rigging yourself and get it inspected for insurance? Or are they jerks about it
Agree with all of that! I haven't been a live-aboard, but even just having a weekend boat I can tell you lots of hilarious stories of things-gone-wrong. You really need to be okay with the downsides to move forward with this fantasy. That said, if it really is what you are suited for, nothing beats the floating life!
Oh the stories! Sailors are made for telling yarns! Yes, you have to accept the bad times and just get on with it - not always a quick and easy lesson to learn! Peace and fair winds. Liz x
After 30 years I bought a small open sailboat 6.5m to see if I still could handle a sailboat. I learned a lot, especially from my own silly mistakes. Nature, wind, sun and rain out there sailing 2 years now on a small lake. I love it. I learned knots (i had never heard off), how to look, preparations, talking to other enthusiastic sailors, and I learned, how to fix a boat. I like to customize, clean and change things on my small boat. I keep doing this for another three years and then I buy myself a bigger boat. Sailing is fun.
You are so right, when people buy a boat in most cases they do not know what to expect even after reading and you tubing on sailing. I am that do all person and so is my Partner. We have owned boats from 22' to 50'. We soon will be owning a 51' to do some blue water sailing. Its a lot of work but we both enjoy it immensely. I have {we} have been sailing all our lives and wouldn't change it for anything. Thank you
21 years in 5 submarines got me to where I can sleep on top of diesel engines, use hydraulic oil to comb my hair with and wash my hands, and shower every other week. You know, you can get 4 weeks wear out of one T-shirt. Week 1 - wear it regular. Week 2 - turn it around and wear backwards. Week 3 - turn it inside out and wear front-ways. Week 4 - Inside out, backwards. Of course, the arm pits do get a little crunchy from time to time. hehe. Love the video and the soul searching questions you put in it because I don't think a lot of people really consider the "really togetherness" thing, water rationing affecting hygiene, etc. Thanks for taking time to do it.
They are quite straightforward points now we've been doing it for 12 years, but did we think about them before we started? NO! Your t-shirts sound like Jamie's! 😁 Liz x
benc65753 dude your killing me! Lmao
sonar tech?
MM - A-ganger.
Baby wipes are a godsend. Always have baby wipes...
You can avoid many of the maintenance tasks by simply upgrading on specific parts.
Replace the diesel engine with an electric one.
Replace the head with a composting toilet.
These two things will get rid of a lot of problems.
As for the rest, owning a house will require even more work than owning a boat.
It's really is just a matter of choices.
Boats are definitely cheaper than homes.
My sailing instructor when I mentioned my goal is to buy a catamaran and sail the oceans, told me several reasons why a cat wasn't a good idea, and then she gave me a tour of her boat - a cat. All the best things I've done there have been excellent reasons why not to do it. The thing is the naysayers are all grumpy about reasons not to, because end of the day they usually don't. Those of us who do... all good information is well worth consideration.
Next lesson I mentioned that I'd like to live aboard my sailboat, she took me on a tour of several boats big enough to live on and all the reasons why that's a pain.
I got into boating by building a wooden strip glass and epoxy sea kayak. Took me three times longer than I expected, lasted about 6-7 years a lot less than I expected. Regrets? Only that I hadn't done it years earlier.
Rats aren't too difficult. Peanut butter, in a tangle of hair or monofilament. They hook a tooth on the hair tug at it, set off the trap. Without the hair you check the trap and think, oh I must've forget to put peanut butter on that one. They just gently licked it clean.
Multidays without showers? Merino Wool, maybe cotton, but never synthetics (fleece on an upper layer is okay). synthetics stink. If you want to grow smelly bacteria, polyester is great. Stinky swimsuit or other gear? Hang it up in the sun. Turn it around, inside out. I left my wet swim suit (synthetic, there are exceptions) in the car for a week. It reeked. I washed it twice, washed it with the recommended wet suit deoderizer, even used a little bleach. Nope. Hung it in the sun for hour days. stink all gone. Wool if you hang it up for a day or two smells like lanolin, it's naturally antibacterial. As a backpacker when I switched to wool I stopped smelling awful. It wasn't me, it was polyester.
Thank you, thank you! Considering I can barely use a screwdriver, I don't think learning maintenance would be up my alley. You have also confirmed the expense can be overwhelming. I think I'll just retire here in my mortgage free lake home!
I am purchasing a boat. I find your comments always insightful. Thank you.
We have tended to lean toward the definition of cruising as "working on your boat in exotic places".
I've owned 3 large sailboats 35 to 45 feet and I've lived on my present one 10 years. I'll never move back onto land.
Can I as you some questions
@Basic_Assumption yes I do own Waterworld, but it's not on Blu-ray lol
@@richardsandoval6068 of course you can
@Basic_Assumption Waterworld is one of my favorite movies lol
@@gurnblanstein9816
I'm on a Morgan 45 and spent years working tall ships. Everybody who will never understand look at me funny when I say WaterWorld is a great movie.
I'm actually going to dump my diesel main and gen. Go batteries and electric motor. Solar panels and when under sail the prop will charge everything.
Remove all the through hull fittings.
~And never buy diesel again~
I could stay at sea for months.
Maintaining a house and an acre of land keeps you busy too.
Put that on the seafront in the tropics, as we did, and you may as well have a boat! Mind you the wife loves gardening, and we have a gardener to help. It was a dream to live aboard an ocean cruiser, but I ended up with a sail averse wife and a trailer motor sailer to launch from our garden instead, life's compromises....
Absolutely, I have a medieval house in Brittany with 2 acres...a boat seems very attractive
And much more expensively, given all the 'fees and charges' which they keep increasing at will.
Our 20 acre hobby farm was a money pit, i was sad and glad to sell it this time last year, id be very surprised if a ~40ft yacht would be as expensive on own and operate.
@Marvi Wilson normally they do but i dont hold much hope for the housing market with the bubble we're in, its not sustainable.
I'm looking in to buying a boat farther down the road of my life. This video was very educational, but not discouraging enough to make me think twice! I'll have it some day. Thank you very much for sharing.
Yep - excellent advice, thank you. Just about to convert our patrol-class vessel into an explorer yacht, and every day is a relevalation on how much it's going to cost. Having downsized from a large house, to a 2-bed off-grid (batteries, solar, generators, solid fuel...) cottage in the middle of nowhere, we're well prepared (eyes wide open). It's always about water, power, space, and acoustically, when an engine starts making a strange sound, or there's a flicker in the lights, it absolutely cannot be ignored. It always, and without exception, means something is wrong, and it needs to be addressed immediately. Oh, and have spares. Lots of spares!
I learned how to sail, two weeks later took the advanced sailing course. Two week later looked over the classified ads for a good used sailboat. I found a 1982 Catalina 25' sailboat. A few months later I was on board living. I spent over a year living on board. My slip fee was only $125 a month. I had occasions when my motor stopped sometimes because I was careless with how much fuel I was carrying on board. When the engine stops on a sailboat nothing much happens. you pull up the motor, and spread out a couple yards of canvas and you go on the wind. I've sailed into more than on marina that was well protected from wind effect. Sailing flawlessly into your slip the first time is well satisfying. I found it easy to keep my oat clean, and enjoyed tending it. I considered time well spent. I did wind up selling it eventually when I had to deploy for a year, but I think I will return to it again after time wen I get bored with land again.
give us an update if you do it again mate
Thank you and very well stated realities of boat ownership and the liveaboard lifestyle! I'm with you both and still wouldn't trade it for anything!
So true, we wouldn't trade either!
Looks like we may be heading your way, via Japan and Aleutians, so if you are open to questions I'd love to get in touch with you, I've loads of questions. Would be cool to hook up when we get there. 👌✌️ Liz
That would be AWESOME to meet up and definitely ask me any questions you have!! Canada's west coast is an amazing part of the world! You can direct message me at alfy@lifeislikesailing.com or on FB if that is easier! Or if you have good wifi at we can have a Skype call to answer everything you need to know! Alfy
I'm going to get a crossover episode of my favorite two channels! Brilliant!
It's really like a love affair, or a good martiage if it works, in that it's loving the good and the bad equally. I can't tell you how many people I've known, who just buy boats for the joy of tinkering on them, and fixing them up, who really don't even want to take them out of the slip. A good friend of mine is like that and. he has the most beautiful sailboat, that never goes anywhere, that you have ever seen.. But, it makes him happy.
Love it, we know someone like that. Whatever makes you happy! Liz x
ralph holiman
Friend of yours makes me laugh 😂
@@followtheboat I have a boat and an Eclectus parrot. The parrot takes more of my time and is more fun. Flies free.
I love sailing and have a great deal of experience. But, I've never considered abandoning the landlubber lifestyle: house, car, motorbike, furniture, appliances etc etc....,to live aboard simply because I am not very very rich! Great video folks.
This is why I'm a trailer sailor. I have a few high-performance dinghies. I take them to the lake on windy days and have a lot of fun sailing, and then I take them home and go inside my large and comfortable house.
I am a great all around mechanic and electrician and Plummer. My wife and I are highly organized! We are clean and neat and never had any bugs in our boat with the exception of mosquitos. We love sailing and I love fixing and tinkering! Every moving vehicle straight down depreciates!
All you new unsuspecting newbies take a long walk round some real boatyards (not the gin centres) and sea the fields of dreams that will never be any more than a ruinous nightmare. you need to be a Plumber. Carpenter. Electrician.Engineer. and general handy person. Alternatively be VERY rich ! I'm subscribed .very good public information video !
Your words are so true... Cheers for the sub, great to have you on board! 👍☺️👌Liz
people are put off by professionals doing what they do best - scaremongering as to what will happen if you don't use their services - get on with it if you have even half a brain, some confidence in yourself, and some competence
Jon Wilmot -- You’re to funny. I know Hundreds of boaters at marinas and very few are like you said. The ones I know want to learn and they enjoy sharing experiences with each other. They love helping each other. They boat together. They cook in groups. Swim together. Party together. Bond together when someone has health issues. They are like family. Kind of sad you didn't see that side of it or didn't want to see that side. One of them has a problem with their boat everyone pitches in to help. If you moved in the second you drive your boat to the slip they are there welcoming you tie up and get settled in and immediately you have dozens of caring friends.
@@Dld1985 there's a lot of truth there - depends which marina/club - in my experience they are like any club - some are more active and more 'family' than others, some are cold, some are brill, and I have met some of my best friends through helping one another with boats and sailing all over the world. And there are usually several to choose from locally. Bonnes voyages!
Love the honesty guys.Shame it's too late for me.Cheers
Enjoy! 👍❤️👌Liz
I came up with a way to calculate the cost of maintenance. First you put the hull and engine block on the left hand side of the ledger. Then list everything else on the boat. Nuts, bolts, cables, cousins, etc. I mean everything like you are going to build the boat except electronics.Next you price every item, not from the manufacture but what it will cost you down at the local Marine store.
Next after you add everything up you will find it adds up to more than the boat cost new. You are paying retail not wholesale. Now take the total from all the "stuff". Now add depreciation of electronics over a three year period. Add it all up and multiply by 10%. That is what you will spend every year on maintenance. And that is assuming you become the plumber, electrician, sailmaker, etc. If you have any labor costs you have to add that to your annual total.
Just the way it is. After three boats over 30 years it comes out pretty close. I happen to just love to piddle and repair things. On average I would spend most of every day working on something. If you get the todo list too long you will never catch up.
Thanks a lot. Stuff we hear from time to time but need to be reminded of before you take the big leap to full time cruising. Like you said the goal is to have the good times out weight the hardships and the bad times. Cheers and safe cruising! Craig
Haha I feel you! 3 weeks of boatwork in Martinique with a little kid on the boat! We are so ready to get out of this marina and explore a bit!
Oh yeah...marinas = work! 😁 Liz
It is never expensive if It makes you happy.
Exactly!!!!
We had a wooden 12 ton Gauntlet - Tiare Taporo III" built in NZ and bought in NZ in 2002 when she was 24 years old and in need of much work to go offshore. We had the original 1964 4 cylinder Fordson and BW Velvet Drive transmission. Engine was 54 years old when we sold her and always ran like a top, except when approaching Timor in Indonesia when the fuel lift pump failed! We eventually replaced it in Malaysia. Used an electric one in the meantime.
We left NZ in 2011 and sailed to New Caledonia, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. In total we lived on board for 10 years and that counts for something financially. We had great experiences and some not so great and spent a fortune getting her ready in NZ for the big OE!! BUT it was always a lifelong dream and we don't regret any of it. Character building! Moneywise - it is a very expensive way to travel and only at about one hundredth of the speed of flying! But think of all the bracing experiences along the way and the ability to see very remote places - but they can be daunting too because anchoring information, etc is often sparse. The people you meet make up for much of the tribulations.
Buying a boat and sailing offshore is a very personal decision - one that you have to make with almost no prior experience!!!
Home ownership has the same issues. Things go wrong, have to fix things or spend a lot of money to hire someone to repair it. Of course, homes don't have sails but, still, many problems about.
I've seen many things tear relationships apart. Jobs particularly. Truck drivers, railroading, long hospital hours in nursing, pilots and such things. When people choose to marry, then they need to consider they need to forget everything else and do whatever to be with each other. I know being apart certainly drives a wedge between couples. So it is amazing to hear too much time together takes a toll on relationships.
Never have enough money. You just described ownership of everything, everywhere. Most people are in debt, not eating much because the little they earn goes to bills. They have to be in debt to have vehicles. They have to borrow money they never return to repair vehicles or something wrong with the home. It never ends.
What a lovely couple! Apart from all the sound advice I am so impressed by the 'double act', how you cover the points together alternately and so fluently and harmoniously.
When I sailed my boat fifty weekends a year, towing over 12,000 miles, and racing over one hundred races per year, it made absolutely no sense at all except for the sheer joy of it. Driving a sailboat is one of the most lovely ways there is to spend the hours you're given, here on earth.
Couldn't agree more, Denis. Nicely put 👍
Did you race Thistles?
we moved to land 3 years ago after 18 years of circumnavigation basically the boat was getting tired and the wallet had shrunk due to a divorce. I cry every day for the freedom and hate Europe with all its bull...! At least we did it and dont regret it
Good on you for those 18 years at sea, guys. I'm sure you have a lot of great memories.
i've owned 7 Boats and Loved every minute of it ... Looking for #8.
The profile picture Fortuna was our home and the boat we worked for over 25 years as a tour boat from Gibraltar. We sailed away from the UK a couple of days after the 1987 hurricane with 4 children aged from 7 to 12. It's true to say we where very lucky, it worked for us but it is hard work living on a boat and we saw many many couples break up, plenty of work a never ending list of repairs and maintenance. So take onboard the warnings by this couple.
Many years back I took sailing classes and got to where i could single hand a Shields (30', graceful, no motor) out on the Pacific coast of central California. While i still know what year it is and before I need a walker, I'm thinking of buying a 28' to 32' sailboat capable of coastal cruising the west coast. Having some brains left, I'm taking sailing lessons (ASA) to see if my sailing dream is just a fond memory or something I still love and still capable of doing. So until the classes begin, I'm in irons, flapping about, going nowhere and very much appreciate watching pro and con videos of people with real experience such as this one. Thank you Sailing followtheboat.
Thank you, and good luck with those lessons. Great to be back on the water, eh? ✌️⛵
@@followtheboat - Haven't got out yet. ASA has two books I have to get through by the time we go sailing in July. So far so good.
Hole in the ocean to dump money in, 😂😂 wouldn’t swap my time on the boat for anything, unless it’s for more time on the boat 😘
That's Webster's definition. I prefer the acromion B.O.A.T. = Break Out Another Thousand
@@HandyMan657 - That's freaking funny!!! HAHA!!!
@@HandyMan657 L.O.L. Sorry Patrick you misspelled it, it's... B.O.A.T.T. = Break Out Another Ten Thousand!
I hear you on the working on the boat and keeping it up but like I live on a Chris craft consolation 57feet and it’s a joy but it’s just me and my two dogs but I have a full sized closet so I got to keep all my clothes and a full sized kitchen and master bathroom so it’s like a nice little house but because of the cost of driving it I don’t take her out much but I do find that it’s cheaper to live on her then it is land and I’m happier
This was the most honest and dutiful reminder to all those who dream, as every dream has it's compromises. Lovely to see a couple in alignment with each other and living their dream.
Excellent, much appreciated reality check...especially on the destructive capability of a relationship, and unexpected costs. Kudos for putting it out there.
Love the reality feel to your videos rather than the 'marketed' versions people produce. Maybe one day when I retire, I would love to do this. Cheers
every boat owner says don't buy a boat, they suck. But we all love our boats and couldn't live without them.
I know some people remove the paper labels from all cans (and label the ends with a sharpie pen) and never have cardboard boxes on board. Get rid of the roach food and you should have less roaches. Lots of plastic bins.
Yes, cardboard is the main culprit but when you have to tie up next to a fishing boat infested with them there's no avoiding them.
Try diatomatious earth. It worked on fleas, and bedbugs.Supposed to work on all crawling insects.
paper labels and cardboard are not just a source of food (for roaches).. they are a source of roach eggs as well.
Also varnish the cans to stop rust.
It’s so funny what you said in this video! When I was taking my sailing classes in Florida I asked our instructor and Captain if he had a sailboat? He laughed and said I would never own a sailboat I Sail them I put them in the slip and go home . He said the very thing that you said they’re always breaking down and very very expensive to fix
I think your instructor is quite wise 😉
My father, Roger W. McAleer, the naval architect and designer of the 24' planing daysailer: "Raven" (called the first muscle car of sailboats back in the 50's), had two family sailboats through the years. Throughout the 60's and 70's we did weekend and two week vacation outings in the Chesapeake Bay on his 35' and 40' custom wooden sloops. The only trouble we had was running aground in narrow channels where we had to run back and forth from starboard to port and rock the boat to get her free. No trouble from the rigging, plumbing, or electrical. He sold his last sloop in the 90's. Those who built my dad's boats did it right. The only real cost were the marina fees.
I turned the forward cabin into my workshop. Still sleepable but most of the drawers were filled with my stuff. One whole drawer was filled with electrical bits, soldering irons, switches etc. The closet was full of tool boxes. Another drawer was full of plumbing bits. The lazarette was full of emergency stuff, extra dock lines, fenders, flashlights, knife (a good one) cleaners, rags, long ropes and a stern anchor of course. The engine room cabinets were full of filters belts, torque wrenches, spanners, channel locks, hammers, drills, extra bilge pumps, toilet parts and plumbing bits, an entire selection of hoses for every purpose, extra oil, fuel jugs for priming, battery testing kits, to name a few. When we sold our boat it took two pickup truck loads to clean out all of my tools, bedding, clothes for 3 seasons etc, leaving behind the dishes, cutlery, dock chairs, dock lines, emergency stuff, TV, Satelite dish, dinghy and motor etc. etc. along with my heart :(
Your video should be compulsory viewing for all who undertake RYA qualifications! My only further comment is that mooring fees can be surprisingly expensive too. Terrific video! Next time do it with the sunglasses off, so that we can be further persuaded by the genuine sincerity evident in your eyes!
Keep up the good work!
Loved your video... it's real what you say but we are not discouraged. It's an important message to share, especially the part about your spouse equally wanting to liveabord. One thing worth mentioning is dealing with near-disaster situations like dragging anchor into another boat or rigging failure (the roller furling genoa falls in the water while sailing, oops!).... eventually something bad and sudden is gonna happen. We've seen sailboats put up for sale after disaster strikes. Sad. We've also seen couples stop cruising after an unfortunate event. We always tell people, buy a smaller boat to start, try anchoring for an afternoon and then a night and then try a weekend and then a vacation of 1-2 weeks. After all that, you'll have a better idea of owning a boat and getting along together. Just maybe...
Last summer, we took it to the next level by spending 28 nights on our 26' pocket cruiser and we even experimented cooking like liveaborders as opposed to weekend cruising. Disaster struck once and we had an engine issue too. Despite a few setbacks, we loved our vacation and this gave us the confidence to prepare for liveabord life... on a bigger boat 😆. Bottom line, even on our small sailboat, my summer weekends are filled with happiness, adventure, great sailing friends, relaxation unlike my cubicle work colleagues can say. They think I'm rich. NOPE! All the beautiful sunsets, the lapping of waves against the hull, the freedom of driving through the wind, the intimacy with your "significant other", the quiet anchorages (well not always), breakfast in the cockpit with a cool breeze blowing... trumps all the maintenance and cleaning we do... and the occasional disaster. Thank God for Gin or Rhum after a disaster! 😂🍺😜😉
Wishing you both fair winds 🙏
Good point. There WILL be disasters, but they can be prepared for. It's how you react and deal with them that counts. ☺️ Sounds like you have a good life. Peace and fair winds! Liz
Cedric Parnell i
Very good ramp up plan for live aboard, or just longer stretches of time on board. I will use this advice!
Yes, but you have to compare with the alternatives. For instance house disasters: you discover your roof leaks or there is mould in your cellar, or a biker gang has bought a neighboring house to use as a club house. Write down all the house disasters you can think of and compare the list with boat disasters. Gives you perspective.
All of the "expenses" are optional. As an engine-free cruiser who traveled to many places over 40,000 miles, I can say engines are a common mistake. I never used plumbing either except a bilge pump, and electric is optional, but it's so easy to twist wires together. Rigging can be cheap if you use galvanized wire, and unlike stainless it can last 50 years as well. My (used) sails cost $20 - $50 and last several oceans.
Good for you! This is why we don't give an answer to how much cruising costs, it depends entirely on the individual. 👌✌️ Liz
"Twist wires together" .. My heart almost stopped working. As an electrician i am mortified. ;-) keep it up but invest 10$ in Wagos and electrical tape. XD A drum of 2.5mm rubberized flex cable and a multimeter will be your friend.
Good price on the sails!
@@lightend100 Nice! C-10 checking in. Some seal-tite, vinyl tape and a fire extinguisher and you are good to go!!Don´t forget the flex bender, though.
Now that's an interesting approach! Is it possible to get more insight into this approach? Do you have any videos or know anybody that does?
Absolutely True, an honest assessment. I love boats but a boat is a hole in the water where you throw your money into.
I needed a complex hobby in retirement, we have sailed for 40 years and love the light adventure, shared experience and social platform it provides. I agree with the five points here, yet they do not put us off.
... I'm not a sailor, just a dreamer. But great and an honest video. Thank you
I'm working on my list of 555 reasons not to live on land.
The reason for this episode is to point out (to those with little experience other than watching sailing channels) that living full-time on a sailboat is not all cocktails, parties and white sand beaches. This amazing lifestyle brings problems as well as the good times.
We've been living aboard full-time since 2006 and wouldn't have it any other way. If you watch till the end, you'll hear us say that.
The accompanying episode, "5 Reasons Why You Should Buy A Boat" explains why we love this life: th-cam.com/video/NF4dvGuEip8/w-d-xo.html
We lived on a yacht for 12 years before selling up and buying a barge which we converted into a house boat.
Like you, we love the lifestyle and only gave up the yacht for health reasons. Both of us were competent and experienced sailors before making the jump to becoming ocean dwellers and I fully understand the tough times.
Good video... thank you.
Bought a 30 year old traditional and reasonably well-built house 27 years ago and have been working big and small repairs non-stop since. Mice, rats, ants, termites, and much more creatures are visiting and/or living in the house in much larger quantities than possible on any sail boat. The window surfaces to clean are larger than your boat, the balcony larger than your deck is also hard to keep clean (leaves and algae). The total roof repair and insulation was estimated as expensive as a nice size sailing boat. It's located in the S-W of France where it rains three times more (in volume) than in the UK. This must make many boat owners feel better. ;-)
I bought a Catalina 22 as a new sailor in 2019. After the outboard left me stranded the second time I went out, I nearly gave up on the whole thing. Slowly, I’ve worked, and worked and worked hard at getting back to feeling comfortable sailing her again. I took a risk, and it has been a learning experience, not without headaches but worth the investment in myself to take on something completely foreign and command a ship of my own. My dream is to buy a used sailboat and sail offshore. I’m partial to (Oyster’s, & Swans) so the budget will be pretty tight. So no matter if I get there, I’ve learned a lot on my little Catalina 22 and at the end of the day that’s all that matters.
Well said, Rudy, and good on you for sticking at it. Fair winds to you
I think lots of bad points of owning a sailboat can be "overcomed" by living and sailing on a Small but sufficient boat. It depends of course of the level of comfort tolerated. But some solos or couples of long term sailors sail and live aboard 24 to 30 ft boats, even for ocean passages, in the "keep it simple" philosophy, and the costs and technical issues at least can be easily reduced this way. Not a big spaceful catamaran but nothing is perfect in life !
Yes.
We met a couple while cruising and asked about where they've been and their plans. The wife hissed, "It was his F..king idea" as she climbed down the companionway and pulled the hatch closed. I'd bet they aren't still cruising.
I don't want to laugh because I feel for her, but... We've seen this scenario a few times and it's a little sad. Funny story though, it made us laugh!
Upon talking with the husband, we learned that he was dreaming of tropical beaches, palm trees, rum drinks, and half naked women. He admitted to forcing her into his dream.
😀😀😀😀😀😀😳😳😳😳😏
My girlfriend and I sailed the Bahamas in 2017 with a couple on a Pearson 38. One day the wife forgot to turn the windlass motor off (which had been rewired...no fuse) once the anchor was up. The windlass motor burned up ($2500). I thought I was gonna have to step between the captain and his wife to prevent a fight. Later learned they divorced.
@@johnheav so she did it on purpose ?
Excelent! Why I didnt see your channel before? I dream with have my iwn sailboat and live and travel with she, hope is not too late to start (Im 44...). Good winds for you!
Thank you for being so honest. You two are so cute, and it must be true love that keeps you together.
I'm currently in the middle of it all as a cruiser on an older sailing vessel. Admittedly, I have never been so challenged my entire life, but I do try to enjoy every minute. A true adventure is what it is, and I never would have been able to imagine what I have already experienced in my wildest dreams. I am a motorhead, but under it all, I truly love sailing and sailboats.
Thank you for all of your presentations. I have watched many before and enjoy each and everyone. G.
Thank you for the kind words, Garneau. Yes, every day there is a new challenge. We've just been through another one along the Sulawesi coast and it's testing. It's all good though 😃👍
“If it flies, floats or fu€ks - it’ll cost you a fortune, you’re better to rent it!!!” is the old expression! As a married airline pilot with a boat, I now understand!!! 10% of original list price is the average cost per year after 5 years. But it’s in your blood and great on a sunny day to clear your head and make some of life’s greatest memories!
Biggest problem is most boats are two feet to short.
Haha!
don't Care - Funny but true. We call it two foot iDis. Boaters always say if my boat was just two feet longer it would be perfect. I use to say that but what I learned a larger one is just more to clean.
@@followtheboat
Mine is 10ft too long. But I couldn't turn down the deal.
1951RKP If you can afford a 60-70 footer motor yacht, you can afford paying for regular cleaning. And everything else too, including maintenance, upkeep, fuel and storage.
@@greghooper16 I've noticed that a lot of decent or better sailboats seem relatively inexpensive to buy--but one realizes that the real cost is in the operating/repair expenses.
Not mine but I agree: ¨I spend most of my money on women, booz and boats. The rest I wasted.¨
It was actually women booze and drugs and it was George Best who said it!
Elmore Leonard. A great saying.
Boobs, booze and boats
Befriend a boater, they are the salt of the world.
You have to love it. Try being on a small boat for a couple weeks or more you'll see.
Things that are different on a sailboat: rain patters loud on the deck and the wind rocks you as the waves lap the hull.
In a house you might hear the fridgerator pump and the heater vent or some street noise etc.
In a sailboat you can smell when your food is done the space is so small and everything to be discarded is given a second thought that it may have some other use.
In a house cooking may be safely relegated to a timer and trash is a few steps away in gigantic bins not carted off the boat.
In a boat you are closer to and affected more by nature. You pay more attention to everything around because especially at sea resources are critically finite for survival and you may be the only person available to keep the thing afloat and stay alive in relative comfort.
House on the grid you just pay your bills/call a repair person. On a boat especially at sea you must learn to repair most of the things around you. So by default you are in charge of navigation, engineering, electrical, plumbing etc.
It's a physical life being on the water. You don't have to be, and, it doesn't make you a hard body but you get tough and sensative at the same time. Just what boat life makes you do.
You should please learn to keep your wits about you though some very unwitting people operate boats and I guess only have luck on thier side. Better to have luck and some wits though. A healthy respect for mother nature is helpful along with having some grace of people skills in close quarters maybe lots of travel or camping skills helps.
I love this, especially the bit about being "tough and sensitive at the same time", beautiful. ❤️👌 Liz
"Salt [is] good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another." - Jesus Christ Thank you for sharing this information with us!
My very unwitting neighbor and his wife were on their new acquisition about 8 days when he pumped a water/gas mixture from his fuel tank. Well, until the bearing in the drill pump he used overheated. Then the stern exploded in a huge fireball. Instantly catching my express cruiser ablaze. Now 7 years later I'm taking the plunge again. 27' Catalina. A bit cramped compared to my Tolly 32 but a whole lot cheaper to operate. Found a pretty good one for a cheap price that is devoid of electronics, stove, microwave, radio, depth finder etc. but it does have new sails and the boat itself looks to be in really good shape. Glad to be getting her knowing there will be problems and expense.
I sailed 10 years. Amazing time of my life. I ended up in Africa and now I travel here by motorcycle. Life is great. Traveling is living.
How do you make 💰 ? Travelling is fun but how are you suppose to make money while exploring
Sean Paul the world is full of money. Look around you and just see it all. You only need a small slice of the pie to keep the adventure going. It’s not difficult to make money once you’re outside of the normal circles!
Hi, I hope I’m welcome to say a few words. I was raised on Great South Bay, Long Island, NY and sailed small boats. I eventually lived near Seattle and did more looking than sailing. A couple bought a CT-41, I think 42,000 pounds displacement. They knew nearly nothing about sailing. I asked why an SHE said, “it’s so roomy inside.” My thought is, if you want “roomy inside” rent a hotel room at the beach. 25 - 33’ long is livable but very uncomfortable. Larger is livable but not fun to sail when they’re so big. You can enjoy sailing best with a mostly flat bottom boat like a Roberts Spray 27 or an old Atkins Little Bear, but building it might require several years. Buying older and small is a better idea. Trailering is excellent. Take it home, keep it clean and dry. Use it on weekends or for transportation when gas is unavailable. “A boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money.” Learn to live the 1850’s ways without all the high tech equipment, and repairable with hand tools. Stuff that is basic, simple, Bronze, painted iron/steel, or wood. Stuff you can make yourself. If you intend to live aboard build a flat bottom 34’ hull and outfit it as a floating home. Don’t add rigging and sails. Just enjoy living on water. Or….decide I’m all wrong, do it your way and see for yourself.
I don't know really I have been a live aboard for 3 years now. House or boat hmmm I have more money now than I ever did living in a house. I wish I had started living in a boat in my early 20's I would be retired at 35. The best part is I own my boat, I do the maintenance myself, I never want to live on land again it's too expensive.
That's how we feel, cannot ever imagine a life on the turf. And I agree that I should have done this years before I did! Peace and fair winds! Liz x
SFTB, happily you're wrong about a boat as an investment... in an odd way. If you buy a boat rather than a house and invest the difference in equities by the time you retire you would be much richer. For every 35 year period since WW2 the COMPOUND growth on property has never exceeded 3%. The same for a broad portfolio for equities is 5.9%. So you'd be twice as rich!! Off course you're unlikely to spend as much on a boat as a house... so you'd be much, much... much richer. What do you think?
I made my money through buying and selling houses for huge profit, sometimes tripling the original price. Can't do that with boats... Liz
Liz, so did I, but the data (USA and UK) says that on average property investors lose money Vs passive investing in operational businesses. Also, there are professional brokers that make a lot of money buying and selling boats. But for a typical live-aboard on a boat for 10 years Vs living in a (UK or US) house for 10 years... assuming you could earn the same income... at the end, you would be richer on the boat. Am I making sense?.... Mind you keep it quiet otherwise they'll all be selling their houses and crowding the seas!!
All right...you need to make vlogs and share how you do this! You are doing something right. Or, maybe just a lot of deferred maintenance on the boat?
I owned a 30' keelboat for seven or eight years and sold it because my new wife was not interested in sailing. During that time, I spent far more time working on the boat than I did sailing it. I enjoyed the tinkering for a while but the expense wore on me after a while. When there was a storm, I spent my evening at home worrying about the boat on its mooring. When I was sailing, the responsibility for everyone sailing with me was wearing, as well. The best situation is to find a good friend who owns a sailboat and needs a sailing partner. I didn't believe this until I bought the boat. One of my good friends sold his boat because he had decided it was more pleasant to stand fully clothed in a cold shower, tearing up $20 bills. I loved my boat. But I was happy after it was sold.
Boats are a joy when everything is going well, but they are hard work. True about having friends or family on board, always being a big responsibility. Maybe charter now and then to feed the passion? 👌✌️ Liz
My smile fer the day!
Ive thought about a lot of these issues and Ive weighed the pros and cons..(pro to a wiring repair con, I know how to wire up a boat..my brother taught me and he's a marine electrician..con of it ... havent messed with it a bit so I will need to refresh myself on a few things to feel warm and fuzzy about it) sails and sail repair...Ive made sails ..for other people of course ..plus they werent for large boats, and I do plan on getting a boss mechanical sewing machine to repair my sails (it can also double and a quick fix for clothing repairs and salon cushion making (another way to make money while in port somewhere)..helps that my mom was a seamstress and did all sorts of random work....I was her asst for yrs and have a few weird tales that I should keep to myself on odd requests from customers lol) engines...now here is a great pro to a con....I was the only girl in my HS to ever take shop class (4 yrs in a row) in that class I rebuilt multiple car as well as boat engines ( my senior project was to repair and install a old ferry boat engine that had locked up, and it had to run for at least one hour and actually move the boat up the Mississippi river .... it worked lol..from what I found out that old Ford ran on my repairs for 3 yrs before it went in for a new check up) shhh dont say it, I know...Im a bit of a oddball in my skill choices..if its different from the everyone else.......I want to do it lol. But I can fix my own car..cook my own food, make my own clothing as well as other things, and last but not least since I have had a multitude of "iffy" landlords......I can do a lot in repairing and replacing plumbing issues...now money..Ive held a ton of job...and tend to get them when I need them most..(I have a income from a few wise investments but if I need a bit extra I tend to find odd jobs and do pretty well at it ...and Im frugal as hell lol ...I enjoy a good life but Im always conscious of spending and how to get the biggest bang for my buck.) Ive always been considered the gypsy of the family, never settling in one spot for more that a yr or so...usually only a few months, I love change and to see whats around the next corner (Im a bit like my gramps on that....he was a merchant marine for ages so he could ramble the world and see whats out there...I think he would approve of what Im planning .... even if the rest of the family thinks Ive gone and lost my marbles..they dont understand what its like to want and need to see new things and meet new people( Ive done the backpacking across Europe and Ive spit off the Great Wall of China ...but there's more to see of this world by water)....there's nothing wrong with a healthy bit of skepticism or fear..but you cannot let in run your life..I don't, I have been wanting to see more of the world and frankly I hate flying so this is the best way in my book to just sail) I love that you made this video so it wakes a few up and to the good and bad of making this choice for a life ............. and I still can wait for my new travels to begin..(I think I may have found a seawitch that needs some love but still has a lot left in her ... Im off to see her in 2 weeks and I am going to be brutal on my personal "servey" of her...make a pro and con list to see if she's worth my time and funds to get her off the hard and back into ship shape. (she's been on the hard for a couple of yrs due to health issues of the owner sad to say ) sorry to be so long winded ...keep up the great work you two...
You sound to me like a person who will do very well living aboard. That yearning to explore and see the world (and oceans!) is an itch which has to be scratched. ☺️ I love that you shared your story here. Thank you. Peace and fair winds. 👌❤️✌️Liz x
Shao 210 do you want to get married and go sailing with me?
I enjoy your back-and-forth commentary. It can feel staged or stilted if not done properly and you both seem to strike the perfect balance in all of your videos. Well done.
Cheers! Glad to know you are enjoying our vids. 🙏 Liz
Thanks for your advice! I am retired military, and was considering buying a live aboard yacht. After talking with boat owners, and watching UTube channels on boat ownership. I decided against it. I can always just rent a boat!