Cruising Now or Later

[tom]

It is the real world out there!!!

we have 4 kids. Two like sailing and one is ambivalent the other hates sailing. I took him sailing with a friend off of Corpus Christi and he puked a lot and now 20 years later he still hates sailing. One daughter is terrified when we have a good breeze. The other daughter likes to put her hair in the water when the lee rail is down. The other son loves sailing and hopes to buy a boat. My niece was scared of sharks and wondered if they could bite through fiberglass. My brother told me a horror story of a boat that came into Guam in the early 80's. It was a couple with two children and one had fallen overboard and not recovered. Then once at Guam the other child got sick and died. Their boat caught fire and was a total loss. He said that they were the most devastated people that he had ever met. They had came into the marina where he kept his sailboat. Horror stories can happen anywhere!!!! Remember also that not everyone can adapt to the tropics. Some people develope intestinal and skin conditions that can't be cured. Even small cuts and scrapes can be very slow to heal in the heat and humidity. I lived in the tropics for 1 year with AC on land. But knew a lady that developed diarhea and after a few months had to go north to recover. I had diarhea for the first month!!!! After a while I got used to the climate and really liked being there. But read about the need for AC etc along our gulf coast. Farther south it is even warmer. I remember standing on a seawall in Cozumel at 8 am and having sweat dripping from my armpits. I loved the trip but slept in AC at night. Taking children to sea is a huge responsibility. The first time I chartered in the keys with three of our four children the weight of that responsibility as we sailed out of harbor was almost overwhelming. We had a great time!!!! But I always knew that I had four precious people depending upon me making good decisions. Even sailing ofshore with my wife I feel a responsibility but she is an adult responsible for her own decisions.  Start slow!!!! Move to the coast buy a boat and sail regularly. After some time aboard you'll know if living aboard is right for your family. If the heat humidity and bugs are OK and the kids don't mind the jellyfish and not having many friends then the experience could be great. Sooner is better than later as their friends become very important as they get older. My nephew's daughter was estatic this past weekend because she was voted homecoming queen....do you think she would like to quit high school and live on a boat with her parents and brother????

 

[DaveJ10270]

Wow!

I very much appreciate all who are sharing their opinions regarding this topic. There is definitely valuable advise being expressed. I thought I would share abit more information about our personal situation.  My kids have been sailing with us since they were babies. They both love going out on the boat, especially since they now have their own set-of-wheels,kayaks.  Our sailing experience has been primarily on Lake Superior. About four years ago my wife had transfered down to Texas for awhile where we lived aboard our 40' ketch. We had no problems whatsoever dwelling together in the relatively small space of a boat. We are now living back by Lake Superior. Living aboard and cruising are obviously two different things. I am a landlord. My wife is an office manager in the real estate business. Even though property managers are available in our area I don't think being a long distant property owner would work out very well for us. Thus, we would be inclined to sell the properties before departure. The dream was initially mine. My children would both love to go. My wife is definitely willing to have a go at it, but then there is me. For some reason it seems the older I get the more I find myself second guessing myself. I always like to stack-the-cards in my favor to best guaranty a win, but with a life style change there would be alot of uncertainty. I am confident that my children socialy and intellectualy would fare well.  I know if I don't go I would truly regret the missed opportunity for the rest of my life. P.S. I agree, "All in the Same Boat" is a very good book.

 

[Tony]

Inflation/depreciation

Hate to inject this since I have had that dream from time to time, but the decision may be financially irreversble unless you are very wealthy. Asume you sold your house in 1999 and bought a 175k boat and took offToday, upon you return, you have a 75-100k boat and your old house is worth twice what you sold it for. You need to be able to live "smaller" for a while, perhaps forever. if you are ok with this, good for youBut as Aretha Franklin said " You better think.........."Good Luck whatever the choicet

 

[Drew]

OK Now we're into it...

If the decision to go or not go is based upon the value of anybody's real estate, now is the time to go. Life is like a box of chocalates, to be sure, but I would dump the real estate, right now, whether I went sailing or not. If its sale can pay for a cruise, and provide a cushion for re-entry to shore life when you're done, I say go for it. I am in fact in the same (proverbial) boat right now, but no kids. You will probably be able to buy your property back at a discount when you return. But that is a discussion for a different board...Good luck with the decision.

 

[Alan]

I have a friend that did EXACTLY what you are considering. He and his wife took their 2 children on a 5 year round the world cruise. They home schooled the children and got the benefit of a life experience that could not be duplicated. Since their return, their son graduated from the Naval Acadamy at Annapolis and their daughter from Yale. They all think it was te greatest experience of their lives. Now my friend and his wife have that twinkle in their eyes AGAIN.

 

[DaveJ10270]

Money

I don't want to venture too far off topic, but I believe Tony is correct. Real Estate will most probably continue to inflate in value as my funds would be dwindling. I am not very wealthy. This is probably a big part of my dilemma as it probably is for many other would be cruisers. I just cannot bring myself to succumb to the idea that I can never go for an extended cruise because I am not a millionaire.After some consideration I am starting to think that I shouldn't place too much "value" on money. As many people have pointed out the real value in life is your time, and more importantly how a person spends it.

 

[tom h]

interesting

If you continue what you are doing, you are doing something. Sailing is doing something, but something else! One day I heard these kids screaming in fun, so I had to pop my head out of the galley to see what the commotion was all about. The 40 something yacht close to us had one under 10 kid in the bosun's chair, and the others waiting their turn. They were high enough to stand on the boom and were swinging like monkeys, and enjoying every bit of it.Further down the pike, we met a couple with a 16 year old daughter that just came back from sailing around the world, since the kid was a kid. They were selling the boat and buying a home, so the 16 year old could finish school in a school, with other kids. They had NO regrets.Met a guy who waited, his wife lasted a month after his retirement, and it wasn't the same for him, but he went anyway. Sailing that is.I own a home and pay about $2000 a year in taxes and such to own it, and it is appreciating. I plan to close it up and sail away and hopefully make $2000 a year to keep it. Then, if things don't work out...Lots of choices, but I say go for it! Especially if the kids like the water. TTook my son and daughter to Key West and Bar Harbor Maine on two seperate vacations. My son said 3 words, for both trips. My daughter said more, but looked bored. A few years later it's all they talk about! Seeing the ocean for the first time. Seeing starfish in the water, and not on a shelf in a shell shop. Eating fresh caught lobster bought right from a lobster boat. Swimming with sharks! (got hell for that...the Divorce Judge went nuts!) Would I do it? As my accounting profeessor use to say "Not only yes, but HELL yes!' Raise the Main and SHOVE OFF.

 

[Capt Ron;-)]

Sterling's Sausalito

Rich, Mr. Hayden lived in Sausalito, he wrote a novel on sailing good book too, can't remember the name. He 'kidnapped' his kids to take them sailing to the South Pacific; he never regretted doing so."The Thoreau Approach to cruising" is a great book on when to do it.A great sailor once told me,"kid if ya wait fer all the lights to be green ya'll never leave town". I left soon after that.

 

[Franklin]

Income

I'd hate to give away my secret because...well...it's my secret, but here you go.Ever hear of "Day trading"? It's a technique where you buy a stock and sell it just a few minutes later. Even if a stock is going down that day, you can still make money off it this way. The trick is that you need to get a feel for how the stock trades (many of the same people trade the same stock and they have habits). So, lets say you have $100,000 saved up. Take 25% of that and buy a $3 stock. Let it go up just 2 cents and then sell it. You've just made $166 (not subtracting the transaction fees which vary). Do that one tranaction 2 times a WEEK and you pay for your crusing. Now you will not win every time and have to know when to say when to cut your losses, but if your good at it, you may win 8 out of 10 times. I did it two times in my life with just a little funds and averaged about 80% success and made a total of $3,000 with just $12,000 of investment during a 3 month period. I don't say that's normal or that it's for everybody, because it isn't, but it is a possibility to earn cruising money.Note: Stock market is basically a poker table. If one man wins, another looses. The buyer is betting that he knows that it's going up against the seller who may think it's going down (or just needs the money for something better). The cool part about day trading is that you don't hold onto the stock for long and always stay away from holding it overnight (that's the real danger). Like all stock trading, you have to pay big attention to the news...that's why it's very hard to do while you work. I've tried it while I work and I loss money then.That's my goal...to save $100,000 and then go cruising. The worst that can happen is I loose my 25% and some investing and sail for another year or two with another 25% and then go back to land life and build up another kitty. It only works though if you have LOW bills and which means living on the boat, even when working.