Living on a boat?

[SkaterRace]

If you don't mind me asking . What type of business ? If my memory serves me right you're in Alberta

My main business is a SaaS product for small businesses and I am from Ontario not Alberta :joyous: I love having lakes around unlike Alberta where they are few and far between compared to here.

 

[SkaterRace]

If there are charter boat available where you are at, there are likely schools teaching potential bare boat captains the basics. Nobody steps on to something like that and can honestly say they know what they are doing unless they've owned something similar in that same area. Having somebody aboard to show you around a boat this size, and the area you'll be sailing/cruising in, well worth what it would cost you.

I do have limited experience with larger boats (spent a summer working a 50ft sail boat teaching and doing shows when I was 16. I agree though getting someone to teach me is well worth the cost and is something I will be doing and had planned to do before it got mentioned.

 

[89retta]

My main business is a SaaS product for small businesses and I am from Ontario not Alberta :joyous: I love having lakes around unlike Alberta where they are few and far between compared to here.

I'm in Edmonton and there is about 300 plus lakes within 3 hours of here. So there is a few for me to pick from. As for the next question are you looking for a first mate lol

 

[SkaterRace]

I'm in Edmonton and there is about 300 plus lakes within 3 hours of here. So there is a few for me to pick from. As for the next question are you looking for a first mate lol

Didn't realize that there were that many lakes out west, I know there is some but nothing like ontario has. Haha not looking for a first mate though I can be convinced lol

 

[glust]

I'm not sure if this would help you find the answers you are looking for but I found a youtube vlog over a year ago that I have been following. The guy was a private airline pilot. Had a stroke, lost his license and sold everything and bought a boat. He spent a while cruising the Caribbean and recently sailed from Canada to Thailand on a boat owned by a company that was using him for the advertising and getting him to move this boat from Canada to Thailand for them. He has been able to support this venture from a Patreon site and the videos he has produced and shared. He runs a pretty nice drone and produces pretty nice quality video vlogs about once a week. He has several features that talk about living on a boat. He always seems to have female crew members that are nice folks and easy on the eyes. Pretty entertaining channel. Sailingdoodles.com . When he was in the Caribbean he took his two labrodoodles along. Extended sailing to Thailand and strict pet policies made bringing them along impractical. I would suggest watching the first few to get a feel for the guy and the purpose, and then choose vlog according to topic. Good Luck

 

[Scott Danforth]

Josh, sent you a PM with my bud's contact. He is selling his sail boat today, so give him a call.

 

[pullin]

My wife and I considered living aboard for several years prior to retirement age. Looking thru my journals and docs I can find a lot of questions and research on the idea. There are a few forums (fora ?) that cover this subject and might have useful information for you.

Cruiser's forum
Sailnet forum

I eventually dropped the idea for several reasons, mainly health and overall cost. I spent some time in email contact with a liveaboard-er via a FOAF who told me the day-to-day minutiae about it. It was a surprising amount of work, and for him (long distance Pacific cruising) a lot of time spent insuring steady supply of water and food.

For more insight into the day-to-day life aboard, I would recommend a couple of books:
Always a Distant Anchorage by Hal Roth, and The Long Way by Bernard Moitessier. He was kind of crazy and at the end of a round-the-world race just kept sailing -- for a long time.

I offer these as information, not as an expert. My longest time out of sight of land is a mere 103 days (working as deckhand -- not for fun). As someone who's had to trim his expectations to only weekends or occasionally 3-4 days aboard, I wish you the best of luck. Let us know how it works out.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Josh, did you connect with Rich and Danee?

 

[ajgraz]

We all fantasize about living on a boat.

Me? I'm a lot more likely to die on a boat than I am to ever live on one!

 

[Old Ironmaker]

I can tell you what my Sis in law and Bro in law did last year. His hobby was flying his twin engine plane. He decided to retire last year, sold the plane and bought a 50 plus footer planning on mooring it on the east coast of Florida and live on it for 7 or 8 months then return to their place in the Muskokas. The first trip they took was from Lauderdale to The Bahamas. The maiden voyage they experienced a tropical storm and not a bad one. My sis in law got so sea sick the US Coast Guard had to get her and fly her back to a Florida hospital. She was so dehydrated she nearly died. Now he doesn't have his plane but has a big boat that they can have boat drinks on while putting around the intercoastal. Part of your planning, which is great to see by the way, should include a charter to see if you or your mate(s) only have land legs. The other thing I want to mention is in a small apt. you can always lock the door behind you and go out and about. Big difference than being isolated on a big boat for months at a time.

edit: They bought a Condo in Fla. and use it as a back up, the boat is moored right where they live. If anyone remembers I started a thread last year as he asked me to go with him on the barge and pilot it north. He decided to leave it in Fla and buy a very nice new cuddy for the cottage (yea right more like a McMansion) up north.

 

[garbageguy]

We all fantasize about living on a boat...

Count me included on that - but I also think about what about to do with other stuff I'd want to keep that supports my other interests - storage unit(s)? Or, maybe I'd (we'd) forget about doing anything else??

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Count me included on that - but I also think about what about to do with other stuff I'd want to keep that supports my other interests - storage unit(s)? Or, maybe I'd (we'd) forget about doing anything else??

We are 6 months into a 7 week reno here. I pay $175.00 a month for a 8X10 storage locker, unheated. If I could go back in time I would be renting out storage units. Almost a do nothing business.

 

[SkaterRace]

Josh, did you connect with Rich and Danee?

Sorry Scott I haven't I left for a work trip on the 30th and I am not home till just before Christmas (the 23rd at 10 ish pm)

 

[SkaterRace]

I can tell you what my Sis in law and Bro in law did last year. His hobby was flying his twin engine plane. He decided to retire last year, sold the plane and bought a 50 plus footer planning on mooring it on the east coast of Florida and live on it for 7 or 8 months then return to their place in the Muskokas. The first trip they took was from Lauderdale to The Bahamas. The maiden voyage they experienced a tropical storm and not a bad one. My sis in law got so sea sick the US Coast Guard had to get her and fly her back to a Florida hospital. She was so dehydrated she nearly died. Now he doesn't have his plane but has a big boat that they can have boat drinks on while putting around the intercoastal. Part of your planning, which is great to see by the way, should include a charter to see if you or your mate(s) only have land legs. The other thing I want to mention is in a small apt. you can always lock the door behind you and go out and about. Big difference than being isolated on a big boat for months at a time.

edit: They bought a Condo in Fla. and use it as a back up, the boat is moored right where they live. If anyone remembers I started a thread last year as he asked me to go with him on the barge and pilot it north. He decided to leave it in Fla and buy a very nice new cuddy for the cottage (yea right more like a McMansion) up north.

Wow glad your SIL is okay now though.

For land/sea legs, I have spent months before on a boat and I sailed one whole summer where we had some storms that pushed the boat hard, granted it was only hard because the boat was old as hell (1950's or so). I have no issue being on the water for long period of time. I had planned to go to the Navy as a kid but business and money took over that dream.

 

[David Young]

Fast?

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Josh, I believe it's Josh you certainly don't have land lubbers legs, that's good. You probably aren't surprised that many folks only find out that they aren't suited to do something they have wanted to do after they have invested big bucks. After being the key word.

My wife's sister is just fine, thank you. They are down there now and are planning to do the Panama Canal to the west coast. There are several medical options that prevent Sea sickness, there's a big Latin word for it. I think she is talking injections for it that you start well ahead of a voyage. I hope it works.

I don't want to sound like a nut but is Piracy an issue in the Caribbean these days? I know it was 35 to 40 years ago around the Turks and Caicos' Islands when my younger brother was doing business there before it boomed to what it is today. He was down there building one of the first multi story resorts.

 

[ahicks]

Piracy would be a concern here as well. Likely be worth bringing up with local police or the Coast Guard depending on where you are and your destinations.

 

[SkaterRace]

Josh, I believe it's Josh you certainly don't have land lubbers legs, that's good. You probably aren't surprised that many folks only find out that they aren't suited to do something they have wanted to do after they have invested big bucks. After being the key word.

My wife's sister is just fine, thank you. They are down there now and are planning to do the Panama Canal to the west coast. There are several medical options that prevent Sea sickness, there's a big Latin word for it. I think she is talking injections for it that you start well ahead of a voyage. I hope it works.

I don't want to sound like a nut but is Piracy an issue in the Caribbean these days? I know it was 35 to 40 years ago around the Turks and Caicos' Islands when my younger brother was doing business there before it boomed to what it is today. He was down there building one of the first multi story resorts.

I'm not sure piracy is a big issue there or not, I know that when I was doing some research into the idea I found that there is a whole bunch of people who do vlogs I think they are called. After your comment I just spent the better part of an hour looking for news articles or any mention on piracy being an issue and came up with nothing. So hopefully that won't be an issue.

Interesting about the injection, I will look more into that and see if that is worth getting my girlfriend.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

My wife was on the phone with Sister today. She is wearing some type of patch well before the big trip. They went out this week about 20 miles offshore chasing fish. She said she was fine. If not then she gets some type of injection before the trip and takes the serum with them. Small needle like my Lantus Insulin.

Good to know about Pirates. 2019 and there are still Pirates on the open seas. Offshore Somalia it sure still is a huge problem. Don't watch the movie "Captain Philips." or "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Being a fellow Canuck we hardly ever consider carrying a weapon for protection. I do have a few long guns in my gun safe. We are very isolated here in the sticks. What is the saying? "better to be judged by 12 than be carried by 6." We have more guns per capita than Americans do according to Michael Moore in his movie "Bowling for Columbine." If it were I more than 1 defensive firearm would be onboard and we both take a course in how to safely care for and use them. A few handguns and a few AR-15 type semi automatics. I have been told that if one has a Florida's drivers licence it is very easy to get a permit to buy a firearm there.

 

[SkaterRace]

My wife was on the phone with Sister today. She is wearing some type of patch well before the big trip. They went out this week about 20 miles offshore chasing fish. She said she was fine. If not then she gets some type of injection before the trip and takes the serum with them. Small needle like my Lantus Insulin.

Good to know about Pirates. 2019 and there are still Pirates on the open seas. Offshore Somalia it sure still is a huge problem. Don't watch the movie "Captain Philips." or "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Being a fellow Canuck we hardly ever consider carrying a weapon for protection. I do have a few long guns in my gun safe. We are very isolated here in the sticks. What is the saying? "better to be judged by 12 than be carried by 6." We have more guns per capita than Americans do according to Michael Moore in his movie "Bowling for Columbine." If it were I more than 1 defensive firearm would be onboard and we both take a course in how to safely care for and use them. A few handguns and a few AR-15 type semi automatics. I have been told that if one has a Florida's drivers licence it is very easy to get a permit to buy a firearm there.

Interesting about the Florida thing..

Yeah that is the saying and I have said it to others and gotten some pretty bad responses from them over it. If I could carry with me on this trip I definitely would only issue is that going through customs would suck with a rifle or handgun.