How would spend £200K and £1400 per month to buy a bluewater yacht to liveaboard and sail / maybe circumnavigate for years to come?

[Rob44]

Rob, a couple of thoughts. Not sure if you're retiring from the airlines but I followed a similar path starting 10 years ago when I did a day skipper, chartered all over, coastal skipper, then YM ahead of retiring and since then bought my own boat. With plenty of charter sailing under my belt and membership of a Solent boat club, I soon realised I was happy enough pottering along the south coast and across to France.

We've spent up to 3 weeks on board and it's always nice to come home to our own bed. If you still plan to sail the world, a colleague, Jim Wallace, did exactly this. He bought a Slocum 43 in Croatia, shake down sail back to UK, kitted it out for a RTW trip and did just that. The boat is now back in Gosport and was for sale until recently. Full disclosure, the buyers survey reported osmosis so they pulled out so Jim is currently undecided the next step.

On the basis I don't believe any boat has ever sunk because of osmosis, there may be a bargain to be had. If you want to be put in touch with Jim, send me a PM. Secondly, if you fancy a day sail in the Solent and see how my decision from "must be a Hallberg Rassy" to finally purchasing a stock Beneteau AWB to fit my revised "mission profile" was made, then get in touch.

From your comments, you remind me of my previous self where I tried to carry aviation related experience across into boating until I realised it's very different.

Here's an article about Jim.

I sailed across the pacific with one hand - Yachting Monthly

Hello Wonkywinch, I think I’ll pass on the osmosis, thanks. That’s maybe something for Jim to sort out, prior to selling?

Interesting article too and thanks for the link. It read a little bit like a basic HF case-study to be fair, and left me wondering about the more in-depth reasoning behind the decision making. I figured much of what he described was the proverbial tip of the HF iceberg and there was probably more to learn from this specific decision making than just the described ‘must catch a flight’.

And thanks for the offer to sail! I’d genuinely be delighted for the opportunity, but must admit I’ve some concern over being ‘trapped’ on a dodgy AWB/Beneteau having to listen to boring airline pilot dits

 

[wonkywinch]

I think I’ll pass on the osmosis, thanks. That’s maybe something for Jim to sort out, prior to selling?

I don't think it's financially viable so the idea is someone who understands osmosis and the real risks gets a bargain genuine tried and tested bluewater boat.

There seem to be polarised views on whether it's a genuine boat ending issue or not.

 

[steve yates]

Were I you, I would go and buy a fulmar or similar right now, for about £15k, one in reasonable nick with sails and engine that work, electrics that don’t spark and whose upholstery does not stink of deisel or piss.
Do a comp crew course, then go sailing every weekend in your boat. Do your day skipper theory and practical while your doing that. Fix any stuff you want to fix, the lessons are useful. Use all your holidays for cruising in your new boat, negotiate a month or two off work if you can and go off on the wander round uk coast or france or spain.

You will learn how to sail and how to navigate, you will make any expensive mistakes on a cheap boat, worst case you sink it, as long as you walk away ( or swim) who cares? You will have spent the same cash as the zero to hero course path but will have something far more useful than just instruction, you will have experience, and even more important, confidence.

Not that I am knocking instruction, but it is no substitute for doing. As a matter of fact for sure throw in a few days in different areas hiring instructors for own boat tuition, do a couple of days in different areas with different folk as you find yourself passing.
The different approaches and methods will probably be useful, refreshing and eye opening.

When your ready, flog your boat for 2/3 what you paid, just to get rid fast, and consider the rest training fees.
After that, will know for sure you fancy a go at your plan and will be prepared and up for it.

I would really really suggest that you spend a maximum of 100k on your boat, and buy a flat or small house with the rest.
You will have something to come ashore to when you finally sell your boat for peanuts and your cruising income will be more like £2k a month, allowing a better quality of life or more savings for repairs, depending on your nature.
For the boat keep an eye on this site when the business goes live again

I’m in a not dissimilar position to you, except whereas I know I love sailing and exploring by boat, and I fancy crossing oceans, I have no idea if I will like it. I might be bored shitless, or could run out of beer! I intend to try it and see but am in no urgent hurry.
My wife & I had planned for years to sell up, retire early and sail to the med. Brexit changed that dynamic but by then her cancer was advancing and it was getting more problematic, as was finding the time to work on the manky old boat I bought in Scotland and sailed down. Sadly she didn’t make it, the house is now finally up for sale and I will launch the boat end of April and sail it back to Scotland. I am moving back home and lucky enough to be downsizing from a big expensive house to a wee house or flat somewhere on the west coast. A chunk of the capital is going to the kids, they will all have houses/jobs/partners and be well on their way, so I can go where I please as long as I please.

I could spend 200k on a boat, but I wouldn’t. I thought of buying the types of boat we were looking at and heading down to the med, but I don’t have the heart to go on my own without her yet, so I will put it off for a few years. Instead I am spending the budget we had, to add a wheelchair access porch to the house, on the old boat I have so she will be well tarted up as far as fittings go, if not looks (gas/plumbing/exhaust/electrics/heating/steering etc)
I’ll then sail her for a few hears in northern climes, the baltic, norway, Iceland sort of thing.
Then when I’m ready I will buy a new boat and head for the med ( I promised to take her there and scatter her ashes on a greek beach from the boat ) It will be a good solid medium to heavy displacement boat with an aft cabin and good forecabin, so the kids can come over and use her as holiday accomodation. Then I will head west over the atlantic and see what happens.

We discussed this a lot and decided we would much rather buy an older boat, paying the premium for one ready to go and well looked after, so anywhere between 40-75k and invest the rest in flats so we had a poorer boat but a richer income to enjoy it with.
In much the same way I will buy a small modest home, as I would prefer income from investing the rest instead of spending it on a bigger flashier place.

So, don’t wait, get a cheap boat and start sailing now. When the time comes, sell it and get the bigger one but spend way less on it than you intended , there is only you on it! Invest the cash in a wee property and have a bigger income and more beer money.
And a place to keep you from the victorian poor houses that will be here by the time you return

All sorted, you owe me a pint!

 

[Sea Change]

Sorry to hear about your wife Steve. Good luck with your plans. If you happen to be passing Skye when we're home, look us up.

 

[steve yates]

I may be in skye in a month or two to look at some houses But I’m going to wait till completion in england before even trying to do anything in scotland, as the system is so prone to collapse at any point .

 

[Sea Change]

I may be in skye in a month or two to look at some houses But I’m going to wait till completion in england before even trying to do anything in scotland, as the system is so prone to collapse at any point .

We'll be away by then... good luck with the house hunt and drop me a line if you want any local info.