selling up and going world crusing with the family

[ed_uk]

hi all
im in the prosess of selling my house and my beloved yacht a malo 40 which hopefully will give me a budget of £120,000 cash. the idea is to buy a mobile home in burnham (essex) for around £13k and spend around £85k on a yacht. theres going to be my wife, 2 children aged 5 and 11 and my dad, oh and me! ive been looking now for a few months at boats for sail around the world and was cault by the turkish gulet (fibre glass version not wood) but after reading many messages none came back positive. we would like to cruise the med then head down to the canary islands and cross (possibly with the ARC) the atlantic. ive been sailing now for about 15 years with many sea miles under me, a lot offshore, but no formal qualifacation except vhf. i would be greatfull for any infomation and advice that may help me in geting this adventure underway i need advice on suitable boats, schooling of my kids, living costs, legal matters and anything ive forgoten..
thanks ...

 

[Deleted member 478]

Hello Eddie and welcome to the forum.

I can only answer a few of your questions....

There are plenty of "Home Schooling" schemes available from different countries.
Have a look at my website (link below) and click in "Cruising Budgets" for an idea of the what other cruisers are spending.
As for boat choice, there is not a correct answer for this... When you come across the boat, you will just know it's right for you... A bit like buying a home.

 

[RPC]

Re schooling the kids have a look at this link : http://www.onpassage.com/Children_Cruising/Children_Cruising.htm

www.onpassage.com also provides a lot of other information for the world cruising community, hope you find it useful.

Rod

 

[tcm]

wide questions

Good question.

I myself would like to ask people the history of the universe and the route to true wisdom and happiness. Looks like being a long thread eh?

Alternatively, I think we might need to ask more specific questions. Surely you haven't embarked on any of your plan with not the slightest clue about any of those issues? Or have you?

 

[ed_uk]

Re: wide questions

hi tcm
you are right it looks like im asking a lot, oh and yes the boat and house are going on the market very soon so you could say the cogs are starting to turn on this idea. i have been sorceing infomation for quite a while now, but like any infomation or advice you need to get a broard view then take what you think is right and jump!!!
hence my origanal post, i could have split it into more simple questions but there must be people out there who have done or are doing what im proposing. not giving the whole picture in one question could result in people giving good advice but not approprate to the idea.

thanks to all for replys so far...

 

[rivalranger]

Hello Eddie,

Are you planning to fund your sailing with the 22k you will have left after purchasing the new boat and mobile home ? Or do you have an alternative income ?

 

[iangrant]

Read the book "sell up and sail" it is full of excellent tips from the start - including a very good test to see if you can, or will or in fact should.


Good luck

Ian

 

[Talbot]

To provide the comfort and private space for such a family suggest you have a look at a Prout snowgoose (or other cat) that way you will end up with sufficient accomodation for your needs.

 

[mikewilkes]

[ QUOTE ]
Are you planning to fund your sailing with the 22k you will have left after purchasing the new boat and mobile home ? Or do you have an alternative income ?

[/ QUOTE ]


That was my thought when I read this first post, especially with kids as they cost an arm and a leg to raise!!!

Bearing in mind if the mobile home is on a trailer park then there are also fees etc to still take care of in UK.

Not wishing to dampen your spirit though.

 

[Das_Boot]

Have a look at www.feltzboote.de steel boats for things that go bump in the night. You can pick them up second hand at a good price. On YBW boats for sale type in Feltz on the make of boat and type in your upper price limit. I bought the boat off a guy who's wife gave birth to two children on board. He gave up though when they needed to go to school.
My house is also on the market, no kids though, sailing soon.

 

[BlueChip]

If your house and Malo 40 are only going to raise £120,000 it must be a VERY small house you are selling.

 

[pragmatist]

Have you thought about picking up a boat in Gib or the Canaries? Knew of a couple who bought someone else's abandoned dream v cheaply in the Canaries. Others may know more about what's available - I think this couple bought a biggish Westerly for a fraction of the UK price.

 

[Salty John]

Blue Chip,
that is a rude and gratuitous comment that I hope Eddie will ignore because it is untypical of the response his posting will receive from this forum.

 

[Salty John]

Hi Eddie,
I set off in 1989 with wife, teenage daughter and dog, on a 32' heavy displacement cruiser for what turned into a three year cruise. It was a fantastic experience, so much so that I did it again a few years later. The right boat is important and, although I never considered one myself, I would now seriously look at a catamaran, such as the Prout mentioned by an earlier respondent. With the crew you are proposing you are not going to be deliberately setting off on long southern ocean-type survival passages, so you can afford to compromise a bit, give yourself a bit more room and comfort in place of perceived seaworthy-ness. As far as educating your kids is concerned, travel is the great educator, but the three R's can't be ignored so a correspondence course from a good school is important. My daughter graduated by way of the correspondence course run by American School in Chicago. Stingo gives good advice, heed it. The most important thing is, hang onto the dream, it really is worth it!

 

[ed_uk]

im hoping to rent out the mobil home duing the summer to raise extra income. im left with only 120k as ive still got a large mortgage to pay off
this is enother reason we all want to do this i cant handle working 15hr days just to keep on top of the bills..

 

[Sea Devil]

Re: selling up and going world cruising with the family

Really do not have to worry about lack of qualifications - they have little bearing on long distance cruising provided you have some practical experience and a good tool kit!

Like other posters I would question the amount of your budget to buy a boat with. The less you pay the better. The real cost of cruising is not the capital you spend on the boat but the income you need to generate in order 'not to work'. This is compounded by the problem that any repairs to do with a boat cost a lot. You must be able to do them yourself.

It is a wonderful life style - great education for the children - and lifechangeing - but unless you are retired or a millionaire it is finite from the financial point of view.

I ended up letting out flats in London to provide a regular income that kept up with inflation and a growth in capital or at least sustaining the value of the capital. This is also a good time to buy... It did require me to sometimes park the boat - jump on a charter flight and redecorate and re-let and there were occasionally bigger problems but it was the best financial investment I have ever made..

Frankly the sailing bit is easy - You learn to anchor (cos its cheap) you learn to live the dream and wear old clothes and not shower so often. The Med is fairly expensive compared to the Caribbean - the Pacific even cheaper - it's wonderful but get the income sorted and spend as little as possible on the boat.

 

[mike_bryon]

Cruising means achieving an objective with ease as well as sailing off. So we have allowed ourselves time and tried to tackle what is after all a quite major life change in bite size bits.

We are living aboard having sold our house to buy our boat. We went for one that offered good size accommodation and could carry most of the trappings of a family. A cat may provide the ideal space but might have trouble with the weight of family life.

We have been aboard for almost a year now and have no regrets. During our first year we went sailing for two months. The rest of the time we are marina based. We plan to do much the same for the next couple of years before going off further a field. For the time being the kids are in a local school. We sailed down to the Azores last summer and have decided on France and Ireland this year. We hope to spend June, July and August on moorings and anchorages and return to a marina for the start of the school year and winter. Our first priority was to make the boat family friendly, warm and comfortable next we will get a proper tender for non marina living and make some improvements to the boat so she is more suited to family sailing.

Perhaps our biggest challenge has been realizing the necessary changes to our working life. We need to continue to earn a living without being tied to a location. A far lower income and much lower outgoings has required some adjustment. We thought we could keep interests in businesses but have found that problematic and while keeping one interest are trying to free ourselves of the other. I’m glad we were not already away as these issues would have been very difficult to address while on the move. I am also glad to have had time to get to know the boat and to get into DIY boat maintenance and DIY everything.

When we have finished here we plan to sail down to Venice and live there for a couple of years. The children are bilingual and will attend Italian schools. Then it’s off for proper and like you we plan education afloat (so far we have provided home education only while sailing for the two months – it workout fine). The idea is that Venice will be a good next step and if we can make it work from there then we believe we can make it work while cruising proper without too much stress or taking on too much in one go.

Best wishes with your plans.

 

[CharlesM]

Is a Malo 40 not adequate for a cruise? I thought they were, but then again I have nver seen them!

Charles (in my ignorance)

 

[ed_uk]

hi all thanks for all the great advice and info

im an electrician by trade and have worked on marine electronics and engines for years so the diy repairs souldnt be a problem.
as for work ive got contracts which if money gets tight i can fly back work a few weeks then head back off again.
the malo 40 is only 33ft long a little too small. i think they got the 40 from the sail area but not sure.

ed.

 

[mikewilkes]

[ QUOTE ]
im an electrician by trade and have worked on marine electronics and engines

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you considered becoming "oilfield trash"???

Work 28 / 28 day sched - then you have 6 months of cruising but with a very reasonable income - all be it in US$. This gets you through the kids growing up / expensive stage.

There is set to be a boom, well its already started, and good help is very hard to find. Just a thought.