selling up

[tel1]

we are looking to sell and go. i will still be working which will provide bread and water for us. trouble is it will be us and the boat, no propperty and only a small amount of saveings. has anyone just said sod and and gone on to do what we are hopeing to do?? any advice?

 

[highandry]

13 years ago I sold all tel 1, I don't own anything ashore ('cept old m/bike.. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif But I'm on a safe but small, pension so might be different to your circumstances. No regrets..at all.. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[PlanB]

If your circumstances allow, don't sell up but rent out your home. Then you have the rental income to support your lifestyle and a foothold in the UK to fall back on if necessary (see numerous other threads on this forum re the potential pitfalls).
Other than that, just go for it. We did, nearly four years ago and have never regretted it.

 

[Sandyman]

Were quite new into our adventure. Only 18 months but never regretted it for one moment. Sold the lot. Like John have nothing ashore. Should have done it 30 years ago now we know what we've missed. Have no desire to ever live ashore again. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I mean, how can you possibly ever sleep in a bed that does not move /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I assume your not going into this blindfold, so take the bull by the horns and just do it.

 

[Conachair]

In the end only you can answer the question, but this is what happened to me. (I say what happened as I felt a little like an onlooker during the whole leaving part, "oh look what happened, I just sold my house. Ooops")
I asked around a lot of forums re rent/sell the house. (assuming you have a property to sell) Opinions seemed to fall roughly into 2 camps.
Rent your property, live on the rent and have some equity to fall back on
OR
get rid of it as it will bind you to UK and only takes 1 bad tennant to loose a years income and you will have to fly back to UK to sort it.

I sold up everything which was a wonderful "skin shedding" experience. All the junk which had gathered up over the years went to dump/ebay/friends/charity shops. Last time I was in London I drove by the house and it had "To Rent" sign up and is probably worth less now than 2 1/2 years ago. Have no regrets, can see no reason not to live on a boat, especially now as winters are things which happen to other people. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Like to oft quoted Mark Twain said, "you will only regret what you didn't do, not what you did" Good luck whichever path you choose.

 

[pedwards]

We sold up in 2002 and moved onto our 58ft narrowboat. Spent over 5 years cruising around England and have now brought boat over to European waterways. Been here 10 months. Boat put in water in Holland,travelled thro Belgium and are at present on our mooring Nr Arras,France. We have not regretted a minute of it. Roll on the spring when we will start cruising again.

 

[Sandyman]

''I sold up everything which was a wonderful "skin shedding" experience. ''

Thats a good way of putting it.
We called it getting rid of the ''baggage of life''
That must be one of the hardest decisions, but once the process has started it becomes much easier. We couldn't get rid of it all fast enough in the end. Now we look back & think what ever did we need all that stuff for.

 

[silver-fox]

I can only concur with the others who have posted here, it is a wonderful experience selling up and going. That said you must be realistic on the money front or you will simply find yourself broke and stranded.

Its relatively easy to budget for everyday living, what catches some people out is the cost of boat preparation (allow 20-25% of the boat cost) and secondly the unexpected costs, for example can you afford to replace the engine or a set of sails as and when needed?

Living on a boat means that there is a constant stream of items that wear out and you must budget for this.

Once in the liveaboard community you will find out what an eclectic mix of talented and social people they are. Life is great.

But if you are thinking you can get by earning a crust or two in each port you visit, think again, unless you have some special skill. Every port already has its resident liveaboard, diesel mechanics, electricians and carpenters etc etc, so you will find it difficult to find work, unless as I said earlier, you have some special skill.

Remember also that most liveaboards will be on a tight budget like you, and will, where possible, do maintenance work for themselves.

Having done with the caveats, you can live on remarkably little and live a simple, enjoyable, low cost life, but it does mean living at anchor rather than in a marina!

Good luck with your planning and your project.

 

[BobnLesley]

You pays you money and takes your choice. We've elected to retain a small and cheap (by UK standards) house, from which we recieve a peppercorn rental income, in exchange for having a perfect (family) tennant. I would hope that we never actually live in the house ourselves, but it gives us the security of a toehold, or as someone harshly but accurately suggested 'a place to come back to and die', when we're too old or decrepit to keep travelling I've met a few liveabords who're no longer fit enough for/enjoying the lifestyle, but having got off the property-owning merry-go-round are no longer able to return home, because of the relatively high cost of buying or even renting a property in the UK.

 

[highandry]

Good point about 'somewhere to die' BobnLesley, I thought about that too, I'm nearly 65 now and decided I would rather die on my boat somewhere in the sunshine than in a house in UK where I could only afford to heat one room, while I sat and waited for the authorities to decide when to snatch the house to finance my very own chair, permanently stuck in front of a tv set in some old people's 'home'. A personal choice.. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[TNT]

Hi, we are in the same boat, excuse the pun! Boat the boat this year, our house is going on the market soon keeping a small house with tennants which won't earn us a great deal but is there if ever we need it or the money for our life in the Med so a little nest egg really. But hoping to own a small place in Greece too. Don't do what I do & think about it too hard or your head will hurt, just enjoy life & do it.

 

[highandry]

I have to reply TNT, your post amused me. I suspect your reply was not destined for me (highandry) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif You've sold one house, kept a small one and might buy one in Greece..mmm! we live in different worlds mate, I'm on a small services pension, I have my boat, an old Moto Guzzi, no houses, finito. I'm as happy as a sandboy too. I hope you have a safe and very happy time in the Med.
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[silver-fox]

Sorry about this "Fred Drift" but I think you raise a very valid point about "getting off the merry-go-round" either when you choose to because you have had enough or you have to through ill health or infirmity.

My motivation was to go cruising as a liveaboard before it was too late. I have to say that after years of cruising followed by a break of 10 years or so before selling up and sailing away, I was surprised on returning to sailing by the physicality of clambering on and off the boat and sail trimming, some of the shock would have been due to an increase in boat size and some due to leading a sedentary life style. That said, we soon adapted, got fitter and lost weight, but I was very glad we had made the transition in our fifties and not later in life. My point is that you can leave it too late and (pun intended) miss the boat.

We have met many people who are intending to swallow the anchor having lived aboard for anything from 8 to 30 years, but I have yet met anyone who regrets the decision.

After years of being "semi-detached suburban Mr Jones" in the words of the old Manfred Mann song, I was delighted to find an entirely new and better way of living that I barely new existed.

As for worrying about tomorrow; well we try to be prudent and make sure that we wont be homeless or starve, but we shall be a damn sight poorer than if I had stayed in work. I have too many friends pushing up daises who bet everything on a comfortable retirement but never lived to enjoy it.

Carpe Diem has to be the order of the day.

 

[mandlmaunder]

It's the wrong place to ask this question as we all have or want to do what you have the opportunity to do.
We rent our house for 3 and it was a pain in the proverbial. So we sold and are much happier now.
The sooner you do it the longer you will be happy.
Now is good for you to start a new and wonderful life.
MArk n Lee

 

[temptress]

What a difficult post to answer. We can only speak form our own experiences and everybody is different.

Before I met SWMBO I lived onboard a 36ft AWB which I cruised from West Africa to the North of Norway. During the 5 or so years I did this I managed get good contract work from the boat and successfully mixed cursing and working. In 2001 we thought we might do this again but I found it was no longer possible but…..

We sold up in 2001, refitted Temptress (which we had bought in 2000) and went off. We loved every minute of it, just wanted to keep going and thought we could. Unfortunately for us we did not have enough money to keep going indefinitely. We looked at earning an income while we cruised but this was not to successful.

So we retuned to the UK with a 5 year plan to get our funds right, get out again and NOT come back. We are now on year 5. Having got jobs and bought 2 houses we have been trying to sell one for nearly 9 months now with no takers and reducing equity. We plan to keep the other property as our ‘pension’/fall back and treat any rental income as the boat ‘fund’. With a bit of luck and a following wind we will get away next year although we will move back aboard this summer.

Good luck in whatever you do. As for us we live to go sailing, when we get too old to do that we fancy a MOBO in Europe somewhere and when we can’t do that we will get a narrow boat and go and rot somewhere.

ALL PLANS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Haven't-a-Clue]

"...........and successfully mixed cursing and working."

I think I speak for all of us on here when I say it's the only way to manage.

Ah, here's my coat, thank you my good man. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[chockswahay]

We sold up in 2004 and cruised for two years. We had a great time but it was always a struggle on limited income.

Came back to 'real' world 2 years ago and have never looked back since.......having the best time in our new 'second chance' careers!

We always found the happiest cruisers were the one's who actually only sailed for half the year then returned 'home' for the other half.

The other things that will have an impact on your choice will be family, health, age etc.

Life on a boat is like a full time job but unpaid!

Many people here will tell you to 'go for it!', 'long time dead!' etc. We are all different creatures with different needs and desires. I would say consider all options and if possible keep something back so that you can return if it does not work out for you.

I do miss the sense of adventure and the freedom, I don't miss living like a sea gypsy.

It's your choice......good luck

Chox

 

[gtuson]

A factor not much mentioned by others is your relationships with family and friends. We happily lived aboard for 3 years but had to come back to help resolve several wider family problems. If you have relationships which matter to you, then sailing away may well weaken them, or you have to come back to sort stuff out.

Also, be cautious about having no foothold back. I have a rlative who was a liveaboard for many years, and finally had to give up boat, has miniscule pension etc. Is on verge seeking social security etc etc in this country...not a good position to end up in...

 

[theguerns]

I think that the first thing to look at is how much you want to acheive. If you want to sell up and go for good you have to make sure that you have enough income to do it. Now this does'nt mean loads of cash but the amount does have a bearing on how you will do it. First if you want to spend the winter in a marina and the summer cruising then you have to look for a comfortable marina at a reasonable price. Then the summer cruising are you expecting to stay in marinas or at anchor? We live on a Colvic Watson 32 which has all the comforts and we live on a very small income around £7000 per annum. In this budjet we have spent time in Portugal/Spain and southern france and the winter in Morlaix in Brittany. We eat very well have wine when we like but dont go out very oftern for meals all in all a very nice life. An example of costs to think of is Laundry in laundrymat once a week for 2 people about £800. Done on the boat in miniwash machine with spin dryer initial outlay £120. Yearly cost after this £50 at the most. Lunch or dinner out for 2 cost £25 lunch on board for 2 £2.50 no contest. This might sound boring but the bbq is more fun. For more info on this subject have a look at our Blog at theguerns.blogspot.com /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif