Where would you spend the next 5years ??

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Adethefridge

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Given the choice where you spend the next 5 years as a liveaboard ?

The plan is : find a location, buy a yacht, spend 3 to 5 years exploring the area, sell the yacht and return home ( well maybe ) ??
Initially we were thinking of either buying a yacht in the uk and sailing her to the Med or possibly buying one out there, but having spent time in Portugal, Spain, Italy,Malta etc in the winter sessions are a little off putting, weather still a little cool, a lot of towns almost closing down during winter months ! Or am I missing something ?

That got me thinking of the possibility of moving further afield, as long as it's within say a 9 hour flight home, making returning home / friend and family still wanting to come and visit a possibility.
So
somewhere with a climate suitable for all year sailing.
Max 9 hour flight time.
Relatively ease of purchase /sale of a yacht without too much worrying about purchasing in a foreign country.

Look forward to hearing your suggestions....
 
Adethefridge said:
Given the choice where you spend the next 5 years as a liveaboard ?

The plan is : find a location, buy a yacht, spend 3 to 5 years exploring the area, sell the yacht and return home ( well maybe ) ??
Initially we were thinking of either buying a yacht in the uk and sailing her to the Med or possibly buying one out there, but having spent time in Portugal, Spain, Italy,Malta etc in the winter sessions are a little off putting, weather still a little cool, a lot of towns almost closing down during winter months ! Or am I missing something ?

That got me thinking of the possibility of moving further afield, as long as it's within say a 9 hour flight home, making returning home / friend and family still wanting to come and visit a possibility.
So
somewhere with a climate suitable for all year sailing.
Max 9 hour flight time.
Relatively ease of purchase /sale of a yacht without too much worrying about purchasing in a foreign country.

Look forward to hearing your suggestions....
Click to expand...

it has to be the States, winter in Florida and then up the ICW, Great lakes, truck across to Vancouver and down the pacific coast and back through the Panama canal and the West Indies........sounds about right for 5 years!!!
 
More seriously, if I had FIVE years (and not just six months), I would be looking at somewhere outside the Med. I sometimes wonder what it must have been like to cruise the Med when Rod Heikell started - when every contour of every anchorage hadn't been charted and sketched.

How about West Africa?
 
I must admit the states had come to mind, buying a boat should be straight forward enough, any idea what sort of loss I'd be looking at on a secondhand AWB over 5 years ? Approx cost £150,000. Just reading a thread about purchasing a boat in the states and shipping /sailing her back to Europe so I suppose that would be an option.
I assume I would need some kind of permit to stay that long ?
Defiantly food for thought.
Cheers Rusty..
 
Boats seem to be cheaper in the US. Buying one on the east coast and becoming a snowbird between Maine and the Bahamas has it's attractions.
You would need a proper US visa. And after five years sell the boat in the US too, it would save an awful lot of paperwork!!
I've thought of it myself since it removes the restrictions on a Brit reg boat. And you don't have to sail the pond twice, unless you really want too!!
 
tri39 said:
Boats seem to be cheaper in the US. Buying one on the east coast and becoming a snowbird between Maine and the Bahamas has it's attractions.
You would need a proper US visa. And after five years sell the boat in the US too, it would save an awful lot of paperwork!!
I've thought of it myself since it removes the restrictions on a Brit reg boat. And you don't have to sail the pond twice, unless you really want too!!
Click to expand...

My son just got a 6 months a year visa, you have to do an interview at the US embassy. He told them he wanted to tour around the states on a motorcycle; no problem.

Michael woods from Cornwall, the cat designer , is touring around the Vancouver area in a 8mtr cat, says it totally beautiful.

My daughter went on her honeymoon on a drive from the Florida Keys the whole way up to Washington, loved it but said the scenery was a bit repetitive, the best bit was the Florida keys area, although it's very expensive.

From what I have gathered the Hudson river is lovely, not so much Chesapeake, so a trip up the intercoastal doing bits offshore would add lots of variety, then the Hudson to the great Lakes sounds good. Then Vancouver down the Pacific....maybe even Hawaii if your'e feeling very brave!

Make that 10 years, not 5!
 
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Sounds great !
I have spent a little time in the states, fly-drive from Miami to key west then upto Naples and another trip from San Franciso to San Diego and really enjoyed both trips. I will have to work on SWMBO as she's looking forward to being around for any grandchildren that might appear ?

I know it's a "how long is a piece of string question" but any idea of costs ?
I'm thinking approx :
£ 8,000 per year mooring fees ( for a 40 ish foot boat )
£ 4,000 per year boat maintenance/repairs I can carry out most minor repairs,servicing,anti-fouling etc myself.
Living costs from memory aren't too different to the uk ? And with the option now to cash in the old pension Happy-days !!
So apart from the hypothetical grandchildren what's the downside ??
 
So apart from the hypothetical grandchildren what's the downside ??
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Hurricanes,apparently you have to keep your boat on the hard during the season?

Mould, you can't leave your boat unattended down south, or when you come back the interior will be destroyed with mould. Presumably a dehumidifier will stop the problem?

The old maxim was: In the states everybody earns twice as much, everything costs half as much.....;)
 
TQA said:
Buy a US flagged vessel in Trinidad. N.B. The yards in Trini can fix anything. Last year cruise East coast of USA.
Sell boat in USA.
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Unless you particularly want to cross the ocean as part of your adventure, I'm discovering that this could be the way to go for many and at a purchase budget of less than 20% of that which the OP is proposing. Trinidad and to a degree Grenada appear to be the 'end of the line' for many, particularly US/Canadian cruising yachts, similar, though on a grand-scale to the eastern-Med, Canary Islands and even Gibraltar & the Algarve; their owners get this far and either the dream has soured, circumstances have changed, or indeed they've found their own 'irresistible bargain' and can't/don't/won't undertake what seems the arduous bit of sailing it back north/home to sell.
We've seen many boats in the 35-45 foot range, admittedly many that I wouldn't want to cross an ocean in, but each in sound condition, more than capable of cruising the waters of the eastern Caribbean and indeed already fitted/kitted-out to do so and for a quick/cash-sale were to be had at prices below ten-thousand (that's US$ not £s!). Ignore the brokerage adverts, instead, fly in, find some cheap shore-side accommodation and look/ask around, once word gets about that you're a serious buyer, the vendors will come looking for you; you might not end up with the newest/shiniest yacht in the anchorage, but the 'flash' at sunset will be just as green from your cockpit as anyone else's and at the end of your five years (or even two or three) you'll be happy and financially able to pass the yacht on for a similar 'song' to someone else.
The eastern Caribbean affords you year-round sailing if you time your route/location to the seasons, so no cowering over the heater in a Med marina for half of the year and with the low initial investment, you can get by with 3rd party insurance cover and comfortably bear the financial risk of hurricanes and other general misfortunes yourself.

Now why didn't I think of that a lot earlier?
 
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The main hitch I see with the Caribbean is the cost of flights, which seem to be double the USA cost.
Some of the islands are very expensive, and drug smuggling is always in the backof your mind as a dangerous situation.

I would like to state that I'm not a racist, but I don't think I would have a shared cultural backround with Afro~Carribean people, and couldn't see myself integrating with the local population. What would I talk to them about?

..whereas the states has diverse culture, and an eclectic mix of different personalities from Texas in the deep south to new Englanders in the North.:)
 
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rustybarge said:
Hurricanes,apparently you have to keep your boat on the hard during the season?

Mould, you can't leave your boat unattended down south, or when you come back the interior will be destroyed with mould. Presumably a dehumidifier will stop the problem?

The old maxim was: In the states everybody earns twice as much, everything costs half as much.....;)
Click to expand...

Hurricanes,apparently you have to keep your boat on the hard during the season? Depends on your insurer Some are HAPPY if you keep cruising through hurricane season.Something about not having all eggs in the same spot. Decutible goes up and you have to have a hurricane plan.

Mould, you can't leave your boat unattended down south, or when you come back the interior will be destroyed with mold. Presumably a dehumidifier will stop the problem? Well the time I did i,t 6 months in Florida over summer while I drove around the USA, I hung up some anti mould sachets and came back to no mould and a cockroach free boat. I think they contained formaldehyde so are mostly likely banned by now, but they sure did the job. There are 100s of boats on the hard in Grenada and Trini so they must be keeping the mold at bay somehow.
 
TQA said:
Hurricanes,apparently you have to keep your boat on the hard during the season? Depends on your insurer Some are HAPPY if you keep cruising through hurricane season.Something about not having all eggs in the same spot. Decutible goes up and you have to have a hurricane plan.

Mould, you can't leave your boat unattended down south, or when you come back the interior will be destroyed with mold. Presumably a dehumidifier will stop the problem? Well the time I did i,t 6 months in Florida over summer while I drove around the USA, I hung up some anti mould sachets and came back to no mould and a cockroach free boat. I think they contained formaldehyde so are mostly likely banned by now, but they sure did the job. There are 100s of boats on the hard in Grenada and Trini so they must be keeping the mold at bay somehow.
Click to expand...

Generally speaking is the states cheaper than the UK?

It's been a few years since i've been here in the south of France, it's now about 15% more expensive than England, used to be 25% cheaper.:ambivalence:
 
>How about West Africa?

There are pirates there. I'd go to the Caribbean you can sail in the hurricane season, go via the Venezuelan out islands, Bonaire, Curacao then Columbia, San Blas islands then decide where you want to go next e.g Panama and north but below hurricane belt which at that longitude is Cuba. We know a number of American boats that did that.
 
What I like about the intercoastal waterway is that you can stay on the waterway if it's rough offshore, or do a bit of coastal cruising if the weather is nice.........the best of both worlds.

You can also spend your 6 months in the states and then cross over to Canada for a further 6 months in the Summer, and then of course you can head south again following the winter sun in the Pacific to San Francisco etc.
 
Thanks all for your valued input, I think the states is looking very likely,
Next question what would make the perfect boat for such a trip ?
Criteria being:
Cost £130-150k (probably secondhand)
Length 40-45 foot
Easily purchased and sold in the states
Easily sailed by two
I do like the look of the modern deck saloon yachts, there seems to be a lot of Jeanneau DS 'S and alike for sale over there
I no a lot of sailers consider them to be a very average boat but I not contemplating heavy weather sailing more a chilled out relaxed start to retirement, having said that if I decided to being the boat back to the UK or the med would a Jeanneau DS45 for example be a suitable boat to cross the Atlantic in ? ( with a experienced skipper )
 
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