AlanT
Guru
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2012
- Messages
- 738
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- MoonShadow
- Vessel Make
- Wendon Skylounge 72'
I've been curious to hear stories from the people that have sold all and decided to become liveaboards and cruisers.. Really would like to hear the tales of people that were mostly inexperienced when they made the leap and did it on a reasonable budget.
We are getting closer to the purchase of a vessel here in the Northeast and whenever I post an inquiry on this forum someone is always sure to bring up something I haven't previously thought of.
Thanks!
I'll bite.
At 49 my wife and I moved full time on board a newly commissioned Hylas 49' sailboat. Prior to that my sailing experience was around 10+ years of sailing small cruisers (33 34') purely in protected waters. My wife's was minimal as on a small boat I typically handled everything.
We spent 4 years aboard the Hylas, sailing from FL to Rhode Island, then the Caribbean then the Mediterranean as far East as Turkey before returning to the USEC.
Experiences: We had planned this for many years. My wife was keen for the adventure but had several mental obstacles (sailing at night, sailing out of sight of land). I didn't push her on either of these, I would get crew for offshore voyages and she would enjoy coasting in the Caribbean/Med and fly to meet the boat on longer voyages. Well that didn't happen. By not pushing her, she gained experience and confidence. Before long, sailing at night was not a problem, then out of sight of land slid down her list of concerns. That just left the fear of crossing the Atlantic. So I got two friends as crew and booked her a hotel in Antigua and then a flight to Portugal to meet us. As crew and I prepped the boat, she quietly made up her mind that she did not want to miss out on the adventure. We cancelled the hotel/flight and she was an integral part of that first ocean crossing. A few years later she did not hesitate in staying with the boat on the return crossing, which also included our youngest daughter. It is now in our rear view mirror, 11 years ago, but to this day she calls it her adventure of a lifetime.
More stories of that adventure here:
Alan & Joan's adventures sailing Moonstruck from America to the Mediterranean. Joan Teed's Art.