Sorry, been meaning to respond but it's been a very hectic week. Thanks again everyone for the advice. I really do appreciate it. I don't want to quote everyone for fear of making this wall of text even taller, but there were a couple things I wanted to reply to.
Lollipop,
Since you're in Seattle, come and visit and we'll show you Liberty. A PT-38, single engine trawler. Sedan style with centerline double forward, second cabin with bunks, roomy enough head and extremely roomy engine room.
NOT THAT WE'RE FOR SALE, though I suppose we could be, but there are other PT-38's out there.
Marty
Thanks for the offer! I'll definitely take you up on it. Depending on how close you are I might have to wait a little while, though. I suppose I should explain my situation a little better.
Right now the main thing holding me back from getting started is my dog, Callisto, who is partially paralyzed by degenerative myelopathy. There's no treatment, it's just a matter of keeping her comfortable and happy as long as possible. She's not in pain or anything, but it's just going to keep getting worse until I can't take care of her anymore. She'd probably be fine if I left her alone for an afternoon, she can still control her bladder/bowels and scoot around the house okay. But for the time being, I'd just prefer not to leave for longer than necessary. I mean, in five years am I going to be happy I spent an afternoon looking at boats instead of spending the time with her when I could?
The month-ish timeframe is my best estimate of how much longer until the paralysis reaches her front legs and I can't take care of her any longer. A couple months ago I was hoping to make it to June, but now she seems to be kind of coasting, so I really don't know how much longer it'll be. But for now, she's in the driver's seat, I'm just along for the ride.
Also on the subject of my background, a lot of people have expressed concerns about my ability to perform maintenance tasks. That's totally reasonable, I didn't say anything about myself that would lead anyone to believe I was mechanically inclined.
So, I like to build stuff. Here's a quick list of projects that might inspire confidence that I can maintain a boat:
- Designed and built my own 3D printer,
- Converted my Sherline 5400 mill to CNC
- Converted a toaster oven into a reflow oven to solder the circuit boards I was etching,
- Solar powered owl box with IR camera inside (owls never came, box worked fine)
- Hydroponics systems for my family's (now closed) landscaping center
- Countless hours fixing and rebuilding stuff destroyed by storms (I grew up in southern Alabama).
So while I don't have any experience maintaining a boat like this, it's not like I'm going to run screaming when confronted with installation instructions that involve making permanent modifications to the boat. I have lots of experience with electrical systems, even some experience with solar specifically, and have built my own charge controllers from raw components and copper clad. Of course doing this stuff on a boat is not the same as doing it on land, I'm just trying to say that I'm not starting from zero.
My biggest blind spot is engine maintenance, which I've been working on rectifying. Mostly watching YouTube videos to learn about how the parts of a diesel engine work, and how to maintain them properly. Of course I know this is no substitute for practical experience, and maintaining an actual engine is going to be a lot harder than anything on YouTube makes it seem. But I don't see any reason I can't learn, just like everyone else did. Hell, I'm looking forward to it. I love learning new skills.
Love your comment about fishing while working. I'd do the same and sometimes have to pause my conversation by saying "please hold while I get the other line ".
I am 100% stealing that.
I would be looking at a sailboat, a Gemini 105m. The is a good one for sale in Ft Myers for under 100k
Good luck
Henry
Sailboat was the plan until I got the new job. With the new job I'll need so much power that I don't think a small-ish sailboat will work that well.
At minimum I need to be running my laptop, plus an external monitor, plus either cell or StarLink, for at least 8 hours per day every weekday. Assuming a very conservative 150W for the laptop and monitor, plus 50W for StarLink, that's 1.6 kWh
minimum every weekday. And that's not even considering refrigeration, water, lights, etc.. That might be doable on a small sailboat, but I'm not going to be the one to do it.
So, in the typical month you have in mind, what distances to you plan to cover daily?
Not really sure. In the winter months, probably not very much. Remaining parked in a slip most of the time seems like a good plan.
During the warmer months, my primary motivations to move would be looking for the fish or getting back to shore for pump out and provisioning. If I've found the fish, and my supplies are good, I'd be inclined to stay more or less where I was for a while and enjoy the fishing. Exactly how long that will be I really can't say.
So most days, no travel. Some weekends will be travel heavy to cover longer distances before work on Monday. Any travel on weekdays would be limited to a few hours to accommodate work, but on rare occasions it won't be a problem to move work around to accommodate travel.
Do you want to pay for servicing two engines or one? Do you yearn unprotected propellers hanging down under the boat to snag crab pots, or dies a single engine with keel and skeg protecting the prop?
Free crab pots does sound nice...
I kid, I kid. The cost of two engines isn't something I'm worried about. What I am worried about is access to the engines for repair. I'm a big guy. I've lost a lot of weight in the past six months, but I've got plenty more to lose. But even if I were at a healthy weight, I'm not a small guy. A cramped engine compartment just isn't going to work well for me.
Flybridge for the view and seeing over fig in the water? Visibility around the boat since you plan to travel alone?
Ideally yes.
Bitstream said:
I, like you am a full time software engineer and I have been working remotely from a boat for over 10 years.
<snip>
Be happy to answer any questions privately.
Thank you very much, I will absolutely toss some questions your way when the time comes.