Warnng....this is a ramble...
Some friends took me out to lunch today and the "economy" came up. One stated that if things got worst...he could get by with his trailer out at the lake. Another said he could sell his home (now paid for) and downsize. Then the talk swung to "what would you do for fun"?
Annie came to mind. Annie is an infamous North Channel sailor that spends entire summers cruising about the many island of Lake Huron's north channel (beautiful). I last sailed with her about 6 yrs ago and she was 67 then. A retired teacher, she is niether "slightly built" or "limber" yet she has spent entire summers on her Potter 14, a Slipper 17, a Suncat 17 and in our last conversation she stated that she missed the Potter. Any of you that haven't actually saw a Potter 14, you should know: no cabin footwell (sit on floor), no underbunk storage (berth cushions on hull) no cockpit lockers. Think about that for a minute.....
Funny thing was although the Slipper and Suncat were far more stable, easier to get in/out of cabin, had a ton more storage etc....she missed that darn lil Potter!!
Anyhoot....this ramble is NOT about the atvantages of one small boat compared to another.....it is about her lifestyle.
In sharing that over lunch, I said:
"So....what would stop a person from buying a good used older trailerable for $2-3000, spend summers in it cruising closer to home (family/friends) trailering further south in fall, say Chesapeake Bay, explore there for a bit before heading to Florida and doing Florida Bay and the Keys over winter before heading back north to repeat??
So....$2-3000 for a good used trailer sailor, $1000 or less for upgrades, a minimal decent $3-4000 tow vehicle, car is fine as many are only 600-1200lbs and GO!!! A few beers and meals out, many more aboard or with other cruisers, the odd repair.....seriously.....talk about a cheap and "full" lifestyle!!!
As I talked about it.....any stress of "the economy" dwindled......realizing if the s@&t hit the fan....it may be a blessing as this lifestyle truly is so simple and so attainable.....not to mention relatively stress free.
There are a ton of places like the north channel where you would never be bored for a season between the company of other cruisers and the diverse cruising grounds. Insert your own locations for the seasons. Insert your own choice of boat.
Once the initial minimal investment of boat/vehicle is paid......funds spent truly would be so low.....
Just a ramble to get ya thinking. Who cares about the d&m economy!!!
Here's to Annie!! ;)
Edit:
after posting this, I googled "Annie Westlund"
here ya go
http://www.wwpotterowners.com/AnneMenu.html
Check out the "cruising is simplicity" link...
She truly is quite the small boat sailor!!
Annie has been an inspiration to many sailors over the years, including moi.
I agree completely. Sometimes it is a good economy that spoils dreams of adventure. "I'll make a little more, and then I'll go."
Totally agree about Annie. She and I have been internet friends for a long while. Quite a lady.
Met her 1st time 10yrs ago. We were sailing a M15 and Annie pulled into the anchorage, rounded up into the wind and dropped the hook from the cockpit! Too cool ;) She joined us all week.
Then Rick and I had her join us with our Suncats about 4-5yrs back.. It was cool with 3 Suncats sailing together!! Looked super at anchorages and I can only imagine underway with the 3 gaffers running together.
She's quite the gal... a spade is a spade not a shovel!! ;)
OK....back to the "F the economy.....go sailing!" ;) ;) ;D
Thinking I gotta clarify my thread here.....
Not so much about Annie....as taking Annie's summer ritual and keep it going with a stop mid way south...then south...to enjoy the seasons...
Minimal investment.....minimal "cost of living"....major return on "life experiences"
After vehicle and boat are purchased.....I wouldn't doubt a $250/week budjet would give you a "good life".....less if careful and not out eating/drinking too much. Heck....you could even use the boat as a "camper" while trailering.
"Walmart campgrounds" are free ;)
Beautiful Frank, there really is abundance in simplicity.
I have to level with you though brother, I don't think you could do it.
Not unless you towed a second one as a "rum barge".... Just saying. 8)
Why do you think I tow an inflatable? :o ;)
Two things and a quote:
Here's to Annie, indeed.
I am going to be on my way later this summer. Currently, I am shopping for a slightly larger boat than my Vega. Crewing on a Westsail 42 darn near ruined me. I plan to try and live on less than $750/mnth; averaged of course.
This seems like the perfect time for my favorite voyaging quote:
"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... cruising, it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. "I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, the dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?
- Sterling Hayden
Quote from: Bubba the Pirate on January 05, 2016, 10:21:53 AM
I am going to be on my way later this summer. Currently, I am shopping for a slightly larger boat than my Vega. Crewing on a Westsail 42 darn near ruined me. I plan to try and live on less than $750/mnth; averaged of course.
That should be non problem at all. I live totally on a soc sec check. While I was cruising this spring (May-July) I wound up with extra money in the bank at end of cruise. And I maintained my house during that time.
I left here with a saved up $3000 cash, and came back with $1600 of that left. And here in January almost a year later,, there is still $200 of that left
Cruising can be VERY inexpensive, once the boat and it's gear are right. And no way do I want a larger boat than my 25, unless of course I was to live on it full time, with no land base at all.
Of course, and now I understand that 14' long blow up you sold with Allure.... ;)
So tell me how to convince my wife that a Catalina 27 is big enough to live on during the winter? I could make it full time on a Catalina 22 with pop top.
Quote from: CharlieJ on January 05, 2016, 10:43:46 AM
Quote from: Bubba the Pirate on January 05, 2016, 10:21:53 AM
That should be non problem at all. I live totally on a soc sec check. While I was cruising this spring (May-July) I wound up with extra money in the bank at end of cruise. And I maintained my house during that time.
Cruising can be VERY inexpensive, once the boat and it's gear are right. And no way do I want a larger boat than my 25, unless of course I was to live on it full time, with no land base at all.
I'm looking for a boat between 30-35'. I won't have a home base, so I'm looking for a little more comfort - wimpy, I know. And I'll have to get a special exemption for hanging around here if I push the LOA too much.
I lived aboard for a time in Sarasota. It was good on almost no money. Of course, where i was anchored then is now a state regulated mooring field.
No worries on the 30-35ft thing :D
Now.....if it has drive in jet ski storage and a helicopter pad on the fore deck ya may take a few jabs :) :)
I get the "bit more room if full time"....we are all different. I could live full time on Allure comforatably at 27ft.
Only thing I'd be looking at is draft. SO many advantages of shallow draft.
4ft or less is wonderful!
Quote"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... cruising, it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. "I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, the dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?
- Sterling Hayden
Wow! ...words to live by. Makes me rethink my plans from 5 years and a bigger boat to perhaps 2 and keep sailing my Com-Pac 23. Could easily trailer sail that puppy up and down the east coast!
Friends on a ComPac (from Texas) in Nassau Harbor- they did a LOT of the Bahamas
Same couple getting a tow back from a snorkeling outing at Little Farmers Cay
For those who remember them, that's Nick and Melissa
A Compac 23 is a GREAT boat for Bahamas!!!
Very shallow draft and super ventilation.
You are "off boat" so much......just morning coffee, meals and bed....
Seriously......
"GO NOW"
PS......did 2 of us AND a 76lb golden retiever for 3-1/2 mths here on a 23.....
I have just never thought about another 10 or 15 feet of boat as changing the adventure that much. What ever my adventure is to be, it does not happen because of that extra space.
Wow Frank! We have the CP23 and a 70lb. Goldie! ....now to convince the Admiral! :D
PS. How did your dog take to boat life? Any tips would be great. thx.
Typical Golden.....as long as she was with us she was happy. She had a hoot!
Lazy at home...she'd run up and down the beach chasing minnows for hours! Fun to watch her playing. Lifting her onto a dock at low tide for a pee walk was no fun... Wished she was about 10lbs then :)
Seriously...you are seldom on your boat once anchored. Meals and sleep. Rain days below are stretched out reading days no matter what boat you're on... Your 23 has 2 settee's.....ya both can stretch out and read.
Sunny days are walking in town or on beachs....or visiting.
The 23's cockpit is big enough to have another couple over for drinks.
I would recommend a dodger and bimini/sun shade
There are SO many places in the Florida Key and throughout the Bahamas where your shallow draft is such a huge bonus!!!
Mooring balls are limited in hopetown. Often deeper boats wait at the entrance for high tide to get in....you sneak right by and pick up a mooring :)
It also allows you to get into a ton of spots others can't. Allens-Pen has a hurricane hole, Between Rat and Manjack the same. All easy for the 23....next to impossible after 3.5ft draft.
So many bonus's...
Actually....it makes SO much sense to do a cruise 1st with your 23. Then if you do move up....you truly know what to look for and what is-isn't important to ya. Beats moving up ahead and then going "wish I'd known"
Have fun!!
Check out the fore deck ;D
Picture is in Hopetown Harbour, Elbow Cay, Abacos
Your 23 is in many ways better than the 23PH.
On wet days....only spot to stretch out and read was the Vberth.
You've got those 2 settee's... his n hers "couch's"....golden in between :D
Once the boat is paid for, the economy does not matter to me until it is time to do a refit. I have to be outside the continental USA for this to work. Once I am offshore or somewhere in the developing world, I don't worry about the economy. Simple food and simple desires make a great life. From Turkey to Trinidad, I stayed in one marina. I can't do that in the continental US nearly as easily where anchoring regulations make things into a real challenge.
Quote from: maxingout on January 19, 2016, 04:36:08 PM
Once the boat is paid for, the economy does not matter to me until it is time to do a refit. I have to be outside the continental USA for this to work. Once I am offshore or somewhere in the developing world, I don't worry about the economy. Simple food and simple desires make a great life. From Turkey to Trinidad, I stayed in one marina. I can't do that in the continental US nearly as easily where anchoring regulations make things into a real challenge.
I don't think you will find too many anchoring restrictions in very many places in the US. Except for maybe Florida. Things are kinda crazy down there right now.
There have been very few places where I've gone where I was not able to anchor. A couple harbors where jam packed with mooring balls, or simply too tight to swing; but that's about it. Generally speaking there is almost always someplace to drop a hook, although it might not always be in the prime section of a harbor (darn mooring balls have a habit of taking the best spots).
Hey- I even anchored off Marco Island for 2 days with no hassles.. Spent a month in Boot Key at anchor.
I've NEVER had a hassle anchoring ANYWHERE in Florida
Having a well kept pretty boat MIGHT help