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Is it really a dream come true?

17K views 70 replies 39 participants last post by  Pyro666 
#1 ·
Like many of you , since I have been young I had a dream to sail the seven seas chase the sun and the wind, but I wonder, after YOU took the big steps,with some of you quitting jobs, maybe even selling your home , does sailing day after day , month after month, year after year is REALLY a dream come true? or ,if asking it a bit different: is it STILL a dream come true after the honeymoon period ended, ? in hindsight, is it as you imagined it to be? do you have any regrets ? would you have done anything differently?
Thanks for your honest reply from far away, Down Under.
 
#2 ·
Several years as a full time liveaboard, and we still cherish the experience. It was an adventure, and included tons of things happening. Some trying, some exciting, some painful - but it was LIVING, not dying a day at a time as many of us are doing.

Different every day, some times several times a day. Don't like the current view, sail an hour or so, and different perspective on everything. Don't like the (insert word here), raise the sails and move along.

I would have started earlier, by a couple of decades, even with a smaller, less capable boat. Especially now, that you can buy a kindle and an iPod and have the best of technology, with no damage to the books/cds/tapes and the like.
 
#3 ·
You'll get a different opinion from every member, we may agree on some things, but not all.
I, for one, after 4 years aboard, find myself wondering occasionally what the hell am I doing here. But, it doesn't last long and then I wake up and find myself in my version of heaven on earth.
I have never in my 65 years on earth seen any group of people as wonderful and diverse as sailors. This has been a mind expanding experience.
If you find the right bride, the honeymoon will never end.
 
#4 ·
I've been at it for 8 years now and it's a great life for me.
Theres always something to do, fishing, reading, sailing, fixing the damn boat, drinking with my friends, kayaking, fixing the damn boat..........
The traveling is nice even though I'm not a "real" cruiser. If you have portable hobbies you'll never be bored and if you are then you've got time to fix the damn boat
 
#5 ·
..... If you have portable hobbies you'll never be bored and if you are then you've got time to fix the damn boat
I have difficulty getting through a single chapter in (even a good) book when I'm sitting on deck... too many things to observe, notice, admire..

We have been sailing since 1981. We don't liveaboard/cruise full time but we have spent up to 8 weeks at a time onboard for the past 12 summers. Every time we depart we think we'll come back early to take in some 'city summer' stuff.. hasn't happened yet.
 
#9 ·
Unless you try living your dream, you will never know. I'm 2 years away from casting off. Want to do it before I turn 60. Will not have too much money, but enough for a decent 30 foot boat and several years of frugal cruising. Regardless of how much money I do have at the time, I will not delay, even if I have to get a smaller boat and live on rice and beans for the next 5 years. And if it does not work out, I will adjust, as always. Have no fear.
 
#10 ·
I just got home from plowing slushy miserable snow all night.
Casting off when this last big plowing contract is done.
Summer time it's humping granite or limestone up scaffolding to build chimneys and fireplaces.
Anything has to be an improvement!
If I get fed up of sailing I'll come back to Canada and buy another house on one of the coasts. Will never move back to the area I'm in now, would move anyway if I wasn't going sailing.
 
#11 ·
I'll offer the counter perspective.

We sail a lot, but we never sailed away. I thought I might at one point, we spent 13 weeks aboard, about week 11 I was ready to get off. Now we daysail and cruise for many weeks every summer, frequently charter someplace warm in the winter. We like the balance in that. Not everyone's desires, or even personal situation is right for leaving land based life behind. There are implications, including family, work, and friends to sailing away. Not to mention the everyday conveniences we take for granted on land like a long hot shower, provisioning without getting in a dingy, and when's the last time your house slipped anchor during a storm? Make sure you know how you prioritize these things before committing to the dream. Particularly the value you place on the proximity of family and friends, and how you value your work. It works for many, but not for all. And I think everyone, even those who sail away would agree it's not exactly what you imagine it to be, for some it's something better, and for some it's something worse.

Everyone's dream is different. Make sure you really know what your dream is before you do anything you cannot easily reverse.

I suggest that if you think that sailing away for a long period or even forever might be good for you, you try it for an extended period before you sell the farm.

YMMV, in in this case everyone's mileage is different.
 
#12 · (Edited)
I've read and believe that whether you like long term cruising depends on how tied to land life you are via family, friends etc. If you have an active land life spending a lot of time with family, friends, clubs or other social and emotional support functions you will have a hard time leaving. But if you don't really have a close support group you adapt to cruising pretty easy.
 
#14 ·
Great questions. I had the bug at a young age and we took a year off from work, rented the house. We left the door open to continue longer, if we found that was our desire.

Toward the end of the year, we were both ready to 'get off'. We loved the experience. In hindsight, we were both changed - for the better - by our year away on the boat. That change was more of a renewed vigor for life, on land and on the sea. At the end, we hit the ground running.

I think we both discovered how much we loved sailing, especially along coasts, for the travel aspect(travel we have a passion for) and natural beauty and quality of life it is.

And so we continued sailing - seasonally - even after going back to work, home. Now, we went farther from home, began leaving the boat in different parts along the east coast. Eventually, we sailed into the area we now live(then with 2 babies aboard).

Where we are(today) geographically and mentally(happily so), may be partly a continuation of that year off sailing.

Here's what I discovered I wasn't crazy about: Making a boat a semi permanent home. It's just me, but the process of making a sailboat into a home takes away some of the essence of what makes a sailboat
a traveling, moveable feast(Hemmingway?).

Coastal sailing gives me all the good parts of that year off. We sail more of our miles now with less stringent schedules. Getting on the boat for a few weeks or days is a lighter experience. We're underway fast, our boats simple amenities(small berths, tiny galley, head, cockpit), give us a real break from our 'home' on shore(and the stresses of everyday life).

Sailing is a way of life for us which we've continued(as a family) year after year. It's not all of life (for us) but looking back and with grown children, sailing was and is a very big part of our lives. We hope to do longer seasonal sails in the future.
 
#16 ·
It's a freaking nightmare mate! What with all the islands we've run into, hostile natives, USA at war with half the world, broken bits on the boat, world financial crisis, fellow cruisers being shot and killed,school shootings, I phones having to be hacked, parents and friends passing away, residency in a few foreign countries,2nd passports, lifetime of adventure and adventures of a lifetime..Nope If I were you I'd just sit home and live a quiet life of desperation...
 
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#17 ·
Yep it's terrible out there,I feet put upon when another boat comes into my Anchorage..alas when traveling u must put up with a lot.lol for me life is a slick sailing mag cover...the sights one sees on the blue horizon...nothing can compare with a meaningful conversation with a group of Wales or dolfins.even the mola can have something to add cheers and dream on
 
#18 ·
Like most things in life, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it!

On the other hand, you’ll never know till you do it.

It can be trying at times, lonely at others, but endless sunsets, meeting fellow cruisers and sharing stories, swimming with the dolphins, rays, manatees and listening to waves lap at your hull while you drift off to sleep will cure just about anyone’s woes.

No regrets! …..yet…..:)
 
#21 ·
Wow! That is a question I've often asked myself. Yes, I was one of those who quit my job sold the house and went looking for the perfect boat. I didn't do this until I was in my 50's, so I didn't do it on a shoe string budget. I found my boat in the Keys of Florida, I was hoping to find a mate also here. That is where the dream veered off, quite a bit. I have been living on a boat for almost 10 years, I still look at my boat lovingly. I do sail her occasionally, that's the rub, I never did find a mate with my sense of adventure and finances to allow them to sail away. So I settled here and work a little just to be social and I sail when I can.
I am not disappointed with my choice, when I sit up on deck with my coffee and see the sunrise and sunsets in my little lagoon I find myself smiling still, so yes
this for me is still a dream come true, don't overthink the future just jump into it, see where it takes you....
 
#22 ·
A good question. Interesting how my plans have changed over the years. I did a lot with my first boat a 24 foot Bristol cruising my local waters. I was working at the time so trips were limited to the weeks of vacation time I had. Though I still have fond memories of those cruises. I was also working the midnight shift so my life was sail, sleep, work during the whole season and was not limited to just the weekends. When I bought my 30 footer I docked it in New York where I was working and lived on board for a number of years. Did some nice cruises from that base and had interesting times living on the waterfront. Then back in the 1980's I met my companion who likes to do sailing charter vacations during the winter so I have been able to sail in some wonderful places all over the world. Including a most of the Caribbean. Spent most of this past January cruising all of the Virgin Islands and had somewhat of an epiphany now that I finally am retired. I'm not sure I need or want to just to anchor off Caribbean islands for months when a month just might be enough. I'm not one to just hang out at waterfront bars either or just hang out on a dock either. So my wanderlust has been somewhat satisfied over the years and the need to cruise to far off destinations is not as strong as it was in my younger years and even cruising locally has become just as satisfying.

I also just heard from A retired co-worker who spent years working on his sailboat to live his dream. Finally got it back in the water after a few years on land spending $$$ to get it ready. He got to the Bahamas about a month ago. Weather was not what he expected, had mechanical troubles and is now back in Florida and will be heading back north. Sounds like he has had enough of the "dream" after two years chasing it. :) It happens!
 
#25 ·
I have dreamed of far away places, especially the exotic tropical ones, since I was about 4. By the time I was 10 I'd read Slocum's book and was actually forming a plan to convert an old lifeboat into a sailing boat for a voyage. The words 'cruising boat' didn't even exist back then.
An opportunity to commercial fish the West Coast from Mexico to Ak in my early teens gave me the skills necessary to begin delivering sailing boats up and down the coast before I was 18. A few sailing voyages to Hawaii and back and I was ready for anything.
Fortune smiled on me and at 23 I was master of my own 49 foot Phil Rhodes and financially able to start my circumnavigation.
9.5 years later I'd lived my dream and was wondering what I was going to do with the rest my life, when some guy asked me to run his yacht and my career as a charter captain began.
A series of other vessels, tugs, freighters, motor yachts and day boats, doing everything from beach cruises to scuba trips and my career ended after a series of traditional schooners taking tourists for two hour harbor or river sails.
Now what was I to do? I'd not lived in a house since my first boat and knew nothing about them. I only knew a house was a poorly built boat that couldn't go anywhere and you had to pay lots of taxes on it, even if you owned it outright!
So I bought another boat and sailed south once again. Found a lovely woman to become my crew and then partner and after 4+ years of very pleasant aimless cruising, we've just finished our second charter of the season.
Would I do it all again? Without a doubt. Has it always been wonderful? Of course not. Would I do anything else now? Perhaps if sailing become too difficult, a land yacht of some sort to tour the Americas would be a possibility.
As someone who started young, let me assure you that it was a whole lot easier and more fun in my 20's/30's than it is in my late 60's so take travlineasy's advice and don't wait a second longer than you have to.
 
#26 ·
Capta: That is a great story with many lessons to be learned. The base lesson is similar to my experience, although I am just getting involved in sailing at the age of 62, but you never quit when things did not go your way. I started my adult life in a trade that I thought I had always had an interest but an economic turndown and cold Midwestern winters combined with high energy prices ended my employment opportunities. I moved to a different area and changed career fields which eventually led me to yet another state and self-employment. The result (although at times very trying and lean) has led to a successful business that hopefully will allow me to spend my retirement years following my desires without worry about the financial side of things. Too many people are willing to quit the road of life at the first obstacle.
 
#28 ·
Uh-oh, we're 68 and JUST got our boat last fall. But at last the dream is finally within reach! We have some challenges, but we'll take it a day at a time. Financing the dream is set. A plan to retire within 9 months is no longer a dream but it's actually happening. We see our boat as our caccoon. Can't wait to get it back in the water in May. Are we too old to be starting the journey? I don't know, we'll just have to find out. At least we won't end up saying: "If we had only tried..."
We will have!
 
#35 ·
The key is not to wait too long. We know lots of cruisers who's sailing has been interrupted by ill health: cancer, bad backs, cardiac problems all take their toll on the over 60's.

Although a major reason for the female half to get off the boat is a desire to spend more time with the grandkids! Which is why we spend as much on airfares for them as we do maintaining the boat!

8,000nm is really part time sailing, we spent less than 80 days at sea last year. This year we are exploring New Zealand and Fiji and will only do about 3,000nm. One aspect of our cruising is that we spend significant time in lovely locations...we spent 6 months scuba diving in Bonaire. We have some friends who are about to lap us while on their second circumnavigation.

https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=s...1p3LAhXKp5QKHbOmDb8Q_AUIBygB&biw=1366&bih=601

Phil & Nell with 4 young grandsons who had better get good jobs because we are spending their inheritance!
 
#36 · (Edited)
The key is not to wait too long. We know lots of cruisers who's sailing has been interrupted by ill health: cancer, bad backs, cardiac problems all take their toll on the over 60's.
I think this grounds more than we even know. I bought my current boat from a 60 something that commissioned her new and then it seemed his wife's health changed their cruising plans and he sold a few years after taking delivery.

Although a major reason for the female half to get off the boat is a desire to spend more time with the grandkids! Which is why we spend as much on airfares for them as we do maintaining the boat!
That's my plan!

Many say go now, but in don't want to just leave everyone behind. Further, I want to be able to return, when health requires, so I don't want to fully disconnect from friends, family and community. The trick is to stash enough to have it all, before it's too late.
 
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