Aspiring sailor and liveaboard

[turbulicity]

Hello,

We have been contemplating about buying a boat for living aboard with our 3 year old son. We are convinced that we are going to do this and do it soon (hopefully May'11). We are also making a longer term plan of doing a year long pacific cruise (we live in SF bay area). This dream has already injected so much energy and excitement to our life. Whether or not finances will agree to that as soon as we would like is another story.

Our dream boat is a solidly built, 40'-45' center cockpit. We have a few candidates in mind which I will seek your valuable opinions for soon. Oh by the way, we have absolutely no sailing experience ourselves other than having a small (few hours) trip with our friend.

This board has just been a wonderful inspiration and a source for information/advice. Looking forward to become a boat owner and share my experiences here.

[kwaltersmi]

Welcome to Sailnet and welcome to the cruising dream! Best wishes and fair winds for your sailing future. Don't be shy...this board is an excellent source for all things cruising and sailing.

[rmeador]

Go for it! I started living aboard (though not cruising) in Oct and I'm loving it. I discovered that I couldn't get insurance for a boat larger than about 37', however, due to lack of experience. The only experience I had was an 8-day (living aboard for the duration) ASA class. You should definitely take such a class, both to learn how to sail and to get some experience at living on a boat (whether or not you can deal with the constant motion, etc). I hope you'll find an insurer willing to cover you, or a smaller boat that fits your needs (there are some really great layouts that make smaller boats feel larger, but they tend to cost more).

[turbulicity]

Thanks for the warm welcome. Sailnet is a great place and it certainly demonstrates the fabled sailing community culture. One of the biggest lures of sailing I think. So no shyness here. I will learn and hopefully contribute here (I hold a PhD in aerospace eng. specializing in fluid dynamics, so I hope my 2 cents here and there should be helpful to some).

[turbulicity]

Hi rmeador. It seems that everybody who tried living aboard is absolutely in love with their decision. I would expect to see some that didn't find it bearable after trying and gave up. Maybe those folks are just not as vocal. You, for example, had your first liveaboard experience through the winter and still no complaints. This is great encouragement, thanks.

I heard getting insurance for older boats is a trouble but I didn't know the bigger boats were more problematic to insure. I have a friend living on a 44' old roberts boat and he was able to find insurance. So I assumed that was a non-issue. I will have another chat with him.

I know there are some who live on 27 footers with their kid but for me, a <40 boat would be pushing the limits of my wife's patience . 2 private, non-cramped cabins is a must for her, hence the look for a center cockpit.

[vega1860]

You will certainly find lots of information and help here at SailNet, if you haven't already. There are plenty of threads discussing the issues you face. As it happens, we are in the SF Bay at the moment and will be here for a few months before we resume our cruise so feel free to contact us.

[turbulicity]

Thanks Chuck & Laura,

I live very close to Redwood city actually. We are planning to liveaboard at Redwoodcity marina. Now we will add the Westpoint as another option. I started thoroughly enjoying your video logs and blog. I would love to have a chance to meet you in person. I will PM and check with you for a meetup perhaps for the weekend. BTW, let me know I you need a hand with anything in the area.

[vega1860]

Sound good.

We are moving to Bair Island, just around the corner, in two weeks. Send me a PM or email and we'll set up a meet.