Paying for a Life Aboard..Suggestions?

[solidpeter91]

Hello Friends,

Let me first introduce myself,a s I am new to this forum.

My name is Peter and I am a rising high school senior from the Chicagoland area. I have dreams of going to Stanford (or any college for the matter) and studying English. I am also interested in applying for the US Navy NROTC program in order to defer the cost of tuition and gain some expirience on the water as well as some $.

I would really like to, after I am finished with my Navy service (either 4 Years Active or 8 Years Active) buy a boat and travel.

Now I have thought long and hard about this option, and while I am still young (though responsible and hard working), I feel that this would be a great path for me.

Due to my Navy service, I would not have to pay for housing or food. I plan to put all of the money I make into a savings account or invest it in something. At the end, I would have about 150,000 to get off.

I am thinking that this would be enough to buy the initial boat and get it well prepared (I am not looking for a fancy yacht) and sustain me for a while.

My concern is, how would I go about making more money once it runs out? Would looking into "online jobs" be a reasonable option? Should I pick up some skills?

I am really interested in writing and that fuels my whole desire for the journey.

Can anyone give me some advice on how I can pay for this or how I can sustain myself? How do you feel about my plan in general? Where should I pick up some sailing training before I go out? (Mind you, this plan is not set in stone. It is just a highly preferential option).


Thank you so much and I am so glad to be here =).

[sailingdog]

I'd imagine that your Navy stint will give you some technical skills of some sort, especially if you're going into NROTC and then into the Navy as an officer.

I would highly recommend that you finish college, since your Navy service should qualify you for some financial assistance.

While you are in college, I would recommend you do some sailing. If you pick a school in the right area of the country, you may not even have to apply to a sailing club or yacht club. The US Naval Academy would be a good school, and well within your plans...and they have a very serious fleet of sailboats there.

Then, once you're done with school and the Navy, you should consider buying a boat and living on it. The education and skills you get in the Navy and through college will probably give you a much more solid foundation for living aboard and owning a boat.

[solidpeter91]

thanks sailingdog, I appreciate your reply.

In terms of skills, what could I do with the stuff i learn in the Navy? What odd jobs could I do with what i learn...do you also recommend doing oddjobs at ports (i.e. waiter, dockworker, etc.)?

I plan to go to college and not really have to pay anything. The Navy NROTC program paysl 100% tuition, books and fees, and I get a monthly stipend. They would also pay for study abroad (which I plan to partake in the Semester at Sea program). I would only have to pay for room and board, 12,000 a year rounded.

My parents will help me with this. My parents are divorced so there is an extra set of income there. Considering my academic background (Class Rank: 3 out of 500, 31 ACT, Cum GPA of 4.7 out of 4.0 weighted) I am sure I will get some good scholarship offers to cover that.

So I wouldn't really owe anything out of colelge and I'd be making money from the getgo.

In terms of sailing clubs, I plan to join the Stanford Sailing Club (if I go there). Would this involvement give me enough exposure or should I look into summer jobs on fishing boats or crew boats? How would I go about this?

Thanks again my good sir.

[sailingdog]

Instead of looking for summer jobs on fishing boats, I would suggest you try and find positions working on a sailboat delivery crew. That would be far better in terms of what you'd learn and how applicable it would be to your future goal of owning and living aboard a sailboat. Delivery captains and their crew tend to need to be a fairly well-rounded and broadly skilled lot, as almost anything can happen on a delivery.

Working on a delivery crew, with a good captain can be an education in seamanship in and of itself. It can also be a good testing ground for yourself and how you deal with adversity and surprises... as these types of things seem to be pretty common on sailboat deliveries.

The greater a skill and knowledge base you have to work with—electrical, plumbing, diesel/gasoline engine, electronics, etc.—the better off you'll be as a boatowner and the better prepared you will be for cruising long-term and living aboard a boat.

If you want a humorous and realistic look at the life of a delivery captain, I'd recommend John Kretschmer's Flirting with Mermaids. It is an excellent read, well written, funny and very revealing.

Working in the Navy as an officer will probably give you some technical training of some sort. Electronics, radar, communications, etc are all possibilities. Getting your hands dirty and learning as much as you can about the hands-on side of a Navy ship is only going to be a benefit to you in the long run IMHO.

BTW, I wasn't in the Navy, or any other branch of the military for that matter, but have several good friends who were.

[solidpeter91]

wow, I never thought of it like that.

I have my heart set on setting off at 30...8 years after colelge (devoted to either 8 years active duty or 4 years active, 4 years reserve...I had my heart set on 8 years active for the flow of initial funds). Perhaps I could look into the 4 years active and 4 years reserve option..THat way, I could work on one of these delivery boats for 4 years and gain excellent expirience..and I would still be a part of the Navy and earning good money.

My plans are still very vauge and not etched, so anything could change..I don't want you to think of me as a naive and unrealistic teenager =P.


But I think that would be great exposure...Do you know a good resource for finding these kinds of delivery jobs.

Also, what would I need to posess in order to own a boat? A license of some sort?

Thanks again sir.

[Freesail99]

Please don't allow your desire to live on a sailboat limit all you can do with your life. Talk to your parents they know you far better then you realize. They may have some good insights in what you should do or the direction, you should go. You have a long life ahead of you and it be a terrible thing to have a job you don't like, just to live on a boat. Sounds like between college and the Navy, you have a minimum of 9 years to think this thing out, don't hurry.

Good luck

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by solidpeter91

wow, I never thought of it like that.

I have my heart set on setting off at 30...8 years after colelge (devoted to either 8 years active duty or 4 years active, 4 years reserve...I had my heart set on 8 years active for the flow of initial funds). Perhaps I could look into the 4 years active and 4 years reserve option..THat way, I could work on one of these delivery boats for 4 years and gain excellent expirience..and I would still be a part of the Navy and earning good money.

I would recommend starting on doing the sailboat delivery stuff in college if at all possible.

My plans are still very vauge and not etched, so anything could change..I don't want you to think of me as a naive and unrealistic teenager =P.

As Free said, you've got a lot of your life ahead of you and there are no guarantees as to where it will take you...so I wouldn't try and set anything in stone yet.

But I think that would be great exposure...Do you know a good resource for finding these kinds of delivery jobs.

These sorts of jobs are far better gotten through personal contacts that you make yourself IMHO.

Also, what would I need to posess in order to own a boat? A license of some sort?

Thanks again sir.

Not really a lot needed to buy and own a boat. Some states require you to take and pass a boating safety course. Some are now starting to require a "license" for boaters... not many though.

Glad to help.

[camaraderie]

Peter...welcome. Get a solid boat for $50k and go sailing with $100k in your pocket before you go to work! If you can get into Stanford, you can do much better for yourself on dry land...so go sailing for 5-10 years, then come back and finance your retirement sailing with some land work!

[solidpeter91]

Thanks to you all for the info.

I do have a lot of my life ahead of me, I completely understand that..I am just trying to get as much early information and opinion on what I am envisioning right now to see if it is too unrealistic.

The ideal job that I would like to have is a writer...but I wouldn't want to do this from anywhere else besides the sea, the shore, or a boat.

In terms of finding the deleivry jobs, do you recommend I do these during my college summers, or are these shaped for shorter tours (i.e. a weekend or a week)?

Thanks.

[sailingdog]

Most delivery trips are multi-day, if not several weeks.