Your desired time on your boat

Our desired time is 2/3 of our time on boats cruising and then another 40 or so days around home. We didn't know how that would factor when we started but learned what was right for us along the way. Typically we like to at least fly home every six weeks or so and spend two or three weeks there before returning to the boat.

As to where.....the world. So far it's been the East Coast, the Bahamas, and the Gulf Coast but much more to see in all those areas. And this year, it's been Alaska, the PNW and California and at the moment we're in Mexico.

Future includes doing the loop, cruising the inland rivers of this country, the Caribbean. Then at some point Europe, then the Pacific Islands. South America will come in at some point depending on conditions as they change positively and negatively from time to time.

And if we finish the world (which of course will never happen), we'll just do it all over again, trying to see some of what we missed the first time.

We like small towns and big cities along the way. Love meeting people in different areas, sharing their histories, and especially their art and crafts.

Travel by auto for pleasure holds no interest to us. Travel by water excites us anew each day. For us it's the getting there and the destinations. While many find hours on the water boring, we find it to be enjoyable and refreshing.

The last day we boat we will still be thinking of other things we'd like to see

I have no interest in living year round in our boat, I need some place to call home.

But we would like to travel from the 1000 Islands all the way to Duluth via Lake Ontario, the Welland Canal, through the St. Clair river and up Lake Huron to Sault St Marie. Then onto Lake Superior to Duluth.

This would likely take about 5 years with all the exploring we'd do, hence the need of home.

Next we would head east towards the Gulf of St Lawrence staying on the south shore, going around Gaspe and over wintering the boat in PEI, then continue east through the Canso Canal and up the Cape Breton coast to Bras d'Or Lake.

And over wintering the boat in Bras d'Or Lake.

Then back through the Canso Canal towards Gaspe with a stop in Miramichi or Pointe Sauvage to over winter the boat.

Once we figure out how to get in and out of either place, the back around Gaspe to Some where that's safe to cross to the north shore of the St. Lawrence and over winter again somewhere around Tadoussac.

And then back up the St. Lawrence to Montreal and up the Ottawa River to Ottawa, down the Rideau Canal to home.

Hmmmmmmmmm.....what a trip, but we can all dream.

The Bahamas consists of 700 Islands, I cruised them every summer for three years, and maybe stopped at 150 of them. So I have a lot more work to do. My bucket list cruise is most of the world. My first Cruise is to pull up onto Yacht Transport in Ft. Lauderdale, and get dropped off in Spain. Then travel up the coast and cruise the Fiords of Norway, then back down to Italy, Greece (if it's still there) then over to New Zealand, Australia and then back to Spain. I figure that little trip will take two maybe three years. Then back to Florida, then off to Bermuda (always wanted to do that by boat) then be up in New England to watch the leaves turn, and head back down the Coast to Florida. If I still have wanderlust, I'll plan a trip to Hawaii, and then French Polynesia. Always wanted to check out Bora Bora, and the surrounding islands. By that time I'll be in my Seventies. Will take a year to reassess.

Jim, I always thought of having a 125' plus boat to cross Oceans was the way to go, but with the advent of Yacht Transport, that's no longer necessary. Which thanks to the gang at YF, have shown me that the bigger you go, your costs go up exponentially. What sales people tell you and what the real world (which you find out here at YF) is, are worlds apart. So, I've pulled in my horns as to length. Fishing is my passion in life, so I'm leaning towards, a cold molded Sport Fisherman with a Yacht interior.

What ever I buy or have built is going to be a live aboard for me as well. What is your time frame for buying a boat?

Size absolutely limits where you can go, what you can do and how much it'll cost you. Better a smaller boat that you can afford to take off the dock.

So far the comments here seem to be about extended cruising or living aboard. However that's a small fraction of boaters. What I've noticed is that when people are buying a boat this is the dream, or at least having the boat out every weekend May through September. After buying reality sets in. The kids soccer games fall on weekends, there's sales at the mall, religous services and about a million other excuses not to make it to the boat after the first summer of ownership. My best suggestion is to make sure to keep the boat convenient. If it's not kept withing 20 minutes from your home, it spells trouble. If you can't afford to run the boat 2 days a week, it spells trouble. If you need a captain to take your boat out, and you don't have a F/T captain it spells trouble. If you have the wrong type of boat it spells trouble. Get a fishing boat when your wife and family aren't into fishing, and you'll be cruising alone, and you can count on your wife finding reasons why you should put off boating 'until next week'.

I once had a client who bought a big Bertram as a first boat, complete with outriggers. They didn't fish, but liked the style. So when they entertained it was up and down the ladder. The kids had to be dragged aboard kicking and screaming. Once aboard they hung in the cabin playing video games. They'd have been much better off with a 30' express that the kids could run and no ladders for the guests.

Jim,
My reason for asking, was that a mid 60 something foot Viking Enclosed Bridge kinda gives you the best of both worlds, a livable Yacht space, with the added bonus of a fishing platform. Every time I meet a woman, who thinks she's interested in me, I slow her down, ask her if she gets seasick, want's to live the life of a vagabond, can live without going to a mall shopping for months at a time, likes eating seafood 50% of the time. etc. You'd be amazed how much that turns women off! (Or at least the one's I meet) I'd rather spend the rest of my life alone, than to let a woman dictate to me what kind of boat I buy. Whatever I end up living aboard is going to have a cockpit. Period. I just got through reading Judy's Review of the new Moonen 100' Exploration Yacht, now that's a boat I would consider owning...assuming they could weld a cockpit on the back without having to move the running gear. Telling me I couldn't fish on my boat, would be like telling a woman she'd never be able to buy another pair of shoes...ever.

Along with length, consider draft and overhead clearance if you'll be running the east coast or the Loop. Max height for the Loop is about 19', and lots of areas where a 5' draft will keep one eye pinned to the depth finder. Also, I can't recommend hard enough against having one built, unless you're just talking about a few custom features. Even so there are several reasons I'd recommend a pre-owned over new.

Neo56,
"Every time I meet a woman, who thinks she's interested in me, I slow her down, ask her if she gets seasick, want's to live the life of a vagabond, can live without going to a mall shopping for months at a time, likes eating seafood 50% of the time. etc. You'd be amazed how much that turns women off! (Or at least the one's I meet) I'd rather spend the rest of my life alone, than to let a woman dictate to me what kind of boat I buy."

Can't imagine why that turns women off. I think the woman you're looking for may speak "Meow".

NYCAP...It's these big city women... they want a huge house, new car every year, unlimited Saks Fifth Ave, and Needless Markup cards (Neiman Marcus) handling a dock line might crack a nail, or mess up their manicure. I've had my fill of Princesses and Daddy's girls. God forbid they'd have to swab a deck!

Interesting Thoughts
I decided to marry my wife when I showed her my boat before we set off on a week sailing the Chesapeake bay and her first question was when did you last clean this thing. She took one look at my blank stare and went and got a bucket and tide/bleach and cleaned it from top to bottom without complaint or comment, which took 7 hours.
You have to marry a woman like that.
still happily married 17 years later

When I first got with the girl who would become my wife she used to clean the spokes on my '69 Triumph motorcycle. That ended when the ring went on, but I kept her around anyway, and got mags on future bikes.