New Wannabe

Hi
I just joined this forum. I'm an over the road trucker soon to retire. My wife and I have a dream of purchasing a live aboard trawler (used) but in decent shape....we plan on home porting in the Gulf of Mexico or along the southern intra-coastal waterway...when it's hot, we'll go north, and when it's cold........well, you get the idea. We plan on doing the "loop" over and over, along with some other cruises. My boating experience is mainly during my time with the USCG. I'm a qualified cox'n of many vessels and have my heavy weather, surfman qualifications earned at Cape Disappointment, Or. Also fair at navigating, but still thankful for GPS. Any introductions, hints, suggestions are strongly encouraged. Thanks for reading, and hope you won't mind my plethora of questions...I've never owned a large (38-42 feet) vessel. The US gov't was always nice enough to provide them for me to play with!

Welcome.

Welcome aboard and thanks for your service. Ask all you want!

Welcome aboard. Hope you come up with something you and your wife can enjoy. It is a nice lifestyle, but unfortunately doesn't seem to suit everyone (for various reasons). So be sure it is what you (and your wife!) really want to do before you do the final commitment. Taking things in stages is a great idea (read, look, sample, charter, etc, etc).

Thanks to all:
Jwnall, as far as is it what we want...lol....we both own/operate our own truck...so we're both on the road, living in a truck for 5 weeks...then we take 4 days off somewhere, then back on the road...living in a 38-42 foot trawler would be like a palace to us....and we both LOVE the ocean/water......so, as of now, we're pretty sure, but chartering to find out exactly what we want is a GREAT idea!

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. There is a "sticky" under the General Discussion heading called Boat Search 101. I would recommend you look it over AND possibly add your experience.

Welcome.

Charter a couple times and make sure this what you both really want to do. Try to charter a boat close to what you anticipate buying. A few grand invested in a couple charters can save you a ton of money later.

I've been married 25 years and was amazed how little I really knew about my wife's likes and dislikes in boats. After looking at boats through her eyes for a while I found out she's far more astute then I. Downright practical too with a real eye for style.

Happy wife happy life.

Thanks, RT Firefly...that was the VERY first thread I read, top to bottom when I joined...LOTS of good advice there. Especially about chartering a boat or two or three, I just have to figure out where to look to do that. I'm home based in the Houston area, but haven't had any luck there....any of you ole salts have any suggestions?

Welcome, you might tke a look at these folks, they are located in a great cruising area.
http://www.swfyachts.com/