Newbie's

Since being a member of this trawler forum I am amazed at the number of Newbie's that have heard about the liveaboard lifestyle or the loop that want to jump in both feet with little to no experience. Their sense of adventure and apparent tolerance for risk is refreshing. We all pour cold water on them to see how resilient they are and try to save them from the worst of it and I believe that is a service.

The reason I am posting is two fold. To applaud their out of the box thinking and I wonder what the success rate is? I suspect it is low but how low?

Living aboard successfully is rare but completing the loop is even rarer, only around 200 boats a year. The numbers of actually "getting there" are obviously very low but what happens in between. I wonder what percentage get through our first barrage and begin the purchase/planning process. What percentage actually buy a boat and what percentage run square into disaster once the purchase is complete or running out of time and money? What percentage enjoy their boat but never leave the dock or live aboard and what percentage actually cruise?

I doubt anyone can answer those questions. My own dream was 40 years in the wilderness with looking at never living in the promise land when suddenly it happened and I leave on the loop in less than two weeks. Will i complete it? Been a long time getting here and one heck of a lot of knowledge gained.

Welcome aboard.

Congratulations! Doing the Loop, or a crossing, or liveaboard, or Inside Passage, or any boat dream is to embark on a unique adventure. I would say not to worry about "success" or meeting any particular goal but just enjoy the adventure and how one's goals will change. IMO the best part of a boat is the freedom in waking up, seeing the sunrise and smelling the water, and being able to adapt to what the day brings.

I think a person needs to acknowledge how many steps it will take them to reach their goal. Some people can do it with one giant step, selling everything and buying a boat and casting off.

I thought we would do it in about three steps, but life changes and swerves around. Our end goal is still the same (not the Loop), but we are happy with buying the boat we did and are weekenders and vacations on Lake Champlain in our trawler. Even the steps we took some people here would of recommended against it. But we bought a 45 year old Trawler, got insurance, replaced the bilge pumps, impeller and fuel tanks and took her a bit over 200 miles from Jersey City up the Hudson and Champlain Canal to the lake.

Great Times.

PierreR said:

I leave on the loop in less than two weeks. Will i complete it? Been a long time getting here and one heck of a lot of knowledge gained.

Click to expand...

You might find this interesting:

As a relative newbie at least to trawlers, I will opine.

The chance of me living on a trawler or yacht of this size full time is likely near zero.
I would like to think the chance of doing the loop as greater than 80%
I am a few years away from retirement. Which is the plan to pull the trigger on ownership. And the size will likely be in the greatest percent bracket shown in the above attachment.

My plan (best of mice and men) will be to sell my Real Estate in the Valley of the Sun and move to navigable waters. With both a yacht and a dirt home to show for it. (and no payments)

My experience is not zero. I have owned boats since the 1980s. However all of my ownership has been gas powered and under 30'. Operated some that were larger, just not for much more than a few days. None burned oil and one had these big sheets of material off of an aluminum pole. (I did a class in FLA)

If I get to that point where I am an owner, several things are close to certain.
It won't be a doc queen
Not doin' the loop once and selling
I realize that there are hard spots out there and will likley have a bad experinece. Just hoping that kind of experience will be at a very slow rate of travel.

I am not risk adverse, however I am not the kind of person that makes a six figure decision without getting some answers first.

IMO the success or failure of such a lifestyle is about compatibility with your partner and the correct attitude towards life in general.

I've been married for 33 years and have been boating with my wife for 38 years now. Yet there are still things to work out when it comes to full time live aboard and cruise. They are, but not in any particular order:

Comfort. A boat needs to be a home, not just a place to eat, sleep and travel.

Aesthetics. If your boat does not provide 'eye candy' for the residents they will soon hanker for another venue.

Knowledge. The Captain needs to instill confidence in the rest of the crew with his or her ability to fix the issue at hand.

Desire for new experiences. The first sign of old age is the inability to accept change. If you do not hanker for something outside your comfort level, then it may all end badly. If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch!

An open mind and desire to enjoy the company of people who are not like you. As you travel, you will experience different cultures and peoples. If you wear blinkers (like a horse that needs to ignore traffic) then just sell the boat and go home.