Hello everyone, and thank you for (collectively) creating such a welcoming and friendly space for boat owners and enthusiasts to join together. I'm typically one to "lurk" on forums as a part of my boat search/research process, but I felt the time was right to come out of the shadows and to introduce myself!
My wife and I lead fairly unconventional lives, with both of us working remotely (in entirely separate fields) and traveling for work together whenever, and wherever possible. We like to lead somewhat nomadic lives, usually traveling for weeks or months at a time for work, or spending winters in warmer climates, especially since we have a permanent home-base in Vancouver. We seldom take conventional "vacations", since we usually prefer to just immerse ourselves in whatever community we find ourselves in, working from our laptops, and enjoy the sights and local culture when we're not working.
We both have a deep-seated love of the ocean, and have always dreamed (even prior to meeting one another) of being on, and spending time in, the ocean. I grew up surfing and practically living in the water, and my wife is little different.
With the addition of our new (now 2 year old) daughter, we're wanting to keep our nomadic lifestyle while being more practical about the challenges in packing and moving around with a child. Dragging luggage through the London Underground or through random airports is hard enough with 2 minimalist-packing adults, let alone with a plethora of "must-have" stuffed toys and children's books.
Once my better-half broached the idea of moving into boating, the idea stuck, and neither of us have thought of anything else since. Both of our life-long dreams of being on the ocean took hold, and we have spent the better part of the past year researching, studying, and finding out as much as we possibly can.
In a few weeks we're beginning our first sailing course, and have taken virtually every NauticEd course we're allowed to take. We've been practicing knots, quizzing each other randomly throughout the day on random things that we know should become second-nature, and have been browsing YachtWorld to see what we like, and what we don't like, in a boat.
Through all of that though, we're being realistic, and while we both feel the allure of sailing, the practicality and convenience of a powered boat makes the most sense at this stage in our lives. I personally don't fancy the idea of having to worry about a toddler while wrestling with lines and sails in rough seas. Sailing may be a part of our future once our daughter is in her teens, but neither of us feel comfortable with living aboard a sailboat with a child younger than that.
Our plan is to live aboard for the bulk of the year, traveling up and down the West Coast, continuing our usual cozy and minimalist lifestyle, working our regular remote jobs as we go, taking our time and not being in any hurry to get anywhere. The idea is to enjoy a varying buffet of locales, introducing our daughter to new experiences, and being able to bring our home with us as we go without needing to constantly pack and unpack.
I have a ton of questions, many of which are seemingly impossible to find concrete answers to since many of them are wholly subjective. In my experience I find the best way to find something out is to just ask someone knowledgable for help. So that's my hope with joining this forum, is to be able to ask those questions, and perhaps maybe contribute a little back for those things I'm able to answer.
I apologize for the verbose rant (to butcher a phrase, I'm a man of too many words sometimes), but I figure if there's a welcome mat category, there's no better time to introduce myself and my family properly!
I look forward to asking some friendly advice about a number of topics, especially around live aboard needs, motoring along the West Coast, challenges in working aboard while underway, semi-displacement vs trawler, and other flame-war-worthy topics.
Thank you for listening, and for creating such a welcoming community that an Internet-hermit such as myself felt comfortable enough to join your ranks.
My wife and I lead fairly unconventional lives, with both of us working remotely (in entirely separate fields) and traveling for work together whenever, and wherever possible. We like to lead somewhat nomadic lives, usually traveling for weeks or months at a time for work, or spending winters in warmer climates, especially since we have a permanent home-base in Vancouver. We seldom take conventional "vacations", since we usually prefer to just immerse ourselves in whatever community we find ourselves in, working from our laptops, and enjoy the sights and local culture when we're not working.
We both have a deep-seated love of the ocean, and have always dreamed (even prior to meeting one another) of being on, and spending time in, the ocean. I grew up surfing and practically living in the water, and my wife is little different.
With the addition of our new (now 2 year old) daughter, we're wanting to keep our nomadic lifestyle while being more practical about the challenges in packing and moving around with a child. Dragging luggage through the London Underground or through random airports is hard enough with 2 minimalist-packing adults, let alone with a plethora of "must-have" stuffed toys and children's books.
Once my better-half broached the idea of moving into boating, the idea stuck, and neither of us have thought of anything else since. Both of our life-long dreams of being on the ocean took hold, and we have spent the better part of the past year researching, studying, and finding out as much as we possibly can.
In a few weeks we're beginning our first sailing course, and have taken virtually every NauticEd course we're allowed to take. We've been practicing knots, quizzing each other randomly throughout the day on random things that we know should become second-nature, and have been browsing YachtWorld to see what we like, and what we don't like, in a boat.
Through all of that though, we're being realistic, and while we both feel the allure of sailing, the practicality and convenience of a powered boat makes the most sense at this stage in our lives. I personally don't fancy the idea of having to worry about a toddler while wrestling with lines and sails in rough seas. Sailing may be a part of our future once our daughter is in her teens, but neither of us feel comfortable with living aboard a sailboat with a child younger than that.
Our plan is to live aboard for the bulk of the year, traveling up and down the West Coast, continuing our usual cozy and minimalist lifestyle, working our regular remote jobs as we go, taking our time and not being in any hurry to get anywhere. The idea is to enjoy a varying buffet of locales, introducing our daughter to new experiences, and being able to bring our home with us as we go without needing to constantly pack and unpack.
I have a ton of questions, many of which are seemingly impossible to find concrete answers to since many of them are wholly subjective. In my experience I find the best way to find something out is to just ask someone knowledgable for help. So that's my hope with joining this forum, is to be able to ask those questions, and perhaps maybe contribute a little back for those things I'm able to answer.
I apologize for the verbose rant (to butcher a phrase, I'm a man of too many words sometimes), but I figure if there's a welcome mat category, there's no better time to introduce myself and my family properly!
I look forward to asking some friendly advice about a number of topics, especially around live aboard needs, motoring along the West Coast, challenges in working aboard while underway, semi-displacement vs trawler, and other flame-war-worthy topics.
Thank you for listening, and for creating such a welcoming community that an Internet-hermit such as myself felt comfortable enough to join your ranks.
