Looking to liveaboard

Greetings from the godforsaken frickin’ desert!
My wife and I moved here (south of Tucson) 9 years ago from Oceanside, CA and we’ve been miserable ever since. Our story is a sad one, in which a debilitating disease (my wife) has resulted in astronomical medical bills which have devastated us financially. But we’re ready to turn the page and move on to the next chapter of our life. In that new chapter, we file for bankruptcy to discharge a mountain of debt that we’ll never be able to pay off, sell off everything we own including 2 cars, and use the proceeds (around $20K) to buy a new home on the water and sail (trawl?) off into the sunset, happily ever after.

Sorry to hear your sad story. I can appreciate you are looking for a dramatic change, but I don't think boating is the answer, just yet, with a budget of what would be less than 20k. When you buy a new boat, you buy a stream of expenses. When you buy a used boat, you sometimes buy a larger stream of expenses. If you manage to find a boat big enough to live on for 20k, the stream of expenses will most certainly be large enough to bankrupt you all over again. Apologies for being so blunt, bit it's the reality...and you're better off understanding this now.

If you can live on a 30’ sailboat you might be ok with a $20,000 budget. I think post #2 says it like it is and then there is the difficulty in even finding liveaboard moorage.

Sailing off into the sunset with 20K...less boat purchase costs?

What annual income do you expect?

Yeah, sorry about your problems, but I have to agree with the others here.

A lot of people think that they can somehow live much more cheaply by living on a boat. The reality is that living on a boat is often MORE expensive than living on land, not LESS. There are a lot more ongoing expenses than most people realize.

My advice is to think this through thoroughly, move slowly, and don't jump into anything without being quite sure that you have both eyes wide open.

Good luck.

Very sorry to hear of your predicament. I hope you find a solution that gives you some peace.

Greg.

Welcome aboard. We lived in Tucson for 30 years before moving back to Michigan. Sorry about the medical problems. Hope all goes well in the future. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

psneeld said:

Sailing off into the sunset with 20K...less boat purchase costs?

What annual income do you expect?

Click to expand...

At least $60K. Maybe as much as $80K.

I should add that we intend to dock down in Baja, where slip rental will be relatively cheap.

It might be educational to read recent threads in this forum started by new member Ducatihottie. Search for his posts. He's in the process of buying a nice 30+ yr old 42' trawler ~$80k. Part time liveaboard, if I remember correctly. Anyway, there's been a TON of discussion and advice given regarding what buying such a boat might entail in terms of challenges and expenses. I think these threads will help you come to a better understanding of the financial situation you would be getting into...and relieve some of the members having to repeat a lot of the same advice here.

This is also a good thread on Budgeting and Operational Costs. (Warning - there are no quick and easy answers!)
https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s62/budgeting-operational-costs-51345.html

I just posted a new thread about a specific boat that may be a good fir for me. I’d post a link but I think the thread is awaiting approval since I’m so new to the forum.

Welcome to the forum. Good luck with your plans. I'll check into your thread hold-up so it can get moving. Posting a live link if very new member will sometimes cause a pause is appearance until vetted.

For once I was ahead of you Pete. This was the thread, and the embedded links stalled it for a new member. Sorted this morning.

https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s62/would-you-buy-avoid-boat-if-you-were-my-shoes-51661.html

If that Grand Banks doesn't turn out to be a good fit, with the low budget, I'd be looking at older gas powered motoryacht types. Fuel cost can be a bit rough if you travel too far / too often, but other than that, they will typically give you the best living space per dollar on the used market. There are enough out there (and enough alternatives with diesels) that they're just not worth much.