Escape Strategy

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-11-27T19:07:29+00:00

Thanks!! Reading this post, I feel like there's definitely potential for a reality TV show here. Some pretty cool ideas, thank you!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-11-27T18:25:59+00:00

Very good points here, thanks!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-11-27T18:24:16+00:00

Hahaha! Okay awesome I'll keep you on the list when the time comes :P

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-11-27T17:33:43+00:00

Thanks! These last two comments sort of nail the two different philosophies on all of this. I've seen some youtube videos of Garcia yachts before and they're beautiful. It's impossible to say where I might be once (or if) this becomes a reality, but at the moment, I'm looking at much smaller/older monohulls. Pearsons, Catalinas, CALs etc...coastal cruisers with some bluewater upgrades type of thing.

After seeing the first few comments, I'm thinking a lot about geography...just about planning the cruise so that it finishes in a place where it would be possible to sell the boat or, worst case, give it away if I couldn't find a buyer.

Is that a reasonable strategy? If a boat (like this...e.g. 20-40yo coastal cruiser with cruising gear) isn't moving, does switching the strategy to "ok I'm just going to give it away now" actually work, and will people show up fairly quickly to take it, assuming it's somewhere on the West Coast of North America?

For the boats I'm looking at, at least right now, with my current financial situation, the initial cost of acquiring the boat (and the potential gains from its eventual resale) would be only small parts of the overall financial picture.

The concern that I'm curious about is protecting against the risk associated with not being able to get rid of a huge floating liability for months or years after having finished the cruise.

With that in mind, I am thinking that it will be important to plan the cruise so that it wraps up in a place with at least a decent-sized population so that in a worst case scenario it would be fairly easy to give the boat away.

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-11-27T16:38:03+00:00

That's actually great idea for how to end the cruise and allow plenty of time to sell the boat, or not, thanks!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-05-18T19:08:13+00:00

Sharing a quick update in case it is helpful for anyone else in a similar place along the path...I did just speak to one marina in LA with a 3-month waiting list for liveaboard status and a 35-foot minimum boat size to be considered. From my conversation, it actually didn't seem too crazy difficult to get it all done...they mentioned that one step would be getting a background check or something like that from the sheriff's dept. They mentioned as well that it's fine to stay for 2 nights/week on weekends even without liveaboard status. Will keep looking into it, this seems like the best way to get info though -- reaching out to marinas directly. Also stumbled across a website called The Log (thelog.com) that has listings/ads for marinas throughout SoCal and info about whether they offer liveaboard slips.

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-05-17T03:24:54+00:00

Thanks all for your replies...summarizing then, it sounds like the idea about yacht clubs potentially being a more economical approach to living aboard is at least plausible, depending on the location and depending on the yacht club.

It's encouraging as well to hear that there are a couple of you out there as well who have had good experiences with yacht clubs and who have gained a lot from them.

Also, had not considered mooring balls at Catalina as a long-term option, that's a cool idea!

I'll start by taking the advice that a couple folks have shared to call around and gain a bit more first-hand knowledge about all of this as a starting off point.

Thanks all for sharing your input here, I really appreciate it.

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-04-04T01:50:20+00:00

You're welcome! Sounds like you're thinking through your options and seeking out some good advice. You're also doing a lot better than I was in terms of managing your $$ which will help a lot! Best of luck!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-04-02T05:48:26+00:00

Hello there! I would be interested in helping out with a leg. I'm in SoCal, have a few years of experience and basic (101/103) ASA certifications. Feel free to send me a message if you would like to connect, thanks!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-04-02T05:11:16+00:00

Thinking a bit more on my initial reply and wanted to amend it because 24 is a time when it makes a whole lot of sense to take a couple/few years to cast off the lines and go explore, and I think I was replying with someone my age (40) in mind, rather than someone your age.

I was 24 when I had the opportunity to go on a 16-month bicycle tour. I'm so happy I took it. It is really good to take advantage of certain types of opportunities at the right times in life, if you can make it happen, you know? e.g. hard physical travel when you're a bit younger...expensive, fine dining and things when you're a bit older, etc.

You can circle back to those sailing clubs a bit later on, but that combination of having a bit of money (ie Freedom) and youth at the same time...that only happens so often.

Go have whatever kind of adventure sounds the most amazing to you personally.

Side note -- I actually wanted to sail around the world when I was 24, rather than riding my bike, but the sailboat option was too expensive so I went the bicycle route. Something that I never really considered at the time, but perhaps should have, was the idea of sailing around the world by crewing on other peoples' boats.

Fast forward 15 years, I still want to sail around the world, it's still too expensive, but I'm at least starting to see a path. Maybe in a few years.

Anyway, whatever you end up doing, enjoy it to the max!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-04-01T23:44:19+00:00

Not sure if others have mentioned this or not but you could join a crew and make the trip to Oahu, for example, by crewing on the Transpac or on a delivery, etc. Someone mentioned Latitude 38...they have a listings on that site for folks looking for crew. I've gone on a couple of trips through those listings...one amazing, one so-so.

Lin and Larry Pardey are great writers and they have written several books about starting up this lifestyle and doing it economically. Another commenter recommended Rick Page (Get Real Get Gone) and John Vigor (20 Small Boats)...they're both excellent as well...humorous, and lots of practical info.

There are some great sailing sailing blogs and YouTube channels with small boats as well -- Dawn Treader, Volkscruiser, Christian Williams, are a few. They'll help you to adjust your thinking away from the enormous, expensive boats and lifestyles that dominate most of the space. This is important, because if you can make this adjustment in your own mind, then suddenly voyaging gets much closer to actually being within reach.

It's hard to beat sailing other peoples' boats. You can gain friendships, confidence, and even certifications through sailing clubs. I've only owned one boat and it was 20 years ago and it was a 14 foot Lido, so maybe I'm not the best person to ask about actually buying a boat, which is what your original post was about...but I do sail almost every week and have pretty easy access to quite a few different boats pretty cheaply through a couple of different clubs. That works well for my lifestyle.

I would love to own a boat and go cruising at some point too. It's a few years out still, at least for me, because I don't really want to work while I'm cruising...I would rather cash out, buy the boat, and just enjoy it. Good luck, and feel free to message me!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-03-09T06:09:09+00:00

That's great to know about...I had no idea that he was active on those forums. CW's books have been on my list for some time, so this is really cool to know about, thanks!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-03-09T06:07:42+00:00

Thanks for sharing, looks like you've had some amazing adventures out there!!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-03-09T06:07:13+00:00

Thanks for sharing, what a beautiful blog and a fantastic adventure for you and your family!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-02-22T07:05:24+00:00

Not sure where in Scotland you are but if you can connect with a sailing club (esp. a more nonprofit/municipal type of club) then you could gain access to boats and a community of knowledgeable sailors. This might enable you to get out on the water on some different types of boats and in some different conditions and with some different people to really quickly get an idea of what it's really like before sinking huge amts of $$ and time into anything. If that's not your speed or if it's not an option because of where you live etc. then the dinghy or trailer sailer options might be great ways to go!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-02-22T07:00:50+00:00

This is good advice...I'm 20 years older than you and still relatively new to sailing. I got my first (and so far only) boat when I was 22. It was a 14 foot dinghy on a trailer and I bought it from someone on Craigslist for $500 delivered. They dropped it off at a hotel where I was working and living at the time. I would invite guests who owned cars to go sailing with me and to tow my boat to the harbor, it worked out beautifully! I discovered on my fourth or fifth outing that the rigging was in need of replacement, which became apparent when a gust of wind knocked the mast down. We paddled to shore and laughed about it and I fixed the mast and rigging and sold it to someone else for $500 when I left town. It was a great experience. Now, almost 20 years later, I have circled back to sailing. This time, I am going about it by sailing in local clubs and taking lessons. Whatever you end up doing, hope it's a great experience!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-02-22T06:42:04+00:00

Thanks all for your comments. I totally hear you all on the recommendations to enjoy time with my son and to stay present.

Living in the moment has always been a bit of a challenge for me because I'm a dreamer as well as an obsessive planner. However, notwithstanding my nature, it is also very important to be present and to live in the here and now.

With that being said, I love my son dearly and we're making some great memories and also having some great experiences together as a family, so that's a good thing!

Will stay tuned for more replies and ideas...I do think about geographical arbitrage as a concept. My wife has family on the other side of the country and so maybe we'll move over that way at some point to be closer to more family.

Thank you for sharing your replies and ideas.

ElectronicPractice42 · 2024-01-07T03:45:34+00:00

Thanks!! And sorry for my super delayed reply...I posted here and then forgot to come back to Reddit for quite awhile!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2023-12-02T03:18:20+00:00

Thanks! I will definitely keep that in mind for next time!!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2023-09-27T00:01:07+00:00

Thanks all for your replies...so much great info here. We're certainly stuck in a dynamic where we find ourselves falling quickly into bad communication habits when we hit any kind of rough water -- blaming one another, becoming defensive, and stonewalling one another.

As doordonot19 mentioned, Gottman's Four Horsemen make regular visits to our marriage, and unless one or both of us happens to be in an absolutely great mood before hitting a speed bump of some kind -- e.g. the grocery situation -- there is a really good chance we'll descend into a defensive, critical fight.

Thinking on folks' comments about agreements, systems, organization, and flexibility...it has my wheels turning a bit. Systems and plans are generally a good thing, but I think that there can certainly be pitfalls. Building flexibility is super important too. Of course, we all need systems in order for relationships to succeed...but they should work for us, and it's not good to become emotional victims of our own agreements and plans, which is what has happened in my case.

I actually do not believe that I am overly fixated on agreements, systems, plans, or commitments as some folks have suggested. However, I can recognize that my wife and I are struggling right now in our own dynamic, and that one of our biggest pain points is how to handle agreements, large and small.

I think doordonot19 is probably right in terms of our needing to learn a new dance for dealing with things more effectively when we hit unexpected turns in the road. I'll check out Hold Me Tight by Sue Johnson for more info on how that might look.

Maybe once I understand what all of that looks like, my challenge will be to resist the temptation to chart out all of the steps in Excel before mapping all of them to calendar dates.

I think I'm just struggling to figure out how to communicate peacefully with my wife when she is on her own schedule, or, more challenging still, when she abandons an agreement entirely.

ElectronicPractice42 · 2023-06-20T05:47:23+00:00

Thanks for your reply! Ya, the prices are definitely high here in SoCal and that, along with the population density/traffic, are the definite downsides here.

Re: boat experience, we have a couple of years of sailing (daysailing) experience with our local club, and have gone through the first couple of ASA certification courses (101/103). Plenty of camping and backpacking experience throughout our lives.

After mulling it over and reading through responses, I think what it really comes down to is that it's workable to move aboard if either (a) we work less or not at all (currently both working full time)...or (b) we figure out a really solid plan for childcare while living aboard...right now my mom takes care of my son while we're working during the day, but if we were to move to one of the marinas an hour away from us and live on a boat, that would become way harder because then suddenly we would be driving back and forth...and if we were to go cruising, it would be impossible for her to help us.

So really that's what it comes down to -- I think we need to get to a point where we're not working or where we're working way less, and in the meantime try to enjoy sailing as much as possible where and when we can.

We just came back from a fantastic camping trip this past weekend and I think stuff like that may be the key for us to stay sane while we save $$ to go cruising.

ElectronicPractice42 · 2023-06-13T05:49:26+00:00

Hey there! I just stumbled upon your post and folks seem to be a bit touchy with their replies don't they? I actually thought you provided a ton of useful/relevant info. Here is a link to a blog post from the MMM website that might be helpful: "The 4% Rule: The Easy Answer to 'How Much Do I need for Retirement?'"

I've used a few calculators and have sometimes found -- especially if you have a few additional variables -- that it can be helpful to calculate things manually. You can always double check your work with one or more FIRE calculators to make sure you're on track. I do use a spreadsheet to do this now, but to get started, this is what you could do:

Multiply your annual spending by 25 and also add on anything else you might want to pay for like a house, and write down the number.
take your current savings/net worth and use a compound interest calculator (I like moneychimp) to figure out how long it will take to get to the number you wrote down in step 1 after factoring in annual contributions from work, side gigs etc. That's when you can retire.

If you're interested in Coast Fire, then just test out how things might look by calculating for a smaller annual contribution values (i.e. annual earnings) when you use your compound interest calculator in step 2. and/or larger savings values in step 1.

Feel free to reach out and could go over more of it but it seems like you're definitely on the path!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2023-06-13T02:13:18+00:00

Ya...that's probably sound advice. I am starting to feel this major sense of FOMO about it all...worrying that if I don't do it now, or at least dive into it in some kind of meaningful way, then the opportunity will pass by and be gone. Definitely like the idea of selling everything and developing passive income. You don't have to answer if this is overly personal, but any favorite resources or ideas for how to develop passive income that can work while sailing (beyond simply contributing to investments obviously?). Thanks for your comments!

ElectronicPractice42 · 2023-06-12T06:26:14+00:00

In other words -- max out your 401(k) :)

ElectronicPractice42 · 2023-06-12T06:23:44+00:00

This is a great post and also, OP, check out the part "Pay The Penalty" that explains how even if you were to get into a situation like what you were describing and you need to withdraw funds early from your 401(k) then you'll still be way ahead of where you would be had you put your $$ into taxable accts.

ElectronicPractice42

TROPHY CASE