Pensacola FL Sailing Blog - sailingnightwatch

Before you get deep into moving from the dream stage to reality, there are many things you must look at realistically. This is by no means a complete list but just some thoughts that we went through and felt were things that we did right and saw as mistakes others did not look at that later caused problems.First is work. Do you? Must you? Can it be done at sea? Can you take time off…, years? We still work. My wife goes off to work in an office every day and I work from the boat. She needs closet space, and I do not mean the 18” on a normal sail boat. We are fortunate enough that the closet in the aft stateroom has about 6’ of hanging space. We have another like size closet in the forward stateroom. That is for my clothes, all jackets and coats and anything else that does not fit in her closet. We are also fortunate enough to have lots of shelves and drawers for clothes that do not get hung. We also have a wet locker that is about 2’ long. It has all our fowl weather gear, an ironing board, swim ladder and our flares.This working thing caused us to cull out sever fine cruising boats that we called weekenders. They were designed for the charter trade. Even though they were in the 40+ foot range, they would be a challenge to go to work from and remain in love with the life style.Are either of you collectors of things. Can you leave the collection ashore. Are you willing to be away from them, will you pay for a place to store your collection. Stamps do not take much room, but would you want them in a marine environment. We have a friend that collects Noa’s Ark stuff. The house is full of these little arks and animals, some are not so little. Would she part with them…. No!Pets. Cats seam to adopt well. I have seen the dog lover dutifully taking his dog ashore in the most miserable of weather. We have a lizard that has taken up residency in the oars and sailing gear for the dingy. I see him come and go from the boat, he goes sailing with us, sets himself on a rail with his nose in the air like a dog hanging out a car window. Must be some sensual high that comes with long noses. Besides caring for them, there are many restrictions that are placed on the animal and you when entering foreign countries.Kids. Schooling can be handled through a couple good programs. Does your dream include being teacher several days a week? The kids seem to adopt well after the initial shock of loss of friends. Your older kids who are on their own. They think you are wasting all their inheritance and should be committed. We know they are just jealous.Other obligations. Community involvement. Land bound friends. Some will not come on your boat, period. The most water they ever want to see is when they bathe. Others will be willing to be weekend crew at the drop of a hat. If you go cruising, are you ready to give up the closeness of those relationships.Physical environment. 2, 3, 4000+ square foot home to 2, 3, 400+ square foot boat. What amenities will you loose. Dishwasher, trash compactor, large frig/freezer, washer/drier, furniture. What to do with cherished furniture. What about the house?Back to size. I was asked several times how we could think about living in such a small space. A friend who had lived on his boat for several years told me to do this experiment. For a week, keep track of where you go in your house every day. This includes the paths you take. This will make you feel like a rat in a maze. There was one bedroom I never went into, half of our great room I never passed through, the paths I took were always the same. Look at your carpeting, any signs of wear? Took all my meals at the same spot, spent my evenings in the same chair, made weekend forays to the sofa to practice my “Dagwood” impressions. Not that size is not important. After one hurricane, we spent 6 months in a 30’ FEMA trailer. It was a God send at the time, but my personality was turning darker with each passing month.In conclusion, these have all been negatives that can kill the dream. I do not want to do that, but these and many other things must be thought about before making such a major life style change. OK did that, now lets find a boat.