I had thought of buying a boat many times in the past, but for various reasons, I never actually gave it a try. Well that changed this past year, and the boat pictured here has become home for my dog #Jax and I! We have easily adjusted to #boatlife, and are loving every day!
How did I get here?
A little over a year ago, I was living in Noe Valley, where I had spent the previous ten years. I had a great place, and thoroughly loved the location. But... some things started to nag at me:
- I was spending $4500/month renting a place that was honestly too big for me - I had 1800 sq. ft, and left 1200 of that space empty most of the time.
- I grew up on the ocean. I worked on boats for thousands of days of my life. Even though I lived in a city surrounded by water, I never went out on it.
- I like to be a little bit different :)
Is it for everyone?
I have met and spoken to many people who hear my story and immediately say things like "Man - I should do that!", "I could save so much money!", "I want to go sailing/cruising now..."
My advice to most people is usually along the lines of:
- Be honest with yourself - does it make sense for you to own a boat? Like an RV, a pleasure craft can be a lot of maintenance and cost for very little use, if you only plan to go cruising around a few times over the summer.
- If you are not sure, perhaps make friends with someone who owns a boat, or maybe look into "sharing" a boat (fractional ownership) as a first step.
- Take into account your boating experience and how much boat you are comfortable handling. If money is no object, you can get as big as you want and just hire people to drive you around :)
- If you are serious about it, talk to people like me :)
Cheers,
Joe