america ii sailboat

Life was cheap in both our minds when we started living aboard a sailboat in 1995. It was a pleasant surprise when we found out how cheap it was.

In late 1994 he had sailed our boat, Shadowtime, of Kemah, Texas to Jost Van Dyke in the BVI. It took 22 days, 18 in Sea, with stops in Key West and Marsh Harbor Bahamas. But that's another story.

I do not know how to surf?

Never been in a sailboat to 4 previous years. The cruise ship stopped at St. Thomas, not all of them and we had taken an excursion on a 36 meter sailboat for 4 hours with 2 other couples cruise. We were dragged through the sailboat. The young captain and mate said that living aboard a sailboat was a cheap way of life … that was a bonus to us, we loved the lifestyle.

As we pulled out of the night I noticed dozens of boats floating in the anchorage, the captain and mate with a cocktail cabin and said … "That's what I do." And we did … so can you.

Not knowing how to navigate thought it would be a problem … no, you pick it up on the fly. Over the next four years we took sailing classes, sailboat was on the cards with crew, then took a few letters for ourselves.

We bought our boat, an island Pack 35 May 1994. I removed the lines of Kemah and headed south in November 1994.

We arrived back at the ship in the British Virgin Islands in January 1995, I returned for Christmas. We found that daily life continued as usual. We had to eat, we had to sleep, and we had to take care of the boat. Gradually got more comfortable and smiled a lot about each other. The adventure had begun.

We hung around the BVI for 3 weeks and went to St. Martin, 90 miles this. We discovered that the candle, 20 hours, was our longest sail between the islands to get to Trinidad on the coast of South America.

For the next 8 winters that traveled the Windward and Leeward … diverted to Venezuela on three occasions. We cruise, no runners, no long distance sailors (get the boat to South cured me of that aspiration). We took it easy and cheap lived from 1995 to 2002, 7 to 9 months at a time. What a life, you can do it too.

We retired to the sailing life thinking it would be a peaceful, quiet retirement. We were right on. We had a ball. It was fun, it was safe, and found it was more pleasant to live cheaply. We spent about $ 1,000 per month on average of 8 years in the boat … and lived large.

We have found that our fellow cruisers were tighter, more frugal, most with limited budget group that had never. We soon discovered that to avoid losing money so they could keep cruising and avoid having to return to work. Almost all successful.

Living cheap, I mean if he stopped at a new anchorage with cruise you knew that 5 minutes later … which is anchored to catch the bus or taxi … where they sold the cheapest beer … and who else was in the island. The cruising community is tight and more than one night was spent in other booths, where we toasted our good fortune in this life.

If the stock market has turned his 401K to 201K … Take heart there are many cheaper ways of life, having more fun than you thought possible. Living aboard a sailboat in the Caribbean is a great way off. We did it, so can you. Enjoy.

Thomas and Max on America II – sailboat from Americas cup 1987

Sailboat (2 Tall Ships) Framed Art Poster Print – 13 X 19

$19.99

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America's Cup II Art Poster PRINT Joaquin Moragues 32x34

America’s Cup II Art Poster PRINT Joaquin Moragues 32×34

$65.70

Title: America’s Cup II. Artist: Joaquin Moragues. Image Size: 31.28in. x 30.89in. Paper Size: 32.00in. x 34.00in. Art Poster PRINTWe have an unparalleled selection of both vintage and modern prints, posters, art prints, photographs and framed imagery. Our selections are ideal for both the office and home and we have over 400,000 images available for search or browsing. Your print is presented on…

America's Cup II Art Poster PRINT Unknown 20x8

America’s Cup II Art Poster PRINT Unknown 20×8

$19.80

Title: America’s Cup II. Artist: Unknown. Image Size: 20.00in. x 7.66in. Paper Size: 20.00in. x 8.00in. Art Poster PRINTWe have an unparalleled selection of both vintage and modern prints, posters, art prints, photographs and framed imagery. Our selections are ideal for both the office and home and we have over 400,000 images available for search or browsing. Your print is presented on premium, …

Wind

$6.68

A young man achieves his childhood dream to sail in an America’s cup race, first taking part in a losing team and then trying again the next year.Genre: Feature Film-Action/AdventureRating: PG13Release Date: 1-MAY-2007Media Type: DVD…