Overdue

It has been a long, LONG time.

I got my Associates Degree. I will likely have to put off the Bachelors for awhile, with the way the economy is going I have to work a LOT for not a lot of pay just to make ends meet.

I have changed my plans somewhat. The live-aboard thing is kind of more of a camping for a weekend at sea someday kind of idea now. I met someone. It is serious, in the permanent kind of way. He has small kids, and it would be difficult to control them for an extended trip until they are older.

In the meantime though, I DID get a boat. It is significantly smaller than the 30 foot Catalina I have been dreaming of, but it promises to be just as fun.

I picked up a Hobie Cat 14 (14 foot long catamaran) project. I paid a whopping $200 for the boat AND trailer together. My friend grew up with one of these boats, and he told me it looks to be in pretty good shape. All the necessary repairs are basically expected maintenance and some painting.

I found a second boat that was being parted out due to having a hole punched in one of it's pontoons when the guy's son backed his truck into it. It appeared to be a turbo. This made my day, since I wanted to upgrade mine to a turbo anyway. I took everything but the pontoons and the mast, which wouldn't fit on my truck (trailer had a flat tire, I didn't feel like airing it up)

When I got home, I discovered that his boat must have been a 16, not a 14. Even though the guy said it was a 14. Everything fit fine, except the trampoline. It was a few inches too long. Since it is practically brand new though, I can probably re-sell it to offset the cost of buying a trampoline of the right size.

At least most of the parts for the 14 and the 16 are the same, I still got a good deal.

I need to pick up some epoxy to fix the little bit of delamination on the hulls, and some decent boat paint. Maybe gel coat. I think that might look nice. I dunno, I'm kind of learning as I go.

Doubts

The more I look into this, the more convinced I am that I don't want to do it as a permanent thing.

I think I have decided that, after graduation (thinking more after I get the Bachelors, since the Associates is only a little over a month away) I might take a month or two to do it, and just sail up and down the coast.

But first, I need a salvageable boat. I DO want to do the restorations myself.

and I need sailing lessons.

...A copilot might be nice too, but I don't want to ask too much.

More delays

School. Work. Traffic. Blah blah blah...

Also have had no internet at the house for over a month, courtesy of AT&T.

we had nearly no connection.

Complained.

More than three weeks later, they finally sent a tech out to fix it. After that, we didn't have a connection at all.

Complained again.

They said they would have someone out in a week.

A week later, they said that the work order had just been put in that morning, and someone would be here to fix it in two days.

Repeat scenario every two days for a week and a half, and my room mate FINALLy got tired of their crap, and switched.

New internets got hooked up today.

AT&T = fail.

Moving Day Delays

Moved over the weekend, haven't really had any time to look stuff up with all the chaos involved.

Feeling like a slacker.

Response

Finally got a response back from my insurance company. They just HAD to be difficult.

It said something about not giving quotes over the internet, and I would have to call a representative.

I was not asking for a QUOTE. I just wanted information.

grr.

Now I get to go play phone tag with the insurance company. Fun.

Inquiries

Most of the marinas I have looked at so far require an insurance policy for liability up to $300,000 so I just sent this email to my auto insurance company to see what sort of cash I would need to put up for that:

            I was just looking for some information.

            I have been thinking about purchasing a sailboat and living on it, but
            most of the marinas I have been looking at require an insurance
            policy for up to $300,000 damage liability. I was wondering what
            sort of rates I could expect for such a policy.

            I am looking at sailboats, approximately 27-30 feet long, older
            models - late seventies to early eighties. Most of these boats have a
            purchase price (and I'm assuming a very similar value) of $5,000 or
            less.

            I have my car insured through xxxxxxxxx*, in the state of California,
            and have had the policy for at least 8 years, I believe. Possibly longer.

            I would appreciate any and all information you could give me,
            thank you.

Eagerly awaiting a response.



                                                                          *censored my insurance carrier's name.
                                                                             If they want to pay me to advertise, I 
                                                                             will replace it.

The Quest Begins.

I have wanted to live on a boat for as long as I can remember. When I was a little kid, it was one of those "when I grow up" kind of things. All of my friends wanted to be firemen, or veterinarians, or policemen, or whatever.

I just wanted to live on a boat.

As I got older, I was lead to believe that only really rich people could afford to do that, and I knew I would never be all that rich. I don't WANT to be. Money causes more problems than it solves.

I just want the freedom to pick up and leave whenever the mood strikes me, and have the entire ocean as my backyard. For years though, that seemed beyond my grasp.

That is, until a few nights ago. I was browsing Craig's List looking to see if I could find a higher paying job - or at least one that I could get more than 4-6 hours per week. I happened upon an ad for a sailboat for a little under $3,000. I couldn't believe it. I assumed that it was a junker, so I looked, but no. It was a little bit of a fixer, but nothing serious.

Then I started browsing sailboat listings, and found out that I could pick up a good 30' ish boat for 5-6 thousand, less if I was willing to put a bit of work into the boat.

Then I started looking up slip rental fees. Found out that they could be anywhere from $200-$500 depending on location, boat size, and live-aboard fees.

I got excited.

Then I found out that in the state of California, in most marinas (except privately owned ones) there is a live-aboard permit percentage allowance of 5%. So, in a marina with 100 slips, they can have only FIVE people living on board a boat.

I haven't seen many marinas that were much bigger than 100 slips.

Finding a place that will let me live on a boat is going to be the hardest part.