The Sea Gypsy Living 'free' on the Ocean. Overview Size and Type of boat (sail v power, big v small) Should I buy a fiberglass boat, a steel boat, a woodenboat or Where to live on a boat (at anchor, marina, mooring, etc) On Board amenities - galley, sleeping, hobbies, music, computers, navigation Cooking Refrigeration Provisions and Provisioning Tools Computers Entertainment Maintenance dinghy Diesel engine Energy Independence - Batteries, charging, solars, wind Making a boat liveable – desks, bunks, galley, cockpit, storage, multi-use spaces. Buying a salvaged yacht, fixing a salvaged yacht. Boat examples - catamaran, trimaran, monohull ( big and small) trawler, converted tug etc. Seamanship, navigation etc. P R E F A C E The purpose of this book is to convince you to make a very radical change in your life, especially if you are approaching retirement age. The motivation to make such a radical change, however, is to be found all around you; the national news, the financial news, incredible changes in morality, politics and politicians, taxes, and so on. There are radical changes happening everywhere, that you have no control over. So, making a radical change in your own life, that you yourself can direct, is actually a very practical thing to do, and perhaps not so radical afterall. This book is about striving for personal freedom, by living on a boat, out on the ocean; on The Caribbean Sea. Although you could adopt this lifestyle anywhere. Balmy air and warm sea temperature, and a welcoming political situation is my preference, and so our focus will be The Caribbean. The cost of living in this wonderful freedom, can be as great or as little as you want it to be. You may want to own a large, impressive yacht, if you can afford it, or you may choose to enjoy a very simple life on a small handy boat. But, you can actually live on a boat for a lower cost than in a very modest apartment in a city. You will be the owner and master of your own yacht (whether modest or spectacular), rather than being a tenant in a featureless apartment block, vulnerable to the inevitable rent and tax increases. There are no rents or taxes out on the ocean, and no costly public services either. You will be in charge of your own destiny, and your self esteem will soar. Deciding what kind of boat, what size, and at what cost, are among the first decisions to be made. Will it be a sailboat, or a powerboat, or a compromise motorsailer? Will you finance the purchase, or will you pay cash? Will you pay cash for a 'fixer-upper' and improve the boat as the money comes in, or will you build the boat yourself? All these questions have both positive and negative consequences. The decision you make will revolve around how much money you have, how much time you can devote to a 'fixer-upper', or what realistically your skills are for a building project. The very last question you need to ask yourself though, is "Are my boating skills adequate"? "Can I handle this big sailboat or motorboat?" Decide on the boat first, and we will discuss the skills stuff later .... ! Well, let us get on with our first decision - "what kind of boat". WHAT KIND OF BOAT? Our goal, in choosing to live on a boat, is to acquire 'personal freedom', by becoming independent from the society around us. Independence is derived from self reliance. So, a self reliant boat is one which requires very small amounts of fuel, and has low maintenance expenses. The ideal choice, of course, will be a sailboat with a simple design. But I am not excluding powerboats entirely, for there are trawler-type cruising yachts that have very modest fuel consumption, and which may cost the same to maintain as a similar sized sailboat. So, we will consider the powerboat option, too. Let us enlarge a little on the notion of 'self reliance'. There are lots of examples of self reliance from the great days of sail, in past centuries. For instance Captain Cook's voyages around the world, or the imfamous Captain Bligh's open boat voyage after the mutiny, or the Viking voyages to Greenland and Vinland, or John Cabot's voyage in search of a northern route to the Americas, and of course there is Christopher Columbus. Each one of these great mariners set out on a voyage of unknown duration, and unknown destination. They took everything they could possibly need with them. Their vessels were extravagantly provisioned, and they planned for every eventuality they could imagine. The great features of these achievements have been portrayed on film in recent years. "Master and Commander" starring Russell Crowe , and the great A & E tv series called "Horatio Hornblower" staring Ioan Gruffudd, are brilliant examples of the depiction of the sailing adventure, in which tiny human beings play out on the great oceans. with only their wits, strength and courage to bring them through. 'Self Reliance' is betting on yourself; it is having the confidence in yourself to 'see it through', to find a way, and to enjoy every drop of the adventure, as it unfolds. In his 1950 classic "Cruising Under Sail" Eric Hiscock said it well - "Cruising teaches a man to rely on his own judgement and skill, and it is one of the few worthwhile things that can still be enjoyed today by a man or woman of independent spirit, for there are no restrictions, no organizing body is needed and the sea is open and free for all who have the inclination to sail on it and a suitable vessel for the purpose" p. ix Well, our 'suitable vessel' is very likely a sailboat, since it requires the least amount of fuel, and can be designed and outfitted to be self reliant and self sufficient. The degree to which these two qualities (self reliance and self sufficiency) are achieved does not matter very much, since whether you cruise your yacht on day sails and spend each night at anchor in remote bays, or make lengthy ocean passages to foreign lands, you will still be dependent upon your self reliance and your vessels seaworthiness. HOW BIG A BOAT? All the important qualities of 'freedom', 'independence', 'self-reliance', self-sufficiency', revolve around the size of the boat. The size of your boat will have a great deal to do with the purchase price of your boat, since big boats generally cost more than smaller boats ( of similar age, condition and equipment), and the size of the boat will also influence the maintenance costs. Well, then why not just buy a tiny boat? The answer to this will be determined by your standards of 'quality of life'. There are adventurers who have crossed the Atlantic in the tiniest of boats; I think that 9 feet overall is the smallest one I have heard about, so far, but still someone may yet try it in a bathtub ! And there are others who have actually rowed and windsurfed across the Atlantic. I am sure that every one of them was very glad when the voyage was over ! Enjoying being onboard your boat, either underway or at anchor, is how we will make all our choices. A tiny boat is not going to be very comfortable. The motion at sea ( and probably at anchor) will be 'choppy'. Bigger boats are more comfortable in most ways, and catamarans are probably the most comfortable. So, the decision about "How Big A Boat" really is determined by how big a boat you can afford, and how big a boat you can comfortably handle. This is too awkward a conclusion to deal with in the abstract, so in the next few pages we will look at photos and drawings of a number of boats :- a 26 ft. small boat, "Ramblin' Rose", a medium sized 43 ft. boat "Sandcastle", a big 68 ft. boat "Irie", and a very big 38 ft. Lagoon catamaran "Sea 130". A SMALL BOAT "Ramblin' Rose" Byron Rose owns the 26 foot sloop "Ramblin' Rose". In May 2006, Byron and longtime pal Robert ... left St. Thomas to sail across the Atlantic, and return the following spring. Byron is a fit 65 year-old retiree, a former Coast Guard veteran, a former boat builder, and a retired charter yacht owner. Byron could have a much larger boat, if he wanted to. He could even build it. But Byron is commited to little "Ramblin' Rose". And Here are his reasons :-