Two years since the last post. Still saving. Put in a low-ball offer on a Cambria 44 last fall. That would have been a mistake. Not only would it have extended us financially, but Kate is not at that emotional stage right now. It would have also truncated this time period in which we can consider other options. One thing we have talked about is moving to St Thomas and working. In that situation we might live in our boat but at a marina. We would get to know the community of people who live there, not to say the community of cruisers would not be an interesting group, but working as a community psychiatrist in the islands could provide a unique vantage point that I would not have as simply a cruiser. Another thing we have talked about is a smaller boat. Kate was aboard a Morris 36 and she thought that was enough room. This boat has half the displacement and sail are of some of the boats we have looked at so would be easier to handle if caught in a blow with the sails up (like I was the other day on Lake Minnetonka aboard Captive Heart, our J/27 when I first thought of this issue). Buying small also allows us to shoot for something like a Morris and still remain on budget. We could actually find a bigger boat limits our freedom, both the freedom to operate the boat without extra crew and our financial freedom. Limiting our freedom might detract from the happiness value of this trip more than a bigger boat would contribute to happiness. If we had bought the Cambria, we would not be at liberty to entertain these considerations and would have already lost some of that freedom.
We are going to start chartering again. We have waited as the kids gained skills swimming and on boats. We have booked a charter in St Maarten for next spring when the kids will be 3.5 and 5.5 yrs old.
This last winter was hard to get through. Was often thinking a boat in the Caribbean was a needed escape. Kate feels strongly that we should not take kids out of school as a regular thing and I respect that position, so the reality is that boat ownership would be difficult in that it would be difficult for the boat to get enough use, which would then mean that maintenance would stop being a source of pride and the boat would become a source of stress and a money pit.
Kids just got home so need to end this post...
