Where would you go if you lived on a yacht?

I don't think claustrophobia would be a big deal on a yacht, especially a sizeable one like what you're describing. It's essentially a house on water.

You wanna talk about cramped, try the sailboat I lived on as a kid! 40-foot, which is pretty big - my parents slept in the space under the cockpit, while I slept in the bookshelf over the fold-away kitchen table. Guests went in the sail "room."

But the thing about a boat is... outside, it's open space. Freedom. Water to the horizon. And you get to get out and explore something new every time you dock somewhere else.

I've sailed tiny dinghies and really enjoyed it. I've also taken cruises in the South Pacific and enjoyed them. At one time I had to go out in boats for a few days visiting the islands off the north coast of New Guinea. I'd pass world-travelling yachts and be really envious. So sailing around the smaller Pacific islands would do for me.

I could live on a yacht for extended periods of time but not a cruise ship. It's very luxurious - the smaller ones better than the large ones. But I'd get bored with passenger life very quickly.

Write4U2 said:

Last night the travel channel had a program about yachts. The biggest are over 200 feet long and are as luxurious as a mansion. Some cost more than $50 million to build or refurbish.

I have always thought I'd love sailing. It kind of a pipe dream. I'm not sure I really would like it.

If you could live on a yacht and it was your only home, where would you like to sail? Do you think you'd get sick of it quickly or would you enjoy the solitude?

Do you think you might like to live on that world cruising ship where you buy an apartment space on it? Would you get claustrophobic? How about always being confined with other people? What if you didn't like them or couldn't find people with whom you are compatible? How important would that be?

What do you think? What would your life be like?

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I've actually given this enough thought to look at lengths, slip fees, rentals, etc.

To answer some of your questions
Where I would like to sail. The Keys/Caribbean, following Hemingway's path (except Cuba) for a while then I would go to the Pacific, somewhere American or at least highly Capitalistic and not run by anti-American people. Then I'd park the boat for enough time to annoy myself. (I'm a wanderer at heart who can't stay in one location longer than eight years. My shortest duration was three months in one place, not counting vacations.)

Then I'd visit my Dad and brother in Seattle, but wouldn't live there. Relatives are nice, but OMG do you really want to live with them? San Diego is nice for about half of the year. How long can you stand 75 degrees and sunny?

I love solitude. Really love it. As long as I could get my hands on an internet connection I'd be set.

Cruise ship? My answer runs along the lines of "you've got to be kidding me!" That would be a no for all the reasons your extra questions bring up. The people...the enclosed space...the constant drone of 'whatever' that embodies cruise ships. *shudder*

My ideal ship would be a 32-36' sailboat. Diesel expense? Not a big issue. It would be large enough to live on and small enough to afford and pilot. There are two reasons I haven't gone this route. One, I have never been sailing before which means I'm not versed in the practical knowledge to make this stick, and Two, I'm not an "outdoorsy/summer sun" person. I burn easily, I like the nighttime best yet can't stand cold weather. I prefer comfort. Life on a boat looks like a lot of work.

That said, give me a motorcycle (most likely Harley), and the right weather gear and I'm outta here.

Better yet, a Harley and a boat I don't HAVE to sail.

Amy

Fellow AWer Orion lives on a sailboat in Hawaii and blogs about it (and other things, of course).

We did the yacht thing in the South China Sea, Arabian Gulf and Mediterranean. We ended up buying and converting a disused cargo barge and living on board full-time on the Belgian and French inland waterways. No sea sickness, you can see land to the left and to the right, and you can moor up wherever and whenever you choose. And the social life involving meeting like minded folks was great.

I had some friends who lived on a sailboat. They picked me up in Nassau and we cruised the Bahamas for a week and a half; met some women from France on Iguana Island, explored the (then) abandoned hotel and cottages on Norman's Key (or Cay, whatever ), then headed back to the marina in Nassau to watch the Superbowl on a 13" TV on the dock with people from Canada, Africa, and Europe. It was awesome.

I'd go as many places as I could if I lived like that.

It depends. Is there a good looking, lonesome cabin boy to ...ah, meet my every need?

Will get back to you on this.

I'd be a bit worried to have that much money sunk into something that could easily sink...

No yacht for me. I get seasick. But Aruna promised to marry me and take me on her yacht once she became rich.

Now a cruise ship... They're sailing around the world on the Queen Mary 2. Only $229,000 for 3 months. That's a bargain.

I spent a year on a 30 ft sailboat and went to the bahamas... which was fabulous... but a huge boat with lots of other people is less appealing. Though if I had an offer of a free trip to pretty much anywhere, I wouldn't say no...

I'd rather a submarine. You can get an old Russian one for half a million.

beezle said:

I'd rather a submarine. You can get an old Russian one for half a million.

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Expensive to run, though. You don't hear of them using windpower much.

Write4U2 said:

If you could live on a yacht and it was your only home, where would you like to sail?

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Everywhere.

Write4U2 said:

Do you think you'd get sick of it quickly or would you enjoy the solitude?

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If it were me, there wouldn't really be solitude. I'd stop off all over the place, meet new people and all that. I'd probably not have the close companionship of good friends living around the corner, but there'd still always be people.
Plus, all those days alone at sea going from place to place, maybe I'd actually get some writing done.

Oh wow. Where wouldn't I go would be the shorter answer.

I'd go visit Silver King, if he'd have me, and davids, and spend eons on the Mediterranean. Alaska, the fjords of Norway, just so many places. *sigh*


*runs out to waste money on lottery tickets*

I'd sail it to Office Party!

Well now, some of you may know that I currently live on my boat and have done so for over two years. I had also previously lived aboard a sailboat for about three years.

I like the order and funtionality of eveything aboard. The compactness apeals to me. I also like going to out-of-the-way places and anchoring in complete solitude.

So far I have cruised all around Florida and the ICW up to North Carolina. I would love to go to Cuba, but alas, I am an American and my government tells me where I can go and where I cannot.

I would love to go to Venezuala, Central America and Mexico. Someday I will. I have friends who have done it and some of them still live in Belieze and Guatemala.

Richard

I'd park mine in the middle of the Great Lakes (which ever lake appealed on that particular day) and float on the border between Canada and the States. That way I could have the only true free border in existence now days.

So Kit, that means you could go both ways. Doesn't it?

Richard

Seaclusion said:

So Kit, that means you could go both ways. Dosn't it?

Richard

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*beats Richard with the woodpecker again* BAD!

nerdsRus said:

Oh wow. Where wouldn't I go would be the shorter answer.

I'd go visit Silver King...

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That sounds like a plan! And we can go fishing 24/7. I'll bring my own gear and do all of the cooking and cleaning, too.

Just say the word when you're ready, and I'm there.

Silver King said:

That sounds like a plan! And we can go fishing 24/7. I'll bring my own gear and do all of the cooking and cleaning, too.

Just say the word when you're ready, and I'm there.

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Maybe someday. Would be nice. I'm a really good cook so we can divvy that up.




I got so carried away thinking of places and people I forgot the solitude question. A yacht to me would offer the ideal balance. As Jimmy said, people and solitude. I'd have a chance to read at least some of the books I fear I'll never have time to, and just be by myself. I could write real letters and post them from wherever I was, with fancy foreign stamps. And then stop and socialize whenever I like. Zoinkies. This thread has set me a-dreamin'.

I'd sail straight to my literary agent, and beat the crap out of him for not working hard enough. KIDDING! I would do something against my Type A, I would sail to where the universe took me.

Lago di Como.