On Finding the Perfect Boat

Numbers don’t lie. If one hundred couples dream of living aboard a long-distance cruising yacht, only ten will actually buy the boat and begin the adventure. Of those ten, four will miscalculate and buy the wrong boat. Two of these four couples will dream too big, believing they can sail the seven seas, only to find they aren’t comfortable on the open ocean. Their problem is that they will have bought a globe-circling boat not well suited for inland waters. The other two couples will dream too small. They will find the lifestyle more interesting than anticipated and will want to travel farther and stay longer, but unfortunately, they will have bought a small boat better suited for coastal waters.

Now we have six couples left. Three of these couples will face irreconcilable differences about their life aboard. In each case, one person wanted to continue, and the other didn’t care for the life, they had only agreed to it to keep their partner happy. Of these three, two boats will be sold, and one is languishing in the slip under the false belief the unwilling partner will eventually come around. News flash: They won’t.

That leaves three couples who got it right. Of course, the real number of dreamers is probably in the hundreds of thousands, because there are clearly more than just a few of us out here cruising, but the fact remains only a few who dream of living this life will pull it off.

The statistics above are anecdotal but based on the hundreds of boaters I’ve worked with over the years, the percentages aren’t far off. I’ve also noticed one of the differentiating factors between those that dream and those that do is whether they have an actual plan. A good example of this is people interested in doing the Great Loop, affectionately known as “Loopers.” These people tend to have the specific goal to make a trip with a beginning and end. That’s not to say they stop boating when they’ve completed the adventure, but it is the goal of completing the loop that gets them started.

Let’s explore some real-life stories behind these stats. One example is Sue and Peter, a couple who participated in one of my Safety for Cruising Couples trainings. Sue and Peter were weekend boaters, using the boat as a respite from their busy workweeks. Sue, however, has quietly harbored a dream that Mondays wouldn’t require them to leave the boat. What if they could just stay onboard and continue cruising? Now nearing retirement, Sue decided if she was ever going to realize her dream, she better figure out how to get Peter onboard–literally. Peter acquiesced and agreed when Sue wanted to register them for Trawlerfest, a seminar/boat=show program run by our parent company, Active Interest Media. The program helps people learn about the long-distance power-cruising lifestyle.

Peter said he wouldn’t mind taking their current Down East boat on the Great Loop. Peter thought they could have a neighbor watch the house while they were gone for a few months on the loop. Sue thought it would be easier to sell the house and put the profit toward a new boat. Sue envisioned a long-distance cruiser they could use to explore distant harbors. As they each explained their plans, it became clear they had very different ideas of what their post-career boating would look like. Here were two people, each with a desire to spend extended time on a boat, but in two different ways.

There isn’t a right or wrong way to do this. There are lots of ways to enjoy life aboard a cruising boat. What is important is that couples find a way to agree on what type of cruising they want to do. Will it be full-time or part-time? Will you keep the house, sell it or rent it? Maybe you buy a condo that’s easier to lock and leave?

One couple we met was devastated when they realized their dream of cruising around the world was way beyond their comfort level. They had sold everything and invested most of their money into a deep-draft boat, which forced them to stay offshore in less-than-ideal conditions. I met them in South Florida, only a month after they set out from the Chesapeake Bay. The amount of time they had spent in the ocean had dealt their dream a serious blow. Fortunately, they were able to sell the deep-draft boat they thought they were going to see the world on and buy a shallower-draft boat better suited to coastal waters. I’ve stayed in touch with them and I’m happy to report they are still enjoying boating, just now doing it within their comfort zone.

It’s alright to dream, just make sure the dreams of you and your significant other align. Objectively assess your ability, fitness and comfort level, and most importantly have a plan B you both agree on. Oh, and one last thing: If you’re one of the three couples that got it right, knock on the hull if you see Liberdade anchored somewhere, we’re out here enjoying our life aboard and would love to meet you.

This article originally appeared in the October 2024 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.

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