Scott, you must have settled down into life aboard quickly! A very good summation, IMO, of selecting a boat suitable for the voyage whether that is tied to the dock or a trip beyond 60 degrees lat! We went the bottoms up route as we've had the experience of the ocean and knew what we needed......somehow our funds were limited by my prior wives and lives. Swan Song came into our life at the right time and price and just needed a little work to make her fit for us. 8 years and $300K later she's a fine ship to take us where we wish to go. Maybe even further than we want or wish...we'll see as the next 10 years or so unwind. One thing that is seldom mentioned is that once you are living board and cruising/passagemaking is that the maintenance/work/improvements to the boat are an ongoing job. A little work in this anchorage, some maintenance during this passage, a few improvements here, obtain some parts there when you see them in a shop. All part of the experience of cruising/passagemaking. Some can never quite get into this mode and end up marina hopping, having visits from the local tradesman, with passages few and far between. Others find that this life is so enjoyable that the fenders and dock lines are stored so far under everything that getting ready to dock is a two hour process!! OTOH anchoring is a two minute exercise and done without fuss :-) Your tender is the most important link between you and shore as the "mothership" never gets close to it. So it becomes your "SUV". Bigger here is better, IMO. We've now anchored over 150 times just during our short (6 mo) cruise this season. Been at the dock three times...once just prior and after a short overnight haul-out, twice to get fuel, once to wait out a possible Tropical Depression, and once to get 16 batteries put aboard. How you find the cruising life, how you adapt to it and it to you is different for each of us. More important is that you make a plan, get a suitable boat and start. As you move up the experience chain you may find you want out...no worries..OR you might find that you need a different vessel to do what you now wish to do. So upgrade and continue. It really doesn't take a lot of $$$ if you can live a bit simpler life. It helps if you are handy and can learn to do things for yourself. Less outside dependencies mean more freedom for you. We have a $3K/month budget and we generally have change each month. This includes everything including fuel. This for a 58' vessel so money shouldn't be the reason not to go, IMHO. Our time in Venezuela during hurricane season gives us lots of change to use outside of Venezuela in the rest of the Caribbean outside of hurricane season. Never hesitate to ask questions. We all can learn something everyday and hopefully will be willing to share it with others. I know all the folks on this list will....so just ask :-) As Scott has now done and others before him and those after....good on ya...and we'll cross paths with each and everyone of you we hope....if not in person at least in spirit and thru this forum :-) Dave & Nancy Swan Song Roughwater 58 Caribbean Cruise '07

> Others > find that this life is so enjoyable that the fenders and dock lines are > stored so far under everything that getting ready to dock is a two hour > process!! Someone once referred to the power cord as, "Oh you mean that dirty yellow thing curled up in the bilge!" -- Jim Ague