Living on a Sailboat - What Do You Do All Day? , Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 3:12 AM, in

The idea of living on a sailboat may appeal to you at first glance. But then you think...What would I do all day?
We lived on a sailboat for 8 years in the Caribbean and I can assure you that boredom is not a problem. Here is your typical day.
Let's put you in English Harbor in Antigua...at anchor, the one time home of Lord Nelson, England's greatest admiral. He was living on a sailboat here in 1795.
Upon arising you grab a paperback that you got 2 days ago at the cruiser book exchange...your cost, nada. You start the coffee, being careful not to wake the first mate. You go up top, drink your coffee and watch the harbor come to life. A mega yacht comes in and anchors...must be Oprah's, there is a helicopter on top.
At 8AM you go below and fire up the Single Side Band Radio. You connect with your buds you last saw in Venezuela. They are in Grenada heading north; you are in Antigua heading for Trinidad.





You make plans over the radio to meet in Dominica in a couple of weeks, if the weather is cool...there is no hurry, there never is.
After that you listen to the weather net and get caught up on winds and sea conditions. You are going to go to Guadalupe in a week or so if the weather is OK. Its 40 nautical miles south of Antigua.
You read some more, the wife awakens, has coffee makes some toast and asks what is happening today. You need to go ashore to the ships store and get some electrical connectors. So you lower the dinghy from the davits and you both zip in.
Ashore you run into some mates and make plans to go to St John, the capital of Antigua, tomorrow...in a maxi taxi, Antigua's answer to NASCAR. You get your connectors, return to the boat at noon. Your bride fixes a light lunch and you take a short nap. Ah living on a sailboat.
At 1:30 you start your project, the 12V refrig is running a lot and you don't know why. You discover the power wire feels stiff. You see the corroded connector and cut the power cable back a foot and see bright copper. Using the connectors you bought you do the simple wiring job. Took an hour and a half to figure what was wrong, 2 minutes to fix the problem. Murphy was a sailor you know.
It's now 3 you both read for an hour or so and wonder why you ever thought you needed TV. At 4:30 you both shower, Navy kind, wet, soap, rinse, using little of the precious fresh water you have aboard.
At 5PM every day you watch the sun get lower in the sky with a cold Caribe beer and maybe some Anniversario rum (the cognac of rums, bar none).





It cost $3.00 a bottle in Margarita Island last year.
Dinner is a hunk of wahoo cooked on the small grill on the rear rail. You have fresh veggies you bought yesterday by the side of the road.  Last night you went to your friend's boat for dinner. Ah, life living on a  sailboat.
Well it is 7:30, been dark over an hour, you hit the vberth read a little and turn in. You have a busy day tomorrow; you are going across island, probably at mach 1, with 9 locals in a 14 passenger van. A real big day indeed.
Can you feel the stress...living on a sailboat. Can you see yourself doing this? Enjoy.

Gary Pierce is the webmaster of http://www.frugal-retirement-living.com he retired early at 49, he is still retired at 63. He has experience in lifestyles that are both fulfilling and frugal. It is 2009 and many are wondering if they can ever retire. Don't give up until you check out this website. Enjoy.