It's tough planning a future when life gets in the way.
I look back and see that the last post was back in 2016, before the election. I'm not going to delve into politics here, as I would rather have a separate forum dedicated to things of that nature. During that period from then to now, there have been a great number of changes to our world irregardless of political turmoil:
1) Our crew has grown by one. My son, previous to the relationship with my Love, has been with us since December of 2016. Our world was mildly chaotic, however things (with a few exceptions) have been smooth sailing. He's even interested in the liveaboard lifestyle, but hasn't really been aboard a boat for any real length of time. This means that in order to verify if we are truly liveaboard material, we will definitely need the experience of renting a boat for a 3-day weekend at some point. Which brings me to...
2) We need lessons. I've been mute here, but a lurker on many boating/cruising/liveaboard forums around the internet and have been listening to various problems. Most issues are due to inexperience of one type or another, and it behooves us to learn as much as we can before we set one foot aboard a vessel of our own. It also helps that getting certifications can reduce the insurance cost when the time comes, so there's a fiscal component as well. Most importantly, we have been working as a family to get ourselves into a mindset of working together on tasks as if we have a chain of command. With two headstrong boys, this is often easier imagined than done. Nevertheless, we're planning on eventually (prior to renting the boat for that 3-day weekend) getting lessons from someplace local that will offer us what we need to get our certification. That brings me to...
3) The world is a different place since 9/11/01. Not only is it a more dangerous world for Americans in particular, but it is also a more strict, more information-centric time we live in. Our location, if we are living in the United States, needs to be more stable if we are to be recognized as a valid person within society (and not seen as a terrorist intent on destroying the society at large). Liveaboards, because they live aboard a boat that has no physical address that can be recognized outside of a berth number, are almost seen as a step away from homelessness no matter what financial situation the liveaboards may be in. Therefore we also have come to the realization that we will need to get our financial "house" in order, and that will include establishing a permanent mailing address for us stateside that isn't a P.O. Box. I don't want to go into specifics of our plans at this point, but instead would rather detail them in subsequent posts as we achieve our personal milestones. This, I believe, would be the way to illustrate to anyone in the United States how to go from nothing to living the dream of the liveaboard lifestyle because the South Bay area of Los Angeles County ain't exactly the textbook definition of "affordable". That finally brings me to...
4) We're just too good at what we do. My Love and I have been at our respective positions for a bit now, as my 3rd anniversary is approaching in the autumn. Yeah, our familial obligations are there, but our work obligations (and, in the case of my Love, her commute from Hell) have been leaving us exhausted. We have been working on our own creative endeavors and should anything pan out in those arenas it could change our timeline - but we're not relying on it. Our spare time has gone towards doing what we can to further our chances of success in that but I have also done my fair share of overtime, handling holidays and various family outings (we had a trip to a local lake last weekend that was a complete surprise for one member of the family) and dealing with emergencies that cropped up.
So, yeah, we've been busy living our life. We haven't forgotten our dream, though. We still have our "dream boat" on our refrigerator and our bedroom mirror for inspiration. We still cruise Yachtworld listings, but now our specifications have modified slightly. My son will be turning 18 in October and there's no guarantee that he'll still want to be joining us when we do begin cruising, however we always want the option there for him. I still read threads on various forums, I still miss the big Los Angeles Boat Show every January because I'm always too busy trying to get into NAMM, I still dream of the time that I can be rocked to sleep by the constant roll of the ocean...
That time can't get here too [CENSORED] soon.
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