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From: Steve Siguaw (no email)
Date: Fri Mar 16 2007 - 08:17:28 EDT
Congratulations on your decision. Your enthusiasm should be bottled and
sold. Hopefully you also have your suit of armor close by because of all
the advice you will receive telling you that your dream will die. This is
normal. We have been through this same process 3 times so far. Well
meaning advice from friends, family and relatives will be mostly negative.
Every now and then there will be a glimmer of support so latch on to that
instead of the negatives.
The advice that you cannot live in the Florida Keys is well founded but
not entirely accurate. Boot Key Harbor in Marathon used to be one of the
major outposts for liveaboard sailors. It also was a cesspool. The
derelict boats with hulls encrusted with growing reefs ruined it for
everyone. Sailors are judged by their appearance and the appearance of
their vessels. Marathon.s city government looked at this harbor and could
not see any beauty. To them they saw freeloaders who were ruining a
visual tropical paradise; hence the changes in Marathon and throughout the
Keys and even throughout Florida regarding liveaboards. We brought this
change upon ourselves with our attitudes unfortunately.
You can still pursue the liveaboard lifestyle but you have to recognize
and fit in with the community expectations where you wish to live. We
have been hassled by other liveaboards because we wore clean shorts, clean
shirts and our vessel looked too new in a certain harbor in Florida. Yet
the land residents accepted us and we were allowed to liveaboard in a
marina that normally did not allow liveaboards (the cost was just under
$400/month as recently as 2006 for a 38 foot boat).
That said, there are still many places where you can liveaboard your
vessel in Florida, work and become a part of the floating community. We
have done it recently and it can still be done. However you must be
creative. You have to think differently than everyone else. Break away
from the herd and group mentality that we all are so accustomed to in a
normal environment. For example, it is said that you cannot liveaboard in
Key West for any length of time. Fine, instead sail up the Caloosahatchee
River and find a quiet community where you can settle in for the season
and visit the Keys or better yet the Dry Tortugas on any given weekend.
The Keys are not magic any longer since they have been taken over by the
developers. But there are other areas just as nice. Also, the Florida
Panhandle, Georgia, Alabama, the Carolina.s and the southern reaches of
the Chesapeake are areas to consider. They may be cool in the winter but
January and February in Florida is cold too, we have been through that
this year.
Why limit yourselves to the mainland US? The islands in the little
latitudes are also a possibility. Puerto Rico and the USVI have
facilities for sailors and liveaboards. They are part of the US so you
can work there without getting a work permit. Be creative!
Best of luck with your adventure. It will be a life-changing event, no
doubt about that!
Steve Siguaw
S/V Aspen
www.ecaribbeanplace.com
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