Where to retire on your military pension?

[Randy Daytona]

I grew up on the Gulf coast very near Pensacola. I am DONE with hurricanes. Hell no am I going back down there without a damn good reason.

This is a good lead in to back up power. Has anyone added either solar panels or backup generators, and if so. any dos or don’ts ?

 

[Griz882]

This is a good lead in to back up power. Has anyone added either solar panels or backup generators, and if so. any dos or don’ts ?

I have a niece out west who recently installed a solar system and small wind turbine for back up energy and loves it. Once the power packs were fully loaded they cut the power and maintained their energy output as if off the grid. They first considered a fueled system, but her husband is a fire fighter and hated the idea of storing fuel near the house and the best they could hope for out of that was just a few days of power. The installation company claims the solar panels can withstand tornado damage and the wind turbine can withstand up to 150 mph winds. They are happy with what they got, but their primary enemy is snow and wind (and the last two times they lost power was due to wildfire damaging transmission lines) but very few substantial storms and nothing like a hurricane.

 

[Gatordev]

So I'm confident that the wife and I can do the cruising thing in our 40s and 50s. We've got plenty of friends to bring along for ocean passages. Our initial plan is for 3 years and then reassess.

Like I said, I was half-way joking. Sounds like you have more experience than many that successfully pull off the lifestyle. There always seemed to be thresholds that people would reach and wouldn't continue out of fear or funding or just lack of interest. Georgetown, Exuma was always the first one in the Caribbean. The herd would thin drastically making the jump to outer-islands and then T&C, Hispaniola, PR, and the Virgins (and beyond). Getting through the canal also seems to be another stopping point, as things get more serious on the Pacific side.

It does seem like the farther you want to go, the more expenses increase, at least initially. Go outer-island and a wind generator makes sense, plus a SSB and modem (or sat phone nowadays if that's your jam). A primary and backup helm system are a must for open ocean sailing. Go to the Pacific and a water maker is a necessity. Radar is super helpful in Europe. AIS just makes life easier everywhere. And so on...

I lived aboard a Pearson 36 for about a year and some change after college.

Sweet. My parents had a 424 that they circumnavigated the Caribbean with, then crossed to Europe and did the UK and the Med. They eventually made it to the South Pacific and Australia where they sold the boat. Those are great boats and she held up great for them.

As an aside, they were about 2 weeks ahead of us on my last deployment. I got them on HF one day for about 2 seconds, but otherwise we couldn't quite catch up with them due to our tasking. By the time we made it down towards the Galapagos, they had already jumped off for the crossing, so I was never able to VID them and say hi on the VHF.

Why anyone would sail anywhere west of the Seychelles is beyond me. Go south, then take the southern route to Zanzibar if you really want to go. But sailing anywhere near East Africa is a dice roll I'm not willing to take.

Agreed. Over time, there's always places to avoid as a cruiser, be it known piracy or armed conflict. East Africa during that time sounds like a very British thing to do.

 

[Swanee]

Like I said, I was half-way joking. Sounds like you have more experience than many that successfully pull off the lifestyle. There always seemed to be thresholds that people would reach and wouldn't continue out of fear or funding or just lack of interest. Georgetown, Exuma was always the first one in the Caribbean. The herd would thin drastically making the jump to outer-islands and then T&C, Hispaniola, PR, and the Virgins (and beyond). Getting through the canal also seems to be another stopping point, as things get more serious on the Pacific side.

It does seem like the farther you want to go, the more expenses increase, at least initially. Go outer-island and a wind generator makes sense, plus a SSB and modem (or sat phone nowadays if that's your jam). A primary and backup helm system are a must for open ocean sailing. Go to the Pacific and a water maker is a necessity. Radar is super helpful in Europe. AIS just makes life easier everywhere. And so on...

I think a lot of folks give it up because of the solitude as well. There are some pretty tight knit communities out there, but they move on a timeline and they can be tough to break into. Strength in numbers for big passages are a thing. Living in warm places without air conditioning and giving up on a lot of comfort items like food and beverages can also probably get old. We may end up part time cruisers- those things that weren't important when we were 23 might become important at 50.


Water maker (I'm not sure this is optional equipment for us on any boat we'd be more than a 3-4 day trip on- It's amazing how quickly you can foul your water storage), Wind/Solar with expensive batteries, SSB/Modem for weather, Satphone for the same, hopefully Starlink will be out there by then as well, electric winches, redundant helm systems, electronic chart plotters, RADAR, AIS- all of this stuff will exceed the price of a boat, nevermind replacing the standing rigging if it's more than 15 years old or any blown out sails.

Sweet. My parents had a 424 that they circumnavigated the Caribbean with, then crossed to Europe and did the UK and the Med. They eventually made it to the South Pacific and Australia where they sold the boat. Those are great boats and she held up great for them.

As an aside, they were about 2 weeks ahead of us on my last deployment. I got them on HF one day for about 2 seconds, but otherwise we couldn't quite catch up with them due to our tasking. By the time we made it down towards the Galapagos, they had already jumped off for the crossing, so I was never able to VID them and say hi on the VHF.

Those boats are bulletproof. I wish I still had it, but it would have stayed tied up in a slip for too much of it's life. The lady I sold it to ended up taking it to cruise the Med.

That would have been really cool to get a photo op!

 

[Gatordev]

Water maker (I'm not sure this is optional equipment for us on any boat we'd be more than a 3-4 day trip on- It's amazing how quickly you can foul your water storage),

Given how mature the technology is and how relatively inexpensive it is, I agree, it probably makes sense to just get a water maker, although it is one more thing to break.

I will say, growing up on a Hallberg-Rassy 35' ketch, we cruised from Gun Cay all the way to the Virgins with just 66 gallons internal, two large jugs external, and a rain catching system that fed the main tank. It was just my parents and I most of the time. Showers were usually started over the side (Joy suds in saltwater just fine) and then a freshwater rinse afterwards with a solar shower in the cockpit. As a kid who was constantly in the water anyway, what more do you need?

But yeah, if you can put it on there, why not have the luxury?

 

[RobLyman]

I have been sailing most of my life, but have ZERO/ZILCH desire to spend more than a week or two on a sailboat. On the other hand, I am perfectly fine with retiring in NE Florida across the street from the St. Johns River.

 

[villanelle]

I love the idea of spending a year on a sailboat before moving to a retirement house. But divorce is expensive and would kill the retirement finances, so it's probably not the best idea.