Henning, you and I knock heads at every turn but this is one area that I have no doubt that you know what you're talking about. I'm PMing you also but thought I'd post the question here also. The Washington Post has an article about the Crafton family selling everything they owned and taking their kids to sea for the last seven years sailing the world. They said that it brought their family closer than they could have imagined, and have some fascinating tales and pictures. Apparently they had no sailing experience and spent 18 months learning to sail in Florida before departing on their journey.
I'm curious what your thoughts are on such a venture with respect to perils, handling finances in the various countries, what documents you would need to dock at a port, self-defense on the open waters, and anything else that you might think of.
I wonder how common something like this is on a shorter-term basis.
It's not uncommon, and I think it is a great thing. I know several families who have done this, even trained up and sailed with a few. One of the great failings in education is cultural education. No better way have I found to meet other cultures than traveling by boat. I think it's great for kids, because no matter where you go, there are kids there as well and kids don't typically have any xenophobic biases so they have a good time with other kids where ever they go and this helps prevent future biases on both parties side. It also helps teach them responsibility. With accredited home school educational programs readily available, there is little draw back on that side, and with modern communications and sites like Facebook, it's easy to keep up with friends at home and share their experiences passing on what they learn of the world. Other kids are much more ready to believe what their friends experience over what a biased media is feeding them.
As for going from novice to cruiser in 18 months, I don't see much of an issue. I can teach anyone to sail in 2 days and if they take it seriously, they can learn enough seamanship in 18 months to be able to keep themselves safe, Private Pilot safe, and with an instrument rating if they have, and know how to use fully, a radar. Paperwork for other ports consists of nothing more than your passports and vessel documentation. Typically fees for clearing private vessels transiting are low, a few hundred dollars is pretty high, most are less.
Protection is a personal issue. I have never had a problem with firearms, but I always declare them on entry. There is always a system for handling them legally, but it is a good idea to have a gun vault of some form. Normally they just come record the serial numbers off your weapons. Sometimes they order you to lock them up along with the ammo and then they'll put a seal on the strongbox and if they come to check the seal and it's been broken, you're in trouble. Some places will take your weapons and give you a receipt and give them back to you when you get your outbound clearance. Most people however do not carry firearms. Most vessels the fighting will be close enough quarters that you can use tactical positioning to force your combatant to position themselves where you can kill them with a hammer and gain their weapon.
As for handling local finances, you always carry a few hundred in cash and let Mr Visa take care of the rest. There are few places left in the world that don't have an ATM or a 7-11/Circle K and other "necessities of life" stores that use EFTPOS systems. You can also use local "Agents" to help you through bureaucracies and acquisition negotiations and payments for parts and supplies, or you can also get great service from the local dock master for a modest tip and the hopes that you will tell others about their place, kinda the way Batavia Marina in Jakarta takes care of me. I'm in the heart of the largest Muslim nation in the world, and never have I been treated so well and been given such good service.
As for financing the journey itself, that's up to the individual. It's not exactly cheap, but costs can be controlled. Boats are like airplanes though, they require frequent cash infusions. BOAT= Break Out Another Thousand. There are ways to make money along the way though if you have marketable skills to other boaters, diesel mechanic, electrician and IT guy are particularly useful as is refrigeration. I'm lucky in that I get paid well to operate this boat and have no set budget, what I need to spend to assure things are correct, I spend, and the owner wants things to be safe and correct and has no issues with my spending habits. We have an infant and a pregnant wife coming aboard this week.
If you want to see some pics, look up
caphenning@yahoo.com on Facebook, I've got a few pics up there.
