Start of a Journey
For a long time, Kristal and I have talked about what it would be like to leave the traditional life behind and live on the water full time.
Now, that dream is starting to become a real plan.
Starting the journey marks our current goal. We aim to be living aboard and sailing full time by June 2027.
That might sound like a long way off.
However, when you examine everything that must happen between now and then, it feels close.
First, We Have to Simplify
One of the biggest parts of this journey is also one of the hardest: getting rid of most of what we own.
Over the years, like most people, we have accumulated a house full of furniture, tools, equipment, clothes, decorations, hobbies, and countless things we once thought we needed.
You don’t realize how much stuff you have until you start planning to fit your life onto a sailboat.
Our goal isn’t to move everything from one storage place to another. We really want to simplify. If it doesn’t have a purpose in the life we’re building, we’re going to have to learn to let it go.
Some things will be easy to sell.
Others probably won’t be.
But every item that leaves gets us one step closer to the water.
The RV Is Our Next Step
Before we can sell the house, we need somewhere to live while everything comes together.
Our plan is to purchase an RV and move it onto some friends’ property.
That gives us a temporary home while we work through the next stage of the transition. More importantly, it gives us a way to move two very important members of the family.
Our pigs.
They’ll be moving to their forever farm at our friends’ house, where they’ll have a place to stay even after Kristal and I head toward the ocean.
Knowing they’ll be taken care of makes this entire transition a lot easier.
Once the RV is set up and the pigs are settled into their new home, we’ll be able to really start dismantling our current lifestyle.
Then the selling begins.
- Furniture.
- Tools.
- Equipment.
- Household items.
Probably a lot of things we’re going to look at and wonder why we ever bought them in the first place.
Getting the House Ready
At the same time, we have a few things around the house that need to be repaired and finished before we put it on the market.
Nothing glamorous about this part of the adventure.
There will be plenty of cleaning, repairing, painting, organizing, selling, hauling, and probably more than a few frustrating weekends.
But selling the house is one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle.
Once that’s done, there won’t be nearly as much tying us to land.
And that is when things start getting really interesting.
Then Comes the Boat
Our plan is to purchase our sailboat during the first part of 2027.
We have spent countless hours looking at boats and comparing layouts.
We also review batteries, watermakers, engines, sails, and navigation gear.
This marks starting the journey as we explore every detail.
We know the boat we eventually purchase probably won’t be perfect.
That’s okay.
Part of this adventure is making her ours.
Once we find the right boat, we’ll spend the months leading up to June getting her ready for full-time cruising.
That could mean upgrading electrical systems, adding or improving solar.
It may involve plumbing work, servicing engines, or organizing storage.
Additional tasks include installing electronics, completing safety upgrades, and managing many small boat projects.
And I’m sure the boat will provide us with a few surprises of her own.
Right Now, It’s All About the Budget
At the moment, much of our planning revolves around one thing:
Money.
Living on a sailboat might sound like a permanent vacation, but we’re approaching it very differently.
We want this lifestyle to be sustainable.
That means figuring out what the boat will cost to purchase, what we’ll need for upgrades, insurance, maintenance, fuel, food, marina stays, cruising permits, communications, repairs, and the unexpected expenses that are guaranteed to happen.
We’re building budgets now so we don’t have to constantly worry about money once we’re out there.
The goal isn’t just to buy a boat.
The goal is to build a life that allows us to keep sailing.
But First… The Maldives
Apparently, we decided that planning a complete lifestyle change wasn’t enough excitement.
In December 2026, we’re checking off one of our biggest scuba-diving bucket-list destinations:
The Maldives.
We’ll be traveling halfway around the world to spend our trip diving some of the most incredible waters on the planet.
And, appropriately enough, much of that adventure will be aboard a boat.
There’s something fitting about it.
While we’re preparing to completely change our lives and move onto a sailboat, we’ll get a taste of life on the water in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
We plan to dive, explore, take plenty of photos and video, and hopefully come home even more motivated to make our own cruising dream happen.
June 2027
That’s the date we’re working toward.
By then, we hope the house is sold.
Most of our possessions are gone.
The pigs are happily living on their forever farm.
The RV chapter has served its purpose.
And somewhere, tied to a dock or swinging gently at anchor, will be the boat that becomes our new home.
After that?
We don’t have every destination planned.
And that’s kind of the point.
There will be sailing.
There will be scuba diving.
There will be treasure hunting.
There will be boat projects, repairs, mistakes, unexpected weather, new friends, strange places, and probably plenty of moments when we ask ourselves what we’ve gotten into.
But there will also be freedom.
Adventure.
And the opportunity to see where the water takes us.
This is only the beginning of the journey, and we’re looking forward to sharing all of it — the good decisions, the bad decisions, the successes, the breakdowns, the beautiful anchorages, and everything in between.
From Blue Water to Hidden Treasure.
Welcome to the next chapter of Gypsea Bleu.
