Canada/US split retirement home questions

Joe,

Re #3
There's nothing like a 40 ft Grand Banks, Nordic Tug, or Krogen type liveaboard cruiser. Except the $$$,$$$ or the 1/2mpg. :wink

I think that a 10ft X 20ft float house could be built for a reasonable price, and dock rent and annual maintainance would be much less than that 40 ft trawler.

Something like this:
"Arrive by C-Dory at your float house in Echo Bay, unload the boat into the house, reload the boat with the prawn and crab traps that were stored in the house. Then sleep, cook, eat, and relax in the house and on its front deck, and go fishing, crabbing, prawning and sightseeing in the boat."

The float house could be relocated to enjoy another area, or be towed back to town to be hauled out for winter or for major maintenance.
 
Lyle wrote: I think we might be able to keep the dock by incorporating as the "C-Brat Yacht Club". Just think of the reverse snobbery possibilities. No one with a boat longer than 27' could tie up there (just kidding).

This is not as far-fetched as it might sound. The Port Alberni Yacht Club maintains an outpost in Robbers Passage (Deer Group, Barkley Sound, BC), complete with pay-per-use hot shower, free water fillup, nominal dockage fees, and a nice (also free) shoreside picnic spot, adjacent to their club house and floats. (The club house is "Members Only," but if you speak nicely and are freshly showered, they will invite you in for a drink!)

When I visited their outpost back in 1999, the attendant explained that all the freebies were their rationale to keep the float permit: apparently the Canadian government allows such permits if the owners/users "perform a public service." Outposts like the PAYC are scarce in spots like Echo Bay, I suspect. Might fly, and worth a try.

I think Lyle's description of how land/water access values are appreciating is spot-on.

And, Proctor's little book is a hoot. How that guy accumulated all that lore!!
 
Lyle and Larry-

I suspected there might be a signifigant cost differential between the alternatives, but there were some parts I was a bit fuzzy on.

That said, most of us who live down here in the Great Inflated State of Californication have a half a million dollars or more tied up in real estate as it is, and, as to whether it appreciates or depreciates, makes no real difference unless:

1. You feel an obligation to turn it over to your children so that they can have a better life, work less, and retire earlier, or all three.

2. You save it as long as possible so the medical community can eventually collect it in hospital fees. Save your money-dying is expensive!

3. You discover that someone's found a worm hole through which to squirrel your bucks into the afterlife, and that St. Peter can be bribed into letting you at some of those 1000 virgins that the Muslims are always talking about.

Barring one of the above, it would seem one would have the option of Buying the Big Boat, at least if the Admiral is on board with the concept and willing to float the "Home on the Waves".

Not a bad idea at all for those adventurous to do so. I'm sure many have done it! I'd dearly love to ....

But about as close as I'd be able to approximate the idea with my land luibbin', flower plantin' Admiral would be to buy a home in Sequim on a golf course, join the SBYC, and leave the C-Dory moored at the John Wayne Marina...just like the several hundred Califonia transplants already in the area! And we all know how the locals just love those escapees from the Golden State of Happiness and Harmony!

Hmmmm...........a good laugh anyway!

Joe.
 
I am feeling a little releaved now about the Canadian property for sale at Simoom Sound. When Terri saw the link advertising it, she started packing and said we were movin there. Then Larry H saved the day with his post and pointed out
Nancy H":1n7yib5f said:
Echo Bay Resort, Windsong Sea Village, and Pierre's Bay are close by. And the crabbing is in Shoal Harbor just around the corner!
Click to expand...
She decided that was too many people and too civilized for her, so we are still looking. Just about everything else was perfect for her. My only problem with it is, it is in Canada.
 
If any of you are intrigued with the area, we are going back for the first two weeks in September. Pat and Patty on Daydream will be there the second week of September. There have been some other people express an interest, but no one besides Pat has confirmed that they will be there then.

Larry, Shelley and I really enjoyed roaming around with you and Nancy for a couple of days last September. Any chance you'll be back up in that area this September?

Oldgrowth, come check it out, I doubt that you would find Windsong Sea Village or Echo Bay overly civilized. The population in this area is the lowest it's been in over 10,000 years and continues to decline. For 10,000 years there were 1,000's of natives living well in many villages in this area. After contact with the white man they were almost entirely wiped out by smallpox and other diseases. Then around the turn of the 20th century there were booming fishing and logging villages in the area. Now, there are a few outposts serving the cruising and sportfishing communities. Besides that, it's just wilderness.
Lyle
 
Bess-C

We are also interested. If a partnership/group holding could be put together. Not interested in a solo ownership. We hope to be in the area in July, if plans can be followed through on. Hope to launch from Anacortes area in late June and work north for a month, then return south over another month. Does anyone know for sure if the property is still available?


Brent
 
Discovery":36ivsu3g said:
Does anyone know for sure if the property is still available?
Click to expand...
It is still listed for sale on the web site, where it is advertised. Usually when a property is sold, it is noted so on the web site.
 
I called to check on this one, they just accepted an offer, so it doesn't show sold on the website yet, but it is gone. It was listed for quite a while.

Sorry to get you all started down this road to nowhere. But I've watched this kind of property on or adjacent to Vancouver Island for a couple of years. There have been some very intriguing properties, but with my schedule, I never wanted to take on sole ownership at that distance unless we had more time to spend out there.

I've enjoyed the discussion and dreaming about doing it with a group. I know that would have its own special pitfalls, but it's been interesting to see other rational people saying that they would also consider it.
Lyle
 
Lyle, keep us informed of properties you spot for multi-ownership -- we're game if the right piece of property comes available...sounds like others could be interested also. Thanks again for the idea!
 
Anyone still thinking this might not be a bad idea? Looks like an opportunity just slipped by. Maybe this isn't the right time, but dreaming sure doesn't cost much.

Turned this thread up in a search on Time Shares.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
This summer we stayed at Shawl Bay Resort for a while. Shawl Bay has docks for boats and leases out water space for float houses. They are located in a nice bay and provide water which is piped to the float houses. The resort can also provide a wi-fi connection for a fee.

Annual leases are $300/month and they will look after the place for you in the winter.

Of course, you have to provide the float, house, anchors, etc. Fuel for heating/generators can be delivered by fuel barge.

Shawl Bay Resort has a master foreshore lease so you don't have to deal with the Canadian government.
 
Larry and Harvey,
This is the kind of thinking that gets me in trouble. But if you go to pacificboatbrokers.com and look under floating accommodations you will find several interesting places that would work at Shawl Bay.

How about an old fishing lodge that will sleep 21 for under $80,000? If a few people got together you might have a C-Brat clubhouse for very little money.
Lyle
 
There are plenty of good trawlers, which are relitatively cheap, and would make a great summer home. You might even leave the boat in BC for the winter in yard where work is done--and no tax or duty due.

For example I know of a 37 foot diesel trawler where the owner needs to get rid of it and has been dropping the price every week or so--this week it was down to about $20,000. Currently it is in the lake areas of Central US--but could be trucked to PNW--or a similar boat--with some sweat equity--would make a great summer home in PNW.

There are lots of places you can anchor--free--so the investment is minimal. I don't know about the cost of winter storage, but I suspect it is less than taxes on a house.
 
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