Hello all,
1st post here. My wife and I are in our early/mid 60's. We've always been in love with boating and have had plans to go full-time liveaboard on a trawler within the next 4 years, and to try it for 3 years. If after 3 years we still feel healthy enough, we continue.
If not, we come back to Terra Firma. Neither one of us likes planting roots; we love to travel, and CAN'T WAIT until I hit retirement (4 years). We're avid boaters, both SCUBA dive, and she has her own jet ski. We can't imagine not living near the water, or not playing on/in it. The problem is, we can't take it all with us. We're also starting to be concerned about knees, shoulders, etc. - all the aches and pains that come with our ages. I haven't really brought up the idea to her that we may not be able to physically do the trawler in 4 years (she'll be 71, I'll be 66). So I'm working on Plan B, which would involve a travel trailer.
We have two new vehicles: I have a 2016 Nissan Titan XD diesel, and she has a 2017 Jeep Cherokee. She also has a 2016 Sea Doo GTi 155 SE PWC, that we're going to want to bring along with us.
So there are a few ways to skin this cat, none of which are really easy.
OPTION ONE
The most comfortable one (I think) would be to get a nice TT or 5W, hook it on to the back of the Nissan, and she hooks the PWC to the back of her Jeep. This way we can have a smaller trailer (i.e. 28') to live very comfortably with. The problem there is obvious - double the miles driven, more maintenance on the PWC trailer, additional cost for wherever we stay (two vehicles, etc.).
OPTION TWO
Option Two is to get a toy hauler, and stick the PWC in the back of it and away we go. Get rid of the Jeep. The problem (as I see it) is that we now have a 38'-40' trailer behind us. I think I'd rather have Option One, but I have no real-world experience to base that on.
OPTION THREE
We get a toy hauler, stick the PWC in it to travel from point-to-point, drive the Jeep along with us, then use the Jeep to launch/recover the PWC, run around town, etc.
Does anybody here do Option One or Three? Is there an option that I'm not considering? Thanks.