By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-05 14:07:30 | Updated at 2025-01-10 03:42:20
4 days ago
Blaine and Janis Carmena took a gamble on an early retirement - cashing in their savings and buying a rotting 78ft yacht they found under a tarp along Alaska's remote coast.
The vessel - the Tangaroa - has since sucked more than half a million dollars and many hours on repairs.
But the upbeat couple told DailyMail.com they wouldn't change a thing.
Now, it's a home for the duo, their daughter, Izzy, 17, and Mexican rescue dog Maggie in the waters off Victoria, in British Colombia, Canada.
This summer, they'll wave goodbye to Vancouver Island for an epic 10-year voyage to Siberia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and then back up through the Arctic and into Northern Europe.
For their fans on social media, the Carmenas show how an ordinary Canadian-American couple can take a big swing and, with hard work and dedication, enjoy a dream retirement at sea.
'Life's too short. You can't just sit on the couch and watch TV,' says Janis, a 53-year-old from Ontario.
'You've got to head out there, see the world and meet people. You'd be surprised by actually how much kindness there is in the world.'
Janis and Blaine Carmena took a big swing on an early retirement and cashed in their savings to buy a 78ft fixer-upper yacht for their new home
When they visited the vessel in Wrangell, Alaska, it was under a tarp, rotting, moldy, and covered in barnacles
Janis met Blaine, 48, from Louisiana, when they were in their early 20s, sailing across the South Pacific as yacht crew members.
They got married in 2002 and switched to dry land in British Colombia to start a family.
Janis worked as a cop and Blaine as a mechanic as they raised Josh, now 21, and Izzy.
Once their kids had grown up, the Carmenas hatched plans to get back out on the waves.
They found a 78ft powered 1969 yacht for sale in Wrangell, Alaska, that looked good and was selling for a reasonable $350,000.
But when they visited the vessel on the dank windswept coast in late 2019, it was under a tarp, rotting, moldy, and covered in barnacles — hardly like its online images.
Still, eying an opportunity, they knocked the seller down to $140,000, and were sailing back to Canada early the following year.
After restoring the heating and plumbing, they moved onto the vessel in August 2020.
They've since spent weekends and many other hours in between restoring it to its former glory.
The YouTube channel 'Onboard Tangaroa: The Neverending Sea Trial' shows them stripping the aluminum hull, pulling up its teak deck, and installing a diesel heater, lithium batteries and a generator.
'In terms of sheer labor, removing the paint was pretty brutal,' said Blaine.
They've already spent more than $200,000 on repairs and materials — and that sum could easily double once work is complete.
Before they pull up anchor this summer, they aim to fix the engines, charge batteries and replace cracked windows.
Blaine says that stripping the paint from the massive aluminum hull was 'pretty brutal' work
The mechanic has also installed a diesel heater, lithium batteries and a generator
Once the repairs are complete, they could well have poured almost $1 million into the Tangaroa
The Tangaroa repairs are still not finished, but it's looking better than it has done in years
The Carmenas are gearing up for an epic decade-long voyage to Siberia and beyond this summer
After setting sail, there's plenty more work to do, refurbishing the interior.
Still, says Janis, the total costs are less than the vessel's roughly $1.8 million value.
Buying a newly-built yacht and sailing it to Victoria would cost more still.
The Tangaroa is also a better deal than the typical $1.2 million price of a three-bed home in Victoria, she adds.
Blaine says they cut their costs massively by doing the work themselves.
Anyone interested in following in their wake could try something less ambitious, he says.
A smaller vessel suited to calmer waters and easier sailing through the Caribbean Sea would be cheaper and easier, he adds.
'It's a wonderful lifestyle and I wouldn't tell people to shy away from it,' he told DailyMail.com.
'You just have to do your research, and make sure you get a boat suited to your skills that you're able to maintain.'
The Carmenas are part of a growing trend of young people, professionals, and retirees opting to ditch their homes and live on the water.
For some, the lifestyle is too offbeat, and the quarters below deck too claustrophobic.
Others worry about connotations with transients ducking society and living on shabby, battered vessels.
Data are hard to come by, but estimates suggest the US live-aboard population has swelled in recent years. Some put it at around 100,000 people.
Many of them, like the Carmenas, also want to travel in their homes.
The couple has little interest in popping champagne corks in the balmy Caribbean or Mediterranean seas.
They seek choppier, chillier waters that will put their aluminum hull to the test.
On July 7, they'll head up the coastline to Alaska to visit the indigenous Haida Gwaii archipelago and World War II sites on the Aleutian Islands.
They document their adventures, kayaking up remote creeks, navigating rapids and laying crab traps
The couple met when they were in their 20s, sailing across the South Pacific as yacht crew members
The couple moved to dry land to raise their children, Josh and Izzy, but were itching to get back to sea
After swinging by Russia and circumnavigating Japan, Janis wants to visit Yap, a Micronesian island ringed by reefs where natives use huge ornate limestone discs as money.
Out at sea, she says the boat is big enough for all aboard to get some space from each other.
They also have their own distinct roles in case of any disagreements.
'We do bicker sometimes,' says Janis.
'If it's anything to do with the interior, I win. If it's to do with mechanics, navigation, or running of the boat, he wins.'
They post about their adventures - from kayaking up remote creeks to navigating rapids and laying crab traps - on their other channel 'Exploring the World Onboard Tangaroa.'
The advertising revenue won't make them millionaires, but covers the cost of diesel, says Janis.
The ship-fluencers seek to 'motivate and educate' people to 'follow their dreams,' she says.
Some subscribers are too ill or broke to travel and 'live vicariously' through the Carmenas' toil and triumphs, she adds.
'It's also our legacy for our kids to watch when we're not here anymore,' she says.
