After 11 years of full-time cruising on our W32 Tarwathie, my wife and I have decided to slow down.  We bought an RV in a RV park in Florida as a winter home.  We will cruise only 3 months per year, up on Lake Champlain.

A blue water boat with self steering is not optimal for lake sailing.  Today, Tarwathie is in excellent sail-away condition.  But I'm concerned that 8-9 months of annual storage in freezing weather will make her shrink and expand and start opening up leaks and promote rot.  A major leak causing rot would be a major project to repair.  We're not up to major repairs any more.  

Also, one month's maintenance spread over 12 months cruising, is a small burden, but if you are on the boat for only 3 months per year, one month maintenance is a big burden.

But we still consider Tarwathie our primary home.  It would be an emotional trauma to sell her.  But it would be a worse emotional trauma to see her deteriorate if we can't keep up with the maintenance.  I'm on the horns of a dilemma.  Should we sell and scale down to a small light boat, or should we muddle on doing the best we can?

I'm sure that we aren't the first to encounter this dilemma.  What advice do you have?