[Irwin32]

When I first posted I decided not to say this, but coming back on this tonight may be it is something that I should say:

I too, 30 years ago, after a few years of sailing, had that passionate desire and the wife did not. I tried to talk her into it for a while and finally gave up. A few months later, out of nowhere, she said lets go and get away from all this crap. Like, twist my arm, man. Plans were made. I quit a very good job and the departure day drew very near. On my farewell party from work I found out she was leaving me for another guy. Trip cancelled - I was too devestated to go alone.

While I do not think the trip was the only reason for our breakup, I do think it was a big factor in that it magnified other problems, which the anticipation of living in a closet with 3 people has a tendency to do.

My 2nd wife (24 years) is not interested, but what she is willing to do is let me take extended cruises - I leave July 1 for 2.5 months and she will be joining me for 2 or three weeks of that time. I am just retired, but while working she was willing to let me go for up to 5 weeks at a stretch and she and my son would join me for a couple of weeks in that time span.

I no longer have the desire to live aboard for years at a time. My plan is to spend 3 - 6 months aboard each year, never returning to a base port, but keep moving the boat. I now realize that I do have other passions, music being the principal one, that cannot be fufilled if I live in a closet for the rest of my life.