Message in a bottle

[SV:HERON]

Hi Jim,

I also found this thread recently providing good insight on the plusses and minusses of going now. I am 54 years young and lucky to be alive after Leukemia and a Bone Marrow Transplant some 7 years ago.

What I learned from that experience is that we only rent our lives on "long term" leases (some longer than others). The only thing we can really plan on is dying so the point is to be living every moment we can doing what our spirit tells us. I denied my inner voice as a corporate marketing VP and it nearly cost me my life at age 47.

Yes, it does take money to cruise but desire and commitment may be more compelling ingredients.

I am planning for our departure in 2007. It may only be 6 months at a time but I will take it....gladly.

[Jim H]

Heron, congrats on your recovery. I hope you post about your plans for 2007 and how they progress.

I know of two local couples (younger, late twenties and mid thirties), who just left well-paying and stable jobs and took off for open-ending cruising. One couple knows they only have the funds for one to two years, but they're going for it.

Another avenue I find encouraging for 40-somethings like myself is the idea of having enough to cruise for 2-5 years, but then planning to work summers or part time after that. (Maybe like your plan, if you're thinking 6 months at a time). It makes me tempted to formulate a six month contract for myself at my current job, but my wife may not like the plan since she may or may not enjoy being with the kids in Mexico or the S. Pacific while I work, or traveling back with the kids every year while I work. I think Latitude 38 calls this "commuter cruising."

As for the "big, scary things" that make us think we must work full-time until 68 years of age, I still feel many of them are illusions. For example, if I sell my house in one of the few housing areas that may not burst in terms of annual growth of price, I may never own another house like it in the same area. I wonder, though, if cruising won't open a world of opportunities for other places to live with housing prices that are not exclusionary. If we only think local options are real, we'll also be prisoners of what local inflation occurs. The more we make, the more it costs, etc.

Anyway, thanks for the post and we wish you well on your plans and cruising.

Jim H

[GoLikeaFish]

This thread is full of good stuff (keep going):

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ead.php?t=3067

[SV:HERON]

Hi Jim,

It is very difficult to do but the way I have been able to realize my cruising dreams is to live as debt free as possible. After my illness, we had to downsize since I lost my job. Fortunately, we owned a small cottage on the coast of Maine (800 sqft) with no debt. I had to do some work to make it year round but since I was out of work, all I had to pay for was materials. My work progress was slow as I had been a "white collar" guy for all of my adult work history.

We sold the cars we had loans on and purchased decent used cars. Saved us a lot on payments, taxes and registration, insurance, etc.

I purchased a Westsail 32 that needed lots of cosmetic work. All other systems were updated including engine, sails and rigging, tanks, etc. One more winter of work and the vessel will look like it looked when launched in 1980.

We will not sell our cottage for the reasons you described in your last post. We don't want to box us out of ever coming back on land. We will rent the place if we have to so that it can pay for itself on taxes and upkeep. We know if we sell it, we may not be able to afford it again. Even if we don't come back here to live permanently, the equity we have can be used to purchase elsewhere if we fall in love with a different area.

You last comment about retireing at age 68 is a tough one. I don't have an answer for your life some 20+ years from now. The problem of not realizing your dream is that it becomes huge regrets when and if you reach 68. What I have learned the most through my fight for life is that living is only "today". Sure there may be many tomorrows but those are gifts not yet realized.

You never know what can come to you unless you put yourself out there. Lin & Larry Pardey never looked back in their decision to cruise and made a pretty good living at it. Sure, they are an exception... or are they?

Good luck on your path.

[Jim H]

Originally Posted by SV:HERON

We will not sell our cottage for the reasons you described in your last post. We don't want to box us out of ever coming back on land. We will rent the place if we have to so that it can pay for itself on taxes and upkeep.

I'm envious of you on this point-- we have a 2500 foot house in a nice area. Almost too nice to rent in, we don't own it outright, and probably too much house to rent as absent landlords. I've considered cashing out our place to buy a 1000 ft house to rent when we're gone, but my real estate agent would argue that any 2 bedroom is going to be hard to move in the future in our area.

One idea we have is to cash out and cruise, but retain about $100k for our re-entry later on (house downpayment, furniture, etc.). Of couse, that fund could be used elsewhere if we decided we liked another state or country.

We've also cut back on a lot of expenses, like you have, but we still keep a 27 footer for sailing locally. If we didn't have two kids, we'd consider a Westsail-- I just read your "race report" over on SSCA, and it sounds like you had a good time. It was also interesting to read how you handle the headsail now.

Have fun!

Jim H

[LWinters]

It's been really interesting reading the postings from this forum. I've got to say that the viewpoints of many indicating that those who sail with the "go small, go now" attitude are doomed to failure scare me. I got bit by the bug about 5 years ago. That's when I started learning to sail, saving, and reading everything I could on boats. I am now 30, purchased an Allied Mistress 3 weeks ago, and am planning on casting off around Jan of 2008.

The things I don't know about sailing could fill a library. The number of reasons I shouldn't go probably outnumber the reasons I should go 10 to 1. My boat is older but structurally sound. The sails are worn, but well stitched. The Westerbeke 4-108 has 8700 hours, but doesn’t smoke. Regardless, I am leaving an excellent paying job with no guarantee of "re-entry" at anywhere near the same level. Henry Ford said "If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability." I guess I am counting on the knowledge and ability I have now combined with the experience and knowledge I will gain on the trip to create a more rich and well lived life than I could achieve otherwise. Not to mention carry me across the oceans.

I've put around 75K in the bank and hope to put another 30 or so in by the end of 2007. I'll put around 25K into the boat to bring it up to date, pay it off before I go, sail without boat or medical insurance, and see how far I can get with ~ 50K in the cruising kitty. I am betting 2 - 4 years baring major catastrophe. Past that, I don't dare to plan. I am not expecting to come back the same person I am now. Nor do I expect to be able to rejoin the corporate world I am now in.

In terms of the question, "What does it take to go cruising?” I can only think of one correct answer. You have to make the decision to go. Once that is done, everything else will fall into place.

[camaraderie]

LWinters... I guess I am one of those who is not of the "go now" school of thought BUT only as it applies to MY cruising desires to do it with a certain amount of comfort and to NEVER have to work again. That took a lot of time and work etc. and it was the right decision for us.
Your vision of a modest vessel and a different lifestyle and a few years of cruising is ENTIRELY realistic and achievable from what you describe. I am sure you will have a blast and a great adventure. The tough part will not be the leaving...it will be the re-entry. Good luck!

[longwaterline]

Wanderer



A Quote From Sterling Hayden's Book, Wanderer


To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... cruising it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.

I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.


What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.


The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.


Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?

[sailingdog]

not hayden again....

[camaraderie]

God...if I read that Sterling Hayden stuff one more time I'm gonna puke! Not exactly the guy I'd pattern my life after.