Wife is eligible for promotion to Admiral

[TheFrog]

Had an interesting dinner-time discussion last night with my wife. To make a long conversation short we are now working on plans to cut our ties to shore and go cruising. No, we aren't cutting out tomorrow or next year. This is a ten-year plan. There are several major steps we need to cover along the way, if all goes great it may happen sooner than 10 years but our goal is not later than 2018.

A bit of background, we are both in our mid-30's with two boys (4 and 2). I have some sailing experience, mostly dinghies (Laser, FJ, Capri 14, Harpoon 5.2) and a few summers as weekend crew on a Freedom 28. My wife has been sailing several times keelboats primarily on San Francisco Bay and most recently in the Harpoon 5.2 on Lake Michigan. She really enjoyed the recent sails. Better yet, the kids enjoyed the sailing.

I wish I had gotten my own boat years ago but my thoughts of living aboard in Alameda, CA were disturbed by large student loans and a job in Germany, then came grad school, more loans, house, kids, etc.

Jist of the conversation last night was - why are we working so hard to earn money to save for retirement when we might not be healthy enough to enjoy it then. Therefore, let's take a multi-year break in middle age before the kids head off to college and have some adventure.

So, the major tasks in front of us:
1. Improve sailing skills - both of us need to get more experience, probably starting with some formal training.
2. Sail regularly - time to head for the lakes, maybe buy a small dinghy or rent keelboats.
3. Get ocean experience and explore boats - time to charter
4. Increase the sailing kitty - this seems to go against the 3 previous steps

Stay tuned for further adventures!

[chucklesR]

Good luck, and get cracking on your promotion to skipper; which outranks Admiral.
Admiral's tell skippers where to go, skippers tell Admirals what to do on the way

[Ziaduck]

My wife and I are in nearly the exact situation...but I haven't convinced her to take the multi-year break yet. Hmm...no you've got me thinkin'!

[TheFrog]

Originally Posted by Ziaduck

My wife and I are in nearly the exact situation...but I haven't convinced her to take the multi-year break yet. Hmm...no you've got me thinkin'!

If you don't have her and the kids out on the water, do it! I could not have achieved it without the recent vacation to Lake Michigan. I had actually casually mentioned the idea last year and she expressed no enthusiasm.

[Stillraining]

Some friends of mine are just finishing up theirs..almost to the letter story


Ruby Slippers » Rard Family Ocean Adventure


Great goal..

[GreatWhite]

That sounds like an awesome plan. We are planning a similar goal. Our kids are 3 and 5 now. My wife and I have done a few sailing courses and continually read a lot. We have already purchased our boat and will be doing our first test cruise in December for 4 weeks in the Sea of Cortez. This is part of our building up to full time cruising. We also have a small boat on the lake to build our chops.

In talking with other cruisers with kids, one sentiment is that if you wait too long the kids might be a little reluctant to leave their friends behind, for this reason we are aiming at our first strike at liveaboard cruising (6 months) when the boys are 5 and 7. Then if things go well we will leave on a longer term cruise when the boys are 7 and 9.

Not sure if an accelerated timeline is possible but that our strategy!

[TheFrog]

Originally Posted by GreatWhite

In talking with other cruisers with kids, one sentiment is that if you wait too long the kids might be a little reluctant to leave their friends behind, for this reason we are aiming at our first strike at liveaboard cruising (6 months) when the boys are 5 and 7. Then if things go well we will leave on a longer term cruise when the boys are 7 and 9.

Not sure if an accelerated timeline is possible but that our strategy!

Wish I had a job I could leave for 6 months. Just can't see that working out with my engineering career. Of course, I also have no clue how to reenter the workforce after the proposed multi-year sabatical. Do any of the others out there have suggestions on stopping and restarting careers?

[lbdavis]

I can't speak directly to the engineering industry, but I can speak to the IT world.

Sabaticals in IT are not necessarily frowned upon. The IT professional would have to stay on top of all the latest and greatest while away, but that's a small price to pay.

I would think that the engineering world changes at nearly the same speed (depending on what type of engineer you are.) If it were me, I'd talk to people in your field and see how much it's done. Maybe ask your boss if the relationship will allow it.

IMHO, the bottomline is that a person willing to take on such an adventure is the type of person I want working for me. Some may label you as not dependable, but what is dependable nowadays when no one stays with a company for long anyway. I'd think just the opposite, "here's a guy that needs to work his butt off to pay for that trip and start saving for the next one."

Life's too short to let work get in the way of a dream that big.

[Gary1]

No, here's the real bottom line. You can't take a U-haul to heaven. Ya gotta play while you're still catching the fish and not when you're being fed to 'em. (Or the worms, if you you prefer.)

Make your plans and tell the rest of the world to take a flying leap. When you get back, you can pick up where you left off, or use your newly acquired skills to earn a buck some other way.

[Bermuda30]

From what I've seen personally, engineering jobs (or the time that the engineer spends with 1 company) typically last about 5-7 years. Mind you, I'm a merely a lowly engineering student, but I work 7-8 months out of the year full time at a large engineering firm. Been here 3 years. Longest any of the engineers in my department have been here is 5 years. With such a turnover, I don't see any particular difficulty with returning to work, other than a lapse in employment on the resume. but I'll let you know in a few years, as I'm on the 3rd year of my 7 year plan.