Is Retirement All You Expected and More ?

[wind_magic]

Originally Posted by bakerha51

Retirement - It's all you expected and more.

Bakerha51's comment from another thread made me wonder, is retirement to a cruising life really all you expected and more ? I'd like to hear from some of the people here who are retired to a life of leisure on a cruising boat, is it everything that you wanted it to be, are you out there having the time of your life ?

Retired on a cruising boat, are you having fun ?

[Yorksailor]

We love the life and cannot imagine going back to land...Our greatest pleasure is going to sea at dawn... strong coffee and a bacon sandwich!!!

We are healthier, happier and our only regret is not seeing the grandchildren more often...but we fly them into the Caribbean once a year and next year are sailing the Atlantic just so that we can see more of them.

[eryka]

Let's do a comparison.

Normal work day: up before sunrise, stare at brake lights on the Beltway for an hour. Sip bad coffee from styrofoam cup while navigating around other humans trying to make a living as well.

Normal cruising day: up before sunrise, sip fresh made coffee in cockpit while watching sea birds making their living diving for fish. Navigate to the next beautiful anchorage.

Which is better? Hmm, let me get back to you on that.

Seriously, retired a year ago to live the dream we'd been focused on for 10 years ... it was worth every minute of it and much much more. Left the dock about 1/2 hour after hanging up the phone on my last-ever teleconference ... ahhhh.

[bakerha51]

Well since it was my quote I thought I'd put in my two cents.
Retired at 57 and bought a new (to me and the first mate) boat. We spend 1 to two weeks a month on it in the Great Lakes. When we get tired of that - heading South! We aren't real "Cruisers" yet but we're practicing hard!
Thought I wasn't really ready to retire - man was I wrong. It IS everything I expected and more every day! If you are considering it - Jump in - The waters FINE!!!

[sailor50]

You don't have to be retired to cruise.

My partner and I saved up as much money as we could when we were in our 30's. Had a great sail for a year and a half, saw some unbelievable sights! Transiting the Panama Canal being one of them.

The adventure comes to a halt when the money runs out, the priorities change, the physical conditions prohibit dancing on the decks, etc.

Take a month or two in your own back yard (cruising grounds) to see if this works for the both you and your boat.

[TQA]

I'm a happy camper. But I was fortunate to be in a position to be able to go cruising for 7 years in my forties so know what to expect.

I do meet a few who are clearly not happy, sometimes they have had a big scare or they just are fed up with the aspect of cruising often called "boat maintenance in exotic locations".

A G&T in the cockpit at sunset, waking to watch the pelicans catch fish and the frigates rob them, a swim before breakfast in warm water and any time I get bored I just move to another island.

[LandLocked66c]

Man, you guys are killing me! I'll get there one day...

[cb32863]

You all have convinced me that I must find a way to do it..... Still have a few years to go though as kids need to get through school and that whole finances thing. A few minor details....

[CaptainForce]

Not working is working for me! Like eryka, we are still up early and crusing is wonderful. As some others have said, it's wise to have a cruising background before retirement. We retired eight years ago at 55, but moved aboard and stated cruising in our early twenties. Many couples retire and cruise for a few years or fall into a pattern of simply cruising "traveling" from a northern marina to a southern marina and back with the seasons. I can't see any "right" answer, but experience prior to retirement seems best. Take care and joy, Aythya crew

[RichH]

I am having the time of my life.

Fortunate for me I took my retirement planning entirely into my own hands about 25 years ago, ..... not depending on 'plans', etc. of others.
I would really not want to be a retiring teacher or other unionized government worker based on the inevitable and impending economic destruction currently going on in today's grossly mis-managed economy.

Im having an absolute ball. Will be even better when I can find a country to live in that doesnt claim all the rest of what I worked for and saved as their 'fair share'.
I paid 'my fair share' throughout my entire working life ... and want to keep those accumulated leftovers in paying even more 'fair share' to cover the results of the governmental corruption, greed and absolute stupidity.