I'm finally doing it

CapnBones · #1 09-07-2012

So I am sitting at work right now... not exactly working hard because my mind is elsewhere. Two years ago I bought my boat and formulated my plan to work for two years and then sail down to the Bahamas for at least this winter. As plans go I have hit some snags. I don't have as much money as I wanted to have, and I didn't do all the upgrades on the boat that I wanted, so I was going to defer for a bit longer.

Screw that! My lease ends the end of September so I decided my tenure at my job will as well and I will move on to the boat which is 2 hours away from where I live now. I am going to work on the boat through October, really get everything hammered out on it, all the little stuff that I always put off because I would rather sail. Then come November I am taking off and heading for Florida. I am planning to stop off since I have a lot of friends down there, and hopefully pick up a little bit of work to put money in my pocket. I am working on my captains license now so hopefully I can get some use out of that. After that, say January I am going to head to the islands. None of the details are ironed out on that end now, nor do I think they will be, just going to wing it. What is certain is that I am moving on the boat and leaving for warmer climates and blue water. I am currently selling everything in my house either through Craigslist, or the yard sale that we are having next weekend, less stuff more cash!

I am pretty much full to bursting with this and had to tell more people, and I can't tell anyone at work yet. At any rate, hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

Bones

kd3pc · #2 09-07-2012

hoping that work comes up, or that a captain's license will help is flawed thinking.

Be careful, it is tough out there without cash flow. you may want to postpone the work except for safety until you know you can make it.

Best of luck and safe travels

johnnyquest37 · #3 09-07-2012

Go now. That's the advice we so often hear from folks returning from (or currently engaged in) an extended cruise. I had planned to take off in 2006, but unforseen committments will keep me on shore until June 2017. If I could go now, I would.

CapnBones · #4 09-07-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by kd3pc

hoping that work comes up, or that a captain's license will help is flawed thinking.

No expecting work to come up or for a captains license to be a magic ticket is flawed thinking. Hoping for it though I think is perfectly ok. But that aside, finding work is not hard if you are willing to work...finding a JOB that pays well and you want to make a career out of or even tell your friends about is. Which is a big problem in this lazy a** country, but that is for another forum entirely pardon the digression.

Also as far as the remaining work, it is more comfort than safety, I did the latter first. I may just go down the ditch anyway, but I will determine that as I get closer. I would prefer to go outside, especially through Georgia, because that wasn't even enjoyable in a powerboat!

Daydreamer22 · #5 09-07-2012

Congratulations and good for you !!!
Fair Winds

Captainmeme · #6 09-07-2012

As they say in the Nike commercials, "Just do it"
Keep us informed of your progress and good luck.

peterchech · #7 09-07-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by CapnBones

finding work is not hard if you are willing to work...finding a JOB that pays well and you want to make a career out of or even tell your friends about is. Which is a big problem in this lazy a** country, but that is for another forum entirely pardon the digression.

haha not sure I follow your logic in that statement regarding laziness, but I know that there are liveaboards and others in my marina who make some money on the side using their 6-pack license to take tourists out on tours of NYC, who bareboat charter their boats, take people out fishing, rent out their boats as floating hotels (small crappy boats mind you), and numerous other creative ventures mostly marketed online. You'll never be able to pay for health insurance or retirement, but may be able to eke out a subsistence if you keep your business on the DL and keep the man off your back...

4arch · #8 09-07-2012

Congrats Bones! We should compare notes on our boats sometime. There aren't many of us L30 owners out there.

marinedtcomRob · #9 09-07-2012

I would like to here about you working on your boat and your travels to Florida

CapnBones · #10 09-07-2012

@4arch-
It is good to see another L30 on here, mine is #32. There are actually 4 counting myself in my marina. There actually used to be 5 but, and I can't make this up, my ex bought that one. Her sister saw pics of mine and e-mailed me to tell me, we bought them about a month apart from each other. Shoot me a PM and we can definitely talk Lippincott, heck I am right in Kent Narrows we might have to put on a L30 raft up.

@Rob - I am thinking I should start a blog or something, I have some good photos from the boat after sitting on the hard 3 years and progress to now, plus more to come in the next month on that front. I am also going to utilize time on the way down, and while down there, to get my SQL programming up to par and work on some business intelligence strategies. I figure the more marketable skills the better, and looking at your accomplishments I might want to hear some more about what you have done as well.