Living Your Dream

[Brandywine]

Are dates are set around the kids... we are going to leave before the oldest turns 11... Trying to avoid the tween and teen issues of living aboard and get out there sooner so she can ease into it… and the youngest needs to be at least 5 or preferable 6 so it gives a 24 month window to sneak out … I travel a good deal for work and I can tell you that the suburban US lifestyle is doing little to prepare kids for what is really out there.

Money some how does not seam to play as big a roll as I would have thought next fall when it is time to by THE BOAT, I will take stock of what we have and make the decisions based on that…

[livingstone]

That's an excellent question, but I actually left yesterday. My wife and I (she's 22, me 37) hit the road and are in the process of saying our goodbyes to everyone here in michigan before we drive to Lauderdale and sail south. We believe we'll be gone at least till May, but you never know.

Anyway, the reasons were that: we are relatively young. We have enough to eat with, and that's all you need, and lastly, why not? I got on this forum months ago and asked everyone if they thought I could sail to the Bahamas in our macgregor 25 and most people said I was crazy, or something like it.

To the naysayers: Well, we didn't listen and we're leaving. We'll let you know if we die in the process. I suspect we won't.

To everyone else: I'd say DO IT, and DO IT NOW. You have one short life, to waste another second of it in a cubicle or wherever is to squander the most precious thing you'll ever have.

Good luck everyone. See you in paradise.

JACK

[TAREUA]

Livingston, good luck brother! The beer doesn't taste any better on a bigger boat, though you can carry more of it!
Pick your weather rather than keep to a schedule, and be safe. Remember too, more stuff breaks down in the first 3 months than the next 3 years. Don't let early problems overwhelm you, it gets easier.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by TAREUA

Remember too, more stuff breaks down in the first 3 months than the next 3 years. Don't let early problems overwhelm you, it gets easier.

If this is true I feel much better about a lot of things.

[Crystalbleu]

Just waitin for the youngest to graduate H.S. We are counting down, only 19 months to go!!!!! Then we are gone. We have been shopping for a cruising cat for the last 6 months or so and are still on the lookout for our soon to be home. Lookin lately at the PDQ 36 but are still researching. Always open to hearing about a good deal.

Crystal

[Keegan]

After reading all of the replies I would say that the good news is that the dreams are alive and well, regardless of how long it takes for them to be realized.

Keegan

[graham2]

My partner and I are in the stage where many attempts fall through which is overhauling the reciently purchased boat and wading through the challenges and frustrations of getting ready ( in the heat of south florida at that). Most fears are phanthoms and there are ways around what appears to be walls if the desire and mental drive is there - no excuses. If your living your dream the compromises never feel like compromises because you are being yourself. Here's a great quote for those considering going.

To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest upon 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 the 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 fools can’t afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cautious discipline of “security” and in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine – before we know it our lives are gone.
What does one need – really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down on, 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, and playthings that divert our attention from 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: The bankruptcy of purse, or the bankruptcy of life?



Sterling Hayden
“Wanderer”, 1963
Cheers,
Graham

[henryk]

I agree 100 % . This world is created by the rich to suck poor . If you don't agree with me . go ahead , buy that Hummer , 62 inch plasma TV , home theater , big house in suburbia , hire a babysitter for your kids because mam or dad has to run to work to pay for all this . Freedom 55 !! but what about those years before when you were young and full of energy . But wait , if we keep on working we could afford a fifty footer, instead of 42 , and one more year will get us a generator , water maker , maybe washer and dryer . We need those hundred of thousands of $$$$$$$$$ to go to the islands to live with people who survive there for $20 a month , They are poor , but they are not overweight , they are healthier because they can't afford a car, so they get around by walking .
Believe me , been there , done that .They happiest time in my life was in 1988 when ended up i Madrid, Spain as a home less . What a life, you wake up in the morning , and there is no job to go to , you go to church and there are those richie's feeding the poor and feeling sorry for them and feeling good for themselves for what the great thing they just did .You got no bills to pay . I got a free pass to all the museums there, visited whole bunch of galleries , botanical gardens , etc . But the best experience was meeting interesting people , seating on "Puerta del Sol " by the fountain , sharing bread, wine and stories .

[maxingout]

The number one reason I have not sailed yet is because I just got back. I need to earn some more Freedom chips so that I can go again.

[Reality Check]

Presently not sailing because my next splash date isn't until 15 Dec and it is like waiting for Christmas... I always open the big package first!!

[Charlie]

I had to post other. I guess I am fishing. I've got the family hooked on going. Wife wants warm water so we go to Mexico. Kids want to learn to surf (so do I) so we go to Mexico. I am going to build a guest house so that we can have someone watch the house while we are gone. . . but I don't want to start over when we come back. Cruised the South Pacific 20 years ago. Decided I was going to cruise again on my own boat. Now I have the money, but the kids and the wife aren't sold on packing it all up to go so now we are going to commuter cruise. . . Sail for months at a time then go home. I just need to reel them in w/o breaking the line.

[henryk]

Thanks a lot brother and sister sailors for a valuable info , i will sleep peacefully tonight .
Regards

[maxingout]

More sailing dreams are sunk by the cost of living high than reefs, rocks, and hurricanes all combined.

[henryk]

Not only sailing dreams , but many dreams just had been sunk forever.

[j9gillik]

I'm just starting on the path ... so my "why not yet" is because I'm very early in the prep phase. But I have no ties holding me back ... just the education and boat-buying process (a two-year plan) before I hit the open water.