Any early retirees turned cruisers with big careers have regrets?

[sailorboy1]

I’venot met a cruiser who wishes they had kept working instead of going cruising. And this includes the ones that have gone back to work to have something to do, make extra money, or because they just had to because they ran out of money. Yes cruisers collect in the same general locations, but thats because they are nice places.

But then there are those who are probably too afraid to make such a major life change. Instead they will live on internet forums looking for ways to bad mouth cruising, making up any reason they can to justify how others aren't cruising “right”. They will do all this from their couch while spinning story of yesterdays of beach cats etc.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Paul L

I have pretty easy access to my boat too, as I live on it. And it's not in a small world.

Nice.

Sounds like you'd make a good cruiser and that boat you have probably doesn't hurt.

There's an Outbound something at the other boat yard here. It has bow thrusters etc and maybe nearing 45-50 feet

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I’venot met a cruiser who wishes they had kept working instead of going cruising. And this includes the ones that have gone back to work to have something to do, make extra money, or because they just had to because they ran out of money. Yes cruisers collect in the same general locations, but thats because they are nice places.

But then there are those who are probably too afraid to make such a major life change. Instead they will live on internet forums looking for ways to bad mouth cruising, making up any reason they can to justify how others aren't cruising “right”. They will do all this from their couch while spinning story of yesterdays of beach cats etc.

Says the guy with almost 16,000 posts.

Also, I'm the guy that just took a short 15 mile bike ride (in 48 degrees) over to my boat. I needed to check my solar float voltage to see if it was off by .2 volts!

You are the guy sitting/docked along the ICW sorta like where I am but further North and with a bit more space

And to see if I had a boiling battery. If I had a boiling battery with voltage slightly off that could have been a thread worth days and days of advice or I could have just troubleshot it before I rode my bike back home for lunch...….

As far as racing, I got that out of my system especially on beach cats. I like my cabin, dodger, head, and storage space plus radio, compass, GPS, and charts (and the outboard for when there is no wind)

[CarlF]

My wife and I each had what the OP calls “Big Jobs”. While high pressure, we loved it. Just cruising would have quickly become limiting for us. What we wanted was to cut back from working 330 days a year to working 120 days (and 4-6 hours a day instead of 10). And do as much as possible from the boat. No long commutes. No 6AM flights for business travel.

This turned out to be easier than we expected. If you don’t need to be paid, lot’s of people would like your help on really interesting and worthwhile things.

My wife serves on non profit boards in education. I am a mentor and board member to start up clean-tech companies. They often give me a little stock but so far that hasn’t made me rich

Thanks to cheap and fast internet, we can join meetings from the boat anytime except on passage and review documents. If it’s a video conference call I make sure there are no palm trees in the background

We spend 4 months a year back in a condo We own in our hometown. This lets us attend business meetings in person, stay connected with friends, and be with family. The last is just about required if grandchildren are in the picture. We’ve talked about renting the condo out when we’re not there but it’s too useful for storage so far.

Finally, believe it or not there are a few nice places on this earth that you can’t get to by boat. So we spend 1-2 months traveling to those each year. You only get one life to travel.

Obviously, this is only feasible for a small percentage of cruisers. If you need to earn money in retirement, it’s not going to work. I was incredibly lucky. It seems the least I can do is spend some of my remaining years giving back.

While our approach is not cheap, I don’t waste money. We anchor out most of the time we’re on the boat and look for marinas with good monthly rates when we’re off the boat. We spend less than we did while working because we don’t have a big house anymore and the kids have their own jobs.

Finally, as watch our cruising friends it quickly became clear that cruising is not “forever”. Most couples are driven ashore when one or the other develops a health issue - usually by mid 70’s. There are a few couples where both are in their 80’s but not many. So in considering your retirement savings, think in terms of 10-15 years of cruising. After that, you are likely to be ashore - probably close to grandchildren if you are that lucky.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by thomm225

You are the guy sitting/docked along the ICW sorta like where I am but further North and with a bit more space

Go ahead and tell yourself that beach cat to make yourself feel good. I bet i sailed more miles last month in just 4 days, in F7 conditions, than you do in a year. Heck probably than you do in 2 years.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Go ahead and tell yourself that beach cat to make yourself feel good. I bet i sailed more miles last month in just 4 days, in F7 conditions, than you do in a year. Heck probably than you do in 2 years.

What?

As far as distance, I'm not sure what the fascination is that some have with it

I get a little antsy on a 5 -6 hour sail unless the wind is up then I can enjoy it some. (or I have a good book)

Like I said before I did enough racing on my 4 different beach cats. We'd race from maybe February thru November buoy racing with distance races mixed in.

In first 100 mile race (1997 Ft Walton Beach, FL) we had 82 boats on the starting line at 0700.

We finished that one at 1930 on a sloop rigged Nacra 6.0 and I didn't have any beers until we got back inside from the Gulf at Pensacola Pass at around 1230-1300. Wind stayed under 12-14 knots so things did get a little slow.

I did that race maybe 5-6 more times over the years.

The beach cat scene has slowly declined since.

I did that racing in my 30's and 40's mainly and still had energy for the post race bar scene which was quite fun back then especially in the days before the internet got so popular.

It was fun to watch the "scenery" and "discuss" the races.....

[sailorboy1]

So what? Spin another story as all he cruisers here on a cruising forum love them.

[StoneCrab]

Originally Posted by thomm225

we have seen here on CF that there's no great change in the individual from before he left to cruise and when he is cruising. His computer has just been relocated

That seriously cracked me up! True that--

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by thomm225

What?

As far as distance, I'm not sure what the fascination is that some have with it

....

You are the one that keeps saying cruisers don't go anywhere and you sail sooo many hours.
It is really odd that you seem to disdain cruisers so much, but choose to hang with the herd on cruisers forum. Did they shutdown old beach cat forum.com?

[malbert73]

Wow- if this is the “cruising community” then who wants to be part of it. nothing like folks bragging and putting others down to make themselves feel better- just like real land based life.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by malbert73

Wow- if this is the “cruising community” then who wants to be part of it. nothing like folks bragging and putting others down to make themselves feel better- just like real land based life.

If you re-read your post...sounds like you are lumping all posters together and lecturing....
Basically doing the same thing you are showing disdain for.
I agree, some posters get into a pissing contest and spoil the discussion for most (entertain for the sad few).
But we all know that and hope that someone with a meaningful thought, eventually contributes without any judgements.

[malbert73]

Good point- thanks for clarifying for me- just really meant the last handful of posts. Never really bought into the “my experience is more than yours” that sometimes pervades.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by thomm225

And you and others write like you are some type of superior being if you drop out of society and herd up with other cruisers.

I have already spend lots of time on the water so I know the deal. I know the ups and downs. The highs and the lows.

And I have observed the "busy" cruisers working on their so called system problems here on CF and it worries me a bit.

Its similar to the old guy saying "get out of my yard you rotten kids." The grass has some how become more important than it was when his kids were young and they and all there friends played on it everyday

It's because their world has become small and little things that were not important once suddenly become the most pressing thing of the day

I have tried to prepare for my cruises this year by buying a beginner sextant and an old calculator to play with plus more books and hopefully we will have more big wind days especially for when I get bored and want to get back

Then there are always the batteries and solar to play with. (see solar threads!) I have 4 panels and 3-4 controllers that still work. A couple of my $12.00 Chinese PWM controllers failed over the years (2-3 are PWM)

And lastly my sister retired maybe 20 years ago (when she was mid 40's) and she and her husband went to the Bahamas. (35' power yacht) After a few months of fishing, diving, and hanging at the marina and on the boat she became bored and went back to maintaining their home and property up here and maybe worked part time at first. He stayed and went back and forth usually where the best weather was. He has a 44' Power Yacht now and was keeping it at Man-O-War Cay Bahamas ….I believe except he had it up here during the hurricane last year

One more point. I was a sailboat racer as many on here know and had to deal with (!) since 1992 so the transition to cruiser since 2011 has been difficult at times.

Maybe I should have bought a racer cruiser......instead of my Good Old Bristol 27, but now I can't seem to part with it. And it has gotten me out of a few difficult weather situations that I couldn't run from at 20 knots like in the past

I hope it all works out for you.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Group9

I hope it all works out for you.

Thanks! Happy New Year!

It's worked out so far, but I'm still looking at other boats. (this Bristol 27 being my 12th boat and 6th sailboat)

The thing is I finally replaced/upgraded a few things on my present boat so now have like maybe $10,000 into it so I'd hate to sell it at this point.

I sailed it mostly as is from 2011 until now after paying $2,000 for it. I wanted to see what slow boat sailing was all about so I didn't want to "invest" too much at first.

Upgrades were things like new VHF/GPS/AIS, dodger, mainsail cover, custom settee cushion for sleeping, 2nd autopilot (was able to repair the old one also), 2nd AC Inverter 1500 watt, hand held VHF/GPS, beginner sextant, MPPT Victron 75/15 Solar Controller, running rigging, outboard bracket, 3rd bottom job, deck paint, interior LED Lamps, shades, interior paint......

I'm still using the PO's CQR anchor, his dock lines, depth finder, jibs, orginal thruhulls, and old rigging. I did replace the lifelines with polyester/Dyneema and replaced the tiller after it broke in half sailing home this past Summer.

[Benjamins]

I am 30 years old. Leaving for long term sailing in a couple of weeks. We live on board since May last year. I own a steel long-keeled cutter of 36 ft / 12 ton. YB 1976 put new rigging, electronics, shotblasted painted etc last winter while saving up some cash.

I have saved up a relative small amount, but enough to last me for 5-10 years, depending on lifestyle. The ship obviously bought in cash. maybe i'll work for a couple of months or a year when cash level (hopefully) gradually goes down.

One thing i realized reading this thread that the more money is involved, the less interesting the stories seem. Live-aboard / cruising is a life style. If you do it because you love traveling, sailing, challenges and like to endlessly think about improving your ship, you wont get bored or get regrets so quickly in my opinion.

I always lived my life following my heart. I brought me many places and left me a lot of lessons learned. If you follow your heart most of the time you don't have regrets. I've lived in several countries in Africa, North and South America and Europe. And traveled many more. AND exactly those adventures are the ones i remember and cherish.

1. The boat is never big enough. Just buy a smaller ship and keep the change for your travels.
2. The cash is never enough. Just come back to make more later.
3. There is so much more to life than the trap of always making more money. How Much is enough?
4. If at some point i will not see the fun of it anymore i am sure ill find an an another purpose.
5. I am trying to listen to all you guys whom say do it while your young.

By the way. so much fun reading this tread.

See you all somewhere around the world.