Any early retirees turned cruisers with big careers have regrets?

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Which is not very far

Far is relative.

I usually sail within say 100 miles of Virginia Beach.

I usually sail up the Chesapeake Bay and then sail from side to side. The bay is 30 miles wide near where I grew up and has tons of smaller creeks and bays to sail into.

I'm not really understanding the sail far point.

I actually get bored after 2-3 hours of simply sailing on one tack while going up the bay which is why many times I'll lie down on the bow using my PFD as a pillow and read while the autopilot handles the steering duties.

I guess it's because I raced for so many years that simply sailing does get a bit slow sometimes.

It can be exciting though sailing back home when the wind gets up above say 25 knots and you have a nice downwind run to get home fast with......and the wind is singing in the rigging.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nXfjcCuiPk

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Far is relative.

]

No its not.

Actual cruisers on larger vessels travelling thousands of miles through all conditions and living aboard full time put wear and tear on their vessel and maintenance costs are higher.

Small boat sailors only using their boat on a weekend for short trips do not put anywhere near as much wear on their vessel, maintenance costs are lower.

Think interstate trucker vs granny driving the car to church on Sundays.
Which category are you in?

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by ol1970

OP here, wow this is the thread that just won't die! Retirement and money is such a touchy subject for people. First off there definitely have been some fantastic replies on here from people in similar shoes to mine. I also applaud those who have left the dock without enough money to know the trip will last longer than a couple years, that is truly an adventure!

I think if I were to start this thread again I'd have phrased my question differently but I didn't want to get people too worked up and tried to be more inclusive. I for one am extremely thankful during this year of Covid19 lockdowns that I have my part time retirement side gig to do a little work I thoroughly enjoy and keep the mind sharp since we can't be out there traveling the world. At the same time my wife and I cannot wait to get back out on the water!

Back on track

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

No its not.

Actual cruisers on larger vessels travelling thousands of miles through all conditions and living aboard full time put wear and tear on their vessel and maintenance costs are higher.

Small boat sailors only using their boat on a weekend for short trips do not put anywhere near as much wear on their vessel, maintenance costs are lower.

Think interstate trucker vs granny driving the car to church on Sundays.
Which category are you in?

I'm in the class that sails a lot.

I don't hang out at a marinas for months on end and call it cruising or sit at anchor.

As far as your thoughts on "Actual cruisers on larger vessels travelling thousands of miles through all conditions and living aboard full time" it sounds like some salesman convinced you that to be a "real" cruiser you had to have a big expensive boat but many of us know better.

This guy sailed across the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans on his $1,000 Bristol 27 sailboat while using his knowledge of computers to build his own navigation system for pennies.

https://towndock.net/shippingnews/se...-and-alexandra

https://svcrystalblues.blogspot.com/...ne-around.html

We may as well add in 18 year old Tania Aebi sailing RTW on her Contessa 26. Does that count as a cruise? I think she sailed 27,000 miles

ABOUT – Tania Aebi

Plus big boats are too easy to sail, and before you know it, you could become overweight and out of shape

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by thomm225

I don't hang out at a marina for months on end and call it cruising or sit at anchor.

.

Nah, it just sits at anchor or in a marina 6 days a week because you still have a job.

I haven't seen a marina in over 4 years and the boat is on the move several days each week

As far as your thoughts on "Actual cruisers on larger vessels travelling thousands of miles through all conditions and living aboard full time" it sounds like some salesman convinced you that to be a "real" cruiser you had to have a big expensive boat but many of us know better.

Well you'd be wrong on that.

No salesman was involved with the sale on this vessel

I convinced myself what was needed based on a few decades of building boats for a living and cruising and observing what others had, what worked and what did not.
Small boats never seemed to work in the long run, can't carry the gear, can't carry a decent tender, spend an inordinate amount of time in marinas due to lack of space, the list goes on.

This guy sailed across the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans on his $1,000 Bristol 27 sailboat while using his knowledge of computers to build his own navigation system for pennies.

https://towndock.net/shippingnews/se...-and-alexandra

https://svcrystalblues.blogspot.com/...ne-around.html

We may as well add in 18 year old Tania Aebi sailing RTW on her Contessa 26. Does that count as a cruise? I think she sailed 27,000 miles

But none of them is you
While it can and has been done on small boats (a guy sailed across an ocean in a washing machine) most don't

Anyway, enough about you, let's get the thread back on track please.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Small boats never seemed to work in the long run

As I was saying, you can be convinced to buy a big, expensive boat but many times you really don't need it.

Plus, big boats can make you lazy which might lead to you getting out of shape.

In other words, if you cannot tack a beach cat, you are out of shape.

We in our older age have to try to continue to use our bodies or they will not work for us when we want them to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSYCz7gePBU

Btw, minimum weight for these 18' boats is 165 lbs. These boats go for $20,000 - $30,000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imBnvyABptU

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Btw, minimum weight for these 18' boats is 165 lbs. These boats go for $20,000 - $30,000.

And what next?
Are you going to try to convince us they are cruising boats?
BTW, for $30k I could actually get a half decent cruiser that had things like....a bed.

And after that what then?
Will you try and convince us that the guy living in a soggy cardboard box is doing do much better than the guy living in a nice house with a dry bed and refrigeration?

That's as ridiculous as suggesting that its so much better and smarter to cruise a small cramped damp sailboat compared to a dry comfortable sea kindly full sized boat

But that's it, in an effort to get this thread back on track you're on your own again

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

And what next?
Are you going to try to convince us they are cruising boats?

No way.

Cruising boats are way too slow and lack the performance of these boats.

In other words, if you can sail/race a Beach Cat you can sail any cruising boat.

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/a-class-catamaran

Many sailors say to race a monohull is ridiculous anyway. It's like racing a house since it has a head and kitchen etc.

Btw, that was Glen Ashby of Australia that won that regatta. (it appears)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Ashby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imBnvyABptU

[jtsailjt]

I’ve been guilty of it too, but please don’t feed the troll.

[theDangerz]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

I’ve been guilty of it too, but please don’t feed the troll.

We've all been guilty.
Particularly good lures/bait this one tosses out from under his bridge it seems...
Me thinks my ignore button is broken!

[thomm225]

So after all this, it looks like the OP has decided to keep his part time job to keep his mind sharp!

That sounds like a pretty good idea.......

I was thinking along similar lines.

Maybe have a part time job in Winter to keep the mind sharp and stay in touch after sailing/cruising for most of the Spring, Summer, and Fall.

[ol1970]

Originally Posted by thomm225

So after all this, it looks like the OP has decided to keep his part time job to keep his mind sharp!

That sounds like a pretty good idea.......

I was thinking along similar lines.

Maybe have a part time job in Winter to keep the mind sharp and stay in touch after sailing/cruising for most of the Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Not exactly, our situation here is a little unique. My wife’s retirement benefits (also retired at 43), allows us to fly for free unlimited pretty much anywhere in the world. Having the ability to hop on a flight to Paris for the weekend or to Thailand for some sailing and sit in comfy business class seats to get there for nothing really is an incredible benefit that had altered a bit how I look at travel. There are a ton of on land spots that we also want to go see as well. Normally we go sailing for 3-4 weeks a year to new locations (yes we charter), we also do 2 trips to the Hawaiian islands each year 3-4 trips to Europe, a couple to Asia to visit friends and explore new spots (and shopping for the wife), plus numerous adventures here in the US. Because we have the passive income (not money from my retirement side gig) to support all of this travel in perpetuity, it’s a very nice situation. We actually travel more in the winter than we do the summer since our back yard is the water.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by ol1970

Not exactly, our situation here is a little unique. My wife’s retirement benefits (also retired at 43), allows us to fly for free unlimited pretty much anywhere in the world. Having the ability to hop on a flight to Paris for the weekend or to Thailand for some sailing and sit in comfy business class seats to get there for nothing really is an incredible benefit that had altered a bit how I look at travel. There are a ton of on land spots that we also want to go see as well. Normally we go sailing for 3-4 weeks a year to new locations (yes we charter), we also do 2 trips to the Hawaiian islands each year 3-4 trips to Europe, a couple to Asia to visit friends and explore new spots (and shopping for the wife), plus numerous adventures here in the US. Because we have the passive income (not money from my retirement side gig) to support all of this travel in perpetuity, it’s a very nice situation. We actually travel more in the winter than we do the summer since our back yard is the water.

Nice, that sounds similar to my situation, and my backyard is the water also!

Whenever I get bored I take a hop to where ever I want to go. I can fly for free also, but I have to pilot the aircraft!

Not long ago it was a short hop to Boston, MA

I got a call when I was about to land from one of my techs. He wanted to see me about some personnel problem.

I told him I was in Boston.

He was like why are you in Boston?

So I told him I had gotten bored doing my managerial duties and decided Boston would be a nice place to visit.

He asked then when I would be coming back and I said soon as I land we can talk. I'll come over to your building! (his building being in Virginia Beach, VA)

So I then landed without the anti-crash on then went to see the guy.

Btw, I just loaded up this Raspberry Pi 4 with the new Openplotter software and it seems to be doing pretty good.

I was able to load up the charts for Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina very quickly.

[contrail]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Nice, that sounds similar to my situation, and my backyard is the water also!

Whenever I get bored I take a hop to where ever I want to go. I can fly for free also, but I have to pilot the aircraft!

Not long ago it was a short hop to Boston, MA

I got a call when I was about to land from one of my techs. He wanted to see me about some personnel problem.

I told him I was in Boston.

He was like why are you in Boston?

So I told him I had gotten bored doing my managerial duties and decided Boston would be a nice place to visit.

He asked then when I would be coming back and I said soon as I land we can talk. I'll come over to your building! (his building being in Virginia Beach, VA)

So I then landed without the anti-crash on then went to see the guy.

Btw, I just loaded up this Raspberry Pi 4 with the new Openplotter software and it seems to be doing pretty good.

I was able to load up the charts for Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina very quickly.

I fail to see the similarity you claim! Do you not see the difference between retiring early, and being able to enjoy retirement by hopping on a plane to some interesting place, and not retiring, getting bored and hopping on a plan to some interesting place, only to be contacted from work, resulting in cutting your visit short?

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by contrail

I fail to see the similarity you claim! Do you not see the difference between retiring early, and being able to enjoy retirement by hopping on a plane to some interesting place, and not retiring, getting bored and hopping on a plan to some interesting place, only to be contacted from work, resulting in cutting your visit short?

Actually, I didn't visit any place.

The fun wasn't about a visit it was about the flying. I don't really enjoy observing when I can participate which is why early retirement isn't a good thing for some of us.

When the employee called I was coming in for a landing in I believe I chose Boston on this Hop. So that is what I told him.........because I was being honest sort of I said I was in Boston! (not 2 buildings over in Virginia Beach)

I went on and landed then came to a stop at the end of the runway and put the system in freeze at that point and departed the cockpit. I could have done the same thing at 1500' when I was on final approach, but since I was lined up so well, had the wheels down, and was close to the correct airspeed I brought it in first before walking over to his building.