Hello, Am I Crazy...

[K_V_B]

Time to Delurk...

I few months ago I realized that I have a good life and a great girlfriend, but that I'd gone from merely disliking to thoroughly hating my job.

So I quit. I have to give notice, so come August I'm a free man again. (Well, as free as a man can be in a committed relationship anyway...)

I don't want to go back to telecoms. And as the job of drawing Dilbert cartoons is already taken I have to fancy something else. I don't know what, but it would be nice if it involved a lot of sea time.

So the plan for the next year or so is to see if I can get it all the way to Yachtmaster Ocean, with a commercial endorsement if possible. I've sailed since I was a kid. Did my first passages at sea on a boat that didn't even have an engine, let alone electronic navigation aids (but as it was a French boat it did have good food...) I've done quite a few bareboat charters as skipper, but the modern electronic chart plotters have made me lazy...

So I think I'm at Coastal Skipper level. Maybe a bit above. But I never bothered keeping a log of miles sailed or getting a paper. So I have to sort of start from scratch. The plan is:
- Do the "shore based" RYA courses from the comfort of my own home, on line. I hate class rooms.
- Start collecting miles by taking part in some interesting cruises. Anybody need crew?
- Then go to some sort of Yachtmaster prep + exam course.

Am I crazy?

Or just happy :-)

Anyway. I'll see where life takes me, and where the threads on this forum lead...

[Celestialsailor]

Welcome KVB. Life has a way of balancing itself out. Follow your dreams.

[hellosailor]

I wouldn't say crazy, but how does the gf feel about being left behind when you go to sea? Or, are you considering some kind of "day job" where you would be able to step off the boat and come home every night?

I see that aspect as being the most challenging part of the change.

[K_V_B]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

I wouldn't say crazy, but how does the gf feel about being left behind when you go to sea? Or, are you considering some kind of "day job" where you would be able to step off the boat and come home every night?

I see that aspect as being the most challenging part of the change.

Coming home every night wont always be possible. I live in Switzerland... (We do sail here though).

No, the idea is to alternate time at sea with time at home, about 50/50. I don't need a lot of money, as the only fixed costs I'll have will be my health insurance and my mobile phone... I'm thinking I might do some teaching here at home too...

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!

You probably are crazy like the rest of us.

I spent a couple of summer vacations in Lauterbrunnen. Great place in a wonderful country.

kind regards,

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, K_V_B.

Of course your crazy. Just like 89,000 + fellow members of CF.

[sailorboy1]

as a wise man said - crazy is as crazy does

have fun

[Bluefuss]

If you are crazy, you are in good company here.

[K_V_B]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

I spent a couple of summer vacations in Lauterbrunnen. Great place in a wonderful country.

Nearby lake Thun makes for good sailing, especially in late summer afternoons when the thermal breeze kicks in... But we've even been sailing in early spring, with the mountains all still covered in snow. (Imagine, skiing on saturday, sailing on sunday...)
Great country indeed. I'm not a native Swiss however. Grew up near the North Sea coast, sailing it in dinghies when I was a kid, and in yachts since my late teens.
Which is why I'm faced with finding a way to keep me there, keep my GF happy, and still take to the sea often enough.

[rgscpat]

Welcome, KVB. Almost all of us are the happy kind.

[maxingout]

Where there is a will, there is a way. The fifty/fifty plan sounds great to me. I would like to do the same sort of thing. I have split my time between cruising and working before, and it can work out very nicely.

[webejammin]

Welcome aboard where crazy is the norm