Completely Overwhelmed

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by defjef

This is really an irrational comment and makes and builds on common held assumption.

John Doe makes 50 million in high tech and sees mega yachts in Newport. He wants one. Gets the name of a top broker and say I want a yacht .... budget 5 million. I need captain and crew. He starts to familiarize himself with the world of mega yachts... he'll be owning one as soon as the broker finds one that suits him. He likely has no interest in operating the boat or maintaining it. He's going to pay for that.

OK that is quite an extreme example.

On the other end is the rest of us who start small and build to as big as we can or into the boat that fits our concept of boating/cruising etc.

GG wants and apparently can pay for something that clearly could be a step well down the road for 99.999% of people... who take the traditional path... experience leads to competency and opens options to bigger and so forth.

She is clearly seeking to learn as much as she can because she intends to be more engaged and reach *captain* level of competence as some time in the future. She'll be paying for expertise until then and she knows it. She needs to leapfrog because she wants her children to grow up on the water. I can't see anything wrong with that.

Her challenge is enormous but she is not clueless about this. If you visit her blog you can see how much effort she has and is putting into researching and learning. She's come to his virtual world for the wisdom and support of people who are boat people. She's not afraid to ask questions because she knows.... others do have answers... and not all are the same of that there is one correct answer in many cases.

I can not fault her approach given her circumstances, her resources and her family and time constraints. I am sure she appreciates all comments but the discouraging ones are not helping her with her mission. Those who make them as this comment have a very narrow view to what her circumstances are and what is possible.

Go GGirl Go! We got your back!

Thanks Jef!!!

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by meme

With all due respect, you have no idea what GG's mechanical aptitude is.
I am her Mom, and I can tell you I have never known another woman,
(besides those in trades where they have studied/been trained) who has
more Mechanical & electronical aptitude. Over the weekend I saw her replace an electrical side mirror on her very large ford truck, as well as some
plumbing jobs most men I know can't do. I have seen her replace parts in
fridges, in washer/dryer units, heating furnaces, and she is a dab hand @
trouble shooting problems over the phone with a handy man in her out-of-state property, as far as all mechanical machines/devices that are
common in a house. All this she learned while by doing, watching and asking questions.
I am sure she will transfer that mechanical/electronic aptitude to boat systems just as easily.
But keep discouraging her, as many have in the past, because that only drives her ambition to prove the naysayers wrong, she has in the past
and will in the future, just her nature.

While some posters may be off base....

I"ll try and make a comparison. I have a resume' that many people say I can handle quite a few different things.

I go on a real estate forum to learn how to buy and sell real estate to flip and make a profit.

Most tell me to start slow and work my way up but I say no way..I have a draem and have been told the way to do it is buy a 5 story apartment complex and live in it with my family. I'm handy and smart...and I do my own EZ form taxes...plus I smile a lot.

Then GG get's on the forum and says...ya know...you are getting lot's of bad advice on the internet...you might be better off joining a local club and getting mentored by someone that's been there, done that. I really don't reply but say to a bunch of other posters how valuable my time is...and GG says then why are you wasting your time on the internet with a bunch of chuckleheads when you are ALWAYS going to get better mentoring from someone in person as long as you have made a good choice in mentors. But I say I'm just learning about things like roofing materials and window selection and foundation requirements.

Again the crowd shouts...but a few books and go online to read technical stuff written by architects and engineers. I say but I get some good stuff..the crowd roars back.....from homeowners and apartment dwellers and full time RVers? I say sure...why not..they gotta know something about what I'm talking about....

OK...enough...it's not so much about her dream as the way GG is going about it. Some people here are pretty smart too...way beyond just being boat owners. Many are also successful business people etc....

If she stays to keep getting the blah...blah...blah from people who may not even every get out on the water to sailors trying to get her to buy a sailing cat...then she's gotta wade through the naysayers...because they may think she's good at something...but figuring out how to learn about something as serious as she's about to undertake is starting to make more and more skeptical.

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by psneeld

While some posters may be off base....

I"ll try and make a comparison. I have a resume' that many people say I can handle quite a few different things.

I go on a real estate forum to learn how to buy and sell real estate to flip and make a profit.

Most tell me to start slow and work my way up but I say no way..I have a draem and have been told the way to do it is buy a 5 story apartment complex and live in it with my family. I'm handy and smart...and I do my own EZ form taxes...plus I smile a lot.

Then GG get's on the forum and says...ya know...you are getting lot's of bad advice on the internet...you might be better off joining a local club and getting mentored by someone that's been there, done that. I really don't reply but say to a bunch of other posters how valuable my time is...and GG says then why are you wasting your time on the internet with a bunch of chuckleheads when you are ALWAYS going to get better mentoring from someone in person as long as you have made a good choice in mentors. But I say I'm just learning about things like roofing materials and window selection and foundation requirements.

Again the crowd shouts...but a few books and go online to read technical stuff written by architects and engineers. I say but I get some good stuff..the crowd roars back.....from homeowners and apartment dwellers and full time RVers? I say sure...why not..they gotta know something about what I'm talking about....

OK...enough...it's not so much about her dream as the way GG is going about it. Some people here are pretty smart too...way beyond just being boat owners. Many are also successful business people etc....

If she stays to keep getting the blah...blah...blah from people who may not even every get out on the water to sailors trying to get her to buy a sailing cat...then she's gotta wade through the naysayers...because they may think she's good at something...but figuring out how to learn about something as serious as she's about to undertake is starting to make more and more skeptical.

I see the point that your trying to make and I understand why your using a real estate example, figuring I can relate to that, but when I bought my first house, it was a 3 unit apartment building. Everyone (except my Mom) said I was nuts and I would ruin my credit and my life, all doom and gloom, yada yada.

I had no mentor. I read no books. I had no internet forum or real estate education of any sort.

Made mistakes, learned from them, and sold the building at a profit two years later.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by meme

With all due respect, you have no idea what GG's mechanical aptitude is.
I am her Mom, and I can tell you I have never known another woman,
(besides those in trades where they have studied/been trained) who has
more Mechanical & electronical aptitude. Over the weekend I saw her replace an electrical side mirror on her very large ford truck, as well as some
plumbing jobs most men I know can't do. I have seen her replace parts in
fridges, in washer/dryer units, heating furnaces, and she is a dab hand @
trouble shooting problems over the phone with a handy man in her out-of-state property, as far as all mechanical machines/devices that are
common in a house. All this she learned while by doing, watching and asking questions.
I am sure she will transfer that mechanical/electronic aptitude to boat systems just as easily.
But keep discouraging her, as many have in the past, because that only drives her ambition to prove the naysayers wrong, she has in the past
and will in the future, just her nature.

Nice to finally meet you Meme. I'll bet you heard some choice words from GG about me when I alluded to a boat she was interested in here on CF when at the time she wanted it under wraps. You got her on the fast track with your suggestion she invest in real estate in her 20's, and look at her go now.

[meme]

Absolutely, point well taken!
I think she has done a marvelous job of wading through.
As far as the ones who've never been on the water, those comments became pretty apparent after a while.
Not too hard to sort the chafe from the grain.

What keeps her & me reading is the wisdom of many here.
We have learned much in the past year from the wisdom & experienced
on this forum. Knowledge is power after all.
This is, of course, not the only approach, but just a teeny weeny part of the learning process going on here.
What is becoming even more important, is the friends being made.

Still well worth hangin around, much more productive than sitting in front
of the boob tube

Just an aside; I have grown very used to my daughter's huge undertakings,
she usually comes out ahead of the curve.
And never puts all her eggs in one basket, or boat, so to speak ;-)

Originally Posted by psneeld

While some posters may be off base....

I"ll try and make a comparison. I have a resume' that many people say I can handle quite a few different things.

I go on a real estate forum to learn how to buy and sell real estate to flip and make a profit.

Most tell me to start slow and work my way up but I say no way..I have a draem and have been told the way to do it is buy a 5 story apartment complex and live in it with my family. I'm handy and smart...and I do my own EZ form taxes...plus I smile a lot.

Then GG get's on the forum and says...ya know...you are getting lot's of bad advice on the internet...you might be better off joining a local club and getting mentored by someone that's been there, done that. I really don't reply but say to a bunch of other posters how valuable my time is...and GG says then why are you wasting your time on the internet with a bunch of chuckleheads when you are ALWAYS going to get better mentoring from someone in person as long as you have made a good choice in mentors. But I say I'm just learning about things like roofing materials and window selection and foundation requirements.

Again the crowd shouts...but a few books and go online to read technical stuff written by architects and engineers. I say but I get some good stuff..the crowd roars back.....from homeowners and apartment dwellers and full time RVers? I say sure...why not..they gotta know something about what I'm talking about....

OK...enough...it's not so much about her dream as the way GG is going about it. Some people here are pretty smart too...way beyond just being boat owners. Many are also successful business people etc....

If she stays to keep getting the blah...blah...blah from people who may not even every get out on the water to sailors trying to get her to buy a sailing cat...then she's gotta wade through the naysayers...because they may think she's good at something...but figuring out how to learn about something as serious as she's about to undertake is starting to make more and more skeptical.

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by GalaxyGirl

I see the point that your trying to make and I understand why your using a real estate example, figuring I can relate to that, but when I bought my first house, it was a 3 unit apartment building. Everyone (except my Mom) said I was nuts and I would ruin my credit and my life, all doom and gloom, yada yada.

I had no mentor. I read no books. I had no internet forum or real estate education of any sort.

Made mistakes, learned from them, and sold the building at a profit two years later.

OK...so your one in a million and a huge success in real estate...if you could do it there without anything but your brain...why are you wasting your time and ours?

[deckofficer]

psneeld,

As your maritime experience is more relevant than mine for what GG wants to do, I was hoping you would stay positive. I think you might of misunderstood her comment. If I remember RE loans correctly, your down payment is a smaller percentage of the purchase price if you elect not to buy >4 unit and you chose to live in one of the apartments. Personally I think that is the best way to start for a young person that doesn't mind living modestly to maximize the return on her investment.

[Sandero]

Originally Posted by psneeld

OK...so your one in a million and a huge success in real estate...if you could do it there without anything but your brain...why are you wasting your time and ours?

Stop it.... online boating forums can be an excellent resource for information. Hard to qualify the wheat from chafe as Meme says. I've sailed for 28 yrs and come to learn and DO and to share as well. People who are smart take everything in an internet forum (or blog) with a grain of salt. But that doesn't mean it's rubbish.

GG is using all the resources she can get. What else should she do? Listen to one broker? Or one poster? Or one author? She's apparently a capable and smart lady and a doer...

She doing. Help or get out of the way. People make mistakes... She's no different. But she's showing care and prudence and as she has the fate of 6 others in her hands... her children and mother... I think she will not do anything before its time and endanger her family.

I am sure she's understanding the words of caution. But why discourage GG? Encourage her!

[nimblemotors]

Well, I told the story about my father-in-law. He bought a big power boat and always needed fixing, never was comfortable taking it out, and sold it for a big loss and bought another one, this time new and even bigger. Finally he can go out on the boat, took one long trip and they did not like living on the boat, and sold this one too for a huge loss.
Totally bad experience, worst thing he has ever done.
In retrospect, he should have chartered some and understood boating was not for them.

I can see the same thing happening here.
A big boat is not an investment, it is a huge and ongoing expense.
If you can afford the losses, great. Then we are all a little jealous.
I do remember that you need to sell the house to buy this boat.
I'm sure all those kids have the 529 college funds all paid up.

I haven't checked the website lately, but if you and the kids are very attractive looking, might really think about working out a cable tv reality show..seriously.
So even if it all goes bad, you can still win.

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by defjef

Stop it.... online boating forums can be an excellent resource for information. Hard to qualify the wheat from chafe as Meme says. I've sailed for 28 yrs and come to learn and DO and to share as well. People who are smart take everything in an internet forum (or blog) with a grain of salt. But that doesn't mean it's rubbish.

GG is using all the resources she can get. What else should she do? Listen to one broker? Or one poster? Or one author? She's apparently a capable and smart lady and a doer...

She doing. Help or get out of the way. People make mistakes... She's no different. But she's showing care and prudence and as she has the fate of 6 others in her hands... her children and mother... I think she will not do anything before its time and endanger her family.

I am sure she's understanding the words of caution. But why discourage GG? Encourage her!

Out of the way...now she has guys like you....

[WebWench]

If you are in fact looking for a boat that you can eventually take cruising you want to make sure it is seaworthy and safe for you and your children. These kinds of boats may be tighter on space inside and seem cramped in a marina but will provide more safety when moving about while underway or in a rocky anchorage. Sometimes getting the blue water quality ends up being more expensive.
Also find out what particular boats cost in maintenance and repairs. Go to the boat brands owner website and see what typical issues the particular model and year of a boat you are considering has. Sometimes what appears to be a bargain has systems that typically fail at certain ages.

[Sandero]

Originally Posted by psneeld

Out of the way...now she has guys like you....

Whatever that means... I'd like to see more people support her and not tell her she's crazy and irresponsible and so forth. Cautionary sensible advice is always valued. But why throw cold water on her vision as if it's impossible and she's going to be a danger to mariners and an irresponsible mother? That's what bothers me.

I can't tell her boo about motor yachts but I've been on the water for 28 years, have lived aboard and abroad, 20K offshore or more so I have a little bit to offer. I'd like to see her succeed.

How about that?

[ohdrinkboy]

This thread is just too bizarre. Now mommy has to come on and defend GG.

This is a Coast Guard rescue, financial disaster waiting to happen.

[AbaftAndBaffled]

Originally Posted by ohdrinkboy

This thread is just too bizarre. Now mommy has to come on and defend GG.

This is a Coast Guard rescue, financial disaster waiting to happen.

I think you've got the wrong thread: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ne-108559.html

At worst, I see this as being one of those situations where either the boat gets a new owner very quickly or the boat sits on the hard for a long time and comes out of it worse for wear - that seems to happen a lot.

Best case scenario, everything works out and everyone is happy.

[GalaxyGirl]

So, I'm going to ignore the nasty naysayer (hater) comments, focus on the positive and ask another question.

I have had several folks from this forum contact me about delivering the boat to Boston. What's the best way to go about checking credentials and choosing the right captain? Resume and references? Or should I contact a yacht delivery company? Any ideas/suggestions?