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Old 23-09-2012, 20:16   #106
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

Right on Mike.
Reminds me of a guy sitting with a big pile of walnuts and a hammer. He takes a nut and whacks. Another guy watches for a while and asks, "What are you doing?" - "Nuttin" (nothing) - sometimes it's good to do nuttin.

I sometimes sit in the cabin in a vegetative state. Crew will ask me if anything is wrong. Nothing is wrong. I am running plans through my mind for the cabin refit.

Thinking about what might work, what might not. Thinking about interiors I have seen on the internet and how some of their features might fit in. How can I maximize the use of a small space. Is it really good to give up 2 cramped berths (one of which is a quarter berth) to make a better weekender arrangement for 2-3 people as opposed to 5 which will never fit?

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Old 23-09-2012, 21:12   #107
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

Earlier in the post I sort of thought myself as a "has been" - I think I'll rephrase that to a "been there - done thatabee" or better yet a "been there done thatabee and still doing itabee"
How'saboutthatabee?
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Old 23-09-2012, 21:23   #108
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

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Tough story and sorry for you troubles. Not to make an example of you but there are often underestimations of what it takes to get a boat going on a budget - and everyone is on a budget - you apparently got misled by some people.

The risk of buying a boat early in the adventure is one does not really know what to look for. There are bad sellers, brokers and surveyors. Having time on OPB (other people's boats) allows one to see what breaks, what is good and what is bad.

Unless one has deep pockets a big part of this hobby is fixing boats (sometimes in exotic locations) -

Part of buying small is that the errors are cheaper to recover from. My 26 foot boat has been a 5 year learning experience in boat maintenance, sailing and boat costs.
I wrote a post but CF kindly logged me out. leaving out the rest, no worries about making an example of me, I use me as an example regularly of what not to get into with boats :-). Agree about the wannabe thing, doesn't bother me, I still wannabe sailing, just can't.
Trying again: You are right, but that unfortunately smaller and badly abused is not more cost effective than slightly larger and well maintained. In my particular situation, the boats I had lined up when I came across the one I bought would have been less costly for me, and been a much better experience to boot.
There is a difference between maintenence costs/fixing a boat, and having to replace almost everything except the hull, deck and (hopefully) mast.
I doubled the initial sale price to account for potential required minor repairs and learning to maintain her properly, but was totally unprepared anyways for what I landed in.

Electrical meant replacing every wire except for the wires from the deck up to the mast, replacing every panel AC and DC, adding fuses, switches, adding outlets, adding lights(none in boat that worked properly), adding battery charger, rewiring engine, replacing the gauges(all broken), replacing all batteries(could only start engine with both joined they were so toast).
replacing battery wiring, adding battery monitor, adding propane solenoid and sensors.

Every major system from plumbing on requires the same kind of attention.
Deep pockets are required when dealing with a boat with an unfortunately well motivated and Red Green inspired previous owner...
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Old 23-09-2012, 21:43   #109
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

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Trying again: You are right, but that unfortunately smaller and badly abused is not more cost effective than slightly larger and well maintained. In my particular situation, the boats I had lined up when I came across the one I bought would have been less costly for me, and been a much better experience to boot.
Not to pursue your bad experience but...

In the question of "do you want to sail or fix boats" I am squarely in the "sail" camp as are you I am sure.

With some boat experience one can pretty quickly learn to suss out the major bad guys - shot rigging, osmosis in hulls, crap wiring, dodgy engine. Not to expert level but to a level that allows one not to be misled or cheated.

My only caution is that "Buy the boat" should not always be step one. Learn a bit about boats and maintenance first.

Once again sorry for your troubles...

On a differing tack there are the "labor of love" guys. I was chatting with a guy last week and we got into hull peeling, mast replacement, engine replacement and all the really, really "expensive" stuff. He was pretty much in the camp of, "I bought this thing and I will spend any amount of money to get it back in bristol shape" - it is like some obligation or fixation.

I am going to get slammed but I have no problem with the fact that some boats are ready for the glass chopper.

I stated that my boat (31 years young) is worth about S$15k - If I had to do a $8000-$10,000 peel job for osmosis, I wouldn't. There is a point of diminishing returns and there are lots of boats out there.

I considered it this way. My boat's maintenance cost is $400 a month, all up including insurance and mooring. This is great "fun" value and that is what sailing "costs" for me.

The investment was $15k and through routine and some not so routine maintenance I keep the value at $15k. If I sell it on at 15k the equation works.

If I make a major investment like peeling it does not add $10k to the value of the boat. It is still a $15k boat. I have to amortize that cost over my ownership horizon. If that horizon is 20 year, maybe great. Not great at 2 years but maybe 5 years (another $200 a month in ownership costs) - This makes my boat a $600 a month boat.

Add a new mast and rig, a new engine and the ownership horizon better be pretty darned long...

If all that needed to be done at that point I might "accidentally" sink her in 60 meters and "escape" on the dinghy back to shore.

Sacrilege I know but not all boats have to be "saved" forever...
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Old 23-09-2012, 21:58   #110
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

I wannabe a member of the SFA Club!
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Old 23-09-2012, 22:45   #111
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

Here's my take:

There are many different reasons people "wannabe" sailing. I think the success to failure ratio depends greatly on the underlying reason for wanting to "get out there."

The admiral and I are wannabes. The furthest we've sailed our boat is the roughly 25 miles between where we live and the frontside of Santa Cruz Island, where we anchor and enjoy ourselves. Granted, we've only had this boat about three months, but the furthest we ever sailed the starter boat was the same. If we never make it out of our "wannabe" status and just continue our coastal type cruising, I'll still be a happy man. I don't have to be in Fiji to get a huge kick out of watching my kid paddleboard, or seeing him interact with a harbor seal for the first time. Do I wannabe going further afield? Of course. Will I consider myself a failure if I don't? Nope. For us, success is enjoying the ride, not reaching some destination. We're in the middle of our plan (the "gain experience coastal cruising part"), and life is good.

And that's where I see a parallel between those who "make it" and those who don't. A great many of these "wannabe" folks that don't go anywhere are running from something. It seems (in my limited experience) that the majority of those who are "successful" are running towards something. The "my life sucks and I want to leave it all behind and cruise" folks seem to wear down and quit sooner. If you feel your life sucks, I doubt giving up any remaining comfort zone to lock yourself in a tiny, wet, generally broken, slow moving box headed someplace you've never been is really going to help. Or it might, what the hell do I know?

I also think that "success" in this arena takes time. My dad always says that "nothing good on a sailboat happens fast." So, the vast majority of the "pop in-pop out" folks are the failures. The successes take time, and in this age of microwaves we might not be there long enough to see it.

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Old 24-09-2012, 00:53   #112
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

I reckon I am one of the wannabees, been asking quetions, and still not on the water, been trying to sell the house for the last 6 months had 2 offers to purchase but according to the bank the buyer "does not qualify for mortgage repayments" . Dont want to get a loan to buy the boat 10 % interest in south africa, that will destroy the criusing kitty.I guess i will just have to wait and see, trouble is we are not getting any younger and time is running out
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Old 24-09-2012, 01:15   #113
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

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Originally Posted by atoll View Post
keep on keeping on! it will all be worth it in the end,sometimes judging oneself againt others can be a folly,especilly when they turn out to be headless chickens thinking the sky just fell in
Atoll, I think the best piece of advice you gave me was; "If you survive the first year you'll probably be OK". Certainly helped to focus the mind.

Just past the first year (13,000 Nm), am I still a wannabee? There's little doubt in my mind that you will say yes.

Hello from Auckland
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Old 24-09-2012, 01:30   #114
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

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Originally Posted by Ahquabi View Post
Atoll, I think the best piece of advice you gave me was; "If you survive the first year you'll probably be OK". Certainly helped to focus the mind.

Just past the first year (13,000 Nm), am I still a wannabee? There's little doubt in my mind that you will say yes.

Hello from Auckland

ha! one of my protege's!

tony you will allways be the "dishwasher from hell" to me,who lost a fight with a tomato!

definetly not a wannabee any more!
you have graduated to BOAT FIXER IN EXOTIC PLACES!!!!!!!!!

got to know any nice sheep? in kiwiland
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Old 24-09-2012, 01:44   #115
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

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who lost a fight with a tomato!
In fairness to me I believe it was a bag of tomatoes
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Old 24-09-2012, 01:51   #116
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

Quote:
Originally Posted by atoll View Post
ha! one of my protege's!

tony you will allways be the "dishwasher from hell" to me,who lost a fight with a tomato!

definetly not a wannabee any more!
you have graduated to BOAT FIXER IN EXOTIC PLACES!!!!!!!!!

got to know any nice sheep? in kiwiland
The not nice sheep have Red X's on their backs,

Kiwi's, Sheep and tomatoes, Thats an interesting twist, Hahahahahahaha

I would like to know more, Hahahaha
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Old 24-09-2012, 02:01   #117
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

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In fairness to me I believe it was a bag of tomatoes
it was mary's fault! bloody mary!

just a few photos of what a real wannabe looks like......
i tought him every thing when we crossed the pacific a few years ago on a delivery!

tony now has his own yacht that he recently sailed from florida to new zealand.

a few photos of me teaching tony how to be a human!

perhaps you could post a few of your recent trip,and share a few words of wisdom to those that want to graduate to fixer of boat in exotic locations!
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Old 24-09-2012, 02:33   #118
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

Quote:
Originally Posted by atoll View Post
it was mary's fault! bloody mary!

just a few photos of what a real wannabe looks like......
i tought him every thing when we crossed the pacific a few years ago on a delivery!

tony now has his own yacht that he recently sailed from florida to new zealand.

a few photos of me teaching tony how to be a human!

perhaps you could post a few of your recent trip,and share a few words of wisdom to those that want to graduate to fixer of boat in exotic locations!
as a post script i should hace captioned the photos........which are as follows

me teaching tony how to pull the local women

teaching tony how to herd cats

how to build an oven and bake bread

his first fish

what to eat when the cornflakes run out..

we did a bit of sailing as well,about 4500 miles,so i guess a bit of that rubbed off as well
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Old 24-09-2012, 02:51   #119
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

There a saying around here that goes

only 1 in a hundred who have the RTW dream, buy the boat,
only 1 in a hundred who buy the boat cross 1 ocean,
only 1 in hundred who cross 1 ocean make it RTW

So that means it's about 1 in a million who actually do it. RTW that is.

I am still a wannabe, because I haven't realized my dream. But I do have the boat and I have crossed an ocean so I'm getting closer. The great news is that my Admiral is happy to be part of the adventure - she's dying to go (how lucky can one man get?)

The dream (if everything goes according to plan) is 4 years off.

See ya'll in some blue lagoon - save a sundowner for me!
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Old 24-09-2012, 03:10   #120
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Re: What happens to all the wannabees?

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OK, I was trying to fit in by being the groupy old guy even though I am neither LOL.........
Now, that has left me slightly befuddled, being different from my normal state of totally befuddled. You offer three options, groupy, old and guy. Then claim that you are neither. Assuming you mean grumpy as the first then i shall assume that you are not old or a guy, which means that you are female, which then allows the option of being a groupy, so possibly groupy is correct. If groupy is the correct one and the other two are wrong, then you are a young female groupy. I used to be a pro muso, can you send me your phone number please?

Just playing for the fun of it.

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