How about some Good Stories?

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by scarlet

My first thought is.. WHERE DO THESE PEOPLE GET THE MONEY TO DO THIS?!?!? now granted.. they aren't traveling in high style.. but.. just the vacation time they need to do some of this. some of these adventures are months or YEARS long...

I swear.. somewhere in my life I made a wrong turn..

You missed the turn at Wall Street where he made a "ton" as a trader.

[smj]

Originally Posted by travellerw

I would recommend you read their blog, or buy their book..

A quick summary.. He made a fair amount of money in commodities trading and this funded them for the 3 years they were out (plus selling everything they owned).. Its not as much money as you would think.. I did the math once and it was under 400K even with the cost of their boat.

As to vacation... You don't need to take vacation time when you just quite working..

This was one of their pet peeves.. People assumed they came from money cause no one could possibly do this... CALCULATED RISKS, thats the secret.

Under $400k not a lot of money? Damn I'm poor!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Capt Phil]

Not sure this qualifies but during the IWA strike in BC in 1958, I was laid off the towboat I was working on with no logs to tow. A buddy took me to a United Fisherman and Allied Workers Union meeting at the Labor Temple on East Broadway in Vancouver where I met Homer Stevens who ran the union and was also the head of the Communist Party in Canada. He hired me to organize fishermen on the west coast, gave me a small gillnetter, a case of whiskey and a pile of union cards and told me to head up coast and sign up all the fishermen I could find.
I hit Bones Bay, an old Nelson Bros cannery where a bunch of trollers and gillnetters were anchored so I proceeded into the anchorage and drove around inviting them over for a drink with the objective of signing them up in the union.
As I swung out to drop the hook, a couple of obviously Company men strolled down the dock and opened fire on my boat shooting out the wheelhouse windows with their 30-30's and a few rounds into the wheelhouse walls. This encouraged me to head back out and back to Alert Bay where I called Homer on the payphone at the Nimpkish Hotel at the top of the government dock and told him where he could pick up his gillnetter!
Those were exciting days for a young fella and were brought back to mind by a contemporary worrior who asked me if I'd ever been shot at. An unusual experience for a canuck... cheers, Phil

[travellerw]

Maybe I was too flippant.. 400K is a lot of money... but think back in 2004 when housing was soaring.. I'm guessing they made 150-200K on their condo alone (Basically bought their boat)..

What I admire about them.. There is a saying "My castle for that experience".. They lived that saying.. Literally selling everything and being prepared to spend it all just for the experience..

In any case, my point was, that they weren't millionaires (400K is reachable for many people). Pat was simply a guy that understood calculated risk and spent a few years trading in commodities futures (READ HIS BOOK IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS). He had a knack for it and did well..

Today.. They are still out there (now in a RV).. They now make money on their books and trading in the stock markets (not day trading).

Back to the thread at hand.. They have hundreds of "Good Stories"...

[Sea Frog]

Yeah, that's what happens when you go from a multi to mono. Sooner or later you end up in a trailer.

[ausaviator]

From the Bumfuzzle Blog.

[scarlet]

Originally Posted by Capt Phil

Not sure this qualifies but during the IWA strike in BC in 1958, I was laid off the towboat I was working on with no logs to tow. A buddy took me to a United Fisherman and Allied Workers Union meeting at the Labor Temple on East Broadway in Vancouver where I met Homer Stevens who ran the union and was also the head of the Communist Party in Canada. He hired me to organize fishermen on the west coast, gave me a small gillnetter, a case of whiskey and a pile of union cards and told me to head up coast and sign up all the fishermen I could find.
I hit Bones Bay, an old Nelson Bros cannery where a bunch of trollers and gillnetters were anchored so I proceeded into the anchorage and drove around inviting them over for a drink with the objective of signing them up in the union.
As I swung out to drop the hook, a couple of obviously Company men strolled down the dock and opened fire on my boat shooting out the wheelhouse windows with their 30-30's and a few rounds into the wheelhouse walls. This encouraged me to head back out and back to Alert Bay where I called Homer on the payphone at the Nimpkish Hotel at the top of the government dock and told him where he could pick up his gillnetter!
Those were exciting days for a young fella and were brought back to mind by a contemporary worrior who asked me if I'd ever been shot at. An unusual experience for a canuck... cheers, Phil

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!! Oh my goodness!! you had me in stitches!!!!!!

[scarlet]

Originally Posted by travellerw

Maybe I was too flippant.. 400K is a lot of money... but think back in 2004 when housing was soaring.. I'm guessing they made 150-200K on their condo alone (Basically bought their boat)..

What I admire about them.. There is a saying "My castle for that experience".. They lived that saying.. Literally selling everything and being prepared to spend it all just for the experience..

In any case, my point was, that they weren't millionaires (400K is reachable for many people). Pat was simply a guy that understood calculated risk and spent a few years trading in commodities futures (READ HIS BOOK IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS). He had a knack for it and did well..

Today.. They are still out there (now in a RV).. They now make money on their books and trading in the stock markets (not day trading).

Back to the thread at hand.. They have hundreds of "Good Stories"...

I'm definitely working my way through that!

[scarlet]

Originally Posted by Sea Frog

Yeah, that's what happens when you go from a multi to mono. Sooner or later you end up in a trailer.

I'm starting to see a trend on this board...

[JPA Cate]

I guess it partly matters what is a good story to you....

Is your preference natural beauty? Enjoy dawns and sunsets; enjoy the visitations of dolphins and whales?

Town and marina pleasures, too, can be many.
'

Is it a tale where the protagonist overcomes difficulties and arrives at a good place?

Has it to do with people resolving long-standing inter-relational problems?

For you, Scarlet, what would be a good story? ....Anent the Bumfuzzles, were you aware they solicited funding from others? Is that okay with you?

There is a huge, variety filled world out here.....

Ann

[a64pilot]

Am I the only one that sees the Bumfuzzle story as kinda sad? They cashed in and had a wonderful three years, now what? Back to reality?
I'm delaying a couple of years so when I go, I don't come back, I admit it would have been wonderful to have done it when I was younger though

[StuM]

Good story?
One evening in early January around Milne Bay (Don't ask me what day - who keeps track of the calendar when you are out in this)

[Cuttyhunk]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Am I the only one that sees the Bumfuzzle story as kinda sad? They cashed in and had a wonderful three years, now what? Back to reality?
I'm delaying a couple of years so when I go, I don't come back, I admit it would have been wonderful to have done it when I was younger though

I did it for two years in my early 30s (just over 20 years ago). Then I went back to work. I am SO glad I did. People die young for all sorts of random reasons. Now I am planning another trip/adventure/lifestyle change, on a different (more comfortable!) boat. I doubt we will be out there for 30 years this time, either, but it could happen. Many of the (older) cruisers out there with me 20 years ago segued to RVs with a land base (I.e., house) after cruising for a few years. We have a land base we will keep and use whenever we need a break.

[PDA1]

I don't have any great stories yet....except those sad ones of stuff falling overboard. But since we've been sailing for only about 1 year I can emphatically say the following;

- Anyone that thinks sailing is expensive never owned a house and if they did own a house they never repaired it or fixed it up.

Read that line again and let it burn into your memory.

- A house is a pain-in-the-neck and is part of the "American Dream". (I'll explain the American Dream later).

- Even if you do the work on your house yourself the material cost is high- new roof- $2000. New kitchen $10,000 (I'm not talking about some flunky-dumpster kitchen but a modest nice one). New bathrooms are about $5000.

- HORRENDOUS school taxes, City taxes, sewer bills, water bills....every year!

- Yard care (cutting the grass every week for months on end)

- Utility costs....every month.

- Houses DO NOT appreciate in value- inflation (increase of the money supply) creates the illusion that your house has gone up in price. Though, to be fair, if you do improve your house you might be able to ask for more when you sell your house.

- The mortgage. The banker gets 3 times the amount of money he loaned you.

It seems to me that a house is much more expensive to own than a boat. Of course, a lot of what I'm suggesting is dependent upon you doing the work on the boat yourself. Marina fees on the East coast are very high and more expensive per square foot than a house.

Ah...the American Dream! To own a house, 2 cars in the garage! Make money....

It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.

[Cuttyhunk]

Originally Posted by scarlet

My first thought is.. WHERE DO THESE PEOPLE GET THE MONEY TO DO THIS?!?!? now granted.. they aren't traveling in high style.. but.. just the vacation time they need to do some of this. some of these adventures are months or YEARS long...

I swear.. somewhere in my life I made a wrong turn..

But aren't you looking at half-million dollar ( or more) boats pretty exclusively? That puts you into rarified air to me. I just ventured into six figures for my current boat and that seemed like a heck of a lot to me.