How Did You Downsize Before Moving Aboard?

[Ocean Girl]

I was blessed, and I mean blessed, to be able to give the contents of my apartment to a hurricane IKE survivor (Crystal Beach). They pulled up in a truck and started hauling stuff away. They took my soap dishes, trash cans, rugs, clothes, furniture, pictures, dishes.. everything, even the stuff in the junk drawer. They said it was like Christmas, very humbling to have someone who lost their house, cars, cattle, some of their friends are still among the missing, and they looked at me with tears in their eyes and said it felt like Christmas.
Check the papers or call the fire department and seek out a family that has lost their house in a fire. It will be worth the time.
Erika

BTW- I don't miss the stuff, frankly, I can't remember what it all looked like Never reached for something and said "darn I gave that away". Let it go, that stuff doesn't belong in your new life.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by witzgall

There should be a support group for this. Boat shedders anonymous. We are going through the same thing right now, but at the beginning stages. It is really stressing Gretchen out. Any words of encouragement for her would be most appriciated.

We'd been married 20 years when we sold the house and moved aboard. It was amazing how much stuff we didn't sell at the Mother of All Garage Sales: Aquariums, darkroom equipment worth thousands of dollars; sterling silver wedding presents we'd never used. Sigh. We learned a lot from that.

Give it away. It's a spiritually uplifting experience to realize that you don't need STUFF. We got rid of that stuff 12 years ago, and don't miss any of it.

The only thing I couldn't sell or give away was a wooden tennis racket from my college days, when I'd played varsity tennis. Burned it in the fireplace the day before we moved out. I hadn't played with that racket since the conference championships my senior year. Didn't have room for it on the sailboat.

Tell your wife that old rackets make great fires.

[Martinini]

The boat will do the downsizing for Ya! And man are you in for a shock! Keep some tools.

[Dreaming Yachtsman]

We cheated by selling our house to our older son and leaving most of the furnishings for him. Even so, we held a large garage sale and took a truckload of clothes to Goodwill. Now that he is married, we will have to deal with storing or parting with all the stuff that his wife does not like.

Be very ruthless about what you set aside to "take to the boat". Somehow, every corner manages to get stuffed with stuff, thus needlessly weighing down the boat. I have been fighting a losing battle with the wife about lightening the load but she insists on keeping two ice cream freezers, wooden lounge chairs and tables that have been used only once, and several hundred pounds of craft materials that she will "work on in her spare time".

Swap meets are a good place to get rid of things that somehow have made their way aboard but are no longer needed. I just wish we could sell more at them than we buy.

[Chattcatdaddy]

I don`t think I will have a problem getting rid of my stuff. Did this once before and still can`t figure out why I moved back on shore? Anyway, this time around I am going through a divorce, so the ex-wife get to keep everything. She asked what I wanted to take with me when I move into my apartment and told her just my clothes and the loveseat. Maybe thats cheating, but its gonna work out for the best.

[talus]

Here is an interesting link called The Story of Stuff - "[It] is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns."

We have recently asked relatives to only give gifts that do not result in a physical object. This has proved challenging for them but also thought provoking. Gifts have included tickets to museums, sponsorship of children's activities, gift certificates for dinner out, sponsorship of Non-profit organizations (i.e. World Wildlife Federation) etc.

I must admit that I am having a great deal of difficulty getting rid of sports equipment and tools. Those are items that allow me to get outside and fix or build things. Two things that I really find satisfying. I don't want more, or newer equipment or tools. I just don't want to get rid of the stuff I have. I'm really having trouble with this. If anyone has some suggestions for that I would love to hear them.

[Hurricane Harry]

Pile1 Keepers
Pile2 Maby Keepers
Pile3 Throw away
Do the procedure till ur light enough./Harry

[Monica]

We're in the process of getting rid of our stuff now. our lease is up 10/31. My 4 year old son and I play a game every night of "keep or sell"....he's doing surprisingly well

[Greenman]

This was the easiest decision for my wife and I. As a military guy we have moved every 3-4 years, I have boxes that have been moved 3 times and never opened. LOL those are the easy ones to get rid of. We have a couple years, but we are downsizing now, and will keep going until launch day.

[barnakiel]

We simply did not: lived with few possessions ever before - no fridge, no TV, no vacum cleaner, etc - thus, no need to downsize. We moved the things we loved (our queen sized bed, our woven armchair, some pictures, books and pieces of art, to my girlfriend's father's house.

I think the amount of stuff we will drag along remains the same on land and at sea, and so do our lifestyle choices, eating habits, our worldview and attitudes.

Why should life in a boat be any different from life in a house? After all it is the same life and the same people living it. And 12 Volt appliances are available from a motorhome supply or you can stick to what you have and buy a genset!

So maybe rather than downsize you can find a bigger boat?

b.

[Hurricane Harry]

Yes I need a bigger boat if not downsizing. I have a two pillarcarlift in my garage mig mag tig gas arcwelders. Drills lathes bandsaws and more./ harry

[barnakiel]

Harry: I will gladly take your Allegro 33 if you take my Allegro 27 ....

"Mine is smaller"
;-)))

[SURV69]

After watching three of my older brothers (all before passing 60 . . . I'm 59y 8mo), I realize what's NOT IMPORTANT?REALLY NEEDED in life . . . such as all those things people(like me) feel they just need to "own". I have begun downsizing for a move into a boat. AFTER a while the ownership of most things is nothing more than ownership for the sake of ownership and it keeps a person from genuinely "living".

NOTHING other than food, water, a sense of being and health is needed to live a worthwhile life. If the ownership of "things" is that important then one cannot truly downsize, although one could still prioritize what's more important.

I like to think that if while on my deathbed I will find the ownership of an item important, I'll keep that item. Thus far, there haven't been much stuff that I think would be important to me on my deathbed.

[alaska pirate]

When I moved onto the boat in 2000, I had been living in a 1700 sq ft house with a 10x20 ft heated building and an 8x20 container. I sold, donated, gave away, and threw away shtuff until the remainder fit in the out building and storage connex. Then I rented the house. So, essentially, I guess I cheated. I figure if I ever sell the house, I'll have a month's worth of work getting rid of the rest.

[Tom Hildebrandt]

Dreaming yachtsman Selling the house to family is not cheating, it is just good sense! Of course it helps if it has a big attic so the stuff they realy do not want can be stored.

Then while you are sailing, you can hope that they sell the house, move into one without so much storage. Then they have to deal with all the stuff. My daughter and son in law said they had fun going through my treasures, I have no idea what they kept or got rid of, but when I was there in March, it was down to about six boxes! I did not open any of them, nor did I volunteer to take them! No room on the boat for such things!