How Did You Downsize Before Moving Aboard?

[svTOTEM]

A number of good post, but one additional thought. Instead of adding to the landfills try www.freecycle.org. We went through this a year and a half ago and after eBay, yard sales, and charities, freecycle was really great and easy.

[Stillraining]

I'm glad we have decided to live aboard for only 6 months out of the year...I get to keep all my junk..I just dragged home 6 full 5 gal buckets of rusty bolts from a friend who is "downsizing" a couple weeks ago...I bead blasted to new condition a half dozen needed 6" x 1/2" bolts in less then 2 minutes for one of my pieces of equipment and saved both a trip to town and its frustration and 20.00 to boot...Treasure I tell you... pure treasure just waiting discovery..

OH and if you want to get rid of that TIG welder call me.. I have lots more shop space..and I want one..and just imagine the great feeling you will have being unburdened by it..

[talus]

Originally Posted by SURV69

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.

Words to live by.

[Janice]

We have been preparing for the cruise for 18 months now. I started reducing my 'stuff' right away, then reduced again, then again, then again. It is easier that way.

One box of pictures went to my brothers basement. A friend said she would 'store' my antigues in her living room. A few boxes of dress clothes to in a friends basement in case we need to fly home for a wedding, etc.

Everything else given away or sold on craig's list. It gets easier each time you go through it again! We move on in less then 14 days.

[Hurricane Harry]

Barnakiel I think I keep the Allegro 33. But a 27 would be ok also S-o Norlin was and is a geniousdesigner. Allegro 33 is fast for a fullkeeled doubleender with a boatspeed (hull) of 7.5 knots. I sailed no 1 to Brazil 1980-81. We passed several other boats on the Atlantic.
I hope to never have to part with it, I love the size, and how sturdy it is built. I just smile when it blows, and other boats are heeling heavy. / Harry

[aboutgone]

Dont really know if anyone is in the atlanta area...but....were are having a "THE STUFF HAS TO GO SALE" come bye or call and make an offer... Ed & Yvonne 2970 hurst rd. conyers,GA. 30094.....770-940-1979

[anjou]

Here I go once again, the final downsizer. Gonna cheat a little, im storing 3 boxes and a suitcase of clothes at a friends. Hoping to let go for the final time over the next month, then I step into the promised land and live the dream.

[michaeldsusa]

We don't own our possessions.
Our possessions own Us.
Think Freedom!

(This of course does not apply to the several hundreds pounds of tools I must take - I mean really I do have to maintain the boat )

[Sam Plan B]

I moved aboard on July 1 from a one bedroom flat. Most of my furniture was Ikea rubbish that went to the curb with a "free stuff" sign posted. Any work related books went to the office. I do have a lot of boat books but there is room aboard for them. Cloths are a problem. I had lots of tweed jackets but only one good one remains. In sum, it is hard to part with so many things that carry your memories back from when you were younger. These are the things you picked up from a holiday or things that someone you loved gave you. It is not easy to move on. But on the whole, life on the water is a fare trade. Buy the biggest boat you can afford. You will be surprised how much storage space will be available for the things you absolutely must keep.

Sam
Aboard SV Plan B

[rusky]

You end up stuffing a lot of weight aboard. We even had our golf clubs aboard. 2 Bikes and a spare outboard. It is surprising how little you need on passage or at anchor. Only need 'stuff' when other people are around (or you go ashore in populated area).

About 1tonne = 1 inch of freeboard.

[Island Mike]

I gave a 4 months notice at work, put the house on the market, told my kids to take what they wanted, sold some stuff in an auction, had a great huge garage sale and put few things into a 10x5 storage shed (which have now emptied) and gave stuff to the church. It came down to the day of closing and we were still trying to finish cleaning the house, the car was jammed and we still had stuff to get rid of. We started putting stuff out on the curb. Once people saw we were putting TVs, Lawn mowers, grills, out for free there was a constant flow of traffic past the house. We would put somthing out and whoever was in front would stop and take it, it was halarious. Yes it was tough emptying out the house, after 30 years of marriage and four kids you accumulate a lot of stuff. But we were determined to pull this off, it was our dream to move on the boat and sail South. The House closed at 1500 hours, and we were moving onto the boat by 1700 hrs. That was June of 08 and we have not looked back.. Bottom line, you just have to DO IT! Good Luck to all that are trying to pull it off.

[nautical62]

I haven't downsized yet to move aboard, but have for a few moves. What I found helpful was to commit to a certain amount every week to get rid of. For example - 6 large garbage bags or equivalent either sold, given to charity or thrown out. Spreading it out over time made it easier. It's amazing what people will take and use if you set it out a few days prior to pick up.

Photos- I recently downsized my photo collection, by digitizing everything. I had half a book shelf of albums, 15 carousels of slides, and books more of slides in sleeves. I had the best slides professionally scanned (350 or so) and hand scanned some prints (maybe 200). What was once 6 large albums from my earlier years plus a cabinet of projection equipment is now a digital file and one printed photo book less than an inch thick. Fortunately, I've been shooting digital the last several years, so only had to go through that with older images.

[Mermaid]

We have started downsizing to get ready for the liveaboard life. Like many - the most obvious, large things we don't need were sold on craigslist. The Rescue Mission actually have trucks that will come to you and we donated a lot to them. While going through the donation pile, I came across those dreaded "sentimental value" items I wasn't going to use, nor was using - what to do!! My solution = take pictures of the items for posterity, I still get to have the memories when seeing the pictures without the need for all the extra space they would take.

How many dishes do we really need? What a revelation we’ve had. Out of 5 sets of dishware, yes 5 (nobody needs that many dishes) we set aside the ones we felt we would need to take with us and made a pack to only use those until it was time to move in the boat to see if it would be sufficient. To our surprise, we are not even using the few we set aside and foresee only needing more if we get company – hey, we can always have “bring your own dishware” parties!

[vidar]

i havent moved aboard yet nor do i have a boat still looking but i dont own anything that cant be thrown away other than my pc.
i own a tv stand but no tv have a bed and chair. and my clothes which i dont have alot of them 2 pairs of shorts 2 pairs of pants and a few shirts.
i dont plan on having to do any downsizing. but as a old person i know yall have lots of stuff b4 planning to move aboard. as it took years and years to get that stuff. i would suggest a storage area which most have from what i read.

[Maren]

Originally Posted by anjou

Here I go once again, the final downsizer. Gonna cheat a little, im storing 3 boxes and a suitcase of clothes at a friends. Hoping to let go for the final time over the next month, then I step into the promised land and live the dream.

I would not DREAM of saying that's cheating. I would however like to point out that is what you said.

Seriously though. Some things you just don't want to part with or aren't ready at the time to.