What was your hardest 'thing' to give up?

[sailor.mo]

We have lived aboard for 10 years on Lake Ontario. When we first moved aboard we sold the house to one daughter, gave the furniture to the other daughter and took what we felt we needed onboard. It was so very liberating. We did keep one chest at the house and after two years we thought we really should take a look inside and see what was so important. We were quite surprised to see that it was completely empty. Apparently we are happy with what we have. Mind you, every fall and spring I need to reorganise the trunk of the car to maintain some semblance of organisation. As for what I miss? Give me another 10 years or so and I might find an answer.

[JB]

The only thing we really cared about was my piano - a 1917 fiddleback mahogany Steinway "L" grand. It was impossible for a variety of reasons to give up, so we talked ourselves into the possibility of a storage shelter, then a small condo and finally a small house to store it and a few other things. I'm glad we did - after 10 years of cruising, for lifestyle reasons we are in the process of possibly swallowing the anchor, and I finally have the time to tinkle the ivories. Don't miss most anything else!

[captjcook]

I have lived aboard three boats for a total of 18 years. As much as I like a hard cover book, e-books are surely the answer, instead of an an ipod, I bought a 500gb external hard drive for movies and music. I live in south Florida where I refuse to ride anymore (I traded my lowrider for my current 35' S&S sloop) I had a 43' cutter (too much work) then 30' sloop (just a wee bit small). Motorcycles other than Harleys & Goldwings (yes there may be others) don't seem hold value well and are relatively easy to replace ie: not worth storing. I used to have a storage, after some number of years of paying the rent it became obvious that I should have thrown it all away and bought the few things that I needed and had more cash for cruising or investment. I almost never had what I needed or I had one when I needed two. It was a bad mind game.
Jim

[GordMay]

As Jim says: "... "I almost never had what I needed or I had one when I needed two. It was a bad mind game.
I too have always been a rat pack. It's difficult to admit how seldom I actually found the "good stuff", which I had secreted away, when I (or someone else) needed it.
Nonetheless, I continue my old habits ...

[ckgreenman]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Another reason I am catamaran bound - his and her hulls.

Oooh. now that's something I hadn't thought of.

[ckgreenman]

Originally Posted by captjcook

I have lived aboard three boats for a total of 18 years. As much as I like a hard cover book, e-books are surely the answer, instead of an an ipod, I bought a 500gb external hard drive for movies and music.

This might be the answer for people who really enjoy reading.

Amazon.com: Kindle: Amazon's Wireless Reading Device: Kindle Store

I recently took a class an my instructor bought one of these and absolutely loved it. If I recall correctly it's only like $5.00/month or so for the subscription based service that lets you download the books right off the internet into the device.

[witchcraft]

On the first of September we have been living aboard full time for five years. No party happened, although I think I just might organize something. In any case, we have a few special items stored, family heirlooms etc...When the various children are more settled than they currently are, we will likely dole the items out on a, we will want em back if we move ashore again basis. Books, ah how we both love our books... We are brutal about what stays aboard, trading books is a great pleasure.
The thing I miss the most is a bathtub...oh to soak at will in a steaming hot tub with my book, bubbles etc.. Still I dont miss it enough to move back ashore.
We sold and or gave away all but the few very special items and are going to empty the storage and have another look later this month. Just to be certain we did not keep items that really do not belong in the special category.
It is as in all things yachty a matter of compromise or in other words everything is a trade off.
Fair Winds
SV Witchcraft

[colemj]

Well, I have now sold, given away or tossed pretty much everything I own. I didn't expect there to be anything that would I would consider "difficult" to give up, so I was surprised at the feeling of loss when I sold my skates and threw away my hockey equipment (anyone who has played hockey knows that no sane person would take someone else's equipment - that stuff is a biohazard and the only option is to dump it in a dumpster under cover of night). Intellectually, I have known that this new lifestyle means I was giving up hockey, but tossing the equipment brought that home in a different way.

Mark

[Tspringer]

I am really wrestling with this one!

Our plans were originally to be ready to leave in the summer of 2010. Now we are considering bumping that up a year which means we would need to start getting rid of all the stuff now.

I have already made crazy sacrifices. To buy the boat, I had to sell a vintage car that I absolutely adored. LOVED. As much affection as a man can have for a machine. To make it worse, it is very unlikely that I will ever own another as they are both very rare and too dang expensive now.

Now I get round two of this. A 1969 Porsche 911S. To sell her will SUCK. BAD. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I do not need a boat..... I need a SHIP.




Terry

[goshea]

That's my wife's baby and will probably be our hardest item to part with. Of course I could give it to my 19 y/o son and ask him to take care of it for us...riiiiiggghhht

[imagine2frolic]

The thing I miss most since leaving S.F. Ca. & Bay Area are those hole in the wall FAVORITE restaurants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Twixter]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

The thing I miss most since leaving S.F. Ca. & Bay Area are those hole in the wall FAVORITE restaurants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me too! Even after over 2 years in the Med, I still think about some of my favorite restaurants in SF. It becomes a restaurant tour when we make it back to the US.

We left a handful of boxes in my parents garage. I know that when we get back to land living and I open the boxes, I will wonder why I kept so much crap. As it is, I have too much stuff on the boat

[SVDistantStar]

Ive been living aboard for a little over 2 years now, but didnt have to give up much since ive got a 40' shipping container at my granddads place to store stuff in. I am going to start going through it and tossing a bunch of the stuff that is in it, since its pretty much full.

On the other hand, after living aboard for 2 years, i had no clue how much crap was stashed away on my boat. It took about 5-6 trips with a 14' jonboat to remove most of the stuff, and it still has a bunch of stuff on board.

This picture was taken after removing the ton of stuff from the cockpit lockers. She used to sit right on the stripes.

[imagine2frolic]

Get rid of whatever is in the bow. Unless that's ground tackle!!!!!!!!!!

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

Get rid of whatever is in the bow. Unless that's ground tackle!!!!!!!!!!

I am sure he is working his way forward.