Good on em.

[Alan Wheeler]

I came across this on our NZ trading site. I wouldn't normally do this and it is kinda breaking the rules, so if anyone objects, let me know and I will remove it imediatly.
But I thought good on em and I wish them the best and the main reason I posted this is that it will be interesting to see how it turns out.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...n-98415973.htm

[markje4]

****! Another good idea that I didn't think of first!

[mudnut]

Your bid didn't show up Wheels,Maybe they will earn enough to buy your old mast and trade up again.Mudnut.

[Alan Wheeler]

Yeah I am rather fasinated by this. I was hopping others will find this interesting to follow and see just how far they get.
Disclaimer. I do not know this couple at all, they are compleate strangers I stumbled upon.

[David_Old_Jersey]

I too have a paperclip...............

(actually I used to collect them - different shapes, sizes and colours - and yeah the reaction of everyone to this hobby was the same as everyone reading this .....but people did used to bring me paperclips AND be dissapointed if I had one the same already and very happy if I it was a new one .......was back pre internet for me otherwise I would have E-bayed the collection rather than binning 5 years of work).

[Alan Wheeler]

I must admit, I was thinking of trying this some time back not long after the first person to do it succeded. I thought it was probably too soon and old hack and never carried it through. I think it is great that they are trying to do something when so many sit back and whine away about it being impossible with out trying anything.

[44'cruisingcat]

Ok so I have a pair of (used, with some epoxy still attached)) rubber gloves. What am I bid?

[Alan Wheeler]

OK Brian and Claire, if you reading this, jump in a tell us your plans and dreams. We are all wanting to hear. The scheme is crazy, but it just might work. I hope it does.

[Pblais]

Being lucky is still better than being good. It's application to sailing holds as well as to anything else.

[rebel heart]

I get to spend 70 hours a week working in a corporate zoo in order to keep moving forward with the boat plans. When I see middle class white people asking for handouts to finance yachting it makes me a little ill.

What a world of plenty we live in.

[Alan Wheeler]

Rebel, don't get me wrong, I am not chastising you here. But Wow up and think a little before you speak(type). You don't know these Kids. They aren't American even. How to you assume they are middle class and just because they are white, are you suggesting they are better off than anyone else?? Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. But that's not the point. They aren't exactly asking for a hand out. They are trading. Buying and selling. No differently than anyone else. It is just the percieved value they are starting at. The point of using the paper clip is as all about marketing. They are selling themselves and their idea. If that paper clip actually becomes something of value and is sold, they then buy something with the money that they can on sell again. It's no different than any other trade. I think they deserve top marks for getting off their bums and doing something about there situation. Rebel, your lucky that you have a job that can support you in your boating endevour. There are many in the world that can not dream of earning enough to do that. Your a lucky middle class man to be able to do so.

[RichT]

I think it's a hell of an idea and I applaud their initiative.... now, what I would like from Brian and Claire, and it will cost them nothing,, is the name of the person who bid 5 bucks for a paperclip... I figure at that rate of value vs. cost, I can sell that person my crummy worn out 1994 Ford TBird, with 200,000+ miles on it, for enough to buy any boat I want....

What, you mean my classic TBird isn't worth a quarter million.....says who???

RichT.

[rebel heart]

They're not asking for a handout? They're trying to trade a paperclip for a schooner.

You're right, I can't judge their socio-economic status by a picture. But I'm taking a wild stab that a happy young white couple standing on a beach holding hands wearing clean and currently stylish clothes, with enough Internet access to try to trade a paperclip for a yacht, probably isn't going to the soup kitchen for their evening meals.

I dunno. It's just shocking to me to imagine asking anyone else for a dime to finance a YACHT. I mean it's not like they need to feed their starving kids. And actually giving them money, instead of areas that are in dire need of funding to actually keep people alive, is stunning to me.

[RichT]

Rebel,
sorry, gotta go with Alan here. These guys are NOT asking for a handout. They are offering something for sale/trade. While it may seem to amount to a handout, it would only become that if someone gave them what they asked for without accepting the item offered. That would be charity. On the other hand, giving them way more in compensation than the value of what they are offering is a combination of marketing and IMHO, stupidity. Remember the Pet Rock? Five bucks for a garden stone in a cardboard box? Something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it...and people pay inflated prices for CRAP everyday. Let's be honest, how can any car be worth over $300,000??? You're not buying the car, you're buying the name, prestige, call it what you will. Is Don Imus worth 10 million a year? Not to me, but that was his contract with NBC, so someone figured he was worth it. Bottom line is this, ya don't like it, don't buy it.., ya don't think they deserve/need the money, don't send em any.....but don't berate the kids because they are looking for suckers,,, in a world full of them...

I would personally rather see these guys get money for a boat than to see some guy make 5 million a year to toss a ball into a hoop.... but, that's just me.

RichT.

[brian and clare]

Hi Guys! Thanks for the support to the folks who have given it. I can understand why some people first reaction is not positive, but I promise we are not trying to cheat anyone. The idea is that we trade something and through goodwill, and peoples understanding of what it is to have a crazy dream, we keep trading for things that people have that they no longer want. With luck everyone gets something they want out of the deal.

I dont particularly like the idea of using cash, but trademe will not allow us to trade one for one, so the deal is that we will take the highest bidder after a 2 day auction (the shortest one they will allow) and we use his or her high bid to purchase an item they themselves have listed. With luck no money will change hands at all, but trademe still gets their fee from us, which is around a dollar I think.

We dont expect to get some fancy yacht out of this, and are instead hoping to work our way into some bare hull, ferrocement cast off, or abandoned project that is destined for a chainsaw. I know that in some cases the project boat can turn into a nightmare for the owner, and ends up costing them month after month for storage. Recently a steel hull was sold for 3000 NZ Dollars in the south island, and that is the kind of thing we are hoping to get into.

For the record, our dream is to have a schooner that we can sail the pacific islands on, bringing supplies to the smaller islands that arent very much visited. Some places only get a cargo boat once or twice a year, and friends that sailed the pacific last season found that in some cases the children were all being taught out of one school book that was falling apart, with each child copying it word for word. Hard to believe in this internet age but it happens. We would like to bring supplies, schoolbooks, and perhaps get hooked up with doctors without borders (an amazing orginization) for heathcare and dental for the remote islands. If anyone is headed to the south pacific, bring some schoolbooks and spare clothes for the kids on the far flung islands, as they need it out there, and dont be afraid to get off the beaten track because they need the help the most, and they for sure dont need cigarettes.

Incedentially, if any of you are going to Panama any time soon, the indians in Bocas del toro can use t shirts and shorts. You can buy them in secondhand shops by the pound, put them into what is called a stuff sack (used by climbers) and they take up almost no space. The stuff sack is good for spinnakers too, but they get a little wrinkley and must be dry when they go into the bag. In Bocas, contact Mary of Marina Carenero, as she will know how to get the clothes to the people who need it.

For the record we are rich. We have each other and both have the same passion, and we have a hell of a lot of fun too. If a person does not love what they do (sometimes unavoidable), they should plan to do what they love as soon as possible, and thats what we are trying to achieve.

Thanks folks!