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!