i'm spending so much money it hurts

[rebel heart]

Well thanks guys.

Eight days to go and the only thing that might hold us up is paperwork, waiting for our USCG renewal to come in the mail. There are still a bunch of unfinished things, but during the next week a bunch of dominoes should fall in line.

The money bleed has actually stopped a little bit and some stuff turned out to be not so bad.

This stuff is hard on the nerves!

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Well thanks guys.

Eight days to go and the only thing that might hold us up is paperwork, waiting for our USCG renewal to come in the mail. There are still a bunch of unfinished things, but during the next week a bunch of dominoes should fall in line.

The money bleed has actually stopped a little bit and some stuff turned out to be not so bad.

This stuff is hard on the nerves!

Look at the bright side...

Would you rather be buying a sump pump, new roof, new sewer pipes to the street or a new central air conditioner.

Life on land also has its money holes...

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Look at the bright side...

Would you rather be buying a sump pump, new roof, new sewer pipes to the street or a new central air conditioner.

Life on land also has its money holes...

This is a common theme for me. My friends who own houses are like, "Oh a boat, isn't that just a hole in the water you pour money into?", and the like all the time. Then they start bitching about fixing up their old house by ripping out all the old plumbing and wiring, siesmic retro, zoning permits for additions, flooding basements, leaking roofing, property taxes, etc. etc. etc. ad nauseum. Houses are just as bad as boats. And in the recent market they weren't even good investments, people lost their asses just like boats! I often come out of these conversations feeling pretty good about my choices in life...

[Strait Shooter]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Well thanks guys.

Eight days to go and the only thing that might hold us up is paperwork, waiting for our USCG renewal to come in the mail. There are still a bunch of unfinished things, but during the next week a bunch of dominoes should fall in line.

The money bleed has actually stopped a little bit and some stuff turned out to be not so bad.

This stuff is hard on the nerves!

Indeed it is.
Fair winds and following seas RH!

[Cyndimarcus]

We are right behind you! Coming from Northern Cal, be heading out the gate by Nov 1!

[kthoennes]

Originally Posted by minaret

...Houses are just as bad as boats...

Well, true, houses aren't cheap either, but per square foot it's really no comparison. When I want to change a sink drain at home I buy a piece of plastic pipe for $3.99 at Home Depot, instead of a bronze through hull at Defender for a million bucks.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by kthoennes

Well, true, houses aren't cheap either, but per square foot it's really no comparison. When I want to change a sink drain at home I buy a piece of plastic pipe for $3.99 at Home Depot, instead of a bronze through hull at Defender for a million bucks.

...When I want to partition my V-berth from my Galley, I hang a $10 curtain. When I want to partition my Master bedroom in my house, a wall with 20 studs, sill, plate, dry-wall, mud, texture, paint and oh ya...permits; will be $4000. You know I'm not being serious because it's really apples and oranges.

[Danibug]

Originally Posted by rognvald

RebelHeart . . .A few hard earned lessons worth mentioning:
1.) the larger and more complex the vessel, the greater the expenditure
2.) the simpler the vessel, the least expenditure
3.) if it can break, it will at the worst possible time
4.) if you can't fix it yourself, you will be held hostage by incompetent and
unscrupulous people every step along the way
5.) keep a maintenance list and try to address at least one issue a day
6.) the maintenance list is infinite
7.) maintain a well stocked selection of stainless steel hardware (nuts,
bolts, screws, washers, etc. in multiple sizes) as well as spare parts
8.) have a complete set of tools to fix anything on your boat (see #4)
including power tools as well as manuals for everything
9.) a boat is never finished--it is a functional work in progress
10.) Remember the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared.
Your frustrations are shared by everyone who has cruised their boat.
Good luck, safe passages and fair winds.

This is a great list...I have found many to be true (especially #4)which is why we try to do damn near everything on our boat. It's amazing how little the experts actually know, and how much they want to charge you for it. I'll keep the advice in mind moving forward.

[MacG]

I am sure of that. Mouthes full of chewing gum and not been able to come to business.

I am quite lucky. 80% I can fix. 10% will be fixed by google. The remaining 10% has to be outsourced.

I have bought a pro SSB receiver, combined with other wavelengths.
Pro. Not Sangean, or whatever the trash.

Not a single ape is able to tell me how I shall fix the antenna' s

Huge piles of incomprehensible stuff, but not a,b,c.

I would like to have two areals - one for the AM/FM and one for the SSB.

Asked a few coys but they do not even reply.

I'll have to fix it myself. It will come. But it cost time and energy which I need for other applications.

[xdeeman]

Great, honest thread. It's not all roses and champaign sunsets. Not that I have a clue since I am 10 years away from doing anything close to what you are undertaking. If it was easy everyone would be doing it.

Two questions for you. 1) what are you doing for health insurance since you have a child and one on the way. 2) in retrospect, do you wish you had settled on anohter boat? Do you ever curse your current boat for not being up to par, or did you know that going into it? In other words, where there a lot of issues you wish you could have discovered beforehand?

Anyhow, it's inspiring to see your progress. Keep it up!

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by xdeeman

Great, honest thread. It's not all roses and champaign sunsets. Not that I have a clue since I am 10 years away from doing anything close to what you are undertaking. If it was easy everyone would be doing it.

Two questions for you. 1) what are you doing for health insurance since you have a child and one on the way. 2) in retrospect, do you wish you had settled on anohter boat? Do you ever curse your current boat for not being up to par, or did you know that going into it? In other words, where there a lot of issues you wish you could have discovered beforehand?

Anyhow, it's inspiring to see your progress. Keep it up!

1 - I still have my job that I'm doing remotely (long story), so I still have US insurance and for big stuff (like the delivery of kiddo 2) I'll submit a claim. Talking real numbers as well, I have about 11k sitting in an HSA account with a normal Visa logo card so regardless of insurance we should be good for known stuff. Also as DAN members we have evacuation insurance if the **** really goes bad. Our friends who had a baby in Puerto Vallarta spend 3k total (no insurance involved). Everything I've heard about foreign medical service is that it's better and cheaper than domestic.

2 - Boat is great. We spent 60k for the boat and probably another 50k over 5 years on upgrades and maintenance. For 110k you can buy a decent offshore boat, but there are plenty of folks spending twice that, and some stuff you're going to pay for no matter what (no boat comes with foulies for a two year old). Also, I've learned a lot about carpentry, rigging, fiberglass, plumbing, rigging, and all the other crap that I've needed to fix or maintain. Some folks already know this stuff but as an early 30s desk jockey it was a terrific learning experience. If you want to sail for a couple of years and go onto other adventures, buy a plastic fantastic production boat fresh off the press. If you really want to know boats though, like forever, you need a boat worth working on. My two cents anyway, and the answer for everyone is different.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

1 - I still have my job that I'm doing remotely (long story), so I still have US insurance and for big stuff (like the delivery of kiddo 2) I'll submit a claim. Talking real numbers as well, I have about 11k sitting in an HSA account with a normal Visa logo card so regardless of insurance we should be good for known stuff. Also as DAN members we have evacuation insurance if the **** really goes bad. Our friends who had a baby in Puerto Vallarta spend 3k total (no insurance involved). Everything I've heard about foreign medical service is that it's better and cheaper than domestic.
.

How is your and Charlotte's Spanish?

The reason I ask is that my ex had a hospitalization in Japan and while the care was fine the confusion of not really knowing what was going on was extremely scary.

If you are iStuff capable (I forget your status) I can highly recommend an app called "Bueno, entonces" by General Linguistics.

It is completely non traditional, focuses on speaking and interacting rather than a bunch of grammar, although adds grammar as skills improve.

It is presented in a very fun multi-media way with a story line of a British guy moving to Argentina and his "one-on-one" classes with a (female) Argentinian instructor.

I have had dedication issues getting out of lesson 3 but it is really a cool course. My Colombian gf also gives it a thumbs up - especially for the robust website with downloadables such as euphemisms, slang and so forth by country.

[Red Charlotte]

Originally Posted by xdeeman

2) in retrospect, do you wish you had settled on anohter boat? Do you ever curse your current boat for not being up to par, or did you know that going into it?

From the wife's perspective - when we bought the boat I knew absolutely zilch about boats or living aboard. Now, after five years of living aboard, I wish I had found something with a better layout for the head and more storage/counter space in the galley. Eric promises me we can re-do the head in hopefully Mexico and for sure the galley cabinets that are big gaping holes right now.

[Red Charlotte]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

How is your and Charlotte's Spanish?

I speak Spanish and French. I've lived in both Mexico and France and while it's been quite a few years since I was actively speaking either, I'm pretty adept at languages so I know the higher level stuff will come back quickly.

Eric took high school Spanish and has been reviewing what he knows. We love the book 'Spanish for Cruisers' because of how much it pertains to the vocabulary of what we are doing.

I had to take an English speaking student to a hospital in France once. Excellent care but she was definitely stressed by not understanding what they were saying and glad I was there to translate.

We are hoping to be in places long enough to enroll Cora (and eventually Lyra) in local preschools and then schools to pick up on the languages as well. I teach English as a Second Language so once the new baby is old enough for me to work, I could potentially take on teaching contracts at schools where we enroll our daughters.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

It is presented in a very fun multi-media way with a story line of a British guy moving to Argentina and his "one-on-one" classes with a (female) Argentinian instructor.

I have had dedication issues getting out of lesson 3 but it is really a cool course. My Colombian gf also gives it a thumbs up - especially for the robust website with downloadables such as euphemisms, slang and so forth by country.

Jimena is nice but David is a jerk.