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Old 30-06-2008, 07:09   #16
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Originally Posted by TaoJones
... Pat Schulte took on the commodities markets, and excelled ...
Can you share your source for the assertion that Pat earned the funds for their subsequent travels, in the markets?
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Old 30-06-2008, 10:07   #17
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Can you share your source for the assertion that Pat earned the funds for their subsequent travels, in the markets?
In late October 2006, Pat and I came to an agreement via email for me to purchase Bumfuzzle, subject to a satisfactory survey, upon the completion of their circumnavigation the following spring. In April of 2007, I finally met them at the Las Olas Marina in Ft. Lauderdale, and spent several hours getting to know them while visually inspecting their vessel and having a very pleasant lunch with them and friends of mine from Colorado who were also there at that time aboard their 42' Pearson.

About a week later, the survey commenced. The first half was completed over most of one day, and the remainder took place two days later, due to my surveyor having a prior commitment in the Bahamas on the intervening day. Several days later, I received a verbal report as well as an emailed copy of the surveyor's findings.

Based on the survey, I chose to withdraw my offer, rather than negotiate for a lower price. It was a disappointing development for both the Schultes and myself. I had intended to refit Bumfuzzle and keep her in the Bahamas as my wintertime home, but she was more of a project boat than I wanted to deal with.

The problems with the vessel, though, did nothing to diminish my regard for the Schultes. They are very nice people and a genuine pleasure to talk to and to deal with. Pat is much brighter than those who have judged him on the basis of his cruising logs realize.

His experience in commodities trading is something we discussed, because, as I said, I have some familiarity with commodities trading. His particular expertise was in the soybean pit, though he has traded many other commodities, as well.

I had been corresponding with them since early 2004 when they first sailed into the Pacific, so I already "knew" them by the time we first met face-to-face. As a regular reader of their logs I was able to see the transformation of Pat from a somewhat naive adventurer with entries in his logs that were almost like a young teenager's letters home from camp, into a very observant traveler with a knack for self-deprecating humor that is disarming.

When, in the course of their Pacific cruising, Pat revealed that there were significant issues with Bumfuzzle that he had been trying to get the manufacturer, Charter Cats SA, to remedy, it became clear that he had been keeping all of this unpleasantness out of his logs. I was struck by this ability to wall off one aspect of their cruising from the rest.

I sent him an email saying as much, and wrote that if he was this good at separating good news from bad news, he " . . . must have been a hell of a trader!" He wrote back that, indeed, there were times when he might win or lose the cost of a new Mercedes on any given day, and Ali never knew it from his demeanor when he got home.

The single essential ingredient in their makeup that allows them to lead such an adventurous lifestyle is their fearlessness. And, I think, their devotion to one another has bonded the two of them into a solid unit that copes better with the unknown and unexpected than most individuals do.

I don't know if this precisely answers your query, Gord. Many members here have also led adventurous lives, and some of them disparage the Schultes, not because they resent their youth and abundant resources, but because they suspect these two have had a life of ease handed to them. Without a doubt, if you live long enough you'll probably meet more phonies and wannabes with their heads up their . . . excuse me . . . with their heads in the clouds, than the "real deal."

In my opinion, Pat and Ali Schulte are, very much, the genuine article.

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Old 30-06-2008, 10:44   #18
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@ Gord- it's listed/I've read in their logs and on their website Pat was a commodities trader or what not. The comment was funny about someone saying Pat had it easy/made easy money in the markets and Pat's responce was something along the lines of "Ohh, you know much about soy beans?". I don't.

I've very much enjoyed reading their website. A young self made couple who sailed around the world from Minnesota... kinda close to home!
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Old 30-06-2008, 11:15   #19
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A young self made couple
This is the internet, becareful of what you read[1]

Hello TaoJones,

I came across an old post of yours, just though I should let you know[2] that I've never heard of the Royal bank (back in NZ)? Perhaps you mean the Reserve bank? (posted 12-12-2007) re: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...6&postcount=40

Quote:
Will the RBNZ lower rates at some point? Without a doubt.
Btw: I note the official cash rate has been held at 8.25% since July 2007.

Official Cash Rate (OCR) decisions and current rate

Reserve Bank of New Zealand

[1] I may not even be a male ex-fisherman in OZ, but a woman from China accessing this site though a proxy in OZ
[2] given I was raised in NZ.
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Old 30-06-2008, 11:32   #20
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This is the internet, becareful of what you read[1]
Ok, I'll give you the "self made" part. Frankly they part does not matter to me in the least. They are young, they are a couple, and they did sail around the world...slowly from the sounds of it!

The latter points are good enough for me.
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Old 30-06-2008, 11:42   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by exfishnz View Post
This is the internet, becareful of what you read[1]

Hello TaoJones,

I came across an old post of yours, just though I should let you know[2] that I've never heard of the Royal bank (back in NZ)? Perhaps you mean the Reserve bank? (posted 12-12-2007) re: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...6&postcount=40

Btw: I note the official cash rate has been held at 8.25% since July 2007.

Official Cash Rate (OCR) decisions and current rate

Reserve Bank of New Zealand

[1] I may not even be a male ex-fisherman in OZ, but a woman from China accessing this site though a proxy in OZ
[2] given I was raised in NZ.
You are correct, sir! Given the Kiwis proclivity for all things Pommie, well, you can understand how easy it was to make the error.

It is human nature to assume that "how it is" is "how it will always be." What's the point? Just that the rate will remain at 8.25% only until . . . it changes. The Kiwi dollar, as well as the Ozzie dollar, are significant pieces of the Yen carry trade, but that strategy is under constant threat. When (not if) ANZ lower their rates, all of that hot money will flow out of those currencies into some other that offers a higher return.

For the time being, the ANZ currencies are being well-supported by those who are chasing yield, and this is keeping inflation partially in check, for the moment. But worldwide, inflation is coming to a boil, and it will manifest everywhere, including ANZ. Will their Reserve banks (thank you, exfishnz ) choose to raise rates to maintain their competitive advantage?

For awhile, perhaps, but only until too many jobs are lost. But even if rates are raised for a time, the area of least resistance in future is to lower them. When? Ahhh, grasshopper, that is the question.

Glad you're here exfishnz. I enjoy your posts.

TaoJones

PS: If you are a Chinese woman, could you provide more details and perhaps a picture or two? PM would be fine.
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Old 01-07-2008, 07:21   #22
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I haven't read much of Bumfuzzle. Seems people either hated them, or admired them. I for 1 have to admire them for doing what they wish. It matters not where thier money came from. Just as it matters not where every single person on CF's money came from.

Less than 4 years at 3 1/2 knots is a whole lot more than what most have done. Sometimes it sounds like a WEE BIT of jealousy coming from the complainers?
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Old 01-07-2008, 11:18   #23
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I was gonna stay away from this one - partly out of embarrassment, but well ....

When we were cruising, our old Hunter 34 was pretty fast as cruising monohulls go. In light winds we enjoyed yelling insults at fellow cruisers poking along at 4 kts. while we blasted past at 5. But, in moderate winds and up we quickly traded speed for comfort. In the Caribbean we pretty much had a permanent reef in the mainsail and we often had two.

From Florida the thorny path involves a lot of easting against prevailing east winds and waves. There are at least 3 and probably more different speed calculations commonly used on cruising sailboats. Often our speed through the water was quite different from our speed toward our destination. There were more than a few times when we were ecstatic to be making 4 kts. toward our destination as long as the ride was reasonably comfortable.
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Old 01-07-2008, 18:03   #24
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You are correct, sir! ...... When? Ahhh, grasshopper, that is the question.
I don't know when either the Reserves (OZ or NZ) are going to lower the cash rate[1]. In OZ, until there's some solid data that shows inflation dropping (including in the resource states of WA & QLD) then I can't really see it happening (although, like every over internet critic, I could be wrong ). In NZ, its a bit like a basket case , as one only has to look online at the price of the living expenses (foodstuffs, home energy, fuel etc [2]) over there.

Btw: I noticed on a financial news segment last night - they showed a graph whereas the drop in US home prices (on a percentage basis of property value) in the last 2 years has been sharper than that of the depression in the 30's. hmmm... I think we're in for some very interesting times ahead indeed.

Quote:
PS: If you are a Chinese woman, could you provide more details
ummm, well, what can I say?... “me love you long time”

Quote:
... and perhaps a picture
okay... here it is (I'm the ugly one on the right - not the pretty one in the middle )

(Click pic to enlarge. Deep sea bass, approx 150nm west of Mt Egmont, NZ)
Click image for larger version

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[1] The local bank economists down here get caught out from “time to time” with their predictions leading up to the Reserves decisions.
[2] As much as I feel my former comrades pain, the situation works in my favour when negotiating a rate & term with a significant lump sum with a retail bank term deposit (although the returns may be less than other types of investments, they're less risky & less of a consistent task to manage).
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Old 01-07-2008, 18:11   #25
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(I'm the ugly one on the right - not the pretty one in the middle )
Hmmmm . . . the one in the middle is the most attractive. Is that why you seem to be doing what my Cocker Spaniel likes to do to my leg?
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Old 01-07-2008, 18:20   #26
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Btw: I noticed on a financial news segment last night - they showed a graph whereas the drop in US home prices (on a percentage basis of property value) in the last 2 years has been sharper than that of the depression in the 30's. hmmm... I think we're in for some very interesting times ahead indeed.
Yes, when you're on board the rising-prices parabola, it's the thrill of a lifetime! But if you don't exit before if goes over the falls, reversion to the mean is a real bitch.

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Old 01-07-2008, 18:45   #27
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Hmmmm . . . the one in the middle is the most attractive. Is that why you seem to be doing what my Cocker Spaniel likes to do to my leg?
Sorry mate, she wasn't that good at it

Here's her head (click pic to enlarge)
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Old 01-07-2008, 18:47   #28
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Sorry mate, she wasn't that good at it

Here's her head
There's an easy joke there, but . . . I'm gonna pass.

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Old 01-07-2008, 18:52   #29
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There's an easy joke there, but . . . I'm gonna pass.

TaoJones
I also had a couple of jokes I thought of posting, but, ummm, I'm sure someone would pull 'em

Edit: btw, I sometimes get comments about where the fish guts are hanging
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Old 04-08-2008, 13:49   #30
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$10 for ground shipping of a paperback book seems about twice what is reasonable. They lost a sale today.
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Unless you live on the dark side of the moon, this strikes me as questionable. When I receive my copy, I'll see what the shipping and handling was and report it here. If you don't feel the need to hold the physical paper and ink in your hands, why not go with the e-book? Very reasonable, seems to me.
As promised, here's an update on the shipping/handling question raised by Norm: The Lulu website default shipping choice is via UPS, and the cost is, indeed, $10. However, that is not your only choice, and, as marty9876 posted, the US Postal Service charge to ship the book is $3.95.

My admiration for Pat and Ali Schulte is already well-established, I suppose, but here is my impression from reading their book, for what it's worth:

- If you don't want to spend even the small e-book price to download the Schulte's book, you can just go to their site and read the archived cruising logs from their nearly four-year adventure. However, the print version is a considerable time-saver if you are primarily interested in the "sailing" portion of their circumnavigation.

- Pat has essentially condensed their voyage into 264 pages by omitting much of the narrative which dealt with their land travels in many of the countries they sailed to.

- Also omitted from the book are 99.9% of the log entries dealing with boat-related troubles. Since I had come very close to purchasing Bumfuzzle upon their return to Ft. Lauderdale, I can tell you that if a person takes the time to go through their logs, extracting any mention of boat-related issues, comdensing them into a Word document, it will run to 74 pages. And, if you forward it to your brother in Kansas, and to your surveyor in Jupiter, FL, they will both ask, incredulously, "Are you sure you really want to buy this boat??!!"

- To tie the included log entries together, Pat has added text which helps to provide a fuller picture of the Schultes and their attitudes toward life, travel, sailing, eating, drinking, people-watching and other cruisers. That part can only be gotten through reading the book.

What stands out for me, finally, is that the Schultes, like many who come to this forum, had the dream of sailing around the world. Through good fortune in the commodities markets, they obtained the wherewithal to pay cash for a less-than-year-old catamaran and, with less than zero experience sailing such a vessel, managed to sail it about 30,000 miles around the world and return from whence they began their voyage - four years older and waaaay more than four years wiser.

Through it all, they never came to love sailing. For them, the itch they needed to scratch was to travel. As Ali said, they just happened to do it on a boat.

And, if one really thinks about it, Pat's summation of a long passage, say across the Atlantic, is sharply drawn. It is the equivalent of getting into your car in New York City and driving to Los Angeles, he says, by putting the car in gear and creeping across the continent at idling speeds.

When they put Bumfuzzle up for sale with the broker who had sold her to them four years earlier, they cleaned her one last time, then drove away without so much as a wistful backward glance. From their log entry for May 11, 2007:

One would expect this to be an emotional time, but we really didn't feel anything. Bum had taken us around the world, just like we knew she would the day we bought her. There was never any doubt in our minds that she would make it. For that matter, there was never any doubt that the two of us would make it either. We'd accomplished what we had set out to do. We has sailed around the world.

Then Pat acknowledged in his log entry for the next day that he was feeling a bit of nostalgia for one thing:

Oh, who am I kidding about not being emotional about this? I woke up crying this morning. Not because I missed Bum, but because I missed my dinghy. Who was going to supply him with the super glue he needed to live? He didn't stand a chance. Sure, Bum would sail again. Maybe even go around the world a second time. But our dinghy was breathing its last breath.

The last words the broker spoke to us were haunting me. "Maybe we ought to take the dinghy off and hide it on the side of that shed over there."

Ol' dinghy had seen his last days on the water, and so had we.

If you're drawn to the story of the Bums, pick up a copy of Just Out Looking for Pirates. Here's the link:

Bumfuzzle by Patrick Schulte (Book) in Travel

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