My Independence Day

[GordMay]

Congratulations, and all the very best to you & your bride !!!

[MichaelC]

Hey, Del. Get real. You didn't really think somebody who frequents this website would tell you to go back to work, did you? All of us who take our lives into our own hands are ... well, crazy by the definitions of the masses who continue to toil away for somebody else's pleasure. You are taking your future into your own hands, rather than leaving it up to the whims of rich bankers. I first did this when I was 35. My in laws hated what I was doing. I spent 5 years living free. When I ran out of money I was offered a job right away. When I woke on the day to go to work I could not do it. So I tacked my PhD certificate to the wall, and used the tools with which I'd built my boat to make a living - sort of. There was still all this sailing I could do, see ... and .... It has been a hell of a good life. Never work for anyone else. Never put up with people you don't like. Walk your own walk and if the authorities don't like it, piss in their boots. Live free or die. Better to die on your feet than live on your knees. Congratulations. You will sometimes regret it, but only for minutes at a time. The rest of the time people will wonder why you are always grinning.

[boatman61]

The rest of the time people will wonder why you are always grinning.

Amen........

[mintyspilot]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Congratulations, and all the very best to you & your bride !!!

He's getting married as well?

Double congrats!

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by mintyspilot

He's getting married as well?

No, it's just Gords way of complimenting my wife of 15 years.

She's not the Admiral or First Mate but comes along as a guest at times and supports what I'm doing as a true wife would. She's a Capt'ns Wife!

[mintyspilot]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

No, it's just Gords way of complimenting my wife of 15 years.

Well, congrats anyway.

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

Wellll,
yesterday I went and did it. I quit my job and I’m never going to work full time again. I’m 3 weeks away from my 60th BD and I don’t want to be working for someone else when that arrives.

There are so many different ways to get by in this world. I say let the wind blow where it will and if I need to scrub dishes a couple of weeks to get to the next port so be it!

Congratulations on your return to sanity.

[Target9000]

delmarrey,

I read your post and I can honestly I was excited for you. Seeing others do what many of us yearn to do is really a joy. You get to live your dream while inspiring others to follow. That is pretty amazing. Goodluck to you and your lady.

Tate

[Weyalan]

Congratulations. Definitely the right decision. Beers on Insatiable if your wanderings get you as far as Tasmania!

[MichaelC]

Bellingham Bay has nice anchorage down by Boulevard Park. From there it is an easy walk to Boundary Bay Brewery, which is one of the most successful micro brew tap houses in the country. Call me and I'll meet you there and buy the first beer. IPA. I'm out in Maple Falls, building a 32' gaff cutter. Michael at 360 933 4787

[JayCall]

Del-a fellow Puget Sounder I see! Congrats on the decision. We are awaiting delivery (Oct 2010) and we will be doing the same thing. I already have family telling me we are nuts. What if this or that or whatever. My answer is "what if I die an unhappy man?" The best to you and your wife and enjoy the travels!

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by MichaelC

Bellingham Bay has nice anchorage down by Boulevard Park. From there it is an easy walk to Boundary Bay Brewery, which is one of the most successful micro brew tap houses in the country. Call me and I'll meet you there and buy the first beer. IPA. I'm out in Maple Falls, building a 32' gaff cutter. Michael at 360 933 4787

Thanks Michael,
I may be up that way the first & second week of July, we'll see what happens. I wouldn't mind seeing your build! I've practically built my boat and not finished yet.

[cchesley]

Congrats! Mebbe I'll see you all at Sucia in July, but I'll tell you now that retiring early and going sailing is worth it. I was thinking about buying a car recently, and realized that I'd never buy a new one again. There was a moment of wistfulness, but then also recently visited my co-workers. Yup, they were getting a nice big raise/base salary adjustment upwards over the next 3 years and I thought, it'd sure be nice to have that extra cash in me pockets.

But when I walked into the old office, I saw my co-workers, older, fatter, bitching about the same things as we were 5 years ago... well, I felt that old nausea coming back and when I left, again, it was without regrets.... not one!

[FxdGrMind]

Thanks for the link to your post here Del!

You and I are of similar cut. I've been up at 3am to commute now for the last 14 yrs...
You are a little a head of me, my plan is still a 18 months off or so. Working it slowly but surely.

It's great to see others that have made the leap and the encouragement they bring. People at work are so negative... guess green with envy makes them so.

Hope to see out out there some day.

I'll have to make a Pendent (BLUE with big white letters PNWWA) for all thouse who are from the PNW WA, maybe it will help us recognize one another out there..

Cheers and fair winds

[keelbolts]

Good on you.

Truly, one of the saddest things I've ever seen was a post on this forum. I don't remember who posted it, but I saved it to send to my son.

Here 'tis:

30 years ago, I wish I had read and understood the following Mark Twain quote .

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

I've spent the intervening years banging on a calculator trying to figure out the exact "right" moment to stop work. I got pretty close and then a bunch of %$#ing bankers simply gambled away half of what I and a lot of other people had saved.

That pretty much defines my wasted years.

So the short answer is... screw the house, buy the boat and live.. I wish I had.






Of all things, I hate regrets the most. Few things could be a sad as realizing, at 40 or 50, that you'd wasted much of your short life.

There is nothing real enough in the game to sacrifice your life to. Always bear in mind that you are not even a pawn in the game. To those who really are playing it, you are a resource to be harvested, like trees or cattle. Those in charge aren't treating you badly. You aren't important enough to them to bother to treat you one way or another.

It's not nuts to take the one thing you really possess, your life, and run with it, but it is nuts to stay in the game once you see it clearly for what it is.

If you look at it clearly enough, you will see that it is, in fact, only an illusion that you are in the game, but it is amazing, how hard it is to see around it once you think you've played it for a while. Delmarrey, I congratulate you & I salute you.