Post cruise life reintegration

[RickG]

We've been working up to cruising in steps:
- 2-week sailing vacations as often as possible
- 4-week "seabbatical" in 2015
- moving to liveaboard in 2017 commuting distance to work near Washington, DC
- winter in florida 2017/2018 with some telecommuting

I'm 54 and don't want to walk away from my income, but do want to live the lifestyle while I am healthy. Like some others, I don't see it as an all or nothing decision. As a technology worker I have some flexibility with where I do the job, but I do need face time with customers. To each their own.

Cheers, RickG

[Souzag818]

You can always make more money, but you can't make more time. At your age, getting another job, after taking some time off for your soul, shouldn't be so difficult.

[thomm225]

Another option is to get a job in the area you believe you want to cruise in.

Many want to go to Florida forgetting how brutally hot it can get.

It is nice though that there are no state taxes.

[weavis]

She didnt appreciate Valentines day lunch as Im saving for a new Catamaran whilst I have a job....

[Kalinowski]

When making major life choices, my mantra is: "you're dead a lot longer than you're alive".

[blueazimuth]

32 with no dependents? Boat ready?
Beer cash easy if you're handy and willing to do anything
Absolutely, Go cruising ...

[varkpilot]

Originally Posted by scottorious

So I think I'm approaching a point where I can take a few years off and enjoy some sailing. I'm 32 with a Cal 34 with nobody dependant on me. My struggle is that I absolutely love my job and while it is a blessing, it's also a trap.

I was military and sailed and power-boated on my time off. At the time I owned a 65' schooner which I dearly loved, an old wooden boat. Sailing blue water was a siren song that I almost answered. Thing is, I loved flying Air Force fighters more. So, for 27 years I flew. Retiring from the military, as I had a wife and children who liked to eat and have a roof over their heads by then, I got into charter aviation. Not as good as a fighter jet, but still pretty good. The years kept rolling by, my physical strength, stamina and health began to deteriorate, and suddenly I found myself alone. Oh, well says I, time to get back to the water. I initially looked for another schooner. Dumb. Prices were far out of my reach. Downsize. Looked at boats I could single-hand. Prices were okay, but when I tried to sail, the strength, stamina and health said, "No way!!!" So now I'm in power boats again. I should have kept the schooner and threw all the other in the dumpster. Ah, to be 32, strong and healthy again. My 2 cents - go adventuring in your sailboat. As has been pointed out, job situations change all the time. So does everything else. What's that old poem about picking flowers while you may? Don't worry, be happy. Enjoy the only life you're likely to get.

[1Sunseeker]

On an ancient wall near Cairo
Where a dusty Pharaoh blinks
Deeply graven is the message
it is later than you think


The clock of life is wound but once
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop
At a late or early hour.


Now is all the time you own
The past is but a golden light.
Go cruising now my brother
it is later than you think.


I had a chance at 50 and did not take it. Now at 78 I am still waiting for the right partner and to get all my ducks in a row. I don't think I will make it in this lifetime. Maybe in the next?

[Mike OReilly]

This discussion is really about find your place on the risk spectrum. We all need a certain level of security in our future. Some need more, some less. Where each of us falls on this spectrum is dependent on our experiences, our skills, the kind of luck we’ve had, and our life choices so far (and probably other factors I’m missing).

On the one end you have the person who will leap before they look. They’ll figure out how to land as they’re falling. Near the other end you have those who must pre-arranged to have the inflatable mattress at the bottom ready to catch them. They’re wearing a parachute, crash helmet and pads, and have full life insurance just in case. And then at the far end you have the person who takes a peek over the edge and then moves away saying “No Way … I could get hurt!”

The point is, it’s a spectrum. There’s no single right answer. Where you start in life, and the choices you make, will usually determine where you end up on this spectrum.

So make your choices based on what you need and what’s important to you. Live the consequences. One way or another, none of us is getting out of this life alive.

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

This discussion is really about find your place on the risk spectrum. We all need a certain level of security in our future. Some need more, some less. Where each of us falls on this spectrum is dependent on our experiences, our skills, the kind of luck we’ve had, and our life choices so far (and probably other factors I’m missing).

On the one end you have the person who will leap before they look. They’ll figure out how to land as they’re falling. Near the other end you have those who must pre-arranged to have the inflatable mattress at the bottom ready to catch them. They’re wearing a parachute, crash helmet and pads, and have full life insurance just in case. And then at the far end you have the person who takes a peek over the edge and then moves away saying “No Way … I could get hurt!”

The point is, it’s a spectrum. There’s no single right answer. Where you start in life, and the choices you make, will usually determine where you end up on this spectrum.

So make your choices based on what you need and what’s important to you. Live the consequences. One way or another, none of us is getting out of this life alive.

Oh stop! God advice just makes the rest of us look bad!

Mike is right though. Risk is personal. I am more the tape a feather pillow to my butt, then leap without a landing plan, type of person. Know yourself. (But it does no hurt to stretch beyond your comfort zone a liitle)

[scottorious]

It's interesting to get answers from the entire spectrum. I'm definitely looking to just take a leave of absence and go for an Atlantic loop in a couple years. It's really easy to save for 2 years off if you know you can come back to a sweet job. In a perfect world I would turn that experience into something more than a hobby. Networking with like minded people, and broadening my own horizons. Finding some way to market that would be ideal. "Worst case" is that I'll stockpile as much time off as I can and if it's all played out well with holidays in could manage 8 weeks off from late December to February. If the boat was staged in Mississippi I think some central American cruising would itch my scratch. It's just nice to get other people's opinions. I live in an area where this idea is alien to everyone and it can be discouraging when you're repeatedly told it's a horrible idea. Thanks for all the posts!

[buzzstar]

I do not know you or what you do, so I can only base my recommendation based upon my own like experience. I am 73 years old and practiced in one of the traditional professions.

My recommendation is, do it if you have the money, the desire and the opportunity. I did not, and have regretted it despite having had, and am continuing to have, in a different way, a great life. My regret is not about what I have, but the memories I did not acquire. A little was done, but not enough. So the second part is do it until you tire of it or until the time or money runs out. That way your regrets will run in the direction of the other things you might have done while cruising....

[hafa]

The old paradigm of "get a good job and keep it until you retire" is no longer functional. Changing careers at any point in one's life is now fairly common. Within this new paradigm, cruising can be simply be considered a new career, which will last as long as it's desirable and/or practical.

Prepare for and enjoy your new "career" now, and during its course, plot out your next one. Keep logs and diaries chronicling your experiences and the skills you bring to bear and then rather than obfuscate it, add it as a proud entry in your resume.

[CarlF]

A well known custom boat builder once told me a story. A man had called wanting a new boat built for a circumnavigation. The builder enthusiastically had him visit the yard and took him up on the deck of a similar boat that was in build.

It was then that the builder noticed the man, who seemed only in his late 50's, was not very steady on his feet. Somehow he'd lost the reflexes and flexibility that keep you safe on a pitching foredeck offshore. The builder apologized but told the man he'd have to find someone else to build him a boat.

The builder told me that as far as he knew, no one had ever died on a boat he built. He wanted to keep it that way even at the cost of a sale.

He said "That poor bastard. He probably waited to save more money for a bigger boat. He waited too long."

[hsi88]

Everyone's situation is different. Although at the moment, my two oldest are not using their $100K+ a piece educations, it gave them the edge in getting the jobs they have. I have one more to pay for so I'll be working for a while, like it or not. And I really don't mind.

My retirement went to my ex and kids, so yes, I'm dependent on someone else helping me out. I have saved some, but not near enough. But I've also been putting in the maximum one can pay into Social Security for a pretty long time. Its my money, I earned it, so I'm looking forward to whatever I get when that time comes.

But I'm also very lucky. I would be nuts to quit my job. I get 6 weeks of leave a year (good in the U.S.) and I work out of the home. I can work from the boat as well (with WiFi), although I have not taken advantage as much as I should. Maybe this year.

Getting a new job after doing mainframe assembler coding for 40 years is not a reasonable option for me. And I would lose the leave and other perks that come with working someplace a very long time. Much better that I maximize my savings while I have this job and do a better job of time management along the way.

I like the idea of cruising around, but at 60+ don't have any desire to cross the Pacific or Atlantic. I'm fine with going up and down the Atlantic coast and I thoroughly enjoy the Chesapeake. Would love to do some Great Lakes sailing as well. I'm close to family, have a nice house to store my stuff, and if I want to see Europe or the Orient, I fly.