Retirement and boat purchase dilemma

[leboyd]

Originally Posted by Cadence

Some of the pessimism is from experience, some is from total BS. Pick out what is worthwhile.

None is.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by leboyd

I've only been on the forum for a few months.

This is the most negative and pessimistic forums I've every seen. I don't know how some of you even get out of bed in the morning with your out look on life.

Don't you know? Owning a sailboat is just awful. So bad that I named my Hunter 35.5 "Misery". Always stuff to fix, things breaking, leaks all the time, everything cost ten times more than it should. And just when you get all your ducks in a row...its rains, you get seasick, or a hurricane blows away your dreams.

The only thing WORSE than owning a sailboat....is NOT owning a sailboat!!!

Note: I was going to call the boat "Miserly", but have you seen what they charge per letter for boat graphics?

[snokid]

could always get a gang member there's plenty of them that hang around marina's give him a can of spray paint, should work out cheaper than those fancy boat letters!!!

[Group9]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

These dreamer threads all seem to contain the same theme as though it is a complicated decision. It isn't.

Buy a boat, sail it, retire, sail more, start living aboard, if good, sell house, if not, don't.

Have I missed anything?

Not really. The people who really want to go, don't have to be talked into it.

[michaelratinter]

Cadence beat me to it.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by leboyd

I've only been on the forum for a few months.

This is the most negative and pessimistic forums I've every seen. I don't know how some of you even get out of bed in the morning with your out look on life.

Originally Posted by Cadence

Some of the pessimism is from experience, some is from total BS. Pick out what is worthwhile.

Originally Posted by leboyd

None is.

Leboyd,

I assume there isn't someone forcing you to read these threads.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by meatservo

Tell me about your $4,000 dollar mattress!







Meatservo

I don't mean that to brag, just I have had a bad back for years and sciatica I think it's called and if not on a real good mattress, I can only sleep for maybe two hours before leg pain wakes me up, and I figure I spend 1/3 of my life there, I want to be comfortable.
But "boat stuff" is expensive, although these are also made for motorhomes, but if you want to see real expensive, price the FAA approved ones for Biz jets.
http://boatbeds.com/products-category/system-5/

[Group9]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I don't mean that to brag, just I have had a bad back for years and sciatica I think it's called and if not on a real good mattress, I can only sleep for maybe two hours before leg pain wakes me up, and I figure I spend 1/3 of my life there, I want to be comfortable.

We have the junior deluxe model, $1650 mattress, for the same reason (for my wife actually, she has the sciatica).

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Leboyd,

I assume there isn't someone forcing you to read these threads.

I can't believe him. Some of it is BS but some is well intentioned. I believe you pegged it, no one is forcing him to read it.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Cadence

I can't believe him. Some of it is BS but some is well intentioned. I believe you pegged it, no one is forcing him to read it. [emoji2]

Leboyd is correct. I read the forum as there are lots of contributions and contributors I enjoy but there's also a very average culture established in CF that I tolerate for the good stuff. This is not so with many other forums. The Freedom yacht forum is an example, great info without the crap, conducted by gentleman. I found myself going from here to there and consciously checking my attitude at the door.
Its part of this forum and I except it now, but I'm sure we lose many due to it, BUT this has all been discussed at length before and hasn't changed.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by daletournier

. . . The Freedom yacht forum is an example, great info without the crap, conducted by gentleman. I found myself going from here to there and consciously checking my attitude at the door.
Its part of this forum and I except it now, but I'm sure we lose many due to it, BUT this has all been discussed at length before and hasn't changed.

There several trade offs when a forum gets big.

Bigger is much harder to moderate and for a courtesy culture to dominate. On the other hand a larger forum has more members and more expertise that can be tapped to answer a question.

The other tradeoff is the tension between the folks who are unhappy about the "censorship" exercised by moderator vs the folks who are unhappy the moderators aren't clamping down enough on rude posting. The moderators walk a line between the two to keep membership loss to a minimum.
The anti-censorship folks tend to go SailingAnarchy which deserves it's name and the folks put off by rudeness tend to move on to a number of smaller forums that each have less to offer information-wise but collectively . . . ?

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Adelie

There several trade offs when a forum gets big.

Bigger is much harder to moderate and for a courtesy culture to dominate. On the other hand a larger forum has more members and more expertise that can be tapped to answer a question.

The other tradeoff is the tension between the folks who are unhappy about the "censorship" exercised by moderator vs the folks who are unhappy the moderators aren't clamping down enough on rude posting. The moderators walk a line between the two to keep membership loss to a minimum.
The anti-censorship folks tend to go SailingAnarchy which deserves it's name and the folks put off by rudeness tend to move on to a number of smaller forums that each have less to offer information-wise but collectively . . . ?

I agree, you are correct, its a shame, but got to take the good with the bad.

[denverd0n]

Another thing to consider is that a lot of people post here because they are having some sort of problem, and they are looking for help and/or suggestions. The inevitable result is that a lot of the posts are about problems. That probably comes off as a form of negativity to people who don't understand the dynamic that is working here.

I have been participating in various internet forums for a long time. I find no more general negativity here than in most of them, and a whole lot less than some.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Another thing to consider is that a lot of people post here because they are having some sort of problem

This forum would indicate that every diesel engine is broken, every hull is damaged, every deck is soft, and don't even think about wiring, batteries, outboards, davits, watermakers, electronics, or sails. And whatever chartplotter you have, its definitely the wrong one and you are doomed...DOOMED I say!!! All new boats have manufacturing defects, old boats all have secret serious issues that will not appear until the ink on the sale contract is dry and the surveyor has fled the country. And if you just spent a decade rebuilding your boat, you will most certainly be in a collision with a fishing boat or a hurricane. At the very least, a charter boat with a drunken crew will scrape down your side while you are checking in at customs. And if your wife hasn't left you yet, don't answer your phone, cause its your doctor with bad news.

Do they have forums for good news? I think they're called blogs.

For an accurate depiction of cruising and real boat ownership, you need look no further than popular movies like:

All is Lost,
Abandoned,
Dead Calm,
Adrift,
or Captain Ron.

[jkindredpdx]

I warn folk before their first sail on Sedna that she isn't a Yacht, she's a sailboat...

As for SS retirement income, the difference in monthly payout between 62 and 66 isn't far from the amount collected over the 4 years. If you plan to earn more money, don't signup to receive SS. If you've reached maximum benefit, the monthly payout continues to increase even if you are not working. I quit "working", but I'm waiting to collect although it will most likely be before FRA.

... Oh, gotta go, my GF wants to go for a bike ride...