USA Expat-a Good Place to Go?

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Del,

Just read through this thread. Agree now is not the best time to head for Mexico, but, could you get behind the idea of mostly day hops to the Channel Is.? Kind of nice to just explore a bit and relax. Then finish doing up your boat in Mission Bay or San Diego.

As the hurricane season closes, then head off to Mx on your own schedule. Explore some more, and eventually decide where to spend the hurricane season. The whole future awaits.

Ann

Probably a good idea, parts and materials are a bit rare here in the SF area. I think the LA and SD areas are more boat-works friendly.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

Probably a good idea, parts and materials are a bit rare here in the SF area. I think the LA and SD areas are more boat-works friendly.

They are???...I found the opposite to be true. While you were in Alameda, you were within a 5 mile radius of new and used gear. Yards were abundant, albeit expensive but cheaper than down south. However, Mexico is cheap to haul out in some places but gear is scarce.

[delmarrey]

Maybe it has changed but back in the 70s & 80s LA & SD is where boats were built. I use to hang out at Kettenburg's over by Shelter island in SD.

It seems Svensons in Alameda is the only place here in the Bay Area that even keeps inventory and the chandlery is so small I'm surprised it can keep up. And here, if I need wood, it has to be cut to size or cut it myself from bulk.

As well, the yard fees in Alameda are outrageous. I had to pay $450 just to pressure wash and hang the boat for 1 hour while I changed the zincs & lubed the Max-Prop.

[Celestialsailor]

You'll enjoy yards up in the Sea of Cortez where the haul-outs are $150 in out and in.

[LeoA]

So X1d,

Sent from my XT1031 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Wakey]

http://blogs.wsj.com/expat/2015/06/2...tive/?mod=e2fb


Posted from my buggy iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum app

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Wakey

What Makes the Expat Lifestyle So Addictive? - Expat - WSJ

A nice article, but I think it was more directed at the working group. One of the readers comments quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“Traveling is a fool's paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places. At home I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty, and lose my sadness. I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. I seek the Vatican, and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated. My giant goes with me wherever I go.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

True, we can't run away from our selfs, but we can go to a perceived better environment whether it be social or climate.
For me it's climate with less population. It seems the masses tend to huddle around the harbors.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

It seems the masses tend to huddle around the harbors.

Being in Rome this very day, I can tell you...the masses don't just huddle around the harbors...they be here in Rome on the A line Metro!

[Celestialsailor]

“Traveling is a fool's paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places. At home I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty, and lose my sadness. I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. I seek the Vatican, and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated. My giant goes with me wherever I go.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Far be it of me to disagree with Emerson....after all he was a writer...not a god... After my divorce in 2000, she hooked up immediately with someone and I had the pleasure of running into the happy couple at least once a week. Within 2 years, I moved to Hawaii. I was not running there to discover my sadness there (although I was generally sad) but to give me adequate space away from "them" to stop re-injuring my feelings. It took about 5 years to get healthy from it and become indifferent. Plus, the beauty of Hawaii and being in a new place helped.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

A nice article, but I think it was more directed at the working group. One of the readers comments quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson.



True, we can't run away from our selfs, but we can go to a perceived better environment whether it be social or climate.
For me it's climate with less population. It seems the masses tend to huddle around the harbors.

The problem I have with the Emerson quote, and Emerson in general, is that it is from the view point of a depressed pessimist who is trying to escape himself...obviosuly impossible.

For me new places and cultures are all about learning, discovery, adventure, and broadening my perspective. Unlike Emerson, I'm comfortable with who I am.

The first writer who nourished my need to explore was Twain. I much prefer his realistic optimism and sense of fun to Emerson's self indulgent pessimism.

Emerson need a pyscotherapist, not a travel agent.

I've lived in 4 countries and travelled to many more...plan to keep doing it till I can't.

[hellosailor]

I think Douglas Adams put it more succinctly in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe:


"Wherever you go, there you are."


(Some folks may need to read that twice to grasp how he meant it.)

[IdoraKeeper]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

A nice article, but I think it was more directed at the working group. One of the readers comments quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson.



True, we can't run away from our selfs, but we can go to a perceived better environment whether it be social or climate.
For me it's climate with less population. It seems the masses tend to huddle around the harbors.

Ya know, it would be nice to see the Duck at anchor in P.L. again..lest you forget, lots of empty places up north. Let the climate change come to you! Swim up stream.

[Captain Curran]

A bit off topic

But as I'm currently travling around se Asia - now in Cambodia- I am appalled at the cell phone addiction that has happened to the millennial generation.

It is so sad to see - they are - for the most part - zombies. Nobody is talking or reading books in hostels or cafes- they are all on 'social media'

It was not that long ago that I was a backpacker in my 20s - and I am so glad that smart phones did not exist then - I may have gotten sucked into the vortex

So - to bring it back the thread - yes wherever you go - there you are - you are still staring into the abyss of your phone...

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by IdoraKeeper

Ya know, it would be nice to see the Duck at anchor in P.L. again..lest you forget, lots of empty places up north. Let the climate change come to you! Swim up stream.

Yeah! I've given it some thought. And I do miss the islands BUT I'd like to do a little diving/snorkeling off the boat for awhile. The waters in the PNW are a bit cold/cloudy/swift for my taste anymore.

Even here in SF it's not much good. It's a Yachties harbor here unless you go up the Delta. Then it's fishers grounds. I have yet to see any waterski' here. It's still in the 50's at night here. At least there's not moss growing on my halyards anymore.
Been giving Panama some serious thought.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Captain Curran

A bit off topic

But as I'm currently travling around se Asia - now in Cambodia- I am appalled at the cell phone addiction that has happened to the millennial generation.

It is so sad to see - they are - for the most part - zombies. Nobody is talking or reading books in hostels or cafes- they are all on 'social media'

I was stationed just south of the Cambo River (Na Bea) back in 69/70. Loved going out to the small islands and diving the shorelines. And the same thing happening with the phones in PI. Texting & Facebook has become the catch there.