Cruisers Who Fail...

[rustypirate]

I don't believe that anyone can properly appreciate the tropics unless they have spent some period of time in a location where the moisture in the air falls to the ground as snow.

Of course the adverse is also true, you can not really appreciate the hardship of living in frozen regions without knowing just how warm and inviting are the tropic isles.

[Alaska JD]

I've lived in Alaska since 1983 (my wife was born and raised here) and it has been very good to me, but as I approach retirement, dealing with the "blessings" of the Northland become more challanging. My wife and I are are longing for the day we can start our new adventures on a boat. We are about 18 months from starting the buying process and about 4 years to getting out of "Dodge". This forum has been amazingly helpful in helping us learn about the life we yearn for and how to make it happen. I so appreciate everyone's experiences and prespectives. My wife and I sail every chance we get and have taken a number of ASA sailing classes to help insure that at least the basic technical information we need. You guys have done a wonderful job of filling many of the huge holes in our experience/information deficit. Our next charter/sailing opportunity will happen in Hawaii in January - The dream lives on!!

[Not Sure]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Great idea! Now my farm can be smaller! Thats affordable! See how The Secret works?!

Speaking as someone who has just spent the past 3 years operating a small farm such as the one you describe, (I am now in the process of retrofitting a sailboat and getting a divorce) I can without a doubt say that 99% of 'farming' (i.e. owning/raising livestock) is cleaning up assorted types of sh!t 24/7/365, come rain or shine or sleet or snow...that and shelling out ever-increasing amounts of money to the local feed supply. If that is something that you can picture yourself doing, then go for it. If it isn't, then you may wish to find yourself another 'dream'.
In other words, the 'dream' of living on a farm with animals is about as reality-based as the 'dream' of cruising Margarita-ville on a yacht.

[Ex-Calif]

Sometimes I struggle with the word "dream." A dream is something that you have while sleeping that disappears upon waking. I am living a life. it is very cliche but life is a journey of many steps.

Reinvention is a remarkably achievable part of life. From birth to 20 or 21 years we learn a tremendous number of skills that prepare us for the next 20 years. At the end of the second 20 many of us fall into the trap of valueing our lives by what we have collected. We marry, many times the wrong person for the wrong reasons. We work at jobs with the idea that our life is defined by accumulating the same stuff as people we grew up with. We spend months and years of our life sitting in cubes interrupted weekly by mowing grass, raking leaves and shoveling snow.

Often at 40 or so we wonder what the hell is happening. It shouldn't be this hard, I am in debt, I have a garage full of crap and a house full of responsibilities.

What happened to my dreams? Well if you treat them like dreams all they will be is dreams. Live a life. Structure it how you want it. Move daily one step at a time towards your goals.

Then think about staying healthy and that fact you will likely live into your late 70s or 80's. There is plenty of time to do anything that you desire to do.

Financially it is all about not getting diverted. Many of my friends live "better" lifestyles than me. Better cars, media rooms, a garage full of power tools, new carpets, remodelled bathrooms etc. etc. etc. For me it's about the dinero for now. One step at a time towards the goal.

I often tell people - Imagine you die and you are standing at the gates of your particular heaven. The gatekeeper looks at you and says, "Are you kidding? That was heaven. Every little thing you could imagine in your dreams was there. You just let it pass by."

[John A]

Not Sure,
The 99% figure maybe a little high. First you've got to spend considerable time raising their food and feeding them.

We had 75 dairy cows and chores in the morning took 2 plus hours with an additional 2 plus hours in the evening. Like you say 24/7/365. Christmas morning - first the cows must be milked. Twenty-five degrees below zero? No matter! Date Saturday afternoon and evening? Got to stop and milk the cows. (take a shower too)
High School dance after the Homecoming football game? The town cleared out, before the dance, while everyone went home to milk their cows.

Cruising was a much better dream!
John

[James S]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Sometimes I struggle with the word "dream." A dream is something that you have while sleeping that disappears upon waking. I am living a life. it is very cliche but life is a journey of many steps.

Reinvention is a remarkably achievable part of life. From birth to 20 or 21 years we learn a tremendous number of skills that prepare us for the next 20 years. At the end of the second 20 many of us fall into the trap of valueing our lives by what we have collected. We marry, many times the wrong person for the wrong reasons. We work at jobs with the idea that our life is defined by accumulating the same stuff as people we grew up with. We spend months and years of our life sitting in cubes interrupted weekly by mowing grass, raking leaves and shoveling snow.

Often at 40 or so we wonder what the hell is happening. It shouldn't be this hard, I am in debt, I have a garage full of crap and a house full of responsibilities.

What happened to my dreams? Well if you treat them like dreams all they will be is dreams. Live a life. Structure it how you want it. Move daily one step at a time towards your goals.

Then think about staying healthy and that fact you will likely live into your late 70s or 80's. There is plenty of time to do anything that you desire to do.

Financially it is all about not getting diverted. Many of my friends live "better" lifestyles than me. Better cars, media rooms, a garage full of power tools, new carpets, remodelled bathrooms etc. etc. etc. For me it's about the dinero for now. One step at a time towards the goal.

I often tell people - Imagine you die and you are standing at the gates of your particular heaven. The gatekeeper looks at you and says, "Are you kidding? That was heaven. Every little thing you could imagine in your dreams was there. You just let it pass by."

Well said

[Not Sure]

Originally Posted by John A

Not Sure,
The 99% figure maybe a little high. First you've got to spend considerable time raising their food and feeding them.

We had 75 dairy cows and chores in the morning took 2 plus hours with an additional 2 plus hours in the evening. Like you say 24/7/365. Christmas morning - first the cows must be milked. Twenty-five degrees below zero? No matter! Date Saturday afternoon and evening? Got to stop and milk the cows. (take a shower too)
High School dance after the Homecoming football game? The town cleared out, before the dance, while everyone went home to milk their cows.

Cruising was a much better dream!
John

OK, 99% is a little high.....its actually more like 95% The point being, livestock farming is all about the animals, and the animals don't care what time it is nor that the big football game is on nor that its 3am and you're sound asleep, nor that you are sick, or tired, or cold, or wet....when something happens or duty calls you're the one that needs to take care of it, pronto, and there is no 'I don't feel like it. Ditto for the innumerable chores that keeping/raising animals entails. The idyllic notion of animal 'farming' is one thing, the reality of it....when the rubber meats the road.....is usually a shovel and a pile of crap of one species or another. That's 'farming'.

[Not Sure]

Originally Posted by rustypirate

I don't believe that anyone can properly appreciate the tropics unless they have spent some period of time in a location where the moisture in the air falls to the ground as snow.

Of course the adverse is also true, you can not really appreciate the hardship of living in frozen regions without knowing just how warm and inviting are the tropic isles.

While we're on the subject of reality, let me speak this time as someone who has also spent several years in the tropics. Snow and cold is one thing. The tropics is something completely different. During the rainy season the humidity is so high that you can never get dry....you step out of the shower and are sweating before you can even dry off. Metal rusts in less than one day...and I mean rusts. It rains, then clears and the moisture comes back out of the ground in the opposite direction. Mold grows in mere hours, along with the rust. We won't even get into the creepy-crawly critters, and what the lack of a freeze does to their size and numbers. Its something that has to be experienced to be believed. This is why most snowbirds flee southern Florida (sub-tropics) during the summer.
The tropics is not sitting on a beach and drinking strawberry daiquiris like in Jimmy Buffet songs.

[John A]

Reality is a cruel task master!!
After cruising/living in the Caribbean for nine years, the transition to life in Vancouver, Washington (across the river from Portland, Oregon) has had its moments.

Cold weather clothing didn't start to appear in stores until the temps. were staying in the 60's! There weren't even any flannel shirts!

For someone who had lived in shorts and T-shirt, it's a wonder I don't have pneumonia.
I've gotten used to long sleeve shirts and pants but shoes are taking a little bit longer.

[Jack Tar]

The only way to fail is quit.

[Not Sure]

Originally Posted by Jack Tar

The only way to fail is quit.

Well, no....you can die...that's 'failing'. The idea is to neither quit nor die, but reach down for some intestinal fortitude and come up with a plan, including backup plan(s), that successfully extricates yourself from whatever position you've gotten yourself into, without doing harm to others in the process.

The funny thing is, you can never tell who's going to buckle under or who's going to buck up and become the 'hero' regardless of all of the tough talk, training, and self-assurance. We'd like to think we'd all be strong in such circumstances, but like it as not we wouldn't be. Many times it is luck that determines who survives and who doesn't, or who succeeds and who fails. And I am forever amused by those who mistake their own luck and good fortune for wits, training and/or 'hard work'.

[Christian Van H]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

Sounds like some tough decisions to be made? Hopefully they will enjoy Miami, and cross over the stream, and get this behind them. I know the feeling of frustration can get you down. It almost got me in 93.......i2f

Hi All! I am happy to announce that Nick has decided to keep his boat, and is going to continue to cruise! He's going to recharge his soul and his cruising kitty down there, and then go live the dream. Not so sure about his crew... Nick is a great guy and I, for one, am glad he's "out there"...

[Stillraining]

Originally Posted by Christian Van H

Hi All! I am happy to announce that Nick has decided to keep his boat, and is going to continue to cruise! He's going to recharge his soul and his cruising kitty down there, and then go live the dream. Not so sure about his crew... Nick is a great guy and I, for one, am glad he's "out there"...

Cool...I hope its still a them and not just he.

[sailvayu]

Originally Posted by Not Sure

Many times it is luck that determines who survives and who doesn't, or who succeeds and who fails. And I am forever amused by those who mistake their own luck and good fortune for wits, training and/or 'hard work'.

I agree, there is a lot of truth and wisdom in this statement. The best of us can easliy be beaten down while the fools sail on with little effort. But remaining humble is never a bad thing.

Wayne Canning, AMS

[Hud3]

Originally Posted by Christian Van H

Hi All! I am happy to announce that Nick has decided to keep his boat, and is going to continue to cruise! ...

That's great news, Christian! Quitting now would have been like selling out at the bottom of the stock market crash--all his hard-earned gains down the tube.