material possesions

[GordMay]

Gunner:
Do you still have that classic Caddie'?

Goto:
http://cruisersforum.com/photopost//...sort=1&thecat=

[irwinsailor]

Yes I do, and that is one thing that I would not mind selling. I placed a add on the Cadillac board. However I can not sell my 67 Mustang fast back. Next month I will have owned it for 30 years.

[RandyAbernethy]

I have found the process of trimming down on possessions in preparation for cruising (targeting Fall 2006) to be very beneficial personally. In my mind there are four great justifications for trimming down:

1. Liquidity
2. Time Arbitrage
3. Reduced Expenses
4. Improved Value Realization on Remaining Property

Liquidity
You sell your stuff you get money. That's easy. I have been selling a lot of stuff on EBay. It has been great for me but it is a bit of work if you want to get fair market value for your stuff. You have to take pictures, write a compelling description, handle email questions from block heads who didn't read your ad, etceteras. It's a good idea to assess the minimum inbound cash necessary to make posting an item for sale worth your time. For instance, I don't bother trying to sell things that are likely to go for less than $100. It's not worth the eBay fees, PayPal fees, shipping head ache, etceteras.

Time Arbitrage
Full credit to the CPAs here. Like JohnWms I owned a recording studio and we audio folks are known pack rats. I really had a hard time selling my API lunch boxes (no not food). Then I considered the fact that I bought my vintage API 550s for $750, and today they sell for $750. If I sell them and buy them back for $750 in 5 years I get the interest on the capital (be it in dollars in a mutual fund or fun on a boat) and new 550s that someone else had to maintain and store for 5 years. They�fre �ghard to find�h, is not likely to be a modern excuse with eBay bring the entire globe to your browser. Selling is really a �gno brianer�h for digital stuff as it basically goes to $0 in 5 years and you'll be able to buy something way better for half the price new. Sell high, buy low. If it is truly an investment item and you can safely say that it is likely to appreciate faster than a buck in a managed account, maybe you should store it (make sure you factor in the storage fees). Bottom line, you can buy most of your stuff back cheaper when you get back to shore, so sell it.

Reduced Expenses
An important part of cruising is reducing expenses to levels easily manageable when at sea. While many people may be happy to store stuff for you it's important to be considerate. You're out living the life of your dreams and they're working every day with your junk in the garage. Will the stuff be worth anything if it's not properly maintained and cared for? (one of my good friends had stuff in my garage for two years and when he came over to go through it he ended up tossing 95% of it). You don't own stuff, it owns you (variation on the above quote). Do you really want to stop back to shore regularly to handle accounts with storage firms, exercise motor vehicles, pay insurance fees (unattended stuff is particularly interesting to thieves). There are so many hidden expenses associated with "stuff" that we overlook. The less stuff the less maintenance in $ and your time. Everything you own costs you time and money, even if it's just a little or only comes in chunks once in a while.

Improved Value Realization on Remaining Property
Selling the "B" items you own allows you to focus on the "A" items you own. I used to have 5 motorcycles. I had a hard time riding all of them regularly. I spent more time tinkering and maintaining than riding (not to mention owning more battery tenders than you could shake a stick at). Getting more value regularly out of the few things you really enjoy is better than having lots of stuff you never have time to enjoy. As many have said, happiness does not come from owning things it comes from experiences. I am down to just an R1200RT and a CBR954RR and riding them both a lot (selling them in the summer). I will remember the bikes, but I will remember the trips more.


It's hard to get over the irrational emotional attachment to stuff. I have learned much from the wisdom and experiences of the folks on this board and it has helped me part with many things I never thought I could sell. That said, I�fm taking my Les Paul with me.

[irwinsailor]

Many valid points Randy. I have been thinking alot about this thread over the last few days. I think I have it boiled down to if I don't need to sell it why sell it if I like having it? I will not impose on anyone to store my stuff so that is not a problem. I will store it in a house that I bought for my retirement and yes I will lose rent. But I don't want to rent it out while I'm gone anyway. As for the cruising kitty I'm good for at least 15 years without selling anything. So I think that there is no wrong answer here there is only what is best for the each party.

[RandyAbernethy]

Everyone has their Les Pauls... :-)

[irwinsailor]

I guess you are right about that. In my case it would e a truck load of them.

[ssullivan]

irwinsailor once whispered in the wind:
I have sold stuff,and some times the only thing I feel is regret. Over the past few years I have sold just over $50. ( It was more but I don't want anyone to take me wrong) in mainly real estate and that has not bothered me. 4 of my cars are gone and were not replaced and that does not bother me. But at least half of what I have left would bother me a great deal if it were gone. I also look at what I will have left as a saving account, if we want to cruise longer we just sell the items later!

Gunner, you hesitiation to liquidate makes a lot of sense to me. The difference is clear above. You are planning to return to a life you already have planned out. You know what you want to return to. You have a house to return to, certain cars you really enjoy, etc... I'm going to make a guess, but I'm going to assume you are not planning on cruising until you get so old you can't take care of yourself anymore. Many of us on the board may be looking at crusing as the "final move" before wasting away in a home or something. That's how my wife and I see it. I have a feeling you see it as a shorter-term thing... a diversion if you will.

This would mean very different feelings regarding selling possessions. To us, they will only rot, but to you... you plan on getting use out of them. So don't get *too* swayed by our love of selling. Espeically something like your dream retirement home.

If you'll excuse my directness, it sounds like you won't have much in the way of liquidity problems, so I see your point... just keep some stuff you want to use when you get back.

If you decide to sail for the rest of your life, like you said... you can always fly back and sell things off. I think this has more to do with perspective and plans than just selling or not selling.

[irwinsailor]

Sean, at this time my plan is to sail for 15 to 20 years. I do not look at this amount of time as short term. I think that much of your above post is correct except the short term part. But who knows.. .. we may not like this lifestyle as much as we think, the longest we have been aboard is 10 weeks.

[ssullivan]

Well, that is indeed a pretty long time.

I just thought maybe we were all coming at it from different angles. This is our "end game". You seem to have another "end game". Thought maybe this had something to do with the different opinions on selling everything.

[Stede]

There is a biblical holiday called the "Feast of Tabernacles." The observance of it is held in recognition of the Jewish people fleeing Egypt during the exodus, and having to live in temporary make-shift shelters as they began to wonder the desert. On a deeper level, the observance is also symbolic of our time here on Earth living in temporary physical bodies, and structures. For believers of these things, we strive to pull away from this world and its' possessions, looking towards the spiritual kingdom to come which is our permanent home.

As a sailor, this thinking clarifies my approach to this life. Material possessions are fine to have, and I’ve had my share of them, but they really mean little to me. What you have can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. Possessions that you can’t buy are what are truly important. Precious commodities like family, health, happiness, and love have little value in the stock market.

Not long ago, I purchased my third boat. Lord willing, in seven more years I’ll retire and buy my fourth to cruise full time. Now, if I end up cruising in an acquired 38 footer, my 26 footer, or possibly my 24 footer, it really matters not. What’s important to me is that I get to go. To dream is my reality, and my reality is to dream. From a kid playing in a creek with toy sailboats, to a man that has traveled many a road and sailed many a good adventure, it’s all dear to me. When I go, I’ll sell it all. It was really never mine to begin with, but belongs to he that gave it to me. I’ll cruise until I can cruise no more, and then I’ll go home.

[irwinsailor]

Nicely put Stede.

Stede, very well put.
Resisting the urge to tell my life story, having stuff is over rated. Go through a divorce or two, and you will realize that stuff is not worth the aggrevation it causes. When we decided to go cruising, we sold the house, and traded the Harley for the boat. Seperation anxiety caused my to build another Harley, but after 4 years, I realized I was just hanging onto the life I was leaving, and sold it. I held onto my tools, and allot of land junk, keeping it at our cabin (a purchase to quel my wife's need for dirt), and when we were robbed, and all that stuff I had tried to hold onto was taken, I realized that my life was not much different without it. In fact. Now, I do not have to worry about it being stolen any more, so life is less stressful.
The fact is that I have owned very few irreplaceable items, and when those things were gone, the memory of those things became as valuable as the things themselves. Case in point; my family has a museum quality replica of the Peter Iredale, built by my grandfather. I have loved that ship my whole life, but I do not want it. If I had it, what would I do with it. It will not fit on the boat, and if it was there, I would worry about it being damaged. If I had it in my home, it would serve no purpose other than to be a visual piece, and I do not want to spend my time sitting at home looking at boats. Cruising, like my former life riding, is a lifestyle, and that lifestyle, by it's very nature requires it's own level of "stuff". the stuff that does not fit that lifestyle should be given up to be replaced by the stuff that does. White carpet suffers greatly in a biker's living room.
As for missing the things I had... I have fond memories of many things, but I am too busy with the things I have to miss the things I don't. As for replaceing those things down the road, think about the knowledge and skills you had when you aquired those things. Consider how much more knowledge and skill you will have by the time you are ready to aquire those things again.
In a nutshell... DO IT! Don't wait, just go for it.

[Stede]

Thank you my friends for your kind words and insight.

Last season, a young man asked me if I would crew for him while racing his sailboat. I agreed. He told me before the race, "Don't worry, I won't holler at you." I said, "That's good, because then I won't have to holler back." We ended up taking first place. When Bob was called up at the race banquet, I noticed how my name wasn't mentioned as he acknowledged "his" achievement.

Some time later, an old man asked me to crew for him racing his boat. I agreed. John's an old salt of Rhode Island way, with big bushy white eyebrows stuffed up under the brim of a sun beaten skippers cap, and a large toothy grin. He welcomed me aboard before the race, and told me how he had fixed sandwiches for us, and offered me something cold to drink. We would've taken first place in the race, but were "T-boned" towards the finish by an errant boat sailing in another classification. John took it all in stride. While slowly shaking his head in disbelief, he said, " it happens, it's racing." Later, while back at the dock he told me how he was going to have to go in for a scheduled hip replacement and wasn’t sure when he would get to race again. It bothered me greatly that he should have had first place, but didn't.

This year, both skippers have already called me wanting me to crew for them. Who do you think I'll crew for? The man that wants to own me for a trophy, or the man that trophies friendship over relics?

Material possessions can become trophies and take on a meaning of power, rather than achievement. When getting the possession becomes more important than how you get it, you've got a problem.

Many years ago, I bought a Harley-Davidson Sportster.One of many bikes I've owned over the years. I had let the Sportster become a powerful trophy to me. One morning, I was running late getting to work. I ran out of the house, cranked the bike up, laid the throttle back, and started out the dirt driveway. All of a sudden, I couldn't turn the handle bars!! I had to lay my beautiful trophy down. As I was going down, it dawned on me that I had forgotten to unlock the front fork anti-theft lock before starting out As I picked myself up off the dirt, I looked back at the house and saw my two small sons peering through their bedroom window while snickering at me. I had to laugh as I was being humbled because I knew I deserved it. Suddenly the thought occurred to me about how I had taken away time from them on occasions to ride the bike. Looking at those laughing little faces made me realize how much more important they were to me than the bike. Our time in this life is but the twinkling of an eye. A vapor here today, and gone tomorrow. Let us never forget that we aren’t promised tomorrow.

“And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”

Interesting how the most humbling things in life tend to be the most memorable, and what could be more humbling than giving up ones "stuff".

[GordMay]

What’s ”... more humbling than giving up ones stuff ...” - perhaps, finding that after a lifetime of accumulation, you still have room on your new boat, to store all your hard earned stuff.