What Was Your Epiphany?

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Sinuous

Thanks, Ann!

I know electronics and engines--gas, not diesel, but I'll learn the differences quickly. I'm hoping the barter system is alive and well in the sailing community.

Sinuous,

Now it is the real Jim at the keyboard!

When we set out in 1986 I had thought to supplant our somewhat meager income by doing jobs for other cruisers, along the lines that Ann just set out. I had the required skills so why not?? Well, it didn't work for me because in the cruising community people just help each other out as a matter of course, and I just couldn't ask my friends and fellow small-budget cruisers for money!

So, in fact, the barter system that you mention is alive and well, and it means that there will usually be help available when you need it... but for me, no cash. We do know a few folks who do work for other yotties and get paid for it. Many of them were tradesmen of some sort in their former worlds, and so it is sorta natural for them.

One further thing: if you are in a foreign country, usually your visa or entry permit forbids doing any sort of paid work. This means that if you do accept pay, you are technically breaking the law... not usually enforced, but it is an issue, and could lead to serious repercussions.

I add my good wishes to Ann's, and hope that you join us in the yottie world... it is a great place to live!

Cheers,

Jim

[Sinuous]

Wow, first of all, I apologize for drifting the Epiphany thread. I'll open a new thread with thoughts and questions as we have them so this thread stays on track. I do try to be forum-courteous.

We are definitely joining the sailing world, no backing out now, we're committed. Today has been a day of epiphanie$ for sure, but we're fighting our way through them one at a time...

Cheers!
Mike (and Katie)

[amytom]

I'm also a "techie" and have found myself actually hoping for the lay-offs for my wife and myself. Business is actually going well for both of us but I soooo want to sail over the horizon. Is that wrong?

[Sinuous]

Not a'tall.

I just experienced the joy of giving my two-week notice at my job. Explained--patiently at times--what we were doing. The responses were excellent. "You're crazy!" "Got a bigger pair than me, man!" "You lucky stiff!" "What are you, nuts?" "You're going to die in a hurricane!" One of the VPs came by, asked me to let him know how it goes, because he wants to do this, too.

[zeehag]

i am a disabled/retired rn from the critical care areas and i have sailed since i was young---7 --we learned to sail from an iuncle who was a tallshipman and farmer----was fun--i enjoyed boats and love the wood---for many yrs i didnt have naything ot do with the water as i was being educated and working to raise my son---but when he was old enough to leave home , his mom ran away from home to live on board a sailboat---in preparation for leaving to cruise....still hasnt happened for many odd reasons---but i now have the 40 footer i was wanting to use for the adventure----just need to repair her and exit-----epiphany?? no tcertain i had one, actually---mine is more genetic-----my grt grt grandfather founded the great lakes shipping co--my 10X grt grandparents----8 families of them--came here on thr mayflower--i even had ancestors in virginia---folks just seemed to come here by boats and ships and managed to become my ancestors----so i guess i got more genetix in my cruising favor than brains?..........am being pulled to the sea...........

[markpj23]

Queue the music.....

It's hard to believe that I started this thread more than 3 years ago. Even harder still to realize that I first sold up to sail in 2000 and have been trying to make it work ever since.

I've been lurking here way too long absorbing this great resource of knowledge and experience. Most of it has been rewarding, some of it petty and disappointing. Still THE BEST source of information on this lifestyle out there IMHO.

So a quick recap of my experience:

- quit a good job, sold everything and moved to FL to find a boat (2000)
- took a 'temporary' job to help fund the boat purchase
- "family happens" and we can't go.
- 5 years later we bought a boat
- realize it was the wrong boat for us as again "family happens" and we had almost zero time to work on our project boat
- sold the boat
- took a promotion that moves us back to Fl
- spent 6 months looking at real estate that neither one of us was enthused about owning
- decided that the promotion wasn't making us happy
- started another boat search and found the RIGHT boat this time. Noticed immediately that we were really enthused about another boat.

So that brings us to today. I was all set to resign my 'temporary' position and go chase this dream. Then they announced another round of layoffs, and yes Mark you can volunteer if you like! So now I get to leave with a nice severance package as a good-bye kiss!

This now changes our plans a bit - for the better. We can divide our time between the boat and a spiffy new RV that was made possible by the severance.

Timing is everything - and even though my epiphany happened long ago, the dream has survived. We'll be out there spending our kids' inheritance with gusto for as long as we are having fun.

Don't give up on your dream. Sometimes there is a master plan for your life that you are unaware of. I know we are blessed.

Hope to see you out there soon!

[Charlie]

mark:

Thanks for that update. I remember the old boat and the raisisng the grandchild issue and your subsequent move to Florida. It is great to hear the twists and the turns that took you to where you are going. Now get out there and have fun. Hope to run into you on the high seas sometime. It is nice to see that perserverance pays off.

[Therapy]

Mark,

Very interesting.

[anjou]

This has to be the best thread as It not only confirms im not insane but that im not alone and we cant all be wrong. Like a few of you, i got to this decision point for many reasons, each one on their own, not being a reason, but compiled, they are a driving force.

I was a maverick child, a by product of a dysfunctional family and I cant fit in or settle for lifes crap. Here in the country i love, we are being dictated to by our own nanny state and the EU conglomerate. Between the white trash and the millions of foreign settlers, Im feeling more and more a stranger in my own country.

Im a square peg in a round hole, Ive been self employed for most of my life and find it hard to accept the garbage in the workplace like political correctness, back stabbing, elitism, pedantic rules and regs.

The past 6 years have been the worst. I suffered two collapsed discs, followed by a cortezone injection that led to meningitus, breakdown of a long term relationship, met someone new only to lose him a year later in iraq. I had a breakdown and nothing was the same after. I couldnt handle stress or ********. I packed up and down sized 24 years worth of accumulated belongings with car boot and yard sales, and left with what i could fit in my car.
I left the country and moved into a city where i was now the foreigner. Ive been here 4 years, ive been sexually assaulted, punched in the face, had death threats, all from foreigners.

Ive always found it hard to accept that my life will be like others. I tried the mortgage home owning thing, the career etc but the thought of ending my days in a tiny little house thats taken and cost all my life to pay for, to end up with dementia, stuck in a system that doesnt care, ..........need i go on?

Im a free spirit, I think too much, far more than most people here and I have dreams.
I have nothing to lose, but I will hate myself for not doing this. My pension has been wiped out in the recession, I have no dependants, im single and would love to meet someone special but I doubt he will be a Brit as most Brits thing too small and settle for ordinary. They cant think further than working to pay taxes till they die, all so they can have a tiny house and 2 weeks per year on a spanish beach.

Travel broadens the mind and I want to meet new people and see the world that Jaques Cousteau first brought into my life on TV almost 40 years ago.

Most of all, in the chinese astrology, im an Ox, and this is the year of the Ox. I decided at new year this was going to be my year to change my life, but I didnt know at the time how it would happen.
Now i do and ive been so excited for 3 months i cant sleep. How awsome is that?

[Hud3]

Originally Posted by markpj23

Queue the music...Timing is everything - and even though my epiphany happened long ago, the dream has survived. We'll be out there spending our kids' inheritance with gusto for as long as we are having fun.

Don't give up on your dream. Sometimes there is a master plan for your life that you are unaware of. I know we are blessed...

Mark,

You've proved my philosophy--"Things tend to work out for the best".

[zeehag]

i figgered at age 7, learning to sail my uncles gaff rigged sloop, eleanor, that i was going to be a female pirate of the caribean .......lol.....and my first owned by me boat was 1990, in preparation for this feat...now i have my pirate ship and preparing her for my escapades....in between running away from home to sail opb's......

[captain58sailin]

When I was 17, I was living on a beach in Hawaii, and my parents bought a sailboat and were going to sail around the world, as luck would have it I called them just before they left, and they invited me along. I at first declined, I liked living on my own, however all of my coworkers said I was an absolute fool and I would be kicking myself for the rest of my life if I didn't go. So I went. And I saw, had my mind and heart opened, and experienced first hand what few people in the world ever get to, at any age, let alone 17, I was hooked for life and have been a seadog ever since, in the last couple of years I was able to put together what I figure will be the last boat I will ever own. And as soon as she is refitted to my satisfaction, I am off like a herd of turtles, stopping along the way to investigate anything and everything that takes my interest. I will be shoving off sometime next year and if any of you happen to see Rose in a harbor or at anchor somewhere, please stop by and say howdy!

[markpj23]

Anjou - your courage is inspiring..... Fair winds

[synchronicity98]

Just stumbled across this thread... so many beautiful & touching stories!

My parents spent three years building a 41' sailboat, we lived aboard for 3 years, and then we circumnavigated the world from '98 to '02... which means we've been "home" for over 7 years. The funny thing is that as an 11-year old, I never realised that what my parents were doing was different or special... I just thought kids that lived in houses were weird! Now that I'm a little older, and have begun to sail the boat on my own (aka without parents), I'm much much much more appreciative of what they did.

Funny thing is that they're both back in full-time jobs, slaving away for the almighty buck... and it's me that's boat-hunting and dreaming about sailing away again... darn parents have wrecked me for life

Anyways, just thought I would post (especially for those who have kids and are waiting until they grow up!!)... don't wait!!!! My sister and I have turned out perfectly normally, and I feel so so so grateful that we had the opportunity to see so much of the world at a young age. Now if only mom and dad could find a new dream, we'd all be happy...

[synchronicity98]

Oh and a quote I read somewhere and think quite appropriate:

"The last cheque you write should be to the undertaker, and it should bounce"