Where's the "passion" ?

[Bubba the Pirate]

The trick, which applies to most long keeled boats, is to hold the tiller firmly (as if it had any function) and pretend that wherever you end up was exactly where you intended to go.
[/quote]

Very nice!! Grog

[Bubba the Pirate]

Trick is to center the rudder, get some way on, then throttle back and THEN turn. Of course, she's outboard powered, but the engine is in a well, and locked into position, so it's like an inboard, excerpt the prop is behind the rudder

Prop behind the rudder is exactly the Vega's problem as well. Small boat designer compromise. My slip was the last one down a fairway. I didn't have much room to glide backward. Behind me was a couple barges as seawall, not so nice to run into. (wonderful working man's marina BTW)

[Bob J (ex-misfits)]

Personally, if it wasn't for having two kids at home still in high school, I'd be off. Maybe not full time but off as I see fit, especially after this winter. At 60 my goal is to get thru the next couple of years & after that be a boat bum whenever the sprit moves me. I read some of Todd's blog, I like it. If he makes this happen & keeps blogging the motto will change from go now, go small to eat when you're hungry, work when your broke. Funny, I lived my life like that in my mid 20's. Living in a tent & fly fishing my way across the rocky mountains for 3 years. In retrospect, guess a boat's no different.

[ralay]

"eat when you're hungry, work when your broke"

I'll grog to that. 

[Grime]

Personally, if it wasn't for having two kids at home still in high school,

As soon as the kids graduate leave the next day. Why because life can get in the way.

[Bob J (ex-misfits)]

Personally, if it wasn't for having two kids at home still in high school,

As soon as the kids graduate leave the next day. Why because life can get in the way.

yup & it's called college  :'(

[Grime]

Oh I didn't realize that you were going to college.  If its the kids soon or later you have to wean them. Better sooner you might not have later.  ;)

[Bubba the Pirate]

Update on the passion:
I will not be leaving on my boat until Spring 2016.

I will be helping Alex Dorsey move his Westsail 42(not a Sailfar boat) from NY to Panama. Be back in the States in September or so.

I stand to gain a windfall of experience. I can't be more excited!

[lance on cloud nine]

this is a great thread! that has been on my mind too. I think it is true that Fb has taken many peoples internet browsing time. BUT!, I think those with a larger than average passion (for anything) are finding that they are really better served with a more focused and more personal site like sailFar.
because I don't say it often enough, let me say thank you to all who contribute here! I have absorbed much from so many of you. and I would probably have become a big boat owner who would have looked back and kept wondering why he so much missed his smaller, more simple boat - if it had not been for reading some of your posts, which were echoing silent thoughts in my very inexperienced mind.
I intend to post a little more about my sailing here in the very near future. Please know it is because I wish for you to also step it up! I would enjoy reading almost anything about your boat and adventures! Thanks again!

[Jim_ME]

A couple days ago I happened to be reading an AARP magazine article interview of Bob Dylan, and when I came upon this answer, thought about this thread...

Q: A lot of your newer songs deal with aging. You once said that people don't retire, they fade away, they run out of steam. And now you're 73, you're a great-grandfather.

Bob Dylan: Look, you get older. Passion is a young man's game. Young people can be passionate. Older people gotta be more wise. I mean, you're around awhile, you leave certain things to the young. Don't try to act like you're young. You could really hurt yourself.

Here's the full interview...
http://www.aarp.org/entertainment/style-trends/info-2015/bob-dylan-aarp-magazine.2.html

I'm thinking that whether a cruising sailor or songwriter, there are similar aspects to passion. Charlie and Dylan are about the same age, and was telling me that his physical strength was not as strong as it had been. CJ, you were talking about how you used to lift a 5-gal jug of water from the dinghy bottom to the dock with one hand, but now you use both...

Charlie, you've told about how your Meridian 25 Tehani and smaller open boat tri, Traveler, these two boats are about all that you (with your considerable boatbuilding talent) can take on and maintain well, and still do some cruising. That statement, philosophy, and knowledge of your limits, means more to me now than when you said it.

My thoughts are that passion can get crowded out by too much complexity in one's life, too many distractions. Feel that this may be what has happened to me. Trying to do too many things, and losing focus.

I was talking to my neighbor, who was a farmer much of his life, about my situation and lack of energy (passion).
"You can only do so much." he said.

So it seems to me that not only does the boat need to be smallish, simple, and affordable, but the rest of ones life needs to be as well. Maybe simplify life and clear away the unnecessary, like a farmer does to till a bit of earth bare, and give that passion seed space to grow in...?

As the deep snow is now beginning to melt, I hope that I can remember to make this a season of letting go of some activities, some boats, to be better able to take care of--and enjoy--fewer things.

"Less is more." as one famous architect put it.

[CharlieJ]

Nicely said Jim

But this is scary - DYLAN is younger than I am!!!!!!! OUCH!! ;) ;)

Missed you chatting last night. Missed EVERYONE really ::)

[Frank]

OK.....I've dropped several "hints" through out. Needn't be big...a 22. 23, 25 or 26 will do!!  Follow your "passion"....get over here. In the early days of this site...many would have "climbed aboard" with passion!!!!  Where are you's ????  I miss the "small is simple...is OK.." chatter!!!!   Is every one just dreaming....or does everyone realize the ONLY ONE holding them back is.....them selves!!!!

The Abacos are SO easy!!! They are safe!!!  No locking dingy's or OB's ....no begging....just a ton of islands....remote OR with activities...Your choice !!!   Where  is the "I can DO this" chatter?????

[Frank]

PS.....I've crossed the stream...during "winter winds" .....in a 20, a 22, a 23, a 25, a 26, a 27 and bigger. It is EASILY done!!!!!


LIVE YOUR DREAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jim_ME]

I miss the "small is simple...is OK.." chatter! Is every one just dreaming....or does everyone realize the ONLY ONE holding them back is.....them selves!
The Abacos are SO easy!

I'm completely on board with the small boat is okay. Just posted a lovely Meridian in SellFar. You sure DO make it look easy, Frank. Have a local friend that plans to buy my Snapdragon 26 and get it setup on a trailer to head South next winter. I've got a Westerly 22 that I'd like to restore and also setup on a tandem trailer, so that I can do the same. Will be a lot of work (though nowhere near what Charlie did with Tehani), and then there is the tow vehicle, the cost of the trip down, keeping the winter open from work, if possible, since I'm not retired yet, etc. The cost will be considerable, and many of the costs of the house will continue to need to be paid.

It does look beautiful there in the Bahamas, and we have you to thank for sharing your experiences with your inspiring Allure to the Abacos  :) thread.   

[Godot]

Personally, I'm not at all worried about making the trip itself. The trip is easy. My boat is certainly capable of it. It will be better off when I finish a few more repairs (33 years accumulates some wear and tear). The girlfriend and my family know that I'll be doing this.

The scary part is financial. I'm not quite ready to pull the plug on a steady income. Getting there. Not there yet. There a just a few debts to finish paying off (getting oh, so close). And a little bit of bank account padding.

And I think I might thru-hike the Appalachian Trail first.

[Jim_ME]

The scary part is financial. I'm not quite ready to pull the plug on a steady income.

Exactly. I do think that it is a real advantage to be retired, so that you have both the freedom to go wherever you want, and the retirement check gets deposited anyway. Also to have enough financial wherewithal to be able to bear the costs comfortably....including the costs of other things that continue even when one is off cruising.

There are of course exceptions, even those SailFarers who live aboard and let go of (or do not accumulate) all that other land stuff that must be paid for in addition to the cruising kitty. I believe that there is an advantage to be younger, so you have had less time to let all this land stuff build up...

I don't necessarily agree (with Dylan) that passion is only a young person's game, but with the responsibilities and clutter that comes from many years on land, one does have to be more wise to keep everything going.

Another songwriter wrote "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose..." When I was younger, I had less to lose, so it was easier to be more free... ;)

[Bubba the Pirate]

Passion is the perfect word for this thread because it is based on a Latin word for suffering. Not exactly what Frank meant, perhaps, but it really is a part of the scenario.  In order to actually cut the docklines, for more than a couple weeks, you must make the trip & your boat more important than anything else in your life. This will involve making sacrifices (suffering) in the workaday world you are trying to leave.

Eight(!) years ago last week, I quit my last career job and bought a boat. My plan was to buy a boat that I could afford because it needed some work, then do the work and sail off.  My blogs from summer 2007 are hilarious; I thought I was going to leave by the fall.  I bought the wrong boat - too much project, not enough boat. However, I was too dumb and too involved to recognize the problem right away. I worked on that boat on and off for almost seven years before I gave up.  I drove a truck, I worked in a hospital & a grocery store, and helped build wind turbine blades trying to find the right combination of part time or full time, money vs. time etc. And I abused the love of my family and friends couch surfing and eventually winding up in Mom & Dad's basement for the last few years; not always exactly comfortable for a fifty year old wannabe vagabond.

I was broke again but wiser and went back on the road, the most lucrative of the jobs for which I was qualified. In less than a year, I found my current boat, Bella - nearly turnkey for sailing off.

Further, because I have whittled my lifestyle to near vagabond status, paid off my bills and built up a cruising kitty, I have a great deal of flexibility. Just as I was ready to start my own trip this summer, I was granted the opportunity to help crew on a major boat delivery from upriver of NYC to Panama. My last day in this iteration as a truckdriver is this Thursday. I will be in New York the first week of April. This trip will be the equivalent of a Masters Degree in Vagabond Cruising. 

Sometimes, passion doesn't show up because its on slow burn. I believe that to sustain a long term slow burn actually requires a lot of passion. I won't try to claim the mantle of passion before I've accomplished anything, but I do know there is passion out here. And we are in debt to Connie, Lynx, CJ, Craig (Faith), and Frank for showing us the way. I can only hope to contribute in some small way to this repository of advice and experience.

Peace and Fair winds,
Todd

PS: I can't wait to post pictures and tales of this adventure.

[Frank]

Yes....money is always an object to consider. That said, Jeff and his girlfriend live aboard their 28ft boat. Jeff plays guitar and sings, she does art work. While they are both doing what they love (a blessing!), neither provides what most would call a substantial income. Yet they save enough by living "simply" during summer to pay for their winters here (4-5mths). They choose to have less to cruise. There are many stories like this. Family, debt, partners, "life"... often gets in the way. It took me 18yrs longer than I hoped. I now wish I had started earlier.

Edit: I wanted to leave in 1984! Had a good, shallow draft 25fter, the "cruising guide south" with 'Walter Cronkite' on the cover (still have it) but that darn "life" thing.....
Left finally in 2002!
Now I see how easy it can be.......

[CharlieJ]

Bubba- hopeful that I can revive "from Tehani, out cruising" very soon.. Hopefuily, starting next month, May at the latest.

Then it'll be your turn  ;)

[Sunset]

First let me say I love following this tread. Seeing what everybody is doing to get to the point of getting out there.
I have had a truck load of set backs on the dream. First I built a house for a friend then turned around down sized and built a small effiecent house for us. But hopefully I am back on track on the construction of our 28 Catketch. Every week I get something done towards the dream goal. I should be able to turn the hull over and start on the inside by the end of April. Last week I got most of the trailer ready to move the hull to our new boat building. This summer we will work towards getting heat in the building so boat work can be done thru the winters.
I am 58 now and need this boat finished when I am 62.
I have the passion that's what keeps me going.

Its really about knocking one thing at a time out of the way till you can throw the dock lines clear!

Scott