Am I A Fool?

CodStewart

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I'm nearly 37 years old. No children. I have a fully paid for small flat in South Africa, albeit it is still only worth around 40,000 quid. Small beans compared to the British real estate market. I will have around 30,000 dollars in savings by this time next year. I should be inheriting some money, not much, soon. It would be sooner, but an evil and very much estranged half-sister, who didn't even contact the giftee for over 20 years, is now contesting the will. I am sure she will lose but it's still an acidic burn in my side to think that this low-life surfaced after being so invisible for decades. How I loathe greed.
What I am asking is this.
Would you give up your job(I'm a loser English teacher in Japan) and try to buy a boat, not expensive mind, and well, just float off, not the Med, mind, for whatever many years. I mean, the books I have been reading of late, the old tomes of Henry Pidgeon, Moitessier, Jack London, well, those folks seem to have been of an age where stuff was done on the very cheap and with not much concern for what lay ahead in the future.
Have we all become enslaved to the idea of providing for ourselves even though we cannot be sure of our lifespan? Is the fact that most folks in our privileged societies, unless stinking rich, would otherwise feel really worried, like myself, about giving up stability for ummm, well, for, ummm, well, is this the reason why I am writing this post.
I'm not penniless but I am not rich like most folks with their houses in the West.
I'm in Italy at the moment, on a kind of vacation. I feel like a fish out of water, being so far from the peace and respect that the Far East has given me for over 13 years. Coming to Italy has made me even more determined to take a risk with my age and my somewhat miniscule savings. There is more to life than wide-berth sunglasses and a strutt. More to life than the comfort of knowing that you will get a good pension.
Or is there?
Can I do this?
I hope so. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 

Phoenix of Hamble

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Well... firstly, this should be on the Liveaboard forum...

Secondly.... of course you should bloody well do it!....

6 weeks ago, we lost a good friend unexpectedly at the age of 37, and we have made a conscious decision to spend, enjoy and be damned..... life is too short...

I know they are cliches... but you can't take it with you, and your biggest regrets will be what you didn't do.....
 

CodStewart

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Na! Skuttleboat is where the action is and where the wise ones reside like Stingo and Pam Ayres.

But that aside, you hit the nail with the hammer.
Thanks!
 

Phoenix of Hamble

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Good......!

The most abhorent thing I can imagine is saving all my life towards my retirement dream and then not being healthy enough to live that dream.... thats even worse than the poor sods who drop dead 5 days after their retirement.....

Nope.... I'm going to enjoy it for today......
 

Lakesailor

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Is a boat what you want? By all means look for something new and different, but you don't seem happy with anything at the moment. Perhaps find a bit of contentment before spending the rest of your money.
I say this because we recently had some guests who did just what you're suggesting and regretted it, and lost the value of their boat (wrong choice) and had bought a smaller house that thet are also stuck with.
Wrong decisions maybe, but that's where they find themselves.
 

wishbone

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Yep Your right. we sold our big luxury house we built ourselves, we are now renting and next month when all the loose ends are sorted we are changing our lifestlye as much as possible, I lost my best and only friend to cancer a couple of years ago age 55....if you answer to nobody then go for it.......I can here my grandad telling me in his broad cockney accent......."listen boy go out and see the world have a life dont get tied down" he had 7 daughters & 1 son when my grandmother left us I was 5 she went back to south wales UK! his life and my mums was mapped out as she was the oldest for the rest of his days, he left this earth at age of 85 after not doing very much apart from doing a great job of brigging us up in a two up two down in East London! he lived in the same house all that time....it's now gone the whole area was bulldozed over years ago....
 

CodStewart

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Oh, but I am happy. Very happy. I could stay in my job in Japan for endless years because I get so much vacation time. I've travelled a beautiful life up to now but I also have this urge to sail. I have my own boat in Japan but at 21ft, it's not big enough for liveaboard.
I just wonder how many would give up what I have and take this chance. This forum is full of wise souls. In fact, of all forums on the web, it is the sailing sites where one finds humor, intelligence and verve. This is why I ask such a question here.
I am not wishing to try living on a boat for the want of something to do or for the fact that I might be bored with life. More so, I want to get as much out of life as is possible. However, I wonder if I am being irresponsible with my limited finance and lack of any real skill, should I return to the working world.
Ja ne and thank you all for your comments.
 
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Maria

Bla, bla, bla. How many times have I heard this sob story from you? How many encouraging emails have I sent you in tha past year? How many times have we chatted on MSM and you've agreed you can do it? And here you are again....

You haven't got the guts to give up the life you have. Now prove me wrong and put you money where your mouth is, buy the boat and go live the dream. Some day our wakes may cross and you will thank me.

John
 

Lakesailor

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[ QUOTE ]
Oh, but I am happy. Very happy. I have my own boat in Japan but at 21ft, it's not big enough for liveaboard.


[/ QUOTE ]
That answers the questions I asked, but then I read Stingo's post and in view of that I stand by what I said.
 

Peppermint

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Re: If your sure.

You see while there is indeed more to life than career & marriage & property & wealth & giving a toss where you are in the cosmic plan, there's more to life than sailing too.

If you've got the travel bug "he travels furthest who travels lightest". If on the otherhand you are a keen sailor crossed with a tortoise, carrying your home on your back, well the cruising life could be for you.

You put your finger on the problem when you say true adventurers have " not much concern for what lay's ahead". To be honest whether you stay or go, sail or pogostick, not having much concern for the future is probably the secret. Not many people get to that blissful state though.

Remember, to give up the convention of one place or to escape it's encumbrances usually is just a swap.

I hope you can do it.
 

longjohnsadler

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There is much to be said for shaking your life up once in a while, though whether this is the right path only you (or time) can tell. The forum will give you lots of answers and none, effectively.
The blog shows you have a good turn of phrase and quirky viewpoint. Maybe you could use this to more effect too.
 

jenku

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Why don't you do both? Keep the flat or house or whatever you have, rent i out and sail and live on the boat you already have for as long as you want. If it's not an open boat of course. But if it has a cabin? It's three foot longer than Shrimpy and he lived on that boat for eight years! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 

CodStewart

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This is why I like this forum. Good answers. Good prompts. Straight to the point. No hedging around the issue.
Advice gratefully received and chewed upon.
I suppose my question was rhetoric and I had been drinking Italian sweet wine all afternoon when I wrote it.
It's just that making this decision requires some thought and bashing around in my head, and I apologise for being somewhat repetitive.
I'm going to do it.
End of story.
 

FullCircle

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/////////////////////

I'm going to do it.
End of story.

///////////////////


More rather beginning of story methinks.

Jim
 

Sailfree

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I see you have discussed this for a long period of time yet haven't done it yet. I think you have to ask yourself what gives you pleasure and make you happy and I assume you have to ask your partner that as well. Its easy to sail off if 1. It is living your dream and important to you or 2. You are unhappy and anything else would be better.

I thought about it and did an extended sail last year and discovered I loved the good days and arriving at a strange port. I also enjoyed living on the boat at anchor (while in the solent/south coast/france it was mostly marina hopping) but decided I did not want to spend weeks at sea. I now hope to change my life round to sailing south for say 4 to 6 months of the winter and work for the summer while also dinghy racing. That is the current plan but 2006 will probably be another.

Crossing to the carribean is still there on the wish list but only one way now.

What is right for one is not right for all or we would all be livaboards. Different folks different strokes. A good way to focus the mind is to assume either you only have 3 years to live or you win the lottery so you have complete financial independance. Now what would you choose to do?
 

graham

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Re: Go for it.

but before you blow all your wealth on a boat could you handle crewing for someone for a year to help you know what you want/need?

Dont sit around if unhappy and you have no ties then go for it ,
 

DeeGee

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Read your blog... where do you find time to do all the living you do???

You seem to be having a great life already, why swap just now for maybe's ? I take it Bruno comes too ?
 
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