My Ship Came In

[mike37909]

Since my early 20s I have wanted to cruise. I am now 36 with a wife and 2 daughters 9 and 1/12. I am an engineer with a small high tech company and my wife is a nurse. We bought a lot on a lake for cheap and built a house. My wifes brother built it for us and when it was done we had 70000 in equity. We were the 3rd house in the subdivision. It is now full of giant houses. When the lot next door sold for 150000 I decided to get my house appraised. I now have 250000 in equity.

I plan on selling and buying a smaller home not on the lake. I will be able to pay cash for the new home. I will be without payments of any kind other than utilities, food etc. No car payments or mortgages or CC debt.

I am an experienced racer with limited cruising experience. I have a Mega 30 that has a new cruising interior. If you remember the boat it has a 2250 lb lift keel. Good for skinny water. I could sell the mega and get a cruising boat.

I should be able to consult for my company if I want to stop working full time.

I am excited for my family's future which suddenly looks bright but also uncertain what to do. Comments welcome.

[Lighthouse]

Of course the final decision will always be YOURS! There is consideration for your and your family's extended future.

Besides that, if it were me, I know what I would do - buy an affordable boat and go! Live life as you want to, while you can.

But, consider your optoins carefully.

[mike37909]

Originally Posted by Lighthouse

Of course the final decision will always be YOURS! There is consideration for your and your family's extended future.

Besides that, if it were me, I know what I would do - buy an affordable boat and go! Live life as you want to, while you can.

But, consider your optoins carefully.

I hear that!

[JeanneP]

Have you read the book "Die Broke: A Radical, Four-Part Financial Plan" by Stephen Pollan and Mark Levine? Lots of good advice in there, and a philosophy dear to our heart.

You are in an excellent position to go cruising. No debt is, IMO, the key to a comfortable lifestyle. Because you are young, the second key is good investments - with two children to put through college well in the future, you need more dedicated planning than if your children were grown and on their own. However, there are lots of talented people out there who can help you make realistic plans for your, and your family's, financial future. Get the advice, develop a workable investment and financial management strategy, and then GO FOR IT!

If it were me, I'd plan for a bigger/better boat, put the money away for it, then not buy it until you were sure you really, really wanted this lifestyle and needed it.

We were 42 and 48 when we went cruising and have never regretted it. Any of it.

Fair winds,

Jeanne

[mike37909]

I haven't read that book but it sounds like something I would enjoy! If I keep the mega it will be for short cruises in the bahamas. I need to charter a boat and see if we love it as much as I think we will. Since I have the young kids I will keep a home on shore and keep my job. I just have to talk my boss into letting me off for the whole summer. Are you cruising now? If so where?

Mike

[imagine2frolic]

I was broke, and going through a divorce at 42. I always thought I wanted to go cruising having chartered a couple of times in the Bahamas with friends. I took what little I had, and left S.F. for Mexico. Best decision I ever made. It gave me a taste of what it was all about, and some real experience doing it single-handed on a 30 ft Columbia.

I was gone for 5 months, and left the boat In Puerto Vallarta. Going down on long weekends, and enjoying myself. Finally I brought Frolic back to S.F., and set new priorities in life. We have all seen so many times the people that talk about leaving, and never go anywhere. We have all seen someone who later in life looks back, and his account is full of regrets.

A friend asked me if I am ever afraid, and I told them YES in no uncertain terms. More than my sometimes tense moments at sea what scares the heck out me most is this. Is to die with a full bank account, and a life full of regrets. To put it off, and put it off, and then you get sick is another fear.

I went back to work after Frolic was returned to S.F. Within 8 years after starting over I sold my new business. Paid cash for my cat. Paid cash for my home, Took 4 mores years off to explore Florida, and everything in between from St. Maarten. I have been back to work now for a year, and in several more years I will once again leave, but this time for good.

Do a couple of 2-3 week charters. Get the feel for it. If it is what make you passionate about living. Your spouse loves it too, and the kids love it. Then it's time to go, and write a new chapter in your life. You can always go back to work, but you can't always get your health back, and waking up one day with a life full of regrets is no way to live....LIVE YOUR DREAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!! don't dream your life away!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JeanneP]

We are "semi-retired" from cruising! Various circumstances led to our buying the family house in NJ, which is the family holiday sanctuary and a summer home for Peter and me. We sold the sailboat and have the power catamaran. This winter, after the holidays, we'll cruise Florida again, and when there's a weather window we'll head for the Bahamas. We spend about 8 or 9 months on the boat, the rest on land. I don't see us spending more time on land - in fact, we might spend more time on the boat for the next few years. In the meantime, we are having lots of changes made in the house in anticipation of our dotage years.

[MMNETSEA]

Originally Posted by mike37909

I am an experienced racer with limited cruising experience. I have a Mega 30 that has a new cruising interior. If you remember the boat it has a 2250 lb lift keel. Good for skinny water. I could sell the mega and get a cruising boat.

Comments welcome.

Hi Mike and Family,

Welcome to our cruising fraternity - your background will certainly stand you in good stead.

Is this yacht familiar :-



Could you get it to Memphis from where you are by waterway. Memphis is where I started my very first encounter with cruising . As an ignorant crew member on a small 29 ft yacht on its way to the Windward Islands - I got off before it reached salt water !

Is this place familiar :-



Hard to tell what is going to happen with the housing market in the US - with the "Sub-Prime" Loan Scandals. May not affect your area in the country side - hope not.

All the best..

Richard

[mike37909]

[QUOTE=name='MMNETSEA' date='Nov 17 2007, 08:35 PM' post='15024']

Hi Mike and Family,

Welcome to our cruising fraternity - your background will certainly stand you in good stead.

Is this yacht familiar :-

Attachment 249

Could you get it to Memphis from where you are by waterway. Memphis is where I started my very first encounter with cruising . As an ignorant crew member on a small 29 ft yacht on its way to the Windward Islands - I got off before it reached salt water !

Is this place familiar :-

Attachment 250

Hard to tell what is going to happen with the housing market in the US - with the "Sub-Prime" Loan Scandals. May not affect your area in the country side - hope not.

All the best..

Richard

Thanks all for the advice! Richard that is a picture of my boat sailing on Watts Bar. I can take my boat down the tombigbee to the ocean but I also have an aluminum trailer for it. No truck for towing it though. You nailed my identity so who are you? Can you send PM's on this? I dont think the market is affected here- the average homes around here never appreciated during the bubble.

Mike

[mike37909]

Imagine2frolic-

Your words are very inspiring, and reflect the way I have felt for years. I am way too restless to stay in the same town my whole life. The regrets would be too much for me. You might think this sounds funny but if you had a huge cage full of rats and they all stayed exactly where you put them in the cage and never explored that is like people who never leave their county. Now if there was a rat that went everywhere and explored his whole world you would study that one and find out what was different about that individual.

I need to do a charter and make sure my family enjoys it no matter what. No fighting- I will bite my tongue off if I have to. I already told my wife she would experience a new kind of love from a man who is not torn up inside from living the american way.