The Full Monty

[haiqu]

Not for long. He's going to Bali for a week on the 20th and if his remaining stuff isn't gone when I get back to the yard I'll just remove it and leave it on the deck of his yacht.

Meanwhile, Montys have just posted a notice in the ablutions block stating that anyone emptying Porta-Pottis in the toilets will be evicted. This is pretty unreasonable when my yacht is 250 metres from said facilities, so a written complaint has been made to the management.

In other news, the federal government has confirmed in February that vaping is still illegal despite 90% of civilised countries accepting it as a valid means of quitting cigarettes. I should note that even possessing a vaping device is illegal in WA, and that possessing nicotine for vaping carries a $9000+ fine in Qld.

I'd already be living overseas in an actually free country, except that if I leave before claiming the pension I won't be able to claim outside Australia for two years.

[Oldsquizzy]

Shows some people should not let us old farts wait to long for an answer to some questions...Whilst waiting for three different marine electronics dealers to get back to me on a price for new Autohelm/Autopilot I pulled the old Nautech 3000 off the boat and stripped and tested it, The outer tracks on the circuit boards copper had deteriated and become non conductive. Used a track pen and tested system and it now works again. This time have covered tracks with sealant and new O'ring on body of unit.
Dont need a new one now. Who said easter holidays are a waste of time. Grin.

[haiqu]

About 12 months ago I mentioned starting a business, then dropped the subject. I had done a startup challenge and, like most of these things, found it distinctly lacking in content and more about attitude, which can only get you so far.

While I was doing that, however, I did come across an opportunity in a totally disrelated field to the business I was intending to start, and have been pursuing it constantly since March 2016. I'm happy to report that my small investment is now up 75% on the money I put it, and although it could be immediately cashed out it's doing so well that I've decided to "let it ride" and see how far that goes.

I'm predicting a million dollar return within 5 to 7 years.

[Oldsquizzy]

Are you back at the boat or at brothers still?

[haiqu]

Been back at Montys for a couple of weeks now. Pissing rain and it has turned to mud here. I'll be able to laugh about it in a couple of years when I have enough cash to afford a house.

[Oldsquizzy]

How is Montys? Dried out a bit. Just work here at the moment, Very little time for play. Just making a solid hardtop instead of wooden roof and canvas sides.

[haiqu]

Spending a lot of time inside the yacht at the computer. My little investment has gone from 75% profit to 200% since May 8th, and I've been bold enough to buy a couple of new servers to continue with my cunning plan to make a million bucks. Dropping another $16k into the pot wasn't part of the plan at all but it seems to be a sure thing at this point.

My co-tenant in the 20' container has now cleared most of his stuff out and only uses it a couple of times a day to prepare meals, so I'll be setting up the new hardware in there. With what they're charging me Montys can hardly complain about electricity usage, and at least I'm not running grinders and paint stripping guns all day.

[redbopeep]

Best of luck with your boat projects and getting out there on the water. Having done the startup thing several times I'm well aware it can suck up loads of time away from other things. Take care and balance, we only live once.

[haiqu]

Yep, life is short ... but it's wide.

Have found a 2BR house with 1/7 share of 1200 acres of rain forest, 250km north of Sydney for AU$130,000 and am very tempted to swallow the anchor at this stage. My money making venture is going so well that I need to concentrate on that, which is naturally detrimental to any thought of yacht repairs.

The house appears shabby at first glance but inside it's gorgeous. Electricity, phone and satellite NBN internet are already on, and it's eligible for VAST satellite TV as well. Downside is that it's 30 minutes' drive to the nearest town but that's no real inconvenience after living aboard for 5 years.

So, it looks like the ferros are both going. Once I make a few more bucks a catamaran is definitely on the cards, and this will make a nice, safe and remote place to leave my belongings whilst traveling.

[steve_h]

Looks very nice. Hope it all works out

[haiqu]

A really nice Hartley Sparkle trimaran just came up on Gumtree for only $4,750.00

I was sorely tempted, but no.

[haiqu]

Originally Posted by steve_h

Looks very nice. Hope it all works out

Thanks. I can't go and look at it for a couple of weeks, sure hope it doesn't sell meanwhile.

[haiqu]

I've seen the house, agreed to a price and submitted a deposit. Then when I goit back to Brisbane was informed that the co-op had rejected my application. On further enquiry the reason given was that I was "too keen to move in immediately." With logic like that the vendor will never sell the place, so he's taking them to court.

Fscking dramas.

[Oldsquizzy]

It may have been just not meant to be. I believe things happen for a reason. Anyway how have you been?

[haiqu]

If things happen for a reason then I'd say the universe thinks I'm an 455h0L3.

How have I been? Sad and homeless mostly. I'm heading back down to Taree by public transport to collect my truck today.

[Oldsquizzy]

Why did you leave your truck there. I found life was like the sea. When you fight against it, It gets rough- slaps you down. Go with it and it mellows out. I just remember a few years ago when you were living on yacht and bopping along week to week you seemed a lot happier. Maybe a few months labour on the old girl on the hard..An old perkind diesel and sails that will stabilize in a bit of a blow. A good furler that will give a bit of a pull along when wind is good and do some coastal cruising.
Not having to spend a lot of money and just use engine when could not be bothered with sails..Beauty of Hartleys...Motor sailers most of them.... You own the boat your on the hard and you have the container to work out of...Many many good second hand diesels on gumtree....A tad of work.

[haiqu]

According to co-op rules they had to give two weeks' notice of a formal meeting to decide on admission of a new member. The seller told me that no-one had ever been turned down, and that acceptance to the co-op was a formality. Unfortunately there was a lot of old animosity against him personally and they decided to make his life difficult ... and mine too.

Squizzy, I get it. But this isn't a yacht I can sail the world in. I've already sat in one place for 5 years and the Tasman isn't worth investing more money in. There are only two choices: get a better boat, or move back onto land. The decision is obvious at my age, and with the amount of stuff I need to store.

[haiqu]

So, I just spent a month away from Montys. After the co-op fiasco I just hung around my brother's place a couple of weeks, read lots of adventure novels (my sister-in-law has a shelf full of Clive Cussler books), watched TV and ate and bathed regularly for a change.

Been back at the boatyard since Wednesday, nothing much has changed here. I'm still looking for an affordable house, trying to make more money and barely tolerating the conditions. I think deserve better than this place.

Found an old friend who I haven't seen for over 40 years on Facebook, he's coming through Brisbane on the way back from the UK to NZ soon. He lives on a Beneteau in the far north at Kawau Island these days. Strange how we both ended up doing similar things. I'm hoping to have lunch with him soon.

[haiqu]

My traveling friend still hasn't been in touch and I'm of the opinion that he has bypassed the lunch on offer. It's getting warmer here and despite being only mid-August I fear that things will become uncomfortable again soon enough.

In the main I'm grumbling along fairly well though. My friend Sean brings me a few DVDs from home each week when he returns from his weekends away, and that has broken up weeks that would otherwise have been dull.

The business venture has been variable of late. In fact I'd probably venture to say that stagnant is a better description there. I do have a programming project to do though, so life is becoming busy again. So much for retirement, eh.

[Oldsquizzy]

We have been having a spate of lows going through here. Seas have been a bit lumpy for a while now. Just doing the daily piddling and poddling to keep things up to par.