Rear View Mirror -Sleep Vacation

*Current lack of sleep as we sprint towards moving aboard prompted me to dig out this draft I wrote last fall.
Oct 2012 Very early this morning on a flight from Atlanta to Jacksonville, I met a couple, similar in age that are headed to St John in the USVI for a week's vacation.  We exchanged a few pleasantries and then they both promptly fell asleep.  Did I mention it was really early?  Really, really early!  We landed and as we waited to deplane, I wished them a good vacation. She thanked me and then said "looking forward to just sleeping."  I acknowledged and we went our separate ways.  I headed north towards s/v Honey Ryder.  However, it got me thinking about vacations and life in 2012.  I think we all look forward to vacation time.  Some vacations are spent action packed whether it's four jam packed days at various theme parks in Orland (personally my idea of hell on earth, but that is just me) while others go skiing, kayaking, hiking, camping, etc.  Some vacations are very event specific like the Annapolis Sailboat Show or the boat shopping whirlwind trips we took 2 1/2 yrs ago....you get the idea.  Yet, I think we have all taking those vacations where we did very little other than sleep.  Sleep in late, at the pool, on the beach,  on the boat (cruise ship), afternoon naps, etc....  So is where we have gotten to as a society?  We now go on holiday to catch up on our sleep?  Are we over extending ourselves to that point?  Are we packing too much into a single day?  Do we really HAVE to or do we just feel like we have to?  And if so, what does that say about the quality of that busy, busy day?  Hum?  Yawn- well off to bed, even though I had a little boat nap late this afternoon.  *Did I mention that it was really really early this morning!

Rear View Mirror - Steps Each Day

July 2012- Last week was really tough for me work wise.  It was all self induced.  While having a "light at the end of the tunnel" has really helped.  It can at times have a negative affect.  Moving towards a simpler life makes the complexities and politics of corporate life frustrating and painful.  There is SO much extra noise....emails, alerts, newsletters, campaigns, reports, spreadsheets, blah blah blah.  And most of it is utter BS thought up by corp people so they can say they are making a difference.  The main priority of customers and sales is pushed to the back and forgotten.  In my opinion, K.I.S.S is still the best strategy for success.
Anyway....because of the tough week, I decided that I needed an attitude change immediately so it wouldn't affect my customers/work.  I decided to do something each day towards our cruising goal.  Even if was a little item.  It could be to start researching health insurance.  Or start re-read Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes (certain parts) again.  Or unsubscribe to all the email alerts I get on a personal bases.  So I started doing that and it really helped my state of mind.  One of the first things I did was draft my corporate See Ya Later email. This is not my official resignation but the email that will go out to everyone saying good-bye.  That was a fun activity/task.
5-1-13 - I am posting this Rear View Mirror as a follow up to The Right Way that I posted the other day.  The above is just another thing we/I did along the way to get us to where we are now. 

Rear View Mirror - The Right Way

2004 after passing ASA 101, 103, 104 - on our way

1-1-13.  Read all the magazines, books, blog and such about cruisers out cruising and they will all tell you the same thing....there is no right way to do it, just do it.  But most then go on to say "but here is how WE recommend you should do it."  I am not going to do that here.  I am just going to tell you how and why we did it the way we did.

2005 s/v Ad Astra -Panama City FL

We decided to go ahead and purchase s/v Honey Ryder well in advance of our castoff year for several reasons.  First, was the feeling that we had outgrown Lake Perry.  I don't say that to sound snobbish or a know it all.  We certainly enjoy ourselves and the sailing community that is there.  But we felt like we were no longer growing our sailing skills to the level necessary for our cruising plans.  We knew we needed experience with tides, currents, navigation, coastal weather, storms, various marinas and such.  On Lake Perry there are no navigation markers, tides, currents, and such.  We also wanted time and more importantly $$ to make the boat our own.  Boats cost money.  Upgrades cost more money.  Unexpected items cost even more $$.  While we are short on time on the boat as commuter cruisers, we do still have income coming in to pay for expected and unexpected items.  Another KEY element is access and exposure to a whole different level of boating/cruising community.  The marine industry experts we have deal with so far have been good and in many cases great.  The knowledge of other cruisers we meet is vast and they are so willing to share whether it's to loan a grinder, or help us tune in our SSB or share their various routes and waypoints.  Knowledge like that just can't be gained by reading still more books, blogs and magazines or sailing around Lake Perry.

2005 s/v Ad Astra -Panama City FL

In the past, Tom kept asking Kansas sailors that have left to sail on bigger water "when do you know you have outgrown the lake?"  Finally I said to him, "you kept asking and I think ultimately that means we have."  He agreed.

2008 soloing s/v Ad Astra out of Rockport TX -expanding our skills

We say it often now.....the time for reading it over.  The time for doing is here.

Rear View Mirror - Freedom

1-6-13

I have been reading some new sailing blogs recently.  These are blogs of cruisers that have just castoff or are about to castoff.  All of these blogs talk about Freedom in one form or fashion.

"I'm free.  I resigned from work today."  OR "I'm free, as today was my last day of work."  OR "We're free from dirt dwelling because we moved aboard today."  And of course "We're free!  We left the dock today."

All this freedom talk got me to thinking more about our specific cruising plan and freedom.  While we are not there yet in terms of the steps above, we have accomplished one very important freedom and perhaps one of the most important freedoms for us.  At the end of 2011, we became completely DEBT FREE.  This is a pretty big freedom and one that basically opens the flood gates to whole new possibilities and freedoms.

How specifically did we do it?  Hard work, good jobs, saving, investing, living well below our means, and no kids.  Raises were put towards our long range plans vs upgrades to a new house, or granite this and stainless that, or new cars, or designer this and that or more... stuff.  We still took vacations, went to concerts, ate out and such but always with a careful eye toward our long range plans.  Our drive to become debt free became our secret status symbol if you will.  Polite society tells us we shouldn't talk about money or brag.  However,  we think this is something worth sharing.  Maybe others will think about following suit.  This doesn't mean you have to cast off to go cruising.  To each their own.      

So, yeah...."We're FREE." 

Rear View Mirror - Reactions to "We're Going Cruising"

2009 aboard s/v Gratitude

3-7-13
It has been very interesting to witness all the various reactions to the news we are going cruising.  Almost 99% go "Wow."  With some people it stops there but with others we can quite literally see the questions and confusion spinning in their head.  Many, many others go on to say "That is wonderful.  We wish you the best" and then ask us questions related to our plans.  Quite a few others simply say "Wow, that is great.  Good for you."  and then go on to change the topic rather immediately to something completely unrelated.  A few people start in telling us all about the dangers they have read or heard about, perhaps hinting that we should rethink our plans.  Interestingly this is usually from fellow sailors but not ones that have cruised.  One suggested "It won't last, you'll be back soon."  And finally, one we discovered had alternatives motives in his suggestions that would ultimately help him and not us so much.  Reactions are reactions, it's just fascinating to observe.

2008 s/v Kalo off Anguilla

And then there is the derma doctor.  When Tom told his dermatologist what we were doing and asked him for any advice or suggestions that we could use in our new life, his derma doc said simply "Don't go.  My advice is don't go, stay home and out of the sun."  OMG!  Really?  I get the dangers of the sun and all but "Don't go" that is his solution?  I realize the sun is dangerous but so is driving to his office.  So the alternative is to cancel our plans for the next phase of life;  all the planning, saving, studying/learning, consolidating we have done...all the excitement of new places/people/music/food....forget all that and continue along the current, normal, prescribed "safe" path of life and all the STRESS that comes with "the norm" and then die an early death from some stress related disease.  No thanks doc. Life IS a risk.  We weigh the options and consequences, pick our path and go, making adjustments as we journey along.  This is life, ultimately no ones gets out alive.  *Three days later I saw my general doc - he was super excited and encouraging.  "Are you finally going?  Haven't you been planning this for a long time?  Where are you going first?" and on and on.
4-9-13
I picked up my business line today and heard "F- Ing AWESOME!  That is just F-Ing Awesome!"  Those are the first words a fellow co-worker said to me.  He was calling to congratulated me on my announcement that I resigned from work and we are setting sail.  It made me giggle.  Still does.  Tons of well wishes poured in from people I work with - so nice.  
Fellow cruisers or those that have been cruising are some of our strongest supporters - thank you so much for the encouragement, suggests and enthusiasm.

Rear View Mirror - Purge

3-16-13

Staging area in the basement

Tom = "Where was all this stuff?"
Me ="Around the house."
Tom - "But WHERE?  How is it possible that ALL this stuff fit somewhere in our house?!"

Donations going to Dress For Success - good cause

We are purging BIG time.  Major, major, major.  The entire basement area has become a staging area:  some for garage sale, some for Dress for Success donation, general donation, and yet to be determined.  It looks like a flea market -UGH!

Business clothes going to Dress For Success

The really scary thing is this isn't the first purge.  I did a BIG purge last year - filling the Murano to the roof - the entire car except where I sit to drive.  We have also given away quite a bit to friends and family....Our policy since  early fall 2012 - no one leaves our house without taking something home with them.  Most friends are completely avoiding us at this point because of our new policy.

Special load of K-State items going to our Wildcat friends

While previous purges have left me feeling terrific (and I sure this one will once it's over), at first I felt a bit overwhelmed - so much to sort through, tabulate, tag, etc...then I felt depressed and sick.....So much stuff and why?  YUCK!  And remember, we have a very small house - less than 1500 sq ft.  Imagine if we had an average size house.  Eeek.
We did discuss at dinner the fact that most of the stuff has been used.  We found very few items that had not been used at all.  Some of this stuff had not been used in a while - like camping gear but it was still very heavily used in the past and we hung onto it in case we decided to go camping again.
But no more!  As Steely Dan says "we're going out of business, everything must go."

How can 2 people have SO many t-shirts!

4-17-13 Update
Garage sale stuff is gone.  Whew!  We continue to purge stuff like crazy.  To date we have missed nothing.  Let me say that again.....NOTHING.  It's just stuff.  I did pull two scarves out of the donation pile a few weeks ago but that was only because of a cold snap and I wanted to wear them again for business.  Both have since been donated.  I also pulled out one metal mixing bowl w/handle to take on s/v Honey Ryder but other than that, we have not missed a thing.  We are storing a few items like photo albums and such but not much.

Closet used to be stuffed with business clothes

 

Rear View Mirror

I have tried to capture various steps as our plan towards living aboard and cruising progressed.  This includes actions, results, challenges, thoughts and emotions at the time of writing.  I did not publish all the postings because we had not made the OFFICIAL announcement of our plans.  Now that we have made that announcement, I am going to publish some of these past blog drafts under the title "Rear View Mirror" for time to time.