Wayfarer
Guru
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2014
- Messages
- 2,228
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- Sylphide
- Vessel Make
- Kingston Aluminum Yacht 44' Custom
Hello all.
For the last twelve years, I've been going bald. As a 34 year old man, it's been less than ideal. At first, I was happy to blame genetics and my mother's side of the family. My late, bald grandfather and I used to bond by busting each others' chops about it. I now realize that it isn't a genetic defect, but a direct result of all of the head scratching I've been doing. For years now, I've been thinking, pondering, daydreaming, thinking, mulling over, and generally tinkering with the idea of buying a boat, and living aboard.
I'm certainly in love with the idea of it. I love boats. I love travelling. I love travelling by boat. The time I've spent travelling has been some of the happiest and healthiest of my life. I've never regretted a single cent that I've spent travelling. There's nothing tying me to my current home, and my job schedule works brilliantly with full time, snowbird style cruising.
I've read everything I can get my hands on, watched every YouTube video I can find. I've spent literally years of my life browsing Yachtworld listings and this forum. I've traveled from Florida to Maine to waste hours of broker's lives asking stupid questions about boats I knew I wouldn't buy. I've been annoying my friends, family, co workers, strangers on the street, and all of you good people with these thoughts for more than a decade.
I've never been able to pull the trigger. Sometimes I'm convinced it's a great idea, and that I'd kick myself for never at least giving it a try. Sometimes, I think it's better that I play it safe, not take any risks, keep my house, and never leave my couch. I'd change my mind on about a weekly basis.
Well, back in January, I made a decision. I was tired of wondering 'what if.' Dammit, I'm going to do it. That day I opened up a new savings account. I worked out how much I'd need to put away each month to end up with 50,000 at the end of five years, and began depositing. I've also started selling unused or un boat-friendly items around the house, like the drums I never learned to play, or the treadmill that I never use. Those proceeds also go into the boat account. Well, wouldn't you know it, the balance is growing. I'm on my way.
As a result of this concrete step in some direction, there's been a bit of a shift in my thinking. As this is now a 'When,' rather than a 'What if' scenario, I've been getting more and more excited about the idea with each passing week. The thought of coming home from work to my very own floating home is enough to brighten my day. The thought of waking up the next morning, knowing that I've got weeks of time off to explore new places, and follow warm weather up and down the coast, makes me wiggle with excitement. Silly little things like running flags up my own halyard sound like fun. Even the risk averse angel on my left shoulder has quieted down. I think even he's excited about the idea. Don't worry, he does still remind me about head maintenance, engine room bilge-yoga, and sanding brightwork when I get too excited.
Another shift in my thinking has been in regards to my current home. The familiarity of my town is really all that it has to offer me these days. Other than inertia, the main reason I've stayed here is to be close to family, but we don't see each other all that much anyway. They all have their own lives, and are busy living them. I need to do the same. Anyway, I plan on coming back to this area in the summer time to visit, and it's not that hard to jump on a flight a few times a year.
I suppose my house has been another force keeping me here. I like my house very much. I've put a lot of love and money into it, and am very pleased with how it's turning out. I've also been a homeowner long enough to know that this is a project that will never, ever be done. I could stay here 30 more years, and would just have to start remodeling the same rooms over again.
So that's it. I've officially passed the point of diminishing returns here. I'm ready to go.
The way I see it, the worst that could happen is after a year or two I decide I hate living aboard. So what? Sell the damned thing! The value wouldn't have gone down all that much, so I should get a sizable portion of my loot back, or at least enough for a big fat down payment on a new dirt house. Fine. I'm no worse off than I was at the start, and at least I can say I tried.
Bless you if you read this far. It's a real wall of text, and to be honest, I'm not even sure why I wrote it. I'm not really asking a question, I guess, just sort of organizing my thoughts.
If you have any feedback or suggestions for a guy in my situation, I'd be happy to hear it. Thanks!
For the last twelve years, I've been going bald. As a 34 year old man, it's been less than ideal. At first, I was happy to blame genetics and my mother's side of the family. My late, bald grandfather and I used to bond by busting each others' chops about it. I now realize that it isn't a genetic defect, but a direct result of all of the head scratching I've been doing. For years now, I've been thinking, pondering, daydreaming, thinking, mulling over, and generally tinkering with the idea of buying a boat, and living aboard.
I'm certainly in love with the idea of it. I love boats. I love travelling. I love travelling by boat. The time I've spent travelling has been some of the happiest and healthiest of my life. I've never regretted a single cent that I've spent travelling. There's nothing tying me to my current home, and my job schedule works brilliantly with full time, snowbird style cruising.
I've read everything I can get my hands on, watched every YouTube video I can find. I've spent literally years of my life browsing Yachtworld listings and this forum. I've traveled from Florida to Maine to waste hours of broker's lives asking stupid questions about boats I knew I wouldn't buy. I've been annoying my friends, family, co workers, strangers on the street, and all of you good people with these thoughts for more than a decade.
I've never been able to pull the trigger. Sometimes I'm convinced it's a great idea, and that I'd kick myself for never at least giving it a try. Sometimes, I think it's better that I play it safe, not take any risks, keep my house, and never leave my couch. I'd change my mind on about a weekly basis.
Well, back in January, I made a decision. I was tired of wondering 'what if.' Dammit, I'm going to do it. That day I opened up a new savings account. I worked out how much I'd need to put away each month to end up with 50,000 at the end of five years, and began depositing. I've also started selling unused or un boat-friendly items around the house, like the drums I never learned to play, or the treadmill that I never use. Those proceeds also go into the boat account. Well, wouldn't you know it, the balance is growing. I'm on my way.
As a result of this concrete step in some direction, there's been a bit of a shift in my thinking. As this is now a 'When,' rather than a 'What if' scenario, I've been getting more and more excited about the idea with each passing week. The thought of coming home from work to my very own floating home is enough to brighten my day. The thought of waking up the next morning, knowing that I've got weeks of time off to explore new places, and follow warm weather up and down the coast, makes me wiggle with excitement. Silly little things like running flags up my own halyard sound like fun. Even the risk averse angel on my left shoulder has quieted down. I think even he's excited about the idea. Don't worry, he does still remind me about head maintenance, engine room bilge-yoga, and sanding brightwork when I get too excited.
Another shift in my thinking has been in regards to my current home. The familiarity of my town is really all that it has to offer me these days. Other than inertia, the main reason I've stayed here is to be close to family, but we don't see each other all that much anyway. They all have their own lives, and are busy living them. I need to do the same. Anyway, I plan on coming back to this area in the summer time to visit, and it's not that hard to jump on a flight a few times a year.
I suppose my house has been another force keeping me here. I like my house very much. I've put a lot of love and money into it, and am very pleased with how it's turning out. I've also been a homeowner long enough to know that this is a project that will never, ever be done. I could stay here 30 more years, and would just have to start remodeling the same rooms over again.
So that's it. I've officially passed the point of diminishing returns here. I'm ready to go.
The way I see it, the worst that could happen is after a year or two I decide I hate living aboard. So what? Sell the damned thing! The value wouldn't have gone down all that much, so I should get a sizable portion of my loot back, or at least enough for a big fat down payment on a new dirt house. Fine. I'm no worse off than I was at the start, and at least I can say I tried.
Bless you if you read this far. It's a real wall of text, and to be honest, I'm not even sure why I wrote it. I'm not really asking a question, I guess, just sort of organizing my thoughts.
If you have any feedback or suggestions for a guy in my situation, I'd be happy to hear it. Thanks!