Well honestly, you have to do something with your life - 3 Aug 19

17º 35.117s 149º 36.935w

Sat Aug 03 2019

Isabel and I worked until we had accumulated enough financial resources that we didn’t need to do that anymore. For years she tracked our expenditures and expenses using Quicken software so we would know exactly how we spent our money, and could budget for big expenses like replacing cars, painting the house, or a really good holiday abroad. Boy did we have some great vacations! My boss used to comment that nobody else in the office took off for 4 – 7 weeks straight. He thought it was strange, but hey, it takes a bit of time to poke around Australia, New Zealand, Thailand or Vietnam!

Then the purpose of our lives seemed to be to work, consume, plan, save, and think about what we’d rather do. We tried to do some good in the community too. Isabel got involved in community gardening and became a certified permaculturist. I joined Valley Big Brothers and spent 10 years with a little kid from the ages of 8 to 18. He’s in his 30’s now, a good father and husband, winning bread for his family and thinking about life beyond work.

It seems that some people can’t imagine anything past going to work. Perhaps they love their job, maybe it’s the routine or the social aspect of mixing with their coworkers. Some of them know there’s no way they could be with their spouse all day, and perhaps their spouse has made that very clear to them. They make comments like “there’s nothing I’d rather do” or “my spouse is a spender” or in the USA “I have to work until I’m 70 because my younger spouse isn’t yet qualified for medicare”.

One thing is for sure. Human bodies, no matter how healthy in youth, tend to malfunction as they age. Friends of mine started dying in their 20’s, the odd skydiving or automobile accident, but then cancer became the killer of friends in their 30’s and beyond. Odd auto immune diseases appeared that robbed them of the use of one or more limbs. One friend from my old days at General Motors Proving Ground, a fellow about my age, contracted ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. I saw him for the last time in June 2018, trapped in a wheel chair, barely able to speak or move his limbs, just waiting to die. As my grandpa used to say, “the only way out of this mess is feet first”. His wife was exhausted from caring for him, and as awful as it sounds, probably hoping he would die soon so she could rest and try to enjoy what remained of her own life.

We’ve gotten to know a couple on a sailboat we’ve shared a number of anchorages with, and while recently in Marina Papeete I proposed to them that we go drink some craft beer at the local craft brewery. Darned if they don’t turn out a respectable IPA. Both Isabel and his wife bowed out, but dad and daughter, she on summer holiday from medical school, enthusiastically supported the notion so off we went.

They’re Danish, but because of his various CEO roles they’ve lived in the US and the UK along with Denmark. The conversation between the 3 of us involved life experiences, conscious choices, and why we are out here living on sailboats rather than wandering about in an RV or just living where we always did while we were working.

I left full time working life at the peak of my earning potential, but the money pile was high enough and a small pension was mine for the taking, although there was no retiree health care plan included. OK, we’ll budget about $1000/month for a good plan and expect the cost increases to be higher than inflation.

He made a similar decision at a similar point in his life, albeit with a much larger pile and a financially richer lifestyle. Doesn’t matter, out here we’re just a couple of guys with our wives, enjoying the cruising lifestyle and making new friends. Staying at home didn’t appeal, perhaps because we lacked a strong sense of community, or perhaps we just felt a yearning to “get out there and do it” while we could. Similarly, RV life wasn’t on the table as an alternative to cruising as it didn’t offer the sense of adventure and cultural experiences we find here. My old friend Dino Cerchie might disagree; he and wife Pam are an exception to the typical of RV folks. They bought a thing called an “Earth Roamer” and they don’t waste much time on pavement or in RV parks, and wow are they seeing some great scenery.

We’re out here almost always underway or living on the hook. When the weather gets ugly it’s up to us to avoid becoming a statistic. Several cruising boats have been lost in the South Pacific this year, almost all of them running onto a reef through human error, loss of steering or propulsion, failure of a “mandatory” mooring in some locales, or anchors dragging. Several months ago a boat near the equator got into some heavy weather and lost its keel, another one lost its rig during the same weather event. This is an unforgiving environment, and if we don’t keep our wits about us, stay sharp and paying close attention to the terrain and weather, and develop alternative routing to minimize risk we might be next on the list. If we don’t keep our boats in excellent condition they may be reading about us next. Mother Nature is a bitch, and Murphy is a complete asshole.

We’re out here for the richness this lifestyle offers, but also because we need to live a little more on the edge. Life in the dirt house just wasn’t doing it for us, so while we’ve got the physical and mental vitality to enjoy this adventure, here we are.

Last Summer I drove about the Western United States, visiting several of the brightest young people I had worked with at the giant aerospace company. They’re all building their careers, mostly young couples raising children, and it was wonderful to see how well they were all doing. In every case, I pounded on them to pay close attention to the development of their financial resources as much as their working careers, as at some point later in life that attention equates to freedom and the opportunity to make more interesting choices.

Our first plan was to make our little pile, sell our crap, bail out of working life and get moved onto the boat. Check. Next to get competent with the boat in the less risky environment of Mexico. Check. Next to make a big passage and explore a much more challenging part of the world. We’re doing it! Future plans are in flux, only because we have so many available choices. As my friend Spencer Spiker would say, “it’s a high class problem to have”.

What’s YOUR plan?