Do you have the time to use the boat? - Page 3

Crusty Chief · 12-16-2017, 11:40 AM

A little over 200 days a year last 2 years and still not enuff.
Next year not so many, but after that if all goes well, we can get back to 200+ days.
Just enjoy what time you can and live life to the fullest.

Cheers

Gbinterim · 12-16-2017, 11:41 AM

Both my wife and I are retired teachers. During the summers we would be on the boat from June to the middle of August. We did this for 18 years in British Columbia as the kids were growing up, for the last 15 years our time has expanded from April to the end of August as we spend this time in Southeast Alaska.

**koliver** · 12-16-2017, 01:12 PM

Dave

Similar things happen to us all. We have owned this boat since 1994, so have a comfortable rapport with her. She calls out for certain things from time to time, but they are all manageable.
Life, OTOH calls out unexpectedly for things that interfere with boating, so discipline is required, to tame the unexpected interruptions.
Your wife hasn't retired, she has simply changed jobs. She will get settled in her new job to the point that she can't break off for any extended time away on the boat, and you will justify it by claiming to be too busy at work to go. Discipline!
In our case it was she who retired first. The first 4 years of her retirement were like your wife's, as she took on caring for her Dad, taking the load off of him by visiting her Mom in a care home several days a week. To her credit she was able to be strong and convince her Dad that it was better for her to get away to recharge and be a better care-giver on her return, so our time did not suffer.
On my retirement, our time on the boat didn't increase, it may have decreased. In about that time, we bought a Motorhome and strove to become snowbirds, spending winters in the warm South, our Grandchildren started to arrive, living in Europe, so we have to go there regularly, and our elderly parents died. So now we boat occasional weekends, a regular 4 (-+) weeks, and use the boat as a base when the grandkids visit. Takes getting used to, and discipline.
Good luck, my friend.

SoWhat · 12-16-2017, 03:08 PM

I retired at 62. financially OK but bored, so I did a lot of pro bono work for the next 10 years. Ended up working more than I did before retiring (but enjoying it a hundred times more) but I did block off summers. This allowed us to take month long cruises along with plenty of day trips and weekends.

Plan the same routine until the knees give out. Work is work and retirement is retirement and it is difficult to keep one foot in each. I'm happy to have both feet in the retirement world.

Northern Spy · 12-16-2017, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhays

Do you get the time to use the boat?

No. No, I don't.

Maybe next year...

twistedtree · 12-16-2017, 04:39 PM

We get just about the right amount of time on the boat, at least for us, which is about 6 mo out of the year, broken up in to chunks of anywhere from 1 to 4 months at a time. And of course it's only possible because we are retired. When I was working and we had kids at home, or mostly at home, finding time for anything was always a struggle. We had a small runabout that we used for maybe a month a year in the summers, but that was it. There is no way we could have owned a bigger boat. It would have been all work and no play, and just another thing tugging on our limited time. For me, retirement has been about having time to do all those other things that I couldn't do while working. It's a great thing.

nodestination · 12-17-2017, 11:32 AM

No. I live in it.

BandB · 12-17-2017, 01:03 PM

There are never enough hours, never enough days, never enough years....but, realistically the enjoyment and fulfillment of life is about priorities.

From birth to two days before my 30th birthday my life was all about work. It was school, it was job, it was total commitment. Yes, as a kid I spent time on the water but it was work and lake when I could and nothing else. I excelled at work. It was the one part of life I was good at. Not social life. No girlfriend or wife. I worked six and seven days a week often and many 12-14 hour days. I didn't allow those who worked for me to do that but I did.

Then one foggy Christmas eve.....no

Then one fall winter eve, I met someone who turned my world inside out, upside down, and completely around. From that day forward, work was not my number one priority, enjoying life with her was. I changed from a depressed sullen businessman to the happiest man on earth. Became more productive too.

I'm retired now, but will tell anyone to not wait for retirement to enjoy life. You don't know when it will come. If you have kids spend time with them. Spend time with your spouse. Spend time doing those things you enjoy most.

Whether you call it the Protestant Work Ethic or the American Way or a Performance Oriented Society, it's wrong and misguided. Families in the US spend less time together than any other western country. People in the US work hours that are illegal in France. We're not more productive, we just work more. Our divorce rates certainly reflect it. Even more the children who don't really know one of their parents even though the parents are together. I've never heard a parent look back and say they regret spending so much time with their kids, but the majority today regret not having more time with their kids.

Boating is a great family activity. Shouldn't just be for retirement. Start young enough and your kids will want to be doing it with you. Instead of running off doing other things with their friends, they'll be bringing friends to join you on the boat.

The very day we realized we could retire, we both submitted our resignation notices. Retirement isn't boating or any other specific activity, it's the freedom to do what you want. We did less boating this year than the last four because we got involved with hurricane recoveries. I don't regret one moment we chose that over boating.

After meeting the smart one of the family, I turned down job opportunities I probably would not have before. Not because she wanted to say no, but because I did. I was happy with my life and wasn't going to risk that for money or prestige.

In my dream world, people don't work more than 40 hours a week. In our business, it's against policy to ever exceed 45 without ownership approval and the only time we've approved it was the two weeks after Irma. No one should get less than two weeks vacation and 8-10 holidays a year and those with years of service or experience should get far more. In most of the rest of the western world 5-6 weeks is normal. The worst fear of European companies is being acquired by a US company. Why? Lack of respect for personal time. Anyone over 40 years old should be getting at least 4 weeks a year vacation, in my opinion. But then we must have the huge houses and the two fancy cars and all the rest it seems. We have larger homes and more square footage per person, around double that of all the rest of the world, except for Australia.

If your life balance isn't what you wish it was, than all I can say is "Change It."

Enough time on the boat? We don't have enough hours in the day, enough days in the year, for all we'd like to do in life. We enjoy life too much. But reasonably we have enough time on the water and when we still worked we did. In the summer, we'd get out on the water two to three afternoons a week. What allowed that? I left the office at 5:00 PM. We took our vacations on the water and every year at that time of salary increases, I never asked for more salary than offered, but often for more vacation. More, I actually took my vacation time and did so as scheduled so it was when she was off too. We averaged 80+ days a year where we spent the day or most of it on the water and 40+ days a year where we got out in the afternoon for a couple of hours. Now we average 280 days a year.

The real question isn't do you spend enough time boating but do you spend enough leisure time with those you love, family and friends, and enough time doing the things you love to do.

That time will never come unless you're proactive in making it happen.

psneeld · 12-17-2017, 02:04 PM

Some jobs combine pleasure, satisfaction, challenge, etc...etc....

Hard to give up if they still give you time to relax and spend time with friends and family.

Especially if the job offers challenges not likely to be matched as a retiree.

BandB · 12-17-2017, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psneeld

Some jobs combine pleasure, satisfaction, challenge, etc...etc....

Hard to give up if they still give you time to relax and spend time with friends and family.

Especially if the job offers challenges not likely to be matched as a retiree.

Yes, I thought I'd retire more completely and, as usual, my wife knew me too well. But I call the business we have now a hobby, not work. Recently got into another one mentoring a young person and it's a thing of joy for my wife and me. I don't consider any of what I do today to be work. It's at my discretion, when I choose to make time for it, and it doesn't interfere with our pleasure or boating. Meanwhile I turn around and see her designing reading curriculum for schools and after school programs and others. More fun to do when you don't have to do and no fixed hours.

You've found a balance. That's the key.

OldDan1943 · 12-17-2017, 02:33 PM

I am completely retired, ready to leave the dock. Alas, I cannot find a knowledgable lady to go with me so, I just stay put for a while longer.

cappy208 · 12-17-2017, 05:20 PM

Using the boat: Never enough time.
Time for grandkids to come on the boat: not enough.
Good weather: Having patience waiting.
Other Family activities that limit the use: WAY too many.
Contemplating purchasing a second boat for Florida use, when Massachusetts is ‘closed for winter’.
Also contemplating leaving boat in water in winter. There are SO many nice days in November, December, February and March that we’re missing.
Trying to get more usable days in the New England locale is tough with the work schedule.

psneeld · 12-17-2017, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldDan1943

I am completely retired, ready to leave the dock. Alas, I cannot find a knowledgable lady to go with me so, I just stay put for a while longer.

Go, sometimes who winds up going with you is more challenge than actual help.

You are as likely to find her along the way as waiting for her to show up.

Besslb · 12-17-2017, 07:02 PM

Do we get "enough" time on the boat....sure, but we are still weekenders and week long vacations at this point. Would we like more? Hell yes! We spend three out of four weekends (all year) on the boat and usually two or three week long vacations in the summer. This year, frustratingly enough, the summer was spent doing maintenance instead of cruising to the NC coast.

But yes. We do get enough time to make it 100% worth it!! Love our time aboard......and looking forward to many more years aboard!

Bigsfish · 12-17-2017, 08:02 PM

Can one who loves boats and boating ever get enough time on the water?

BandB · 12-17-2017, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigsfish

Can one who loves boats and boating ever get enough time on the water?

Wifey B: There's not enough time in life. Not enough boating. Not enough for family and friends. Not enough ..umm....

not enough for tennis or concerts or sports you love to watch, not enough for comedy or laughing, not enough time with kids, not enough time with elderly, not enough time helping others...just not enough time....

So what that means is make the most of every day. It's not important if you boated but it's important if you enjoyed whatever you did, if you spent the day how you wanted.

psneeld · 12-17-2017, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigsfish

Can one who loves boats and boating ever get enough time on the water?

Irv..... know what you are saying...but yes....I am almost burned out for certain aspects of boating..

Yet flyfishing a mountain lake from a canoe sounds good right now....so it is a tough answer if all types of boating are included.

Bigsfish · 12-17-2017, 09:00 PM

I’ll remember that while enjoying my nest audit.

Bigsfish · 12-17-2017, 09:29 PM

Scott

I should have excluded those who spent their careers on the water and those who work everyday on the water. I can see how one could get burned out. Fly fishing was my passion for many years and my friends include some of the greats, during the 60s and 70s fly fishing in South Florida was where all the progress and development was done. Northern fly fishermen could believe we were catching a fish over 100 pounds with a 15pomd tippet. Lots of fun.

BandB · 12-17-2017, 10:54 PM

Wifey B: I think it can be too much for those who try to force it. We found out what made sense for us and it's not cruising all the time and it's really limited to about 6 weeks at a time. We cruise about 240 days a year and we boat another 40 or so and that seems like a lot but that's our current limit. Might change sometime. When you feel that you're depriving yourself of something else, then it's too much. We cruise 6 weeks or so, sometimes a little more, and we're excited when we're about to go home. Then after three weeks or so at home, we get excited over cruising again. Should keep you excited. Plus we don't just cruise, we sight see while we do and so enjoy a lot of land things.