Retirement Vision

Swa · May 9, 2021

After doing some fishing yesterday I sat down and had a cold beer.
The day was quite beautiful, and my drink facilitated some deep thinking.
My wife walked by and asked what I was doing. I said, "Nothing."
Now the reason I said "nothing" instead of saying "just thinking" is because she then would have asked, "Thinking about what?"
At that point I would have had to explain that men are deep thinkers about various topics, which would lead to other questions. She left me alone.
After another beer I pondered the age old question:
What is more painful, giving birth or getting kicked in the nuts?
Women always maintain that giving birth is way more painful than a guy getting kicked in the nuts, but how could they know?
Well, after another beer or two, and some more heavy deductive thinking, I have come up with the answer to that question.
Getting kicked in the nuts is more painful than having a baby. Even though I obviously couldn't really know, here is the reason for my conclusion:
A year or so after giving birth, a woman will often say, "It might be nice to have another child."
I have never heard a guy say, "You know, I think I would like another kick in the nuts."
I rest my case.
Time for another beer.

High Wire · May 9, 2021

Welcome aboard! After taking the training courses, charter a trawler for a week with a captain. You will need some experience to get insurance when you buy that nice yacht sailing through your dreams, not to mention also keep it in one piece.
Enjoy the dream!

markpierce · May 9, 2021

If you are an accumulator focusing on cheap internet buys (like Cragi's list), there won't be a boat big enough.

mickand · May 14, 2021

Trawlerfest is in Newport this summer - spending days there and talking to everyone you can may be the ideal place for you to gain some idea of boat type, lifestyle etc..

ssteakley · May 14, 2021

Research Research Research

Consider leasing your home. You still have to get rid of your stuff, if you are successful cruisers you will never want that stuff back anyway. You can get a realtor to manage your home for 8-11%. Worth it!
Step on lots of boats, find a buyers broker who will work with you till you find the right boat. Find the best independent surveyor in the area when you think you have found the right boat. Get training and hang out with experienced boaters. Stay focused!

Kingston Mariner · May 16, 2021

This year will be our third season with our boat. Buying the boat was my idea to fulfill a lifelong dream of a months long Alaskan summer cruise. Our largest previous boat was a 24' sailboat. Turned out my wife doesn't share my passion for sailing but said she'd be open to the idea with a power boat. Fine with me, I just want to be on the water. So that was a green light as far as I was concerned and within 3 months we were fortunate to find a boat that checked all the boxes for us.

Last summer we took our first extended cruise, 2 weeks, and on the return trip she said next (now this) year she wants to go for 4 weeks. I think that she may now like boating more than I do.

We have a home on acreage. While it was a fantastic place to raise our children, I have grown very tired of the tremendous amount of work required to keep it up so we are now selling and downsizing.

Our plan is to buy a condo so we can pack up and leave whenever and for as long as we want without requiring a caretaker when we are gone. Our summers will be spent cruising the PNW, winters will be spent traveling to warm places, and the in-between times at the condo and making the boat ready.

I am 63 and my wife 58. We have worked our tails off and sacrificed much over the years. Our last boomerang child is finally in a good place and on their own as of last week. Now it's our time and we intend to make the most of the years we have left together. Our adult children and extended family are just going to have to manage without us always being conveniently available to them.

Newtrawlerowner · May 17, 2021

Kingston Mariner said:
This year will be our third season with our boat. Buying the boat was my idea to fulfill a lifelong dream of a months long Alaskan summer cruise. Our largest previous boat was a 24' sailboat. Turned out my wife doesn't share my passion for sailing but said she'd be open to the idea with a power boat. Fine with me, I just want to be on the water. So that was a green light as far as I was concerned and within 3 months we were fortunate to find a boat that checked all the boxes for us.

Last summer we took our first extended cruise, 2 weeks, and on the return trip she said next (now this) year she wants to go for 4 weeks. I think that she may now like boating more than I do.

We have a home on acreage. While it was a fantastic place to raise our children, I have grown very tired of the tremendous amount of work required to keep it up so we are now selling and downsizing.

Our plan is to buy a condo so we can pack up and leave whenever and for as long as we want without requiring a caretaker when we are gone. Our summers will be spent cruising the PNW, winters will be spent traveling to warm places, and the in-between times at the condo and making the boat ready.

I am 63 and my wife 58. We have worked our tails off and sacrificed much over the years. Our last boomerang child is finally in a good place and on their own as of last week. Now it's our time and we intend to make the most of the years we have left together. Our adult children and extended family are just going to have to manage without us always being conveniently available to them.

Congratulations!!! You tried it, you BOTH liked it! As long as its fun, the expense is manageable, you look forward to doing it and look back on your adventures, it will continue to be an enjoyable adventure. Once the fun stops, time to move on.

Simi 60 · May 17, 2021

Kingston Mariner said:
.

I am 63 and my wife 58. We have worked our tails off and sacrificed much over the years. Our last boomerang child is finally in a good place and on their own as of last week. Now it's our time and we intend to make the most of the years we have left together. Our adult children and extended family are just going to have to manage without us always being conveniently available to them.

Yep, never had kids
If I wanted a pet I'd buy a cat (we did), cheaper and easier

Bryant · May 17, 2021

cyranog said:
Hi All,
First time posting here. I plan to retire within the next 16 months or so, and my wife and I plan sell the house, vehicles, and most of our possessions. I didn't have a vision at all for retirement until I saw an ad for a trawler. I showed it to her and said how about this for retirement? She said let's do it! Although I won't be buying that particular trawler, we now have a vision for retirement and it can't come too soon.
Our plan is to take a couple of weeklong seamanship courses over the next year, buy a trawler, trial run it for a few months, do the Great Loop, then Bahamas, and have a live-aboard lifestyle. We're reading/watching everything that we can about the lifestyle in the meantime.

Here are my trawler specs:
- 35-45 ft
- full/semi displacement
- single engine/low horsepower
- double berths
- no older than 1998
- boat purchase budget is $110,000-$200,000

My questions:
- should I include older boats in my search?
- Max number of hours on the engine?
- engines to avoid?

I'm liking the following models:
- Heritage East
- Mariner (38 Sundeck/Orient)
- Mainship (370/390)
- Marine Trader (Europa)
- Island Packet PY

Any comments/recommendations will be appreciated.
Thank you.

I'll just throw out a couple of things for you to consider. First, what is your boating experience and what have you owned? Obtaining insurance on a 35-45' boat if you've never owned something close to that size will be difficult. Make sure you can get insurance before you buy. Second, getting a 1998 35-45' boat for $100-$200k may be difficult. I would look at older boats. Well maintained diesel engines will run for 10,000 hrs or more before needing anything serious done to them. Thirdly, if you are not an experienced boater, selling everything and moving onto a boat is a really big step. While it's a romantic idea, the reality of doing that can be quite different than your expectations. Fourth, count on spending 10%/year of the cost of your boat on dockage, maintenance, insurance, fuel, and misc expenses.
With no more knowledge than I have of your situation I would recommend that you take a trawler handling course with your wife, do some chartering and then maybe downsize and have a small apartment ashore and a boat close by to get some experience before you just sell everything and cast off.
In any case, good luck.

Bryant · May 17, 2021

swa said:
after doing some fishing yesterday i sat down and had a cold beer.
The day was quite beautiful, and my drink facilitated some deep thinking.
My wife walked by and asked what i was doing. I said, "nothing."
now the reason i said "nothing" instead of saying "just thinking" is because she then would have asked, "thinking about what?"
at that point i would have had to explain that men are deep thinkers about various topics, which would lead to other questions. She left me alone.
After another beer i pondered the age old question:
What is more painful, giving birth or getting kicked in the nuts?
Women always maintain that giving birth is way more painful than a guy getting kicked in the nuts, but how could they know?
Well, after another beer or two, and some more heavy deductive thinking, i have come up with the answer to that question.
Getting kicked in the nuts is more painful than having a baby. Even though i obviously couldn't really know, here is the reason for my conclusion:
A year or so after giving birth, a woman will often say, "it might be nice to have another child."
i have never heard a guy say, "you know, i think i would like another kick in the nuts."
i rest my case.
Time for another beer.

wtf?

SteveK · May 17, 2021

Bryant said:
wtf?

logical thinking 101

Peter B · May 17, 2021

I think he was being funny - actually it was quite funny in a way. But the underlying message was that retirement is the time when you have the time to soliloquise like that, and have people get it... I did anyway...a bit like the old saying of 'having nothing to do, and all day to do it in'...sort of...

Bryant · May 17, 2021

Peter B said:
I think he was being funny - actually it was quite funny in a way. But the underlying message was that retirement is the time when you have the time to soliloquise like that, and have people get it... I did anyway...a bit like the old saying of 'having nothing to do, and all day to do it in'...sort of...

Yeah. Because that lunatic rant really provided the OP with useful information to a legitimate question. Good grief.

koliver · May 17, 2021

Bryant said:
Yeah. Because that lunatic rant really provided the OP with useful information to a legitimate question. Good grief.

Demonstrates the abundance of time available to ask all of the rhetorical questions that have bothered him over a lifetime of working.
The OP can use that new found time to sort out his options.

Bryant · May 17, 2021

Retirement

koliver said:
Demonstrates the abundance of time available to ask all of the rhetorical questions that have bothered him over a lifetime of working.
The OP can use that new found time to sort out his options.

Or, rather than a juvenile attempt at being funny, the OP could be provided with answers to his questions. Of course, we could just do fart jokes and let him figure out the relevance to his question.

BruceK · May 18, 2021

Nicely written actually, but zilch to do with the thread. Unless just, "taking the piss". Talking of 'piss", I doubt he`s had a kidney stone.

Peter B · May 19, 2021

Bryant said:
Or, rather than a juvenile attempt at being funny, the OP could be provided with answers to his questions. Of course, we could just do fart jokes and let him figure out the relevance to his question.

BruceK said:
Nicely written actually, but zilch to do with the thread. Unless just, "taking the piss". Talking of 'piss", I doubt he`s had a kidney stone.

Actually, the OP has already received a plethora, (that's a good word), of advice re his 'retirement vision', much positive, some negative, but the thread was getting a bit top heavy. I think swa , prompted by the thread title, put up his piece by the desire to lighten the thread up a bit, and entertain at the same time, by highlighting another facet of being retired - and I think he achieved that.

I think Bryant needs to have a beer himself - or other preferred drink - and lay back and soak up the enjoyment of being retired, and if he isn't...maybe needs to think about it - it's quite catchy, and something to look forward to.

As to Bruce's suggestion of the passing of a kidney stone - never have myself, but treated many who have/are - and I got the strong impression it might even edge out the kick in the you know whats, and be very comparable to child birth.

Ok, thread hijack over, and back to the serious stuff... :flowers:

MYTraveler · May 19, 2021

Bryant said:
wtf?

That comes from posting while drinking.

dannc · May 19, 2021

Swa said:
After doing some fishing yesterday I sat down and had a cold beer.
...
Time for another beer.

Very funny. Thanks, I needed the laugh this morning!

Fits right in with the title of the thread, "Retirement Vision." :socool:

Perfect.

Later,
Dan

N4061 · May 26, 2021

It appears most important points have already been mentioned by experienced members here on TF so I will make my recommendation short. I would strongly recommend not selling the house, cars and everything else to buy and live on any boat. There are just too many risks and issues which come with this life style that you need to figure out first. Suggest you charter a boat for two weeks and see how you feel then if you are still interested try for something small and inexpensive to spend time on the water "all year" for at least one year then possibly make your final decision. After living aboard part time (Mon - Fri) for a couple of years we always enjoyed leaving the boat for home and the yard knowing that we could return when we wanted and not being trapped. Living aboard can be great but it also can be a nightmare so take it slow.

John

BandB · May 26, 2021

N4061 said:
After living aboard part time (Mon - Fri) for a couple of years we always enjoyed leaving the boat for home and the yard knowing that we could return when we wanted and not being trapped. Living aboard can be great but it also can be a nightmare so take it slow.

John

Wifey B: Part of retirement is freedom. Freedom to cruise or stay on land, to do nothing or to work even. However, in protecting your freedom, you must protect choices until sure you don't need them. Freedom to boat and travel anywhere in the world is great, but you indicate as I would feel still having the need for the freedom to return to land and back to the boat when you want. Many don't need the freedom to return to the land home but you just can't be sure until you do it.

For me, it's not the house itself, but it's all my ^%#$ extended family and friends who are there when I'm there and I can't live without now. What happened to us being

loners who didn't need family and others? Where the &^$$^% did all these people we care about come from?

Don't burn the bridges till you're sure you don't need to cross back over. :ermm:

Also, don't overlook the inevitable slings of age.

markpierce · May 26, 2021

Family is what it is all about.

BandB · May 26, 2021

markpierce said:
Family is what it is all about.

Wifey B: Never was to us. We didn't have birth families alive or that we cared about but then we up adopted a sister and parents and then moved to our current home and our family became humongous. However, for many, family isn't there or important. I have no living birth family. My hubby has lots of cousins and aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews but we haven't seen any of them in 15 years and have no desire to see them again. Not people we want to be with and I'm sure they feel the same about us. We also have many around us who don't have "birth families" in their lives and all we can do is encourage them to build their own families. Let's just not assume everyone has family. Many elderly in FL haven't seen family in years. Many young people had breaks with family as teens. Unfortunately, for many, the traditional family concept is dead. I know many cruisers whose families are most definitely now the cruiser community.

SteveK · May 27, 2021

Wifey B: Part of retirement is freedom. Freedom to cruise or stay on land, to do nothing or to work even.

You forgot the freedom to post on TF whenever you want even if you are on a holiday in the Med. Priceless

Xlantic · May 28, 2021

kthoennes said:
I think it's good to lighten your load in life, boating or otherwise.

cyranog · May 28, 2021

Right; besides, you can't take it with you after this life.

Xlantic · May 28, 2021

Swa said:
After doing some fishing yesterday I sat down and had a cold beer.

...

Time for another beer.

Simi 60 · May 28, 2021

BandB said:
Wifey B: Never was to us. We didn't have birth families alive or that we cared about but then we up adopted a sister and parents and then moved to our current home and our family became humongous. However, for many, family isn't there or important. I have no living birth family. My hubby has lots of cousins and aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews but we haven't seen any of them in 15 years and have no desire to see them again. Not people we want to be with and I'm sure they feel the same about us. We also have many around us who don't have "birth families" in their lives and all we can do is encourage them to build their own families. Let's just not assume everyone has family. Many elderly in FL haven't seen family in years. Many young people had breaks with family as teens. Unfortunately, for many, the traditional family concept is dead. I know many cruisers whose families are most definitely now the cruiser community.

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