Frogwatch wrote:
At some point, you exceed the optimum number of "toys" so that your
ability to maintain them begins to exceed your time to use them.

Yep. It is the curse of prosperity.
You simply cannot have everything; and even if you could, you wouldn't
have a place to put it.



believe this has happed to me. With two small homebuilt sailboats and
a 28' S2 sailboat, a homebuilt dinghy, a 20' Tolman Skiff (homeebuilt)
and a canoe, a 100 yr old log cabin in Wyoming that needs rebuilding,
an old Nissan truck with 309,000 miles on it that I love and a need to
maintain camping and caving equipment (did I mention a 20 yr old Dodge
Ram I inherited), I have no time to use any of it.

Part of your problem is partly that you built your homebuilt boats out
of wood.
It's great stuff, but it is biodegradable.




Somehow, I think that I can do all of this if I optimally use each
evening and weekend to do stuff but something has to give.

Yep.
My predicition is that it will be either your spine or your kidneys.


.... Money has
not been an issue because I do all the work myself cuz I dont like the
work anybody esle does and I have built 4 of my boats and my truck was
paid off 16 yrs ago. What should I give up to make room for doing
stuff?

Obvious- Give up the "stuff" you like the least. The stuff that has
gotten in the worst shape already is a prime candidate for culling
out, after all it got that way because you have cared for it less.


Frank Boettcher wrote:
Dump the vehicles. I finally had to do that. Was maintaining four
vehicles that average 200,000 miles.

Might not be too bad, depending on what they are and how they've been
cared for.


Now have two vehicles that average 5K miles with warranties. No car
stuff for five years of so.


You hope.

I lost my enthusiasm for maintaining old cars when I realized that
1- I would have to buy an increasing number of specialized expensive
tools useless for any other jobs
2- cars are easily replaceable and cheap; the newer they are, the
cheaper and more reliable they are....
3- in addition to #2 newer cars are considerably safer
4- I make more money working than an auto mechanic, so unless I enjoy
auto maintenance (which I did back my sports-car days but not for
years since) there is an actual cash loss for every minute I expend on
it.



OH, I have this notion of building a kayak for my 11 yr old daughter
cuz she likes kayaks............

Go and hit yourself over the head.
Unless she is interested in BUILDING a boat, go buy her one. You can
buy a better kayak than you can build anyway (assuming you know the
basic characteristics you want in such craft), and your time is more
valuable than that of a kayak-builder (see #4 above).


Frogwatch wrote:

The WY cabin is a recent addition and will be our place in Summer to
escape the FL heat. We lived out there
when first married 27 yrs ago so it has strong emotional ties for us.

Sounds good.

I recommend a long retreat up there. You will return envigorated and
will be able to assess the toys you haven't seen months with fresh
eyes.




I agree with Katy, we really need to get somebody to dive and scrape
the boat but growing up sorta "financially challenged" spending money
on something so frivolous is alien to both me and my wife. We really
have to get somebody else to do it, I agree.

But if it is necessary to the function of the vessel (and it is), then
it isn't frivolous.

And while I agree whole-heartedly with you that the only way to ensure
any job is done right is to do it yourself, you have to learn to
either delegate or retreat to a log cabin by a pond and limit yourself
to sailing small simple craft.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King