wrote in message
...
He said he was retiring, not retiring in poverty with a big chip on
his shoulder.

"Charles Momsen" wrote:
I get your point exactly there Doug, however you seemed to have missed
mine.

Glad you got my point... but I don't think I missed yours, not at all.
In fact, given the length & tone of your reply, looks like I nailed it
precisely.


My point to JL was one thing, my point to you is another. I merely made an
opinion from my point of view and based upon my life experiences to JL, you
came back with the chip on my shoulder comment. I won't apologize for NOT
being in the top 1% of wage earners, being worth tens of millions of
spending a part of each day counting my money. I made a choice decades ago
and I knew then riches were not on the horizon, but something more
meaningful to me was. So if you want to rub my nose in my financial status
with poverty comments, by all means go ahead. I'm not a winner in the rat
race, I never signed up.



JL may not have an MD as a wife to financially carry the load

Plenty of single lady doctors around who would like a partner. Many of
them love sailing, or other outdoors puruits.
They tend to be very very picky about long-term choices though.

True, one of the biggest factors for doctors is that their career takes
precedent over the rest of their life so their other choices are very
limited.



... he may find that spending most of his time in a
30' fiberglass cocoon doesn't promote good health or vigorous exercise.

Duh. It doesn't really... and that's true of any cruising vessel
regardless of size. One cannot go for a long walk in the woods aboard
a 65' Swan, for example.

Nor can one pole vault below deck (except in BS's aft cabin). It is true
that any size vessel doesn't promote good health, so why spend too much to
find that out?



This is one reason why passagemaking doesn't appeal to me personally.
But travel by sailboat has it's rewards, for sure.

Sailing is great! It's on my top ten list of recreational pursuits.



... How
many times does one see a fully decked out boat, a few years old, that
some
retiree is selling because they found out they don't like sailing (once
the
novelty wears off) or they suffered some physical injury (like a blown
disc
from hauling an anchor the wrong way) or their health is failing?

I don't see *any* boats for sale that meet my own standards. Not brand
new, not used. Quite frankly, one of the biggest barriers to cruising
is that very very boats are actually designed & outfitted for it. So
most cruisers work on their boats, do some upgrading, and then go
anyway.

Everyone's standards are different and every boat is a compromise in some
way. Some people's standards are unrealistic, some people are happy and
realistic with less.

Or work work work on the boat until they get sick of it &
quit.

Boats, houses, cars, etc. The one thing in common is that most lose money on
it. I was pointing this out, in an indirect way, to JL. It's his retirement
he's spending.



As for health issues, especially as one ages, that is a great point.
Go now, while you are able! And take care of your back, it's the only
one you'll ever have.

Not everyone has that opportunity. Some wait for retirement to do things
they dream of, as in JL's case. My advice, which is my opinion, was to
minimize certain risks.



.... JL talked
about unknowns and uncertaintity regarding liveaboard and my advice was
weighted towards the possibility that he wanted to remain retired at a
standard of living acceptable to him.


And of course, you know exactly how much disposable income he has,
what investments, medical benefits, etc etc.

I have no idea what his financial status is. Maybe you do. I was simply
offering an opinion, should I apologize for it? To whom? You? JL?




A "value" boat does not imply poverty
in the least

A well-chosen boat does not have to be expensive, either. However,
proper equipment *is* expensive which is why you see so little of it
on older cruising boats. Heck one could spend $20k just rewiring one
of the 'plastic classics' from the 1960s & 1970s. This is why I said
that maintenance & upgrades were more important than the brand name.

That's great. I simply said that buying a "value" boat first and inflicting
the costs of learning on it, rather than something more expensive might be
worth considering.



..... Expenses become a factor in the whole context of JL's
life which only he can determine himself.

So why are you trying to push your own penny-pinching attitude on him?

I only offered a opinion that I hoped was non-offensive to him.

I'm sorry for being so pushy JL, it wasn't my intent. My intention was to
point out saving money in the long term and reducing financial risk. He did
ask questions in a cautionary tone with financial constraints and I took
them into consideration, perhaps a bit too much. If I inferred anything bad
about JL I apologize, it was not my intent - it was simply my interpretation
of the question and of course I have my biases.

The last thing I want to be perceived as is someone who is pushing an
atitude.





..... If you find my
financial conservatism offensive, I would suggest that you look inward to
find the source of the problem.

Oh, were you being "financially conservative"? Buying and then selling
a boat is very expensive, I can't think of a better method to throw
away a couple tens of thousands of dollars. That's why I siggested
waiting until he had some experience with a variety of boats to find
what he might like & find practical for his own fancy.


Buying and selling a boat can be very expensive indeed, I was simply
offering an alternative to that - buy a "value" boat first. I'm not
accustomed to throwing away tens of thousands of dollars with each boat I
buy and sell, some people may be and probably can well afford to. It's just
not in my means or game plan.




.... It was your great circle trip that expenses
were logged down to the penny, schedules were kept to the minute.

Really?
You give me too much credit. Our schedule went more or less by the
month, other than navigation.
Our expenses were tallied no more accurately than I always keep my own
books, and not "to the penny" unfortunately. I budget my time
according to my priorities, and I spend some time on finances but
don't obsess. Why are -you- obsessing over other people's finances?

The theme of my advice was to avoid having to obssess over finances, to buy
something one could walk away from with minimal financial loss. JL did make
cost a consideration, I was trying to operate within that framework.
Apparently, in some way, I was out of bounds. Sorry, JL.





.... Several
here commented on your rigid, miserly bent.

Let me guess... it was you, Saltie/BB, and Bubbles. All failures at
sailing and cruising who backstab anybody here who displays some
degree of success. Surpise surprise!

I never commented on your rigid, miserly bent until now, only to say others
have mentioned it. What is your metric for failure at sailing and cruising?
Is it your standards applied to someone else?



However, let me say in parting that I don't wish you ill, I hope you
find some contentment in actually GOING SAILING.

Likewise, I simply hope you find contentment on your own terms.