My annoyance with that silly Mark Twain quote prompts this post.

Although casting off everyday cares to go cruising sounds ideal to many
people, I have to wonder about people aspire to it with intense zeal.
I wonder if they have so little to offer to humanity that they would
abandon society for such a narcissistic goal. If you spend all of your
time cruising, you essentially give up making any difference to the
rest of humanity. My personal belief ("belief" means I have no proof
or even a good argument for it) is that each of us has some unique
skill that could somehow be of use to humanity. Unfortunately, very
few people ever discover this skill (a topic that I spend hours
discussing with my unhappy state worker neighbor)but I think you ought
to give it many real tries before giving up and going off cruising.
I have no problem with people who retire and then go cruising, they
have already made their contribution. My argument is with people who
aspire to cruising as their life goal.
The most interesting and to my mind the most successful cruising person
I have ever seen was when I had my old 23' boat docked waaaaaay up the
Carabelle River at a place for $20/month. The boat next to mine was a
trashed out 21' Venture. One day, its hatch was open and a voice
invited me aboard and when I stepped into the cabin, I stepped into
water 1" deep. In the gloom I saw huge cans of green beans labelled
Department of Agriculture that i recognized as early 60s cast-offs from
fallout shelters in Tallahassee (this was 1988). The Master and
Commander of this odd vessel was named Jack who told me that until 6
months ago he had been a homeless drunk but he had somehow been given a
check for $500 that he used to buy this floating (sort-of) home of his
on a whim. I never learned the rest of his story but clearly he had an
interesting life as he had only one ear, half of his left hand,
something wrong with one eye and other physical markings of a less than
normal suburban existence. Jack had a black mongrel dog named "Crow"
that perfectly matched him as it was missing a front paw and its lower
jaw was bent at a strange angle to the rest of its head from being run
over.
Jack sailed this amazing little boat with duct tape repaired sails all
over the northern gulf from Cedar Key all the way over to (this is
almost unbelievable) New Orleans. I'd run into him at odd places and
he could describe the channels of all the cool places I wanted to visit
that also did not have marked channels.
One day, I ran into Jack on a brand new top-of-the-line boat ( I cannot
remember the brand) so I asked him if he had won the lottery. He said
no and volunteered to show me what he was doing so we went below where
I found myself wading through wood shavings. Wood carving tools were
scattered round as were what looked like wooden masks with intricate
gold inlays; they looked sort of Japanese with black lacquer and gold.
He told me that he had carved one and sold it in New Orleans (something
to do with Mardi Gras and Voodoo etc.)and since then had so many orders
he couldnt fill them all and that he didnt even begin working on one
till he was paid several thousand dollars for it. I never saw him
again after that but I always think of him as what a successful cruiser
should be.

On 7 Apr 2005 06:32:48 -0700, wrote:


Snip

I never saw him
again after that but I always think of him as what a successful cruiser
should be.

So, with other words, the only thing what matters is the amount of
money on your bankaccount?


Cheers!


Remco

On Thu, 07 Apr 2005 14:10:12 GMT, (Remco Moedt)
wrote:


So, with other words, the only thing what matters is the amount of
money on your bankaccount?

Hardly. You need enough to maintain the boat and buy spares, diesel,
food, beverages and fees. That can vary enormously from place to place
and depending on whether you want to sail and drop anchor (or tie up)
for months at a time, or do more passagemaking. Passagemaking is
cheaper in the short run, because you can't spend money, but that's
how gear and sails get used up.

I figure if the boat's paid for, $20K-$25K/year would allow one to
live pretty well in the non-Tahiti parts of the South Pacific and a
fair number of places that weren't New York City or Northern Europe.

But then my needs are simple and my skills are portable. YMMV.

R.

You pose a challenging philisophical issue, i.e., what to do with one's
life.

Most people, it seems, lead lives of quiet desparation, studying and/or
working (or looking for work) and existing that is unsatisfying and
lacking in much or any happiness.

Ultimately, I would suggest the decision to do whatever one does with
one's life is best left to the individual and his or her ambitions or
lack thereof.


wrote:
My annoyance with that silly Mark Twain quote prompts this post.

Although casting off everyday cares to go cruising sounds ideal to
many
people, I have to wonder about people aspire to it with intense zeal.
I wonder if they have so little to offer to humanity that they would
abandon society for such a narcissistic goal. If you spend all of
your
time cruising, you essentially give up making any difference to the
rest of humanity. My personal belief ("belief" means I have no proof
or even a good argument for it) is that each of us has some unique
skill that could somehow be of use to humanity. Unfortunately, very
few people ever discover this skill (a topic that I spend hours
discussing with my unhappy state worker neighbor)but I think you
ought
to give it many real tries before giving up and going off cruising.
I have no problem with people who retire and then go cruising, they
have already made their contribution. My argument is with people who
aspire to cruising as their life goal.
The most interesting and to my mind the most successful cruising
person
I have ever seen was when I had my old 23' boat docked waaaaaay up
the
Carabelle River at a place for $20/month. The boat next to mine was
a
trashed out 21' Venture. One day, its hatch was open and a voice
invited me aboard and when I stepped into the cabin, I stepped into
water 1" deep. In the gloom I saw huge cans of green beans labelled
Department of Agriculture that i recognized as early 60s cast-offs
from
fallout shelters in Tallahassee (this was 1988). The Master and
Commander of this odd vessel was named Jack who told me that until 6
months ago he had been a homeless drunk but he had somehow been given
a
check for $500 that he used to buy this floating (sort-of) home of
his
on a whim. I never learned the rest of his story but clearly he had
an
interesting life as he had only one ear, half of his left hand,
something wrong with one eye and other physical markings of a less
than
normal suburban existence. Jack had a black mongrel dog named "Crow"
that perfectly matched him as it was missing a front paw and its
lower
jaw was bent at a strange angle to the rest of its head from being
run
over.
Jack sailed this amazing little boat with duct tape repaired sails
all
over the northern gulf from Cedar Key all the way over to (this is
almost unbelievable) New Orleans. I'd run into him at odd places and
he could describe the channels of all the cool places I wanted to
visit
that also did not have marked channels.
One day, I ran into Jack on a brand new top-of-the-line boat ( I
cannot
remember the brand) so I asked him if he had won the lottery. He
said
no and volunteered to show me what he was doing so we went below
where
I found myself wading through wood shavings. Wood carving tools were
scattered round as were what looked like wooden masks with intricate
gold inlays; they looked sort of Japanese with black lacquer and
gold.
He told me that he had carved one and sold it in New Orleans
(something
to do with Mardi Gras and Voodoo etc.)and since then had so many
orders
he couldnt fill them all and that he didnt even begin working on one
till he was paid several thousand dollars for it. I never saw him
again after that but I always think of him as what a successful
cruiser
should be.

wrote:

Although casting off everyday cares to go cruising sounds ideal to
many people, I have to wonder about people aspire to it with
intense zeal. I wonder if they have so little to offer to humanity
that they would abandon society for such a narcissistic goal. If
you spend all of your time cruising, you essentially give up making
any difference to the rest of humanity ...

I think you are going to have more luck wrestling with this issue if you
base your research on the experiences people who _are_ (or who have, for a
considerable period of time, been) cruising, rather than people who merely
aspire to it. Further, by "cruising" I don't necessarily mean wandering
from mud flat to mud flat in the Panhandle.

... I have no problem with
people who retire and then go cruising, they have already made
their contribution ...

Frankly there are so many untested assumptions in this statement that it's
difficult to formulate a cogent response. I personally know quite a few who
retired "contribution-free," as it were.

Or were you referring primarily to Social Security contributions?

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

If money was a major concern, I'd work for somebody else instead of
being self (un)employed.

As far as wandering from mud flat to mud flat, I find the mud flats to
be the most interesting places on the water. Actually, the salt marshes
are the most interesting. The open water is essentially a desert while
the salt marshes are the most food productive parts of the ocean. I
bet I can find more cool stuff in a salt marsh than you can in the open
water (Look honey, Another wave).
I have no problem with people eventually retiring whether or not they
make what they consider to be a "contribution". Giving it a good try
is what is important.
As far as using people who really do cruise for answers, isnt that why
I asked here?

On 7 Apr 2005 06:32:48 -0700, wrote:

My annoyance with that silly Mark Twain quote prompts this post.

Although casting off everyday cares to go cruising sounds ideal to many
people, I have to wonder about people aspire to it with intense zeal.

Surely this intense zeal is *exactly* what is required to stimulate others into
following suit, in whatever manner they so choose. This drive to realise a dream
may in fact stimulate someone else to follow their own dream which may be far
different from cruising, and, may at some time in the future benefit humanity in
some, at present undreamed of, manner. The cruiser has, in that case benefitted
humanity by his/her actions.

I wonder if they have so little to offer to humanity that they would
abandon society for such a narcissistic goal. If you spend all of your
time cruising, you essentially give up making any difference to the
rest of humanity. My personal belief ("belief" means I have no proof
or even a good argument for it) is that each of us has some unique
skill that could somehow be of use to humanity. Unfortunately, very
few people ever discover this skill (a topic that I spend hours
discussing with my unhappy state worker neighbor)but I think you ought
to give it many real tries before giving up and going off cruising.

Do you really believe that the average person even considers whether what they
do is of any benefit to humanity? The majority of people that I know are more
concerned with keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table than they
are with what humanity is up to. Surely believing that one can do good for
humanity and agonizing over how to develop the unique skills to meet that
objective is the epitome of narcism. Personally, although retired for some
years now, I enjoy the sheer delight of escaping from "humanity" for periods
during the summer. No television, no computer, no news-papers, sheer bliss.
While I am on the water in my own little floating cottage, the world and its
cares no longer exist. I can understand fully the thinking that stimulates
those who do cast off from the shore for a period of time. Some write about
their travels and offer advice for those who wish to follow in their foot-steps,
surely they are contributing, if not to "humanity" as a whole, but to a select
group.

I have no problem with people who retire and then go cruising, they
have already made their contribution. My argument is with people who
aspire to cruising as their life goal.

As one who is retired and cruises during the summer months I can think of no
contribution to humanity that I have made. At least none of which I am
consciously aware.
If making my annual monetary contribution to ever increasingly avaricious
governments is "making my contribution" then I have indeed paid in full, albeit
with reluctance. However, this in turn relates back to the pursuit of the
almighty dollar, which in itself is, to my mind, not a worthy objective.

The most interesting and to my mind the most successful cruising person
I have ever seen was when I had my old 23' boat docked waaaaaay up the
Carabelle River at a place for $20/month. The boat next to mine was a
trashed out 21' Venture. One day, its hatch was open and a voice
invited me aboard and when I stepped into the cabin, I stepped into
water 1" deep. In the gloom I saw huge cans of green beans labelled
Department of Agriculture that i recognized as early 60s cast-offs from
fallout shelters in Tallahassee (this was 1988). The Master and
Commander of this odd vessel was named Jack who told me that until 6
months ago he had been a homeless drunk but he had somehow been given a
check for $500 that he used to buy this floating (sort-of) home of his
on a whim. I never learned the rest of his story but clearly he had an
interesting life as he had only one ear, half of his left hand,
something wrong with one eye and other physical markings of a less than
normal suburban existence. Jack had a black mongrel dog named "Crow"
that perfectly matched him as it was missing a front paw and its lower
jaw was bent at a strange angle to the rest of its head from being run
over.
Jack sailed this amazing little boat with duct tape repaired sails all
over the northern gulf from Cedar Key all the way over to (this is
almost unbelievable) New Orleans. I'd run into him at odd places and
he could describe the channels of all the cool places I wanted to visit
that also did not have marked channels.
One day, I ran into Jack on a brand new top-of-the-line boat ( I cannot
remember the brand) so I asked him if he had won the lottery. He said
no and volunteered to show me what he was doing so we went below where
I found myself wading through wood shavings. Wood carving tools were
scattered round as were what looked like wooden masks with intricate
gold inlays; they looked sort of Japanese with black lacquer and gold.
He told me that he had carved one and sold it in New Orleans (something
to do with Mardi Gras and Voodoo etc.)and since then had so many orders
he couldnt fill them all and that he didnt even begin working on one
till he was paid several thousand dollars for it. I never saw him
again after that but I always think of him as what a successful cruiser
should be.

Why, in your opinion was this person a successful cruiser? What I see is a
person who discovered a talent for wood-carving and managed to turn this talent
into a money-making enterprise, apparently selling home-made fakes to gullible
purchasers. Do you have the same admiration for the hundreds of people who
operate home craft businesses? Would you be so admiring of this Jack if he had
done the same thing from a home on shore? Just how has he benefitted
"humanity"?

Just my thoughts,
Jan

"If you can't take a joke,you shouldn't have joined"

wrote:

... I would suggest the decision to do whatever one does
with one's life is best left to the individual and his or her
ambitions or lack thereof.

Which other options have you considered?

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

On 7 Apr 2005 06:32:48 -0700, wrote:

My annoyance with that silly Mark Twain quote prompts this post.

Although casting off everyday cares to go cruising sounds ideal to many
people, I have to wonder about people aspire to it with intense zeal.
I wonder if they have so little to offer to humanity that they would
abandon society for such a narcissistic goal. If you spend all of your
time cruising, you essentially give up making any difference to the
rest of humanity.

Rightly or wrongly, a remarkable number of people lead their lives
entirely on land without making any more difference to the rest of
humanity than a life long cruiser.

Aspiring to do what one wants, while independently providing for one's
needs, and succeeding in that aspiration may not constitute greatness,
but I wouldn't run anybody down for it.

Ryk

I admit that some people who cruise can benefit others by their
example, this is part of the reason why I consider my friend Jack to be
a successful cruiser.
I also agree that most people do not have the luxury of considering if
their lives have been a "contribution". However, many people do
consider their kids to be a legacy (a contribution of sorts) and this
may be the best they can do. Believing that you can make a
"contribution" may be self indulgent but it seems to be a positive
form. I still think a person should try to make a positive impact
before they simply drop out.
Do you think the work you did before you retired was worthless? If so,
maybe you should consider repaying those who paid you. Didn't there
used to be a saying during WW2 (well before my time) "They also serve
who stand and wait".
Reasons why I consider my friend Jack to be successful.

1. He got himself out of his previous dependent lifestyle.
2. This in itself is an inspiration.
3. All the travel he did with limited resources shows the rest of us
what can be done (an inspiration).
4. His carvings were not fakes but were recognized as being made by
him. These were serious works of art that stopped me in my tracks in
admiration.

I do admire home craft people just as I admire most small business
people.