In article .com,
wrote:

I'll admit, my post says little about cruising but also a lot. The
original post got me all maudlin about my dead friends and the crazy
trips we all went on. Oddly, my friend who was the ultimate 'I did it
my way" person thought he was a failure. The rest of us cavers thought
he was a genius. His family thought he was the blacksheep pervert of
the family and prefferred to pretend his bizarre life did not exist.
They had no concept of his life so when 30 cavers showed up at the
church for his funeral dressed in muddy boots, caving helmets and muddy
coveralls, they didnt get it.
Since I am unable to do serious caving anymore( Age you know, I now get
dehydrated in hot humid places, getting old isnt for wimps) I try to
get some of the same feelings of discovery from being on the water. It
isnt quite the same but being waaaaay out at night has a little of the
feeling of an alternative universe.
It seems, the message is not to delay doing the things you really want
to do. For me, the hard part is deciding which is the most
interesting.

This, in my mind, goes with the Twain quote. Yes, going and doing
something now makes it more difficult to doing other things (though not
impossible if you plan thoroughly), but if you don't do *ANY* of "those"
things, you will have much to regret at the end.

When I turned 30, I ran into a number of people, mostly cute women as it
happened, who had had near-death experiences. The recurring theme in
their commentary was their recognizing the number of things they'd
wanted to do that they wouldn't have been able to do had they died, and
that they were persuing. That generated my list, of which I've checked
off most of the major items: Skiing, sailing, flying, SCUBA and so
forth. Of them all, sailing has turned out to be the activity that can
also include "travel", a continuing item.

Another contribution to my personal list is that my Dad retired at 59
and died just under a year later, essentially from boredom. He had no
continuing activity beyond working for the same company for 45 years.
[Yes, he started at 14.]

My wife is now two years older than her Mom's survival; I'm approaching
my Dad's final age. Cruising is one of our possibilities, though it's
not our only one. We're not full-time but in our area with a 6 month
cruising season, we spend 30-40% of our season on the water as I
maintain a full-time job.

it could be said that your caver didn't contribute to society, that he
dropped out. I believe you don't believe that.

I also believe that cruisers can contribute at least as much as he.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

On Thu, 7 Apr 2005 18:16:33 -0400, "Doug Dotson"
dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote:

What does this have to do with boating?

Everything. Carpe bloody diem is the point. A large part of my game
plan is to purchase a world cruiser in my 40s from a guy in his late
60s who planned and scrimped and built and saved...and then got
sick/too old/too tired/too consumed with kids, grandkids, whatever.

Opportunistic? Oh, probably, but I've seen too many good sailors
swallow the anchor on their dream of long-term cruising because the
circumstances were never quite good enough.

Bull****.

You could be dead tomorrow. Sail today, or as close to today as you
can, because regret is a living death.

R.

I'll admit, my post says little about cruising but also a lot.

As another former caver, I appreciated it.

Still use a self tied from webbing swiss seat and prusik knots to go up
my mast.

Been so long I don't remember my NSS #, but I think it was four digits.

(NSS ????)

rhys :

On Thu, 7 Apr 2005 18:16:33 -0400, "Doug Dotson"
dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote:

What does this have to do with boating?

Everything. Carpe bloody diem is the point. A large part of my game
plan is to purchase a world cruiser in my 40s from a guy in his late
60s who planned and scrimped and built and saved...and then got
sick/too old/too tired/too consumed with kids, grandkids, whatever.

Opportunistic? Oh, probably, but I've seen too many good sailors
swallow the anchor on their dream of long-term cruising because the
circumstances were never quite good enough.

Bull****.

You could be dead tomorrow. Sail today, or as close to today as you
can, because regret is a living death.

Right, due to personal reasons it looks like my plans to build and sail on my
own boat will never come true. So instead I go to the cabin up north and try
to go wilderness camping in as many diffirent parks as possible. This year
my camping trips spread out from Canada to New York State.

Repeatly over the years, I have been told by my parents/brothers that I
should not go on particular trips because the weather will be bad, not
getting promoted at work and other reasons. I still went and will continue
to go.

On the otherhand, my parents who planned to vacation after thier retirement
all over Europe found themselves stuck at home taking care of my brother
Wanye who is in a coma from a drunk driver. Up to the time of the accident
my parents always talked about trips after they retire. Infact they could
have gone before retirement, my mom had lots of vacation time held over, my
dad self-employed as a real estate agent - and they did do one trip so I know
that it was possible for them to do. There was no reason they could not have
gone every single year, but it was always 'after we retire'.

Now last year my Dad died when his appendix ruptured, we did not see that one
coming I tell you.

My mom plans gone, my Dad gone, and they both could have gone dozens of times
before Wanye's accident.

If you have a chance to enjoy life, and you are not going to hurt anyone
else, try to take it.

I got to watch a loon family grow up on my lake, I climbed mountains, canoed
lakes I never knew existed ten years ago, watch the Northern Lights where the
nearest town was over a hundred kilometers away, watched waterspouts dance on
the same lake that my cabin is on and many, many more things.

My parents have - 'when we retire', only to find that they did not have it
then. And can never have it now.

Earl Colby Pottinger

PS. I also help with my brother, that is why no sailing.



--
I make public email sent to me! Hydrogen Peroxide Rockets, OpenBeos,
SerialTransfer 3.0, RAMDISK, BoatBuilding, DIY TabletPC. What happened to
the time? http://webhome.idirect.com/~earlcp

Fantasic life story. It is stuff like this that points out thinking your
personal way of life as unchangable is not true.

Infact, not to the same level I knew a guy who if you did not listen to him
talk about computers you would think he was a bum from the way he dressed.
Infact he free-lanced programming and made in the upper 5 figures.
Additionally the house he got when his parents died was worth well over a
million, possibility 2 million.

Appearances can fool you.

Earl Colby Pottinger

--
I make public email sent to me! Hydrogen Peroxide Rockets, OpenBeos,
SerialTransfer 3.0, RAMDISK, BoatBuilding, DIY TabletPC. What happened to
the time? http://webhome.idirect.com/~earlcp

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 21:50:10 -0500, Earl Colby Pottinger
wrote:

.. So instead I go to the cabin up north and try
to go wilderness camping in as many diffirent parks as possible. This year
my camping trips spread out from Canada to New York State.
should not go on particular trips because the weather will be bad, not
getting promoted at work and other reasons. I still went and will continue
to go.

Why not? Frequently "concern" is a well-meaning cloak for fear or even
jealousy. I'm not implying this is the case here, but in many
families, the words "you're being irresponsible" are used to end
debate, when what is really going on is "I am too
gutless/pinched/tired to carpe bloody diem, but not so much that I
don't resent your attempt".

Now last year my Dad died when his appendix ruptured, we did not see that one
coming I tell you.

My wife miscarried and spent several weeks in hospital last year with
the same thing...including her 30th birthday. Insult to sudden and
random injury...that and my mother's recent death (10 years younger
than my father, who is largely lost without her) convinced me that
concerns about wealth and career-building were irrelevant if I wanted
to give my son the experience of going from child to teen cruising
around the world. Besides, it's getting ugly out there. In 20 years,
the idea of liveaboard world cruising might be dashed by climatic or
political upheavals.

My mom plans gone, my Dad gone, and they both could have gone dozens of times
before Wanye's accident.

If you have a chance to enjoy life, and you are not going to hurt anyone
else, try to take it.

Total agreement. Harm none, and do what you will.

I got to watch a loon family grow up on my lake, I climbed mountains, canoed
lakes I never knew existed ten years ago, watch the Northern Lights where the
nearest town was over a hundred kilometers away, watched waterspouts dance on
the same lake that my cabin is on and many, many more things.

My parents have - 'when we retire', only to find that they did not have it
then. And can never have it now.

Earl Colby Pottinger

PS. I also help with my brother, that is why no sailing.

This was quite moving, and within your constrained circumstances, I
think you are doing the best you can.

If you can't own a sailboat, maybe you can crew on deliveries or race
as crew in a yacht club. Deliveries that aren't trans-atlantic or
longer can be just a one-to-two week commitment in many cases, and you
can keep your seamanship fresh for the time when your situation may
change again.

Best wishes and fair winds,
R.