True voyaging
And it begins. After flying to Florida two days ago for the sole reason of grabbing my little three cylinder Metro, charts from Maine to Florida, an EPIRB, a sextant, tables, books, all my tools and a few other essentials, I leave tomorrow. It's going to be a 1,355 mile solo road trip without a working radio, air conditioning, functioning windows or locking doors. I'll be driving up to Watch Hill, RI, where she (my small yacht I have yet to choose a name for) is waiting, at a maximum speed of 60 miles per hour. The car is 19 years old and handles like a skateboard, as well as for fuel economy. This is a voyage and from now on, I'm on a budget. It's the name of the game, stretching every last dollar to maximize my freedom. Because for ever $15 or so dollars I can save, it equates to one less hour I have to spend making someone else money.
I suppose I've been "voyaging" ever since I left the desk job, or purchased Winchelsea or wherever you'd want to pinpoint where I started off the deep end, but it has been difficult without a home base since selling Winchelsea. In order to be self-sufficient, you need a place to call your own where you can distill your water, cook the fish you catch, grow your sprouts, harvest and dry your fruits, nuts and seaweed or whatever it is I figure out works best for me on this grand experiment.
I needed security, and I've come to realize that security for me comes in owning a boat. A small capsule that I can call my own. I think the term can mean a lot of different things to many people, and thinking of important people in my own life they can be a home, a well-paying job, a satisfying career, a spouse or affection from others, to be surrounded by family, or owning your own business. But, as I said, for me it's owning a boat and keeping myself busy with it. To me it symbolizes my own untouchable part of this crazy world, and that if everything went to hell in handbasket tomorrow I'd still have that little thing to call mine.
Not that I won't be working, I need to eat and I have to to get this fine yacht into a completely seaworthy and hopefully presentable condition by the end of the summer. It is perpetual though and every hour I save with $15 now translates to an hour less later down the road. I just need to keep earning, getting the boat to where I want it and saving until the two ends meet and I have enough to comfortably cruise for awhile. The eventual goal being indefinitely, without the need of actual currency.
Sure, I'll need the occational luxury of buying a flight to a friends wedding, or something as simple as going to the movies or out to dinner. However, I'd like my own daily needs to come from only things that I either own or can barter for. If I feel the need to splurge on something extra, I'd dip into my savings. But only then would I return to society and earn money, on my own terms. That is truly the key point. If I feel the desire to spend money on something that exists within the greater society (like a flight, dinner or movie), it's only fair I have to work for society to enjoy them. I am attempting true independace, which I feel is nothing more than the choice to "work" when I feel the need to enjoy something outside of my basic human needs.
I suppose I've been "voyaging" ever since I left the desk job, or purchased Winchelsea or wherever you'd want to pinpoint where I started off the deep end, but it has been difficult without a home base since selling Winchelsea. In order to be self-sufficient, you need a place to call your own where you can distill your water, cook the fish you catch, grow your sprouts, harvest and dry your fruits, nuts and seaweed or whatever it is I figure out works best for me on this grand experiment.
I needed security, and I've come to realize that security for me comes in owning a boat. A small capsule that I can call my own. I think the term can mean a lot of different things to many people, and thinking of important people in my own life they can be a home, a well-paying job, a satisfying career, a spouse or affection from others, to be surrounded by family, or owning your own business. But, as I said, for me it's owning a boat and keeping myself busy with it. To me it symbolizes my own untouchable part of this crazy world, and that if everything went to hell in handbasket tomorrow I'd still have that little thing to call mine.
Not that I won't be working, I need to eat and I have to to get this fine yacht into a completely seaworthy and hopefully presentable condition by the end of the summer. It is perpetual though and every hour I save with $15 now translates to an hour less later down the road. I just need to keep earning, getting the boat to where I want it and saving until the two ends meet and I have enough to comfortably cruise for awhile. The eventual goal being indefinitely, without the need of actual currency.
Sure, I'll need the occational luxury of buying a flight to a friends wedding, or something as simple as going to the movies or out to dinner. However, I'd like my own daily needs to come from only things that I either own or can barter for. If I feel the need to splurge on something extra, I'd dip into my savings. But only then would I return to society and earn money, on my own terms. That is truly the key point. If I feel the desire to spend money on something that exists within the greater society (like a flight, dinner or movie), it's only fair I have to work for society to enjoy them. I am attempting true independace, which I feel is nothing more than the choice to "work" when I feel the need to enjoy something outside of my basic human needs.
Comments
I wanted to thank you for writing this blog - I'm about to buy my first home/boat myself, and I probably wouldn't have believed it was possible without your blog. Looking forward to following your further adventures :)