A recent blogspot post by Henry Lane (http://bluewatermystique.blogspot.com/) raised the question of sailing with children. Consistent with the theme of this blog, I will look at it from the point of comparison with raising children ashore.
The central difference between the sea and the shore is that for kids under sail: every day is a field trip. Kids like field trips.
So do teachers, especially when the teacher is the home-schooling parent.
Truth is, the work done in a day in a classroom is able to be accomplished way more quickly by a kid on board than that same kid in a classroom. As a schooled aboard kid during the sixth and seventh grade years, I had no trouble with eighth grade at a competitive prep school after the family came ashore.
My two biggest problems were: studying for tests and time management. Thanks to my room mate, Phil, I learned how to prep for a test and get to class on time. That's what I missed by sailing for two years.
An added benefit, more so in this era than mine, is quiet time. On board, children have time and opportunity to observe and reflect quietly.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Cost of Cruising: Figured Out!
We had a brutal winter, snow and serious cold. Meanwhile, worked like demons on the house. The thought of being on board and in the tropics was never far from my mind. Came to realize that the cost of cruising is the same as the cost of living in a house: you live according to what you can afford. People who lose their way and over spend may lose their home. Same with a boat.
The choice isn't governed by how much money one has it is governed by what one wants to get out of life. If you like life in a house with property to garden, or whatever, live in a house with the accouterments you desire. It will cost what it costs. Same with boats and cruising.
Having worried the question of "what does it cost" to death, I now have an answer. The answer every cruising blog gives: it costs what you have.
What kind of boat questions have similar answers.
The choice isn't governed by how much money one has it is governed by what one wants to get out of life. If you like life in a house with property to garden, or whatever, live in a house with the accouterments you desire. It will cost what it costs. Same with boats and cruising.
Having worried the question of "what does it cost" to death, I now have an answer. The answer every cruising blog gives: it costs what you have.
What kind of boat questions have similar answers.
Monday, November 17, 2014
Can Money Buy Happiness?
The title is from an article in the Wall Street Journal on Monday, 10 November 2014. The short answer is, "Yes."
The longer answer is more interesting. It starts with debt as being very debilitating. No debt and no savings is the neutral position for happiness. Savings is pretty much a guarantee of happiness. Not big happiness the way debt leads to big unhappiness. They are inverses. So I suggest that lack of debt leads to a happy life. The article was probably a couple thousand words and has way more supporting detail.
The other very interesting revelation was that the purchase of "things" leads to short term elation and long term... well there is no long term up side since we grow used to the things we have and they are familiar, uninteresting. The experiences we purchase lead to short term elation and long term satisfaction.
This has to do with the evaluation of Boat vs House. Boat has lots of experiences and few things. Boats don't have enough space to fill up with stuff. Every time the boat shifts its anchorage, there is a new experience and a new set of rewards. Houses, one notes by observation, fill up with stuff faster than they deliver experiences.
Mission? Make the house experience richer. Putter more, purchase less.
The longer answer is more interesting. It starts with debt as being very debilitating. No debt and no savings is the neutral position for happiness. Savings is pretty much a guarantee of happiness. Not big happiness the way debt leads to big unhappiness. They are inverses. So I suggest that lack of debt leads to a happy life. The article was probably a couple thousand words and has way more supporting detail.
The other very interesting revelation was that the purchase of "things" leads to short term elation and long term... well there is no long term up side since we grow used to the things we have and they are familiar, uninteresting. The experiences we purchase lead to short term elation and long term satisfaction.
This has to do with the evaluation of Boat vs House. Boat has lots of experiences and few things. Boats don't have enough space to fill up with stuff. Every time the boat shifts its anchorage, there is a new experience and a new set of rewards. Houses, one notes by observation, fill up with stuff faster than they deliver experiences.
Mission? Make the house experience richer. Putter more, purchase less.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Boat vs House: Library
Working away on the house, land yacht as I call it and got to thinking about our library. Specifically, I was thinking about why live ashore and what to do to make that as pleasant as possible. My thoughts turned to our library, my easy chair, the table that holds the glass from which I refresh myself and how those things aren't on the boat. Not just not on Averisera but not really part of any regular cruising boat. At least not a library with maybe a thousand books.
Thinking back to St Maarten and my Caribbean years. There were book swaps at Shrimpies or Business Point: they were fun and just not the same as your very own library.
The house is getting more library attention. Maybe I will even get a library card to the town library.
Thinking back to St Maarten and my Caribbean years. There were book swaps at Shrimpies or Business Point: they were fun and just not the same as your very own library.
The house is getting more library attention. Maybe I will even get a library card to the town library.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Size!
http://kkmoorea.com/losing-the-excess-pounds/
Guests
On board, it is hard to have guests. Ashore guests are simple to accommodate. This summer we have had almost 60 days of guests. most of those days were either in our house or my mother in law's house. She lives nearby. Life on board is hardly devoid of guests or friends, we just interact with them so very differently.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
House vs Boat, Scope and Scale
As noted earlier, everything one can want for completing a house repair is readily available and competitively priced, many tradespeople are available for hire. Not so with a boat. Fortunately, once a boat is in fairly good shape, it is easy to keep it so. This has to do with the scope of each job. I can prepare my 32 footer for a winter of voyaging for a few thousand dollars and keep it going, with just me aboard, at about ten bucks a day.
The scale of every job at the house is big, big as in super yacht big. Granted it is at a fraction of the real cost of a superyacht. Within each job come a thousand decisions that change the scope of each project from simple to complex. House is always being redesigned on the fly. Boat is designed by the naval architect and that's pretty much it.
More to follow.
The scale of every job at the house is big, big as in super yacht big. Granted it is at a fraction of the real cost of a superyacht. Within each job come a thousand decisions that change the scope of each project from simple to complex. House is always being redesigned on the fly. Boat is designed by the naval architect and that's pretty much it.
More to follow.
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