Sunday 3 March 2013

Priorities

When if comes to cruising there are definately times where you just want to sink your boat and walk away. Friday was one of those days. These trips are not for everyone, but they will encourage great things in those that strive to live out their dreams. Jennie and I managed to find a way to afford a year and a half of cruising and the experience and effects on us have been profound. The future for us now is a bit clearer and cruising is going to always be a part of our lives. The ocean will put life's little issues into perspective quickly, and is always a good escape choice.

Our future was a big questions mark for the last few months as our budget dwindled and the economy continued to spin it's tires in the proverbial mud with incapable leaders at the wheel. On an aside the solution to the economy is to instill confidence in the population, squabbling over rules, budgets, and red tape does not inspire confidence in anyone. Society is hooked on other people solving their problems, this isn't going to happen. People need to make their own progress, the solution to the markets lack of confidence is simple, the market needs to be more confident.

I digress, this leads us to what on earth are Jennie and I going to do? Our options were fairly slim before our trip; our university degrees, work experience,and ability to buld significant networth at a young age were not giving us traction in our careers, so we bought a boat and went sailing. In the process we built up our confidence in ourselves, and increased our circle of competence. Will this help us in the future? Yes, but the world still looks to its future leaders based on their abilities, not their capabilities. This venture into cruising for us is a prime example of where our modern society has it wrong. They look for the perfectionist, the A+ student who gets everything right. This causes people to fear failure, to fear even getting a B. Jennie and I left on this adventure with no offshore sailing experience, Jennie had little or no boating experience, and we had little or no money. In some ways life helped us out, in many ways we just knew we were capable of doing what we set out to do, even if we were yet untested and did not possess the required abilities to do so. Now we see in our future the world we left, unchanged. We are still looking to find our place.

On friday when some asshole stole our motor, and then we had to deal with a bunch of useless and apathetic government employees, we recieved a strong sighting of our next guiding star (so to say). When I was young I wanted to be an engineer and design boats or buildings. My grandfather was an engineer, my great grandfather was, my uncle was, and I'm sure the list goes on. During our trip Jennie and I looked at our situation and decided there is no reason we can't live out our dreams. Sure I may have missed the cut 10 years ago in a far more competitive environment by half a percent, and went and got a finance degree, but now I can get in with early acceptance. On another note, my brother and I are (were) very mechanically inclined whether building or working on motors. So when my brother passed I had to get some priorities straight, it was worth a shot to apply for engineering.

On friday as we watched our boat almost colide with our friends in a squall and spent the whole day dealing with central american bueaucracy, and being down $2000 for the day we got an email with acceptance for me to the Engineering program at the University of Victoria in BC. Now Jennie and I know where we will be, at least in September.

For those of you out there looking for inspiration from others, or are looking for third parties to increase your self confidence, stop. Look at yourself, look at your dreams, and go for it. There is no reason you cannot do the things you want to do in your life. If it means picking up a paint brush, or a pen. Do it, you will not regret trying.

On a funny note, when I was in high school english class, I did very poorly. My writing was obviously not up to the high standards expected of well honed educated individuals. Now I am a published writer, and have a popular blog. Maybe I now just have something worth writing about. I can tell you the school system deffinately did not instill confidence in me and my abilities.

I digress, again, Jennie and I are going to be spending a month here in Costa Rica. My mom is flying down in the second half of March for a visit. After she leaves we are trucking it to Mexico and moving up the coast the San Carlos fast. For a tentative end date for round one of our cruising life, we are looking at about May or June. Cypraea is not for sale, we love this boat, and we have finaly got a bunch of the kinks worked out. We will probably keep her in Mexico for a while, and see where life goes. Part of our early exit from cruising is because we want cruising to be a significant part of our life, and we need to plan accordingly.

In Short, 3 more months of awesome stories, and hopefully inspiration for those of you who spend more time in the office looking at yachtworld and reading blogs than actually doing work (I've been there). And if there is anyone in Victoria who can help us get settled in, we would love to hear from you.

5 comments:

Princess Aboard said...

I love to hear when people succeed in writing after being told they weren't good at it. In college I was told that my writing skills were very juvenile and that I didn't have what it took to write anything of merit. And maybe he was right, I may never write anything of merit. But I know I'm at least entertaining the people that read my blog! Sorry to hear about y'alls motor, but happy to hear about your acceptance. Best wishes for y'all!

Bettie del Mar said...

Congratulations on getting into school, Dave! That's super exciting for your guys. I hope we get to run into you and Jennie again on our way up the coast, but otherwise we will check in on your boat on our way past San Carlos.

Kelley - Sailing Chance said...

Congratulations on your acceptance! Young cruisers have to figure out how to keep the piggy bank stocked to keep doing what they love. Looking forward to the next 3 months and then your next adventure.

Anonymous said...

Lucky British Columbia...

TheCambrians said...

I just happened to stumble upon your blog as I was searching for ways to improve our readership (my husband, dog and I have been on the water for 12 years -- www.svcambria.webs.com). First of all, congrats! Victoria is a fantastic city ... especially for boats. Have you considered coming up the West Coast (did it in 2008 and had a fantastic trip though it did take a while)? You may find it to be an economical way to live in the city. There are several marina options, excellent restaurants and cafes, and a good public bus system. PLUS you'd have a boat in (what we've been told by many circumnavigators and believe to be true)are the best cruising grounds in the world. Good luck and enjoy the next few months!