16 days. On vacation. In a row.

originally posted by: YouSir
a reply to: putnam6


Ummm...strange...I'm catching a flight tomorrow morning for a full two weeks vacation...I finally bought my 40' sailboat and am going to be sailing it up the coast...I'll post some pics of the trip...and of the boat natch...

I've been working my current job for 10 years...and have accumulated two weeks paid vacay all those years...this is the first time I've used any...so I'm finally taking advantage and using up a couple...

Have fun...I'm stoked...can't wait to finally have my retirement purchase to self realized...

YouSir

Enjoy it Skipper and do post the pics here, as Ive said I'll likely be working somewhere till I croak, so I live through other people's lives

When you say up the coast, which coast? LOL and do you need a First Mate? Hell Captain Quint bring me along as ballast

I watched a video of a guy going from the Keys to Maine and thats how to live.

It's the one thing the only thing the younger generations may be correct about, we weren't made to work like ants, atleast not all of us.

Hell, attach a GoPro up high on a mast I'd watch the scenery and the weather stuff

a reply to: YouSir

Wow! That's pretty cool!

Congrats!!

You sailing it yourself, or do you have other crew? That's a pretty sizable sailboat for solo sailing, especially with a new unfamiliar boat.

originally posted by: Athetos
when I worked for the government it was nothing at all to take 30 days off in a row. You would get 6 payed weeks a year and 2 weeks payed sick time and you could bank another week of OT if you like. 9 payed weeks off a year after.

You could also roll over the previous years under days to the next year but never longer then 2.

Working in the private sector now, I make slightly more then 50% more cash per hour outright but with how shift work differential my take home pay every 2 weeks has almost doubled. but only get 1 week a year off with my current seniority. But working shift work you already get half the year off anyway just you don’t pick the days.

a reply to: putnam6

Those government jobs do have their benefits, and corporate jobs do too, it just wasnt my style and ive enjoyed my career essentially being self-employed and being able to work and travel, we were fine till the rioting it was a jab to the nose and COVID was an uppercut. After those events, the ways of doing business in our industry for 30 years changed seemingly overnight, certainly once we reopened the landscape was forever altered. As a commission-based business on a seasonal product that relied on international shipping, it was the perfect storm where 5-6 months later it would have been much more manageable, as 3/4ths of our revenue for a year was historically made in that November- April window.

a reply to: putnam6

OH, no ramble P. Dad stories need to be fleshed out. In our home, dad took care of the corporal punishment, mom did the threatening an scolding. Once he knew the full story from mom he would send us to our rooms to ''think about it''. That usually gave us time to sweat first and think about how we deserved it. He had a strong rule. 'We could never call our mother ''her'' or ''she'', we always had to refer to her as mom. I"m not sure how that helped adjust us as kids, maybe not objectifying her but keeping our awareness on her as mother, anyway that was important to him, and I admit I placed that restriction on my own kids.

He also worked so much that he was busy or tired a lot. At one time he had his letter carrier job as his major income. But he added to that for years with a job cleaning a donut shop in the mornings. Then after hs route for years he worked as a yard director for the city recreation district. He also was a first Sargent in the National Guard for twenty years and would spend every Thursday night with his unit.

Anyway, he would let us stew in our juices and then we would hear him come down the hall. We learned early on to not put up a fight. Not that he would ever use anything other than his belt. No, that changed a bit. Early on it was his hand with us over his knee, then that switched to a switch for a bit. Then as we were older it was the belt. Always on the soft butt and never ever anywhere else. He never hit us with his fist or open hand, always calculating. He was never mad when we were punished. He knew he had a temper and kept it under control in that respect.

Our home was in a new neighborhood right after WW2. Almost all GI families on the GI home loans. Flat top houses with big backyards. An apricot farm had sold to the developers so every home had a full grown apricot tree or to in the back yard. The 'Southern Pacific Railroad ran behind our fence so we had trains several times a day running by.

The uniqueness of our home was that my mothers brother, also out of the war, bought next door, so we did not have a fence between the two yards. Over time, my dad and uncle had built tow big concrete patios both with red brick fire places. Because my uncle was a well paid union sheetmetal worker he had a good salary and again over time they built a huge sandbox between the two yards. With left over supplies from jobs, they built a jungle gym, a bid slide, a teeter totter, a ring swing and a couple of regular swings all in the sand box. It was big. They also built a big playhouse for the girls in one corner of the yard.

Then, when I was about twelve, my uncle decided to go to the expense to put in a swimming pool, a for real concrete dug into the ground with a deep end of eight feet. Our back yard had become the hot spot for the entire network of GI families to party in for over a decade. It was only after I had become an adult that my father, in our bar hopping days would open up to me about all of the shenanigans that went on between the men and women in the neighborhood. Oh my...

a reply to: putnam6



I'm planning to video document the whole trip with a GoPro...I'll be sailing north along the west coast. I'm also going to do a video walk through of the sailboat while explaining her systems...


YouSir

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: YouSir

Wow! That's pretty cool!

Congrats!!

You sailing it yourself, or do you have other crew? That's a pretty sizable sailboat for solo sailing, especially with a new unfamiliar boat.

I'll be single handing...roller furled...all new electronics...radar...AIS...Icom VHF and UHF radios...Iridium sat phones...autopilot...12" touch hybrid plotter combo...remote to Ipad at nav station...self steer...EPIRB...6 man life raft...

Standing and running rigging replaced...and if the wind dies down I'll fire up the four cylinder diesel...which has a new transmission...new shaft log...cutlass bearing...and coupler...

I'll probably run reefed to balance the self steer which should give me a decent heading and save the autopilot for more nuanced piloting...AIS and Radar alarms should alert me to any vessels or hazards while I'm below using the head...or making some grub...or catching some ZZZ's...

I prefer to single hand...Not only because it means there's only one life to be responsible for...but because when I sail...it's an honest spiritual connection with the forces of nature...with my interpretive higher powers...it's the most exiting...demanding...hyper mindful zen awareness...coupled with a freedom that I only seem to achieve when I'm out there...alone with my thoughts and the wind...and the waves...


YouSir

originally posted by: YouSir
a reply to: putnam6



I'm planning to video document the whole trip with a GoPro...I'll be sailing north along the west coast. I'm also going to do a video walk through of the sailboat while explaining her systems...
YouSir

Cool, make sure you post the link in a thread, I'd enjoy watching that immensely... are your plans points A-B ?

May the wind meet your sails, and hopefully the isolation doesn't make you a little dinghy

originally posted by: putnam6

originally posted by: YouSir
a reply to: putnam6



I'm planning to video document the whole trip with a GoPro...I'll be sailing north along the west coast. I'm also going to do a video walk through of the sailboat while explaining her systems...
YouSir

Cool, make sure you post the link in a thread, I'd enjoy watching that immensely... are your plans points A-B ?

May the wind meet your sails, and hopefully the isolation doesn't make you a little dinghy

Aye...I'll be stopping along the way to do some overnights and get proper sleep....if the weather gods Poseidon/Neptune permit...it should be about an eight day trip...

I don't mind isolation...it's the daily grind of the land lubber that chafes my sheets...




YouSir

Last vacation was this past March. My wife usually sends me off to snow skiing and this year I got to take my 10 yoa grandson. Just the two of us. It was awsome and we'll both have memories. Arapahoe Basin resort.

He learned grandpa road trip stuff. My daughter said go and enjoy. He'll learn more from you than in school.