Day 5 Wind and Waves

Well, I did it. I moved onto a sailboat today and am going to be spending the rest of the month of November on it. The winds were about 10 knots and of course the currents pushed the boat away from the dock creating a 1 foot (30cm) gap from the boat and the finger dock. So you had to be careful getting on and leaving making sure you or you're belongings won't end up in the drink. I also messed up earlier in the day and accidentally broke the space heater so I had to pay to replace it; bound to happen since it was my first time on the sailboat. I just need to get use to having no water pressure, no hot water (unless i boil it on the propane stove) and no shower. So thinking about it i am probably going to wake up earlier so I can come back home and get ready before heading off to college. I do have a midterm tomorrow too, so we will see how living on board will help my studies.
As for my assignments and novel, i got some progress just i was tired yesterday and without internet so i was extremely limited. I have sketch paper on the boat, college books and of course lots of novels i would like to read during the time i am on board.
I shall do an update of my word count tomorrow.

Eleven out of Thirty One

Due to my busy schedule this month I was unable to meet my goal for 31 posts for October. I have been slaving away on assignments and studying for exams which never seem to end. I did however get the materials for my workbench on the 20th of October, and built it over that weekend. As for my projects for my portfolio, it is slowly coming together but I am planning to get most of it done in November. I even have taken that month off work so I can everything done. On top of all that I am taking part in NaNoWriMo, with a goal of 100k words in 30 days and I might even try and get my VHF operators licence. Like that isn't enough I would like to complete all my major projects for geography. I am also planning to take an income tax course to help increase my meagre income next year.

I am also in the process of acquiring a Catalina 30, I shall not say more it is not final yet. But I shall post about it when I get it.
UPDATE: I looked into taking out a loan but due to my low income I am unable to and my parents are not willing to help out on this. So I have got to pass on this opportunity. However I am going to budget and save so when one arises in the future I can possible take advantage of it. 

As The Essentials of Living Aboard Boat says (on page 33) "There are a lot of things that don't grow on trees, such as money. Money does not grow on trees. But boats do.
...Houses grow on trees, meaning that a better will always come along, even if that deal does not exist today. When you that a great deal is passing you by, don't be nervous, because there is another one coming."
(Page 258): "Be patient and thorough when choosing a boat - and remember that boats, good and bad, grow on trees." 
I own the book and I recommend it to all those considering living about a boat.


I was going to write about Holidays tonight, but with having a test tomorrow and my busy schedule I have to cut this one shorter.

Local or Import

For those wondering I had a really busy week last week, with a test on Wednesday, exhibition on Saturday and Flyering for a club on Sunday. I also picked up the materials for a workbench which I almost finished building on the weekend.

As many of you know I am looking and searching pretty well everywhere for a sailboat. Due to the current economic crisis in the United States the boat market is flooded and the prices are substantially lower than the similar boats in Canada. But there is a lot (well maybe not that much, but more than just buying a boat locally) paperwork that you must have on hand or have to fill out when you arrive. Mostly to do with going through Customs/Canadian Border Services Agency and Transport Canada. Plus the fact you'll have to pay a duty and taxes for bringing it here.

Compared to buying a local boat at a marginally higher, in the end the costs come very close or no difference which means zero savings. But also there are less things to go wrong since you don't have to worry about all that paperwork and re-licencing.

The final thing is... do I aim to get a sailboat now, with the 12% HST still in effect or do I wait till Jan 1st 2012 to get it with only 5% GST. Its a tough call, since boats come and go on the market and it is hard to find the right one at the right place. And about the project boat, well I am going to look for something at a slightly higher price with less work needed to fix it up.

New, Used or Abused

No, I am not referring to people for those wondering. Rather I am taking about different conditions you can buy or acquire boats. It has also been almost a week since i updated you all on my status. Which can simply be summed up... no progress. BUT BUT, before you think i am just a big talker i am planning tonight once i get everything done today to work until midnight on my portfolio.
Anyways, back to the topic at hand....
On Sunday I online when was online, surfing the net. I stopped one of the blogs (HoboSailor:HoboSailor | Facebook) i follow on their facebook page only to find at the very bottom, their first post a documentary called: Hold Fast (http://vimeo.com/15351476). It is a 1:15:45 long documentary about a group of four people finding, fixing up an old fiberglass yacht and sailing it in the Caribbean. I shall not say anymore for those interested in watching it.
Watching that documentary got me thinking about other ways of acquiring or buying a boat. And also brought up the topic of Derelict boats again for which, i have searched in the past. So instead of spending say... 20,000, 50,000 or even 100,000 on a used boat; I could find a derelicts or abandoned boat and fix her up. Of course that would mean getting her very cheap or better free. Just the thing is, once i've got the boat i have to get her hauled out and trailered to my parents house where i can work on her. Easier said that done, since i only know of two haul out locations on Vancouver Island. However, when you consider everything, even if it costs 4,000-6,000 to repair and fix the boat; I still save a lot of money. Not to mention if I can get it really cheap, well, it would be hard to sell any boat these days with the market flooded with so many.

I have hoping to make my search easier posted ads on UsedVictoria and Sailnet to get the word out that I am looking for such a thing. But since I am also busy with my studies i doubt i'll be able to do anything to that boat (if I happen to find one before the end of October) until mid December.

No matter where you go in the world you are going to encounter places were derelict abandoned boats have come to rest. Majestic vessels of the sea, left to degrade and fade away.

Manifest Destiny

Stepping back a day to when i had the midterm, after that class in my other geography in the afternoon we watched two videos. One on Batam in Indonesia and the other one on 'getting rich' about China's economy. After that class i had some errands to run to get art supplies, sailing gear (PFD), and hobby supplies... which took me almost 2 hours downtown going between each shop. To make the whole experience more enjoyable it was raining and most of shops were closing around the time i down town so time was very limited. At one point I had to cover seven blocks, but if i would walk i would have to wait at every single intersection for the light to change. I did at one point run to cover two and a half blocks which did make a difference since the art supply store i was heading to was going to close in about an hour. I got most of what i needed when i was down there, but the stuff i couldn't get was because either the store was closed, or what i was planning on getting was out of stock. 

Anyways....

Manifest Destiny, as in creating your own destiny as you go along through life is a term most of us have heard of at one point. But how far from the truth is it? If we consider this we also inadvertently consider the questions attributed to free will and its debate. Now if we were to consider the other side of the spectrum, Determinism and Fatalism (that our futures have all been decided already by a higher power and we have zero choice in our actions). Where now does this put us? Us being the world, is in stalemate unsure which is the correct way to perceive the future while the opposing side argues the exact same thing. So now where? Now what? Its not like we are the preverbal fork in the road with only two options, since there are varying degrees of free will each can argue. So that turns a simple black and white spectrum into a rainbow of colourful decisions. Is there only one correct route? How many of them add together to make up ones future? 

If you are wondering about my perspective on this; I use to be a strong determinist but i have swung more towards the middle. The way I see the answer to the question about free will is simply (maybe not that simple) that our future is determined but within that determined future we have thousands of options which then determines our life's path. 

To what point does one stop questioning the world around them and their future on the basis of free will? That becomes a question for each and everyone to answer, since their is no solid answer about it. 

Moving along...

The reason why I am bringing this up, is because even the most focused individual will sidetrack. As for myself I still see my first priority is to become an Architect but I have ventured more than several times off course considering other interests. What those may be, range and are different from one another. I have considered Horticulture, Marine Architecture, Carpentry and the odd one Truck Diver. But every time i remind myself why i am wanting to go this route (of course Marine Architecture can be incorporated since it is related). I am doing this because I love the creativity of the design process, the rewarding process of seeing your design come to life and history/biographies of famous architects. The income itself is simply the icing on the cake, since it merely represents the amount of work that you've done you are paid for.  Similar to most jobs... but then how many jobs may ask you to work a seven day week? 

Another part of the dream is considering where i am going to live. The options aren't really limited but once you add the cost of rent then it becomes very limited. Hence why I am considering living on a sailboat. It may sound really romantic to lots but there is a lot more to consider than the wind and waves. In order for me to really enjoy the experience i am challenging myself on top of everything else (closer to the end of the year) to get my RYA Dayskipper and VHF operators licence before the new year. Even if would fall short and only get the VHF, I do have my PCOC so technically I could still move the boat once i find one. 

One of my biggest reasons for choosing to live on a boat is because of the freedom it allows to its owner. Even if the world would go topsy turvy, i could change my lifestyle from living docked to on the hook. Just hopefully everything will improve before it gets any worse. But honesty looking at the current world issues... it is more likely to go the other way, getting a lot worse before it gets better. Which is sad is say.

Testing...Testing...Testing...

The coming next three weeks i have midterms on each of those weeks. Which means i have to pause everything i am doing the day/night before to study. So I can scratch out three days this month to work on my admission requirements. But that shouldn't be too big of a deal, since I can use the following days after the tests to work on assignments from college and of course admission requirements. The only catch is, i might be working on those nights.

I have kinda (emphasis on Kinda) started looking for a 30 foot yacht to live on even though I do not know what it is like. The good news is that there are about 70 listings near or not to far from where i am. But the price range is quite considerable. I am also not planning on buying one this year because the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) still applies, but as of January 1st 2012 we'll back to GST (goods and services) and PST (provincal sales tax). That would mean on such a purchase there is a good chance i will save several hundred dollars.

I was thinking on the way home of two other post titles... Trivial Love, and one more i am unable to remember at the moment. I plan to hopefully write about those in my upcoming blog entries. I also don't want to overlap anything i plan on writing in my novel, since then it would take the originality out of the novel. 

Fall also is finally here on the west coast... it is cold and windy, but luckily no rain yet.

I am unsure what i'll post tomorrow since i'll most likely be writing my post after my midterm. we'll see, maybe something will inspire me.