Refocus...That is what my boss calls it. My performance in sales has been lacking, although I have produced some results; my heart is not in it. It is very hard for me to excel in areas where there is no passion... "John, we need you to refocus your efforts." "OK, I will do that..."
Let me bring you up to speed. I'm in the process of creating lemonade from a batch of life's lemons. Maine has been hard for us, beautiful, but hard. I remember the words of a Wall street type telling me," it's horrible out there." He meant outside of NYC. Also the words of a gal who came to Maine from NYC to start her own business and failed miserably. I do not feel Maine is horrible, quite the opposite, but I definitely know now that I lived in a silly little New York City art world bubble for 15 years and had no idea of the world's reality. Really Hard! I see people struggling to make ends meet. They are distressed by trying to keep up with each other in this crazy race for status, perpetuated by the puppeteers of media and finance. I personally would be ashamed to make my living on the weaknesses of others. Think credit card late payment charges. So, now at 45, I'm barely making a living and all I see around me are people who's sole concern is their comfort. It is not all misery for us, actually the opposite. We live better than people with much higher incomes. We eat like royalty and have a comfortable home near the ocean, and we sail. I know I sound like a hypocrite, except I'm not in control of my destiny, God is. Five years ago, I started a business that was destined to fail regardless of how hard I worked or how much borrowed money I threw at it. Did God set me up to fail so I could have some painful adversity and humility that would ultimately steer me in the direction I am in now? I think so!
Here is the refocus-We have sold our house, we have sold what was left of our business, we have sold 75% of our possessions, we will be debt free in less than a month, we will have no health insurance, our only physical asset is our boat, we will sell our car, which has very little monetary value. I will quit my job and when we return we will start over. Completely.
The benefits-Being off the God forsaken treadmill of life for awhile, spending everyday with my wife and children, travelling in a slow fashion, not spending money unnecessarily, learning that possessions will not make us ultimately happy, teaching my son Blake that the poor are beautiful and valuable to God and us, and big dreams do come true.
I'm seven weeks from travelling to the Bahamas on board the Vindhler. The work involved is almost insurmountable. Right now we are looking for a used, but rebuilt diesel. I wish there was a way to keep the Vindhler engineless. She sails beautifully without the drag of a propeller. It has been excellent for our skills going everywhere without the aid of a motor. For those who have never sailed Maine, it is windy most of the time, especially in the afternoon when the Southwester fills in. (Oh, now I remember why I love it here!) My wife has no problem picking up the mooring as we come in under sail. I feel with kids on board an engine would offer a level of safety when needed. Of course they often fail to start, so we will continue to sail on and off the hook when we can. I think it was Don Street or the Pardey's who said that they had never seen a wrecked boat on a reef or rocks that did not have an engine! Makes you wonder.
I received some emails and photos from our owners group. The Vindhler was built in Holland in the early 50's and shipped to a dealer in Connecticut for distribution. I believe around 80 boats were built and about 60 came to the US. We know of about a dozen.
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Is that you at the bow inspecting the steel hull? Haha
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