View overlooking Trunk Bay, St John USVI
I created the above picture a couple of months ago. Well I didn't create the picture, but I took the picture and decided to add the caption to it. You know what I mean.
Anyway, I think if you've read our blog or any other cruiser's blog you've noticed a common motto among them ... go now! Life is short! Why spend all of your days preparing for a future that may never come? So many cruisers have no regrets. They have tried to convince those "on the fence" that everything will work out, and you gotta put your fears aside and stop delaying.
Ken and I couldn't agree more with this logic. However, here we are ... still living in our house and going to work every day. Believe me, we're not procrastinating and we're not looking for new excuses. Every day we wake up hoping that our house will sell soon. Heck, every day we're thankful to wake up! Every day we hope that we can remain healthy and achieve our dream. We're constantly striving to get to the "finish line" of cruising. We know that we're racing against time, and there's no time to waste. In an instant, things can change.
This morning we had another reminder of just how short life can be. After conversing via e-mail with some cruisers that I had just become familiar with (s/v Sweet Escape), they mentioned that they noticed I had a link to a cruising blog that they had also been following, Blame Buffett. It's a blog about a couple (Ted and Shirl) a little older than us that just started living their cruising dream just three months ago. They had sailed down the East Coast and were in Florida for the holidays, looking forward to the Bahamas soon. Ted wanted to "live like Buffett" ... as so many of us do.
Anyway, s/v Sweet Escape informed me that Ted has passed away on December 27th from a massive heart attack. I was floored and deeply saddened. I've been trying to catch up on my favorite cruising blogs, and just this morning I was wondering about Ted and Shirl and thinking that I needed to visit their site soon. Ted had e-mailed me a few times with great advice and inspiration.
I hesitated mentioning Ted and his blog, but I then thought that his memory will live on if I mentioned him. Just before beginning his cruising dream, Ted wrote a post about the "Lure of the Sea". It's a great post about why he chose cruising, and I suggest you check it out. Here's a little excerpt:
A lot of people have asked me why I want to go on such a long trip on a sailboat. I really am not sure I can answer them in a way that adequately explains my reasons for wanting to cruise. As a matter of fact, there are times when I don't completely understand myself...I just know that I am drawn to it in a powerful way. Is it the lure of the sea? For me it is about living...life is meant to be lived...and following a dream needs to be part of that for me. I read somewhere that "life is not a problem to be solved but an adventure to be lived."
Security...this is an illusion. there is no such thing. Security can be gone in a flash. Nothing is certain, especially at our age. Is cruising the best thing for me to do financially...probably not...but what price can you put on living a dream? Who knows what will happen in the future?
Wise words spoken by a man that had no idea that his time on Earth was very limited. In fact, his last post just one week before his death was about Jimmy Buffett, and how Ted was now "singing his own song".
Ted's story is yet another reminder to stop putting off your dreams. I'm glad that Ted was able to live long enough to see his dream become a reality. I'm sure that the three months he spent cruising were greatly enjoyed, and that Shirl's memories of those times are priceless. I can only hope that we beat our own race against time. It's not to be taken lightly. For those that don't understand our decision to live away from family "so soon" ... this post should help explain our determination. "Soon" may be all we have.
Ted, may you continue singing your own song ... Sail On!
Hasta luego ... until then. Mid-Life Cruising!
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8 comments:
Wow, I'm shocked about Ted. I was wondering why the blog hasn't been updated. I have been reading Blame Buffet almost form the beginning. It's amazing how close you feel to the folks writing the blogs, I'm sitting in the coffee room at work with my eyes welled up in tears. All the reason to just do it!
So sorry to hear of Ted's death, though we did not know him. He was fortunate to at least a few months of living his dream. The year before we began cruising I became email friends with a man working in Asia. He was transferred to Houston and became a real friend with us, visiting our home several times. He could have retired in July and begun his dream of cruising the Caribbean, but he decided to work to Dec 31 that year. In October he was in a vehicle accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. That ended his dream. He very much regretted not having retired in July for such a silly reason as retiring at the end of the calendar year. He was a lifelong sailor. His situation reinforced our decision to quit work and leave early. So glad we did. Hope you two are out on the water soon!
Living on our boat full time isn't in the cards for us nor do we want to do that. We love to go boating and stay away for a couple of weeks, but we love coming back home and stretching out. We think we have the best of both worlds. To each their own.
You're right thought, live is too short to wait. Go for it.
I love that shot. I wish I was there. We totally loved St. Thomas and the next time we go we'll hop over to St. John.
Have a terrific day. :)
Thank you for mentioning www.blamebuffett.blogspot.com in your post. I finally had a few words to post today so that I would not leave so many hanging wondering what happened to us. I am so glad that we didn't wait to late and that I was able to be with Ted while living his dream. If Ted were here today he would say "Just Do It".
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers,
Shirl
Cheryl, thanks so much for this post. While I try to find as many cruising blogs as I can, I didn't know about Blame Buffett and I'm sorry I didn't find them sooner. What a tragic story and my heart goes out to Shirl. What a shock this was for me to read as I would guess them to be around the same age as Hans and I. Hans worked in the sleep apnea field for a very long time so I know how deadly it is yet so may people don't seem to get diagnosed with it. Almost exactly a year ago Hans was in a very serious car accident (our car was totalled and there was one fatality) and I worry every day when he's on the road here (our city has a huge vehicular mortality record). We reluctantly put off cruising (even though we are full time live aboards) for one more year since it seems Hans may be able to keep his job for awhile and this will put us one more year closer to retiring. But I think that's going to be about it, we will most likely cast off the lines and hopefully continue to enjoy our lives on our boat.
What a sad thing to happen. I'm glad he got to live his dream, even if only for a short while.
Oh noooooooooooo. You really put it all in perspective. I am so sorry for Tom and Shirl. It's time for me to put the pedal to the medal and get my life in Key West moving.
Good Luck and blessings to you all.
Shirl, so good to hear from you and your post was beautiful! We're so sorry that your time with Ted's was cut short, but you'll meet him in "Margaritaville" again someday!
Laura .. I remember when Hans got in that car accident. Scary! Glad all is well now. I sometimes wonder about Ken and sleep apnea. I may do a little research on this. Since ya'll are staying in Florida one more year, maybe we'll catch up with ya'll! Hope so!
Sandee, you do have the best of both worlds! If we could keep our house and sail, we would. If you loved St. Thomas, you'll love St. John!
Judy, what a sad story for that man! Goes to show that we shouldn't put off an opportunity if we don't have to. Tragic!
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